Sacred Cow Tipping

Oh we defy the very gods on this one... but here goes...

First, and foremost, let us be perfectly clear:  we believe that the Sound of Sun Prairie (SOSP) provides an incredible experience for kids in terms of self discovery, discipline, teamwork, and musical performance.

The purpose of this post is not to point fingers or knee cap The Sound.  Rather, some disconcerting information has come to light following recent school board discussions regarding athletics and activities.  These discussions provide us with a rare window of opportunity in which we can publicly discuss how the Sound meshes with the school district in terms of an educational component and an extra or co-curricular activity.

Is it a candy mint?  A breath mint? Or is it two...two mints in one?

The Certs twins.  Two...two mints in one

Those graying at the temples likely recall the old Certs jingle.  But it's all too fitting here.  Those at the School Board work-study session on July 30 heard that SOSP is a summer school course, and subsequently, we receive state aid because the kids in SOSP "count" towards the summer school enrollment.

What we find interesting, however, is that it seems to be an activity in two parts. It sounds as if the MORNING sessions (8-12) are the "summer school" segment.  After lunch, those kids that return are part of the "extra-curricular activity component".  BUT there is a "pay to play" clause.   In order to participate in the afternoon session, kids must pay a membership fee to the SOSP...a "sliding scale", as told by John Whalen, ranging from $650 to $1,000 or even more.  Ninth graders pay the low part of the sliding scale.  Kinda like marketing a new street high at a discount to hook newcomers.  Once they're hooked, the price goes up.

But...fees are not allowed for summer school classes!

Can a school district charge students for summer school?There shall be no cost to the resident student or parent beyond incidental supplies, textbook or similar items (workbooks) if the district claims state aid under s. 121.14 [State Aid for Summer Classes]. Additionally, if the student is a resident of the district and the class is necessary for a grade promotion, high school graduation, or is given credit toward graduation, the district may not charge for the instruction, building costs or apparatus. If the class is not required, credited or aided, the fees must be based upon the actual cost of the class. 

Ahhhh...see the problem...and the way around it?  The district does not charge a fee for ITS portion, but SOSP does for the OTHER portion.

Is it summer school?
Or is it something masked to LOOK like summer school?  The kids don't get grades or credits.  On its website, SOSP is billed as, "The Sound of Sun Prairie is a voluntary, extra-curricular marching band. "  So does SOSP know its a summer school "course".

So...it's an extracurricular activity?
That's what Jim McClowry labeled it...as a school sponsored "club or activity".  That's what SOSP calls itself.  And fees CAN be charged for activities.  But do we? Consistently?  For all activities?  And if it's an activity--not a summer school course--we shouldn't be receiving any state aid as a result of it (yet we do).  Confused yet?

How come they say the "fee" covers transportation
when the district pays for that???  And what's this about the fee
"covering" the SPASD activity fee?  We looked and couldn't find
ANY deposits to cover this. Hmmmm.

Why so secretive about the "membership fees"?
We searched mightily and could only find an outdated "estimate" of membership fees for 2011.

Well...it's kind of understandable, when they charge that much.  Yes...it's an awesome experience...but isn't it a bit north of the Have/Have Not line?   You know...in the Entitlements subdivision?

Oh...and it covers their "activity" fee too? Can anyone show us where the SPASD summer activity fee has been credited to SPASD?  We could find no such evidence looking at monthly deposits.

And if the school district pays at least $23,000 annually to cover SOSP costs that SOSP says are PART of the membership fee paid by kids, shouldn't those costs be subtracted from the membership fee?  There's roughly 100 SOSP kids.That means their membership fee should be reduced by $230 each (and we haven't even talked about an activity fee yet).  OR...the school district should be receiving a check for $23,000 PLUS an activity fee.  Hello!  Jim McClowry went to great lengths to explain why hockey kids should be gouged to the tune of $550 each because of less than $20,000 in ice time costs.  Here's a group that costs that much AND uses our facilities without paying a rental fee (hey...we charge the Special Olympics for Pete's sake!).....and the district gets NOTHING in return.

We just hope this doesn't jeopardize our state aid funding.  Does DPI REALLY know how this all works?  How could they...when WE don't even know how it works?

If SOSP is charging a whopper membership and the district does not receive a penny, why are taxpayers footing the bill for SOSP costs ?

Just looking at school district check registers over the past year (and we may have missed some) we came up with just under $23,000 in SOSP costs that the taxpayers/school district funded.  Why are we paying for these things when SOSP collects between $70,000 and $100,000 in membership fees annually?

Wait...isn't that MORE than we pay in ice time for hockey?  You know...hockey...as in the ones we were trying to gouge with a 275% fee increase to re-coup our costs?  Oh...that's right, there is no activity for for SOSP.

Perhaps there's an explanation, but without transparency in accounting, we won't have it.

Check run  Check#  Vendor              Inv. Date   Amount       Purpose

8/8/2011  109652  IDEAL CRANE RENTAL  07/08/2011  $55.00    SOSP SKYJACK PICK UP

8/8/2011  109652  IDEAL CRANE RENTAL  07/14/2011  $400.00   SOSP SKYJACK RENTAL

9/12/2011  110111  KOBUSSEN BUSES     07/31/2011  $4,669.59 PUPIL TRANS SOSP JULY

10/10/2011  110634  COLTS DRUM & BUGLE  08/31/2011  $12,655.00 SOSP EQUIP REPLACE

1/23/2012  112790  WARD BRODT MUSIC CO  12/31/2011  $330.00   SOSP EQUIP REPLACE 

6/11/2012  115768  IDEAL CRANE RENTAL   05/15/2012  $455.00   SOSP SKYJACK RENTAL

6/25/2012  115981  IDEAL CRANE RENTAL   05/21/2012  $55.00    SOSP SKYJACK PICKUP

6/25/2012  115981  IDEAL CRANE RENTAL   05/31/2012  $120.00   SOPS SKYJACK RENTAL

7/23/2012  116256  KOBUSSEN BUSES     06/30/2012  $3,926.35 PUPIL TRANS SOSP JUNE

7/23/2012  116327  FRED RENTS LLC     06/29/2012  $300.00     BG SOSP LIFT RENTAL

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

                                                 $22,965.94

And then there are the "stipends" we pay the SOSP leaders
Are you kidding us?  We pay the SOSP director (assuming 10 yrs experience) $8,700 but building leadership council members only a flat $500?  Or how about Curriculum Leadership Council members?  These are the teachers building the curriculum for...oh...you know...the actual education of our students?
And the most they get is $2,030...or less than what the SOSP "Assistant" receives?

And we also here that the band boosters or SOSP actually pay and additional stipend to the SOSP leaders.

Anything wrong with this picture?

What about kids that want the experience but cannot afford the membership fee?
It is Sun Prairie policy (and DPI rule) that economically disadvantaged kids shall not be charged extracurricular fees.  Since SOSP seems to operate outside of SPASD policies, we need to ask: are these same opportunities afforded for kids wishing to partake of the SOSP experience?  In his inimitable style, John Whalen attempted to put this to rest.  He stammered something like, "um...The Sound can offer scholarships...".  Great!  But having the ability to do something and actually doing something are horses of very different colors, Mr. Whalen?  Do you happen to know if any scholarships have actually been awarded?  Are they full scholarships (like SPASD) or do they just subsidize a few bucks?  What IS the policy?

What's all that spell?
We think it spells something like "needs further review".  Here's hoping the school board looks at this with as keen an eye as they did hockey fees.  And we better make DARN sure that DPI (A) knows the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and (B) there is no monkey business  that jeopardizes our receiving state aid for summer school.

This Lunch Smells Funny

 A funny thing happened while we were looking at Free/Reduced lunch percentages.   We were looking at SPASD data and happened upon the DPI files for individual school eligibility percentages.

And then we noticed that SP4K was listed in the 2009-10 all school data.

And THEN we noticed that SP4K had a Free/Reduced  (F/R) price meal eligibility percentage of 2%  (6 out of 381 kids).

And THEN we wondered how could that be...when the rest of the district averaged 27% for 2009-10 (ranging from 15% to 48% at individual schools)?

And THEN we noticed that the SP4K data was not reported for 2010-11.
An we wondered, "What's up with that?"
And so we went to work...

We tried to locate as many 4K schools across the state we could and compared the free/reduced meal eligibility of the 4K program to its district-wide percentage.

Granted, we could only positively identify 14 schools as being 4K (we wonder why...is it naming convention, or are most districts not reporting data for 4K).  But of the 14 schools, only 3 had 4K F/R %ages over 11%.  9 of the 14 has 4K F/R percentages at or below 7%.

And we found that interesting because the average district-wide F/R eligibility percentage for these districts was 36% (statewide, the average is 37%).  Hmmm....

Wasn't the whole idea of 4K to give kids a jump on learning to better prepare them for school?  And weren't kids from lower socioeconomic status homes identified as the kids that could benefit most from 4K?
If that's true, then why is the socioeconomic makeup of kids attending not very well mirroring the makeup of their districts?

Isn't anyone looking at this?  Particularly Sun Prairie...a district that prides itself as an academic leader?
These data, limited though they may be, sure seem to lend credence to those opposed to 4K, citing that it was merely serving as a form of taxpayer funded, elitist daycare.

You know...for a district that's showing a widening achievement gap in some of its schools, maybe it's time to spend more effort getting the kids that could most benefit from 4K into the program, instead of, say... buying candy as "rewards to motivate" kids?  Trips to China?

Are these highly paid administrators just bored with their jobs?  Constantly seeking some new"thing" to sink their teeth into?  When are we going to start focusing on the programs and kids we have now?

Wait...after hearing about her aversion to large numbers of F/R eligible kids, Caren Diedrich must just LOVE SP4K!

Statewide Benefit DIS-Parity?

A review of how a sampling of similar sized (to Sun Prairie) school districts reveals that generally--but not always-- AFSCME (American Federation of State, Country, and Municipal Employees) staffers generally get the short end of the benefit stick.

Heroes

We looked at 6 similar sized districts, and two stood out. Both Manitowoc and Middleton-Cross Plains school districts treat ALL employees equitably. Universal benefits are provided for all. The two were, however, at opposite ends of the budget spectrum. While Manitowoc seems to have established reasonable employee share costs of benefit packages, Middleton-Cross Plains throws caution to the wind and provides all benefits at no charge to the employees. Hmmm...no wonder why MCP is in the midst of a severe budget crisis.

Zeros

All the rest, including Sun Prairie. That makes 5 out 7, or 70%.

How can these school boards treat employee "classes" so differently and look at themselves in the mirror?

You'd think this might be something that a local or state newspaper might want to pick up on.

Of course, the STAR likes to play nicey-nice with the district. So we certainly couldn't expect Chris Mertes et al to expose something like this and use the old journalistic crowbar.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Equitable \ˈe-kwə-tə-bəl\, adj.: dealing fairly and equally with all concerned

Oh we've heard members of the school board and administration wax prophetically (and ad nauseam) about how they value their employees. And in how they treat all their employees fairly, as evidenced by the former Birthday KitKat bar (since replaced with the Birthday Granola Bar). And of course, let's not forget about memorial flowers should any employee suffer the loss of a family member.

So...all employees are treated "equitably"...right?

Hogwash!

The Sun Prairie Areas School District operates as a mini caste system, with Administrators clearly on top of the pecking order, and Local 60 (Support Staff) mired in the murky bottom. When it comes to contracts, Local 60 has clearly been fed the scraps after administrators, administrative support, and teachers have feasted like kings. In many ways, it could be said that the niceties bestowed upon these other groups are balanced by taking away from Local 60.

Finance Committee Citizen Representative Pastor Harold Rayford spoke loudly and clearly that the district should pay staff well since this is "a growing " school district and because we want to provide the best education possible. Either Pastor Rayford doesn't believe that Local 60 staff are part of that education equation, or maybe he just didn't know how inequitable the situation was.

This is going to be a very difficult year for wage adjustments. The teachers union has already been addressed through a 2-year contract signed last year. But what about raises for those hard-working Administrators? Administrative Support staff. Oh...wait...and what about Local 60, whose contract expired July 1? Are we once again going to pay the top of the caste and stiff the lowly Local 60?

More to the point:

When are we going to provide the same benefits at the same cost to each employee?

In state government (sorry, Seabass!) ALL permanent employees are afforded the same benefits, at the same cost. Why should it be so different for school district employees. Teachers may teach the kids, but custodial staff ensure that they teach in a clean environment. Food service staff make sure that the kids have a proper source of nutrition. And we know that without proper nutrition, learning is unlikely to occur.

Check out SPASD contracts for yourself

...............

Dear School Board...

Al Slane offered a challenge to you recently. We offer you a different one. We challenge you to create an equitable health insurance co-pay system. We realize you cannot reduce Local 60's share overnight. Nor can you bring the other groups' co-pays up to Local 60's level in one fell swoop.

What you MUST do is (1) identify the target percentage of health insurance costs which EACH employee shall pay (Hint, Hint: perhaps use other district contracts as a guide) and then (2) develop a plan to get there as quickly as possible.

Where's The Concern, Now?

We received a copy of the letter, which appeared in the STAR this week, from school board candidate John Welke. It's well written to the point, and attempts to revive an issue that the school board told us was critical two years ago, and yet they have subsequently ignored it.


Dear SP-EYE,
The Op Ed “Thanks But No Thanks” in last week’s edition of The Star was right on the money. This school district has a number of very important things that they should be focusing on rather than what their next conquest will be. Besides the things highlighted in that article here is yet another important issue that is not being addressed: Currently there are three elementary schools that have high percentages of economically disadvantaged students. Two are hovering around 35% and one is at 50% while the entire district average is only about 25%. This information is readily accessible to the District Administration and School Board Members but no one has heard a peep out of any of them on this subject!

As you might recall, several years ago the School Board, with District Administration support made some changes to try and balance socio-economic enrollments within the school district. At that time the Administration and School Board expressed great concern about the economic disparity between schools and made changes to address the situation. The changes they made temporarily reduced the concentrations of poverty in two of the highest percentage schools but, unfortunately the numbers now are actually worse than they were prior to the changes. Some will try to say that the economic downturn is the reason for the increase, but folks I have news for you, 50% is 50%, and that is the point where studies show achievement of all students in the school begins to decline.

So how about taking a break from your charter school study, implementing charge backs for staff appliance use and developing job descriptions for positions we don’t know when we will need and get to work on leveling the educational playing field for all students and staff in the district.

John Welke

SP-EYE Note: Welke is a candidate for school board in the April 6, 2010 elections.
We don't see any other candidates looking to address real issues, just more of the same rubber stamping. That is, those that actually attend meetings, eh Mr. McCourt?