Will the health benefits divide between Administrators and support staff be narrowed?

As past posts have shown, school district support staff pay a far larger share of their health insurance benefits than do teachers or administrators. Tomorrow (Monday May 19 @ 5:30 pm), the school board's Administratiove Compensation Benefits subcommittee meets to discuss/exchange proposals for the next contract between the School District and Administrators.

Although they can go into closed session on occasion, this is a public meeting and attendance will offer a window into the high-stakes negotiation tactics employed. Feel free to attend and see how hard our elected "leaders" bargain. Think the board will be as hard-nosed as they were on the boundary issue? Think there will be pizza or subs?

Download a copy of the Public notice

120 SPHS Students missing?

It's 9:00 am...do you know where your high school students are?

A "Concerned Citizen" was wondering about the recent numbers of high school students posted. Concerned Citizen (do you get a visual of the "Smoking Man" of X-Files fame?) asked a very simple question. Concerned Citizen pointed out that the official "3rd Friday" (of September) count of Sun Prairie High School students was 1733. Then, the March 2008 official total of 1674 students was released. Finally, High School principal Paul Keats issued a revised HS honor roll student count indicating the total was now 1613 students.

We understand that the boundary issue has weighed heavily on the minds of the district. Also put aside for a moment any questions of whether a reduction of this magnitude suggests we didn't even need a new school (current HS capacity is about 1816). Do we need to call an Amber Alert for the 120 SPHS students that are missing since September? Where did they go? Has Sun Prairie High become Sunny Prairie-dale High? Are there dark forces at work here?

Thanks to Alice Murphy, Assistant District Administrator for Instructional Programs, the mystery has been answered. Between September and January, we lost 41 students from the original 1733, taking it to 1692. Then 18 HS students graduated early in December, taking the total to 1674 students for the 3/31/08 count. The difference between the total of 1613 students (reported after the honor roll fiasco) and the 1674 (61 students) represents those students who received 1 or more "incompletes" for a class, thus excluding them from calculations to determine whether or not they were qualified for the honor roll.

Mystery solved. While it's clear that the number changes during the school year, we can say that as of May 1, 2008, there were 1670 students attending SPHS (9th: 461; 10th: 412; 11th: 411; 12th: 386). [Source: School Board mtg package enrollment information] An additional 68 students attend the SOAR, alternative high school.

Much thanks to Concerned Citizen for looking at the numbers in such detail! We only become more knowledgeable when we ask questions. Isn't that what we're teaching our students? One of the problems with computers and technology is that these wonderful databases only provide us with data based on the query we make (the age old IO problem). Perhaps, in addition to hard coding the honor roll criterion into the query, we might also want to ensure that the total count is based on ALL students, not just those without "incomplete " grades.

Boundary Issue Redux: Board Stubbornly Affirms Its Earlier Decision

As each board member philosophised their individual positions on the March 11th boundary decisions, it became clear where they stood. No vote was needed. Finally. Jim Carrel moved that the board rescind it's March 11th decision, which was seconded by board resident David Stackhouse. The roll was called:

In favor (of rescinding the decision): Stackhouse, Carrel, Camber-Davidson
Opposed: Diedrich, Whalen, Shimek, McCourt

And so it went; the motion to rescind failed 3-4. But let's backup a bit.

The agenda item began with countless members of the public once again imploring the board to reconsider the decisions made on March 11th ( http://sp-eye.blogspot.com/2008/03/sun-prairie-school-boundaries-finalized.html ). Another 62 cards were turned in from those people that did not wish to speak, but who support rescinding the earlier vote. A petition containing signatures of 500 community residents who also supported rescinding the decision was presented.

Yes, many of these folks had "said their piece" at previous meetings. But there was a different feeling in the air. This was not a bunch of "elitists" who simply didn't want their kids going to a different school. This was a community that organized, did extensive research into the issue and numbers, and presented their case firmly.

But most importantly, this group came forward offering to be part of the solution, rather than just voicing opposition. Loudly and clearly, these folks stated that they only wanted a temporary reprieve from the boundary decisions in order that the District take the necessary time to do this job right, rather than slapping on another temporary band-aid. They told the board that if, after properly researching all the issues, the board had clear data which indicated that moving their children made the most sense for the District, then they would abide by that decision.

This was also not just parents...but a number of teachers from Bird Elementary spoke out in support of rescinding the decision. Is this not the definition of community based, data-driven decisions? In most cases, board members need to wrap themselves around a board decision. Sometime, however, they do "get it wrong". (Have the 4 board members forgotten the Madison school board's school naming fiasco?). And in those rare instances, board members need to put on their big boy (and girl) pants and admit their error. They will be bigger people and garner much more respect for it. Unfortunately it's too late.

Some key highlight's from individual board members' soliloquies:

Jill Camber-Davidson: "This move has not just affected the kids, but the entire community. Free/Reduced lunches does not mean a problem child; it's just an indication of need or an achievement gap. There are studies that show obese children don't have problems with achievement. What's next...balancing the district's children for obesity?"

John Whalen : "There's nothing to say that was not said on March 11th. I didn't come here with my mind made up."


Caren Diedrich: [SP-EYE note: Warning. The following quotes have been rated at least PG-13. Ms. Diedrich didn't speak to the audience, she nearly screamed at them, all the while chastising them.] "This pretty much ruined my weekend. I'm tired of the pissing contest...move this kid here, move that kid there. I don't appreciate YOU [the parents who spoke] managing our schools. Bitch at us. He [Culver] manages the schools according to our direction. [after analyzing things] you left me with very few things that it could be [reasons for opposition]. Could it be that your kids just don't want to rub elbows with the Westside kids? "


Jim Carrel: "We 7 serve at the discretion of the voters. If we're doing something that alienates the community, then we're doing something wrong. I did not make condescending assumptions on why you did not want your kids to be moved' I came to you and asked. We didn't listen. We did this...the 7 of us...actually, just 3 of us. The question is not whether to rescind the decision; that is obvious. We are not balancing diversity by moving 13 kids.


Jim McCourt: "I don't think it's obvious. I haven't heard anything new. You can't assume a decision will be rescinded just because there are new board members. To think that [because 40 kids will be moving out of the District as a result of this change] that we'll re-think our decision? I'm not saying it's just a threat."

Terry Shimek: "This is not necessarily the best solution, but it's an equitable solution. Did we choose the best process? No....but in the end it worked. The Bird folks presented some good information. We [board members] can't communicate [outside meetings] so I don't know if everyone read it all...but I think they all did."

David Stackhouse: "My goal has always been to support board decisions. But I disagree with this decision...it was a short term fix. As a district we need to make all our schools equal...to a point. I think we made a mistake and need to pull it back."

SPHS Honor roll....a different view

The recent Sun Prairie High School Honor roll error has caused quite a stir. In fact, the news tidbit has been picked up by a number of news services: north as far as Eagle River, east to Sheboygan, west to Eau Claire, and even south as far as Chicago. Google "sun prairie honor roll" and see for yourself. Slow news day? Or was the information of value for some other reason?

What we have learned is this:

1. The "error" was that instead of printing out a list of students with a 3rd quarter GPA of 3.2 and above, the list included all students with a GPA of 2.0 and above.


2. "We should have had 694 students that were listed as making the honor roll," said Sun Prairie High School Principal Paul Keats. "Because of the mistake we had 1,339 that were listed."

SP-EYE requested the corrected numbers from Mr. Keats and learned the following:

.......................Honor Roll......TotalStudents
12th grade:.........167...................358................47%
11th grade:.........171...................398................43%
10th grade:.........160...................400................40%
..9th grade:........196...................457................43%
____________________________________
Total...............694..................1613................43%

Certainly, the original list was a cause for concern as it meant that 83% of SPHS students had achieved a 3rd quarter average grade of about a B+ or better (standard grading for a B+ is 3.3 out of 4.0 GPA; SPHS uses 3.2 as a cut-off for honor roll).

What else does the information tell us?
If 1339 of 1613 students had a GPA of 2.0 or above (83%)
and the actual number of students with a GPA of 3.2 or above is 694,
then 1339 - 694 = 645...and that's the number of students with a GPA of 2.0 to 3.2.
The # of students with a GPA below 2.0 would be 1613- 1339 or 274 (17%).

How does all this stack up against a statistically "normal" distribution? 68% of students would be expected to obtain a grade of C (1.7-2.3). 13.6% would be expected to earn a grade of "B" (2.7-3.3". Another 13.6% would be expected to earn a "D" grade. Under a normal distribution, 2.2% of students would earn an "A", while another 2.2% would be expected to fail.

Let's Not Discuss Our Dirty Laundry...

During the section on open records at Tuesday's school board working session, board president David Stackhouse asked community member Roger Fetterly if there was anything else he'd like to add. It happened so quickly, we still can't recall how the conversation turned to expulsion, but it did. Noting that there have been so many expulsion hearings, Fetterly suggested that the district should be informing people about expulsions. Stackhouse angrily asked, "Why would we want to [notify the public] about expulsions? Who would want to know that?!

Reality Bites
OK...time out. Let's analyze that statement. We think we get the point that Stackhouse is trying to make. Certainly, expulsions for certain reasons (e.g., weapons) could alarm the public. We don't want to do that. Expulsion is one of those dark secrets we don't want to talk about...the unsightly stains on the unmentionables, so to speak. We might be OK with letting our freak flag fly, but who wants to have their marked boxers hanging out on the clothesline? Right? Last but not least we have the growing community to think about. If people think the schools are "troubled" with violence then they may be less inclined to mortgage their lives away to purchase a house in Sun Prairie. Or, to put it differently, "If I wanted to pay that much for a house where there are "problems" in the schools, then I'd just live in Madison." Right? There are a lot of Sun Prairie homes on the market, and we've all read about what happens when enrollment declines.

SP Expulsions up 400%
Let's recap ( see http://sp-eye.blogspot.com/2008/04/expulsions-up-400.html )

There have been 16 expulsion hearings this year. There have been 15 expulsions. We're certain the 16th was also expelled, but we have to make a separate public records request to find that out, what grade level, and the reason.


Back to Stackhouse's angered response. Is Stackhouse maybe responding for the district and not as a member of the public? Who would want to know that expulsions are occurring? Maybe the same people that would want to know that a convicted (and released) sexual predator is living in their neighborhood? Parents worry about their children...and we know Stackhouse does too. If Stackhouse can step outside of his shoes for a moment and wear those of a new community member, or one considering moving here, he WOULD want to know if there were behavioral or violence problems in the schools.


So, expulsions are one of those family secrets that we acknowledge only privately. We solemnly pass a look to each other that communicates concern, but then we move on. Out of sight, out of mind. Not unlike your crazy aunt's drinking problems, or the cousin who continually is in trouble with the law. And in those cases, not talking about it might be a way of forgetting about it and moving on.


But these are our kids, too! We've expelled SEVEN middle school kids this year so far! Half of the expulsions so far are not even of high school age! These are barely teenagers! We constantly hear board members preaching that it's about ALL the kids. Does that mean the ones that are expelled too? Or have we given up on them? And what happens to a pre-teen child that is expelled? We still have a responsibility to educate them...usually by home tutoring at the taxpayer's expense. Oh we LOVE to use the word connectedness, and preach its importance. I'm sure those kids feel connected. Do students expelled from high school simply drop out? Maybe we'd like to know what happens to these kids. We understand the privacy element, but we CAN speak in generics without identifying students. And it's not like their peers don't know who got expelled and the kid magically disappears. People WILL talk. And the only way to dispel a rumor is to be open about what's going on. Newsflash! Deflecting the issue is only going to make people smell something wrong.

Out of sight, out of mind?
If a problem isn't on our collective radar screen, then how can we address it? This past Tuesday, board members identified the issues in the district that they wanted to work on in the coming year. Not a single one mentioned the rise in expulsions as an issue worth addressing. The only one that came close was Jim Carrel who alluded to seeing the influx of lower income families and the associated "behavioral demographics" the board has encountered via expulsion hearings.


Are board members aware, and just do not care? (because that is one problem) Or is the larger problem that a lack of information about expulsions precludes the issue from appearing on radar screens until some tragedy occurs?


We've spent taxpayer dollars to hire a Communications Manager to put more spin on school district issues than Rocket Roger Clemens used to put on his curve ball. So, why aren't we using this asset to turn this frown upside down? You cant just sell the good stuff. Maybe it's time the District put something together along the lines of, "Hey! You may had noticed that the number of expulsions has increased significantly. This is what happens after an expulsion (yada yada yada).


Madison is talking about the issue. So whay aren't we?
Think that you don't want to know about expulsions? That there's no story there? What about the kid from Madison who was expelled recently for bringing a knife to school--to cut an onion for a science project. He doesn't sound like Public Enemy #1. http://www.channel3000.com/news/1386173/detail.html

As a result of public outcry, Madison is now discussing a change to its zero-tolerance policy. (see http://www.channel3000./education/16042967/detail.html )

In short, instead of getting all defensive about the issue--like there's something to hide or be ashamed of--let's put a plan in place to resolve the problem. And, as long as you continue to want to keep this quiet, there are those in the public that will make public record requests to ferret out the very information that you seem to not wish to share. These stories WILL get out. It's all a question of whether the district and the board wish to be PROactive or REactive.

SP-EYE supported the high school's strict approach to handling the fighting that was occurring last year. But new issues are occurring: weapons and drugs. The public has a right to know WHAT is happening in our schools and HOW the district is dealing with it. Consequently, cramming these skeletons in a closet is not the solution....everyone knows that eventually the closet becomes overfilled, the contents spill out, and all hell breaks loose.

School board members are elected BY the people to tell us openly what is going on. To say the least, it's a question of ethics when you don't share with us the not-so-good news. We're investing in our childrens' educations. School board members and administration staff are our "portfolio managers" per se. Wouldn't you want the person who invests your future to share more than just the good news with you?

The School Board Unplugged

Tuesday May 5th was the annual school board "working session" (read: no cameras or microphones) to establish Committee assignments and discuss individual and group goals for the year.

Of course there was pizza (looked like 4 medium pizzas and (2) 2-L bottles of soda (Pepsi and MUG Root Beer if you're interested). But very little was eaten. Oh...but we digress...we should talk about what happened at the meeting.

Carrel takes a new job?
The session began with brief member intros about themselves. The one note of interest was that Jim Carrel used most of his time to explain that he missed the earlier intros because he had to take a call. He has been contacted by a recruiter...a "headhunter"...and for some reason felt people should know that "this was the hiring phone call". Carrel concluded by noting that this was a great job because he "won't have to move and it will help with the people that get upset about [Carrel] not abstaining on checks [to his current (former?) employer, Johnson Controls].

Individual goals
An interesting session where each board member discussed his/her "hot issues".

David Stackhouse: Now that the high school space issue has been resolved, wants to focus on "something else", like connectedness, student achievement. Create enough opportunities for kids so that we're getting kids engaged and preparing them for their futures after high school.

Caren Diedrich: Interested in looking into, at least on a trial basis, same gender classes was done in Janesville. Review whether we are really maximizing education at the elementary level (this is the point at which we need to engage kids in learning). Consider starting a 4-yr old kindergarten program. Look into starting Spanish in earlier grades.

John Whalen: Interested in whatever it takes to get our kids to be the best students, the most highly educated, so that they can be successfully and eventually give back to the community.

Jim Carrel: Would like to see some new standards for building efficiency...more than just cost per square foot. Sustainability as more than an environmental issue, but socioeconomical concerns. Noting the changing behavioral and financial demographics within the district, wants to "level the playing field" for all students. Wants to better understand "how students get educated"...the education structure. Interested in continuing the community engagement process ("if it's a 10-mile walk, we've just gotten to the door"). Would like the high school to have a competitive debate team (corrected Tim Culver that forensics is not debating; debating is a category of forensics).

Terry Shimek: Primary concern is to provide value in all decisions we make. Cost not to be a deterrent; need to take care of current students' needs first. Look at more involvement for students in extracurriculars, particularly in middle and elementary schools. Expansion for talented & gifted students (note: Shimek's wife is a TAG teacher for the district). Would like to see SP have at least one National Merit scholar annually. More rewards for teachers that are really doing outstanding things. Fiscal responsibility - need to balance opportunity costs with buildings. Wants district to have a swimming pool.

Jill Camber-Davidson: Did not want one high school. Now that the decision has been made, how can we ensure that we can make it the best it can be and kids don't get lost. Agreed with Caren Diedrich; maximize education potential at the elementary level. At the community level, we need to heal the wounds which were opened during the boundary process. We need a better way for dealing with boundaries. When we talk of moving kids based on their parents' incomes, what message are we sending?

Board Committee assignments
It was hard to hear and Stackhouse flew through his assignments. What we gathered (will be announced at next school board meetings was:
FTT - Jim Carrel (chair), Jill Camber-Davidson, and _________
Human Resources- Caren Diedrich (Chair?) and Jim McCourt

Open Records
No board members had any questions. They all have this stuff down cold.
David Stackhouse made some sharp comments in response to a citizen whom Stackhouse had asked for input on the issue. Geee...do you want to offer some input on this issue? SLAM! More on that later!

Open Meetings
No board members had any questions. Predictably, Jim Carrel took the opportunity to defend that the board did not have to public notice their "dinner" during the WASB conference. As usual he got it half right. The board still needs documentation that no public business was discussed during said dinner.

Expulsion became a hot topic. We'll talk more about that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Catch the School Board...Unplugged

If you attend ONE school board meeting, this is the one that you should attend:

o Tuesday, May 6, 2008 5:30 p.m.
o School Board work/study meeting,
o at the School District Office (Room 106)
o 501 S. Bird St., Sun Prairie.

See the school board with microphones and camera off (of course, seeing the agenda, this is probably the one meeting that SHOULD be shown on TV).

The agenda includes the following:

4. Individual and Board goals (Policy BA)
5. Committee assignments (who will chair which committee)
6. Liaison selection
7. Policy & procedure review
___A. BHA, New Board Member Orientation
___B. BHA-R, Board Orientation Procedures
8. Questions & answers regarding the following documents:
___A. Wisconsin Public Records Law
___B. Wisconsin Open Meetings Law
___D. 65.90 Municipal budgets
___E. 19.59 Codes of ethics for local government officials, employees and candidates

Issues such as Open Meetings and Open Records have plagued the school board both recently and in years past. This meeting will give residents an opportunity to see the board discuss how they plan to address these subjects. The only rule for attendance is that, unlike a routine board meeting, where the agenda provides opportunities for citizen input, this session is for the board members. But we do get to observe.

...and don't be discouraged by the fact that the meeting is being scheduled in a tiny conference room at the District headquarters. This meeting, like all other school board meetings (except those few which meet criteria for a closed meeting), MUST be a public meeting.

More importantly, there should be NO reason why the board should feel uncomfortable discussing these subjects openly. This doesn't have to be a touchy-feely kumbaya session. It NEEDS to be a frank discussion about the school board's legal and ethical responsibilities. And those are things, we, the public DO have a right to be in on. We encourage folks to attend this session. If the close quarters get cramped, the board should do the right thing and move it to Room 100, the District's large meeting room.

Do you think there will be pizza or subs??

Carrel Responds...

Letter! We get letters...and e-mails!
Imagine that...Carreel has it within him to admit he made a trivial error... but then insists that his conclusions are still correct. Isn't that kinda like the guy who said, "I thought I was wrong once...but it turns out I wasn't". Not exactly the reach-down-deep-inside response we were looking for. and Jim, we too can admit when we're wrong. But we're not, in this case. Does that have a familiar ring to it?

Jim Carrel has even obtained a legal opinion that his conclusions are correct. But don't you worry Sun Prairie residents, the beautiful thing about the law is that even if it seem apparent that it says one thing, there's always a lawyer out there that believes it says the opposite. Jim Carrel must have found that lawyer.

If you ask SP-EYE, Carrel's logic represents the biggest stretch since Ryan Leaf was selected #2 overall in the 1998 NFL draft.

[SP-EYE does the math: $3,000 for a 2-3 day conference means that their "lost wages" represent as much as $1,000 a day? That would put their "day job" salaries at about $125/hr, or $250K per year. Now THAT is a tall tale! What we like about Carrel is that he doesn't just dream, he dream BIG.]

Is it possible that Carrel (and others) could successfully seek reimbursement for their $2,000 to $3,000 each in lost wages? Sure. Anything's possible. It's been possible each year for a long time that the Cubs would win a World Series...but they haven't.

Two things would have to happen in order for Carrel's scenario to even remotely appear on the threat warning detector.

First, Carrel would have to convince someone that attendance at the annual convention represents a "required duty" of a school board member. The State Statute Carrel DOESN'T point out, 120.12, outlines the legal duties of a school board. There are 26 line items. Funny, not one of them says anything about conference attendance. It's called choices, Mr. Carrel. You can choose to attend, or choose not to. But it's not a pre-requisite of the job.

The second thing that would have to happen (assuming he could ever get past #1) is that at an annual meeting of the electors, the electors would have to vote to approve such a reimbursement. You think THAT's going to happen? It's been tough just getting approval to pay those board members $3,200 per year for their time and effort. What on earth makes Carrel think the electors would vote to reimburse ANY school board member for $3,000 for one conference that's not remotely mandatory. It's more likely the electors would vote to lynch him.
So sleep easy, Sun Prairie. Jim Carrel can boast all he wants. SP-EYE will be here to give you not just the facts, but documentation to support them.

Read for yourself: Ch. 120, State Statutes

Boundary Issue back on the agenda!

The rumors were correct, and it was announced at Monday's meeting that the school board will put the controversial boundary issue back on the agenda for its May 12 meeting. President Stackhouse kept a good poker face and didn't give any indication of whether it would be merely to appease those that have lobbied hard...and convincingly...to re-consider the decision.

Will the board simply vote to reaffirm its earlier decision? Or will the boundaries be up for discussion again? Tune in May 12.

Culver controversy put to bed...at last

And no...Tim Culver didn't fall asleep during last night's meeting. After more than 6 months, the school board finally added some documentation to a long standing "undocumented understanding" regarding reimbursement for district administrator Tim Culver's Rotary Club membership. The board voted unanimously to approve payment of the dues, and meals at Rotary meetings "going forward" (whatever that means). We're wondering if that means we'll still pay for it if Culver retires. When exactly does "going forward" stop?

We're on record of supporting the membership...just not how it was documented...i.e., not at all. This district needs to be run more like a business and not using the Loosey Goosey method of fiscal accounting. Culver's contract already includes stipulations that one national and one state membership will be paid for by the District Why not add a local membership...the Rotary. Then it gets tied to his employment, and all "benefits" reside in a single place....the contract. The board signs "side letters to contracts all the time".

The board responded that all checks get approved by the Finance Committee and then the board, so therefore the membership was already approved. Yep...and folks watch those checks really well...don't they? At the last board meeting a check had to be re-issued because it was originally paid out to the wrong vendor. Did anyone notice? Frankly it's only a few citizens and one citizen rep on the Finance Committee that ever ask for explanation of ANY checks. Has anyone ever counted the checks that are written by the District in a single 2-week period? There are a lot of pucks that could get past the goalie.

Ahhhh...but we're not bitter...and we're not taking it personally, Mr. Carrel! Disappointed? Certainly. A citizen poses an equally simple , and arguably more defensible solution, but the board disagrees. No wonder people have been asking if the board simply votes down anything certain citizens speak out about. No...our elected leaders would never do such a thing. Clearly they know better how to manage the District's $65 M finances.

At least we finally have a firm, documented vote/approval on the expenditure instead of a bunch of "yeah...it's come up over the years....we've talked about that...just never taken any action on it".

Whalen Decisions Carrel in 7!

Nope...Monday's school board meeting did not erupt in fisticuffs. But it did take 7 rounds of voting to break a 3-3 tie vote for Vice President of the school board! Board policy is to continue voting until either everyone falls asleep or a majority vote is obtained. We might want to put that particular policy in the "Huh???" column. I mean...seriously....if the President is ill or unable to make a meeting, it's not like the VP takes over as leader of the free school district.

Inquiring minds were postulating that a series of six 3-3 votes is either a sign of yet another split within the board or that Jim Carrel's venomous tirade against fellow board members has not yet been forgotten.

People are also wondering how the 3-3 tie dissolved into a 4-2 Whalen victory. Did Carrel fall on his sword and switch his vote? Or did someone else turn on Carrel.

In other officer election results, David Stackhouse, predictably, was a unanimous choice for President, as was Jim McCourt for Treasurer (after Caren Diedrich declined the nomination). Carrel was voted Clerk and Jill Camber Davidson was voted Deputy Clerk.

Why SP-EYE?

In his STAR editorial, school board member Jim Carrel states (not alleges) that this blog is "filled with hatred for the School Board". Webster's defines hatred as "Strong aversion; intense dislike; hate; an affection of the mind awakened by something regarded as evil. " Mr. Carrel does not understand; in fact, Carrel mimself sat down with SP-EYE back in January for a quite candid, amiable discussion over soft drinks. On a personal level, SP-EYE harbors no malice or ill will towards any board member. There is concern however, that these same people take on very different characteristics when they settle into their board seats. Sometimes the change is so startling, it seems that a call to Buffy the Vampire Slayer is in order.

Board members were each elected to manage the school district from a fiscal and policy angle, while adhering to the voices of the community. Yet, they only listen when droves of people come to meetings to speak out...and sometimes not even then. Community residents are very busy with their own lives and families, and frequently only think about the board when property tax bills arrive or prior to referendum elections. These folks need access to more complete information more regularly. Perhaps if they have ALL the information, they will communicate their feelings to board members directly or at meetings. Change starts small.

Reading this blog represents a choice, just as choosing to disregard some residents is a choice of the school board. Free will and democracy are indeed wonderful things. People have the right to read the information presented here and look further into it (trust but verify) as they see fit. If they don't like the tone or the information, they can choose to read no further. Life is but a series of choices.

While SP-EYE has a number of concerns regarding actions (or inaction) of the school board, fiscal responsibility concerns are firmly ensconced in the top slot. Some folks and board members feel that the issues raised involve petty amounts. Isn't that up to the community to decide? Relative to a $65M budget, some amounts might seem small, but they all add up...and quickly. More importantly, loose control over fiscal matter can lead to fiscal abuse. What are some of the issues?

Fast food expenditures. Last year over $5,000 for fast food at Milio's, Cousins, Pizza Hiut and others. This year (to date) over $3600 has been spent.

Flowers. Over $370.00 has been spent this year(to date), and over $500 last year. We all share thoughts of grief, convalescence, or joy for co-workers, but not on the taxpayers' dime).

Attorney's fees. We pay at least $230/hour to a fiorm on retainer. Do we really need to consult an attorney over whether to release the resumes and applications of candidates for a vacant school board seat? For the release of names and e-mail addresses of citizens serving on a committee? On one bill alone over $2,800 was spent in response to the basketball coach fiasco.
Contract Compliance. Failure to monitor contract limitations and hold the line on reimbursements allowable by contract (Tim Culver). If Culver wanted the Rotary membership and expenses to be covered under his contract, he and the board should have negotiated it. He gets paid plenty. I'm almost surprised we didn't include a monthly Starbucks allotment.

Competitive Bidding. Choosing not to use competitive bidding to award major work such as the architect for Creekside and the new high school. Competition can help get quality AND the best price.

Conference costs. Sending 6 school board members to the annual state school board conference (the infamous $42/person steak dinner; not to mention total conference costs) when 1-2 could have gone and brought back key information represents nothing more than taxpayer waste. Having 6 board members dining with the Administrator (without public notice) could also be viewed as a violation of Open Meetings laws.

Other expensditures. Approving $2,226 for the Academic Decathlon team to spend 1? 2? nights at the Concourse hotel) exactly 11 miles away from SPHS is really a questionable expense. Yes, this team did an awesome job. But we have other sports teams that perform equally gruelling tasks (on a physical level) yet they come home on a long bus ride late at night. Check #85470 $2226 Concourse Hotel 3/11/08 . Lodging for HS Acadec state competition for six students and their advisor. The students paid for half of the hotel cost and the district paid for the other half. $2,226 for 7 people = $318/person. Location : 1 W Dayton St. Madison; 11.64 miles Time: 26 mins from SPHS.

This case in particular begs further review. In theory, a request was made (and approved) by the high school principal. From there, approval (or approvals) was (were) obtained from district administration. Someone should have said "I'm sorry, but we can't approve this". The problem is that once it got to the school board's Finance Committee, the charges had already been made. What were they going to do, deny the check? So, instead of taking formal action to ensure that such a deicison does not occur again, they rationalized approval. Someone must be held accountable. Has this step now set a precedent? When our sports teams travel to Janeville or Beloit, much further away, and finish up late at night prior to a school day, do we put them up in a hotel?

These are arguably merely the tip of the iceberg. But we'll never know what else is going on until people start looking at financial data and administrative decisions in detail, and then taking the difficult, but necessary, corrective action to change the status quo.

It's time to make fiscal responsibility a higher priority in this school district. No more glossing over the checks written twice each month.

School Board to elect new officers

At the Monday April 28, 2008, new board members Jill Camber-Davidson and Terry Shimek will take their oath of office. The other big business item will be election of board officers.

Click to download the board package

Carrel whines; "Let us wine & dine! (on the taxpayer dime)"

Jim Carrel used the STAR this week to "set the record straight". Kinda sounded a lot like his e-mail about a year ago, where he said, " I'm not sure what his agenda is, but I would recommend you contact me and not others anytime you have a question....".

Only once again, Mr. Carrel says to listen to his facts, not those in "some blog". It was a moving opinion piece. Too bad he got it all wrong (again).

Carrel cites state statute (or law). We only hope he doesn't read critical school board materials like he reads statutes, because he got it all wrong. In fact, the section of statutes he quoted has nothing to do with school boards! He apparently was so driven to find some way to substantiate his $42 steak dinner (and threaten ability to charge more) that he didn't read the introduction to the section he quoted. When he found these sections he surely must have had one helluva case of premature elation.

Here's what the statute language immediately PRIOR to his citations clarifies:

19.59(1)(g)1. In this paragraph:
19.59(1)(g)1.a. "District" means a local professional baseball park district created under subch. III of ch. 229 or a local professional football stadium district created under subch. IV of ch. 229.
19.59(1)(g)1.b. "District board member" means a member of the district board of a district.

Sorry, Jim...but you're a school district board member...not a Pro baseball or football park district board member. Your facts are in error, and you have no right to threaten that you COULD charge "$2,000 or 3,000" to the taxpayers.

But see for yourself. Don't blindly listen to anyone. Instead, opt to find a source of information and then practice the fine art of "trust, but verify". Read for yourself the sections of state statute he quoted. Several of us are pretty well versed in reading statute and administrative code. It doesn't appear that Mr. Carrel is.


Ch. 19, WI Statutes

Strike 2, Mr. Carrel.

Your 2nd error was your interpretation of the statutes related to reimbursement of school board members' expenses. The statute says:

120.10 Powers of annual meeting. The annual meeting of a common or union high
school district may:

120.10(4) Authorize the payment of actual and necessary expenses of a school
board member when traveling in the performance of
duties and the reimbursement of a school board member for actual
loss of earnings when duties require the school board member to be absent from
regular employment.

A. The statute offers an option: "may". That means the electors MAY choose to authorize a reimbursement. If it were a "shall", then it would be something that ONLY the electors can do. But it doesn't address setting a policy for maximum reimbursement. The BOARD does that. Wait. The Board SHOULD do that...since they did for teachers and Local 60 members.

B. It is arguable at best that attending an OPTIONAL conference represents "traveling in the performance of duties". We're pretty sure the duties of a school board member do not say "must attend conferences".

STRIKE 3; YOU'RE OUT!

Carrel stated,

"Some of the blogs are written by individuals or groups full of bitterness and rage and offer nothing more than hatred." and [Chris Mertes] accurately quoted from a local blog which is filled with hatred for the School Board."

For an elected official, Mr. Carrel sure operates off of a lot of supposition. Does that make for a good board member? Mr. Carrel has no idea what emotions drive this blog. In fact he claims he doesn't even read it. When looking for the requisite qualities in a school board member we must have missed the part where it says, "a good board member will subjectively label things of which s/he has no knowledge or without even reading them."

Is SP-EYE frustrated with actions of our school board? Sure. But according to the election results, SP-EYE is not alone in that emotion. What does drive SP-EYE is a profound lack respect for those that cannot simply take responsibility for a bad action on their part. Rather than saying, "You know what? Maybe that $42 steak dinner was a bad idea.", Carrel and others are on a never ending quest to somehow justify what they do. In fact, in this recent editorial, Carrel even (incorrectly) suggested that they COULD charge us for lost wages!

Here's hoping Jill Camber-Davidson and Terry Shimek bring a different approach to these issues.

I guess this constitutes another finger pointing. Wonder which one?

Culver Controversy Continues...

It's been well over 6 months since it was pointed out by a citizen at a school board Finance Committee meeting, and later at full board meetings, that Tim Culver's reimbursement for Rotary Club dues exceed the terms of his contract.

Finance Committee chair Jim McCourt isn't concerned. Off the record, another current board member stated that it should be addressed, but "likely we [the school board] will simply vote to amend Culver's contract to include the Rotary Club dues".

Some wonder how sweet a deal does our District Administrator have to get before our elected school board members, cry foul? A contract is a contract, and if this one is being exceeded, what else is being exceeded? Are the school district's finances an open-air chicken coop?

Culver's contract calls for :

$135, 454 salary ( $11,288/mo)
$ 3,900 ($ 325/m0) for use of his car within Dane Co
$ 1,500 ($ 125/mo) for "miscellaneous out of pocket expenses"

We, the taxpayers, already pay for two memberships, as per the contract.

Should Culver's $125/month, automatic pay, for "miscellaneous expenditures" be used to cover his $25/quarter Rotary dues? Last year taxpayers paid just over $400 for his Rotary Club dues and meals during their meetings. Isn't that precisely the kind of expense for which he's already paid $125 per month?

We're sure this is one of those small insignificant amounts that new board member Terry Shimek indicated that he wasn't concerned about during the elections. Wonder if he'd feel that way if it were coming out of HIS own pocket?

Retiring from the Sun Prairie School District

[pt 4. in a series exploring the contractual differences between Administrators, teachers (SPEA) and support staff (AFSCME Local 60)]

Retirement. It's what we all look forward to as age creeps up on us. For most folks, the nagging question, "Will I have enough money to live comfortably in retirement?" is overshadowed by the larger question: "How will I pay for my health insurance premiums when I retire."

If you can stave off retirement until age 65, you'll be eligible for Medicare (of course that's not exactly free is it?). But what if you've worked hard from a young age and would like to truly enjoy retirement? What if you want to punch out at say age 55 or age 60? In this part of our series on contractual equity, we look at how the contracts for these 3 groups of District employees factor into the retirement equation.

Health Insurance Premiums

The table at right compares retirement benefits for the 3 groups.

First stop is the Local 60 group. These folks are awarded a whopping $3,600 to be placed in a fund to pay for health insurance premiums. At today's district rates for monthly premiums for a family,at todays rates, at best that buys them 3-4 months of health insurance before they have to pony up the full $1200-1400/month. Better wait till age 65 to retire and roll the dice with Medicare.

Next stop is the SPEA (teachers) 60 group. These folks are funded according to a more generous system that, with only 20 years in and with the contract maximum accrued leave, pays them t least 10 TIMES what the Local 60 folks get, or $36,000 for health insurance premiums. At today's district rates for monthly premiums for a family, that buys them about 3 years of health insurance before they have to pony up the full $1200-1400/month. These folks could easily retire at 62 and pay not a dime until Medicare kicks in. Noteworthy as well is that, in addition to the health insurance funding, an additional $9,600 is placed in a retirement annuity account.

Last stop: Administrators. All these folks have to do is work at least 12 years and their health care account is funded with 100% of their salary at retirement. Right now these folks average about $90,000/year. That's nearly 3x what SPEA gets and over 25 times what Local 60 gets. At today's district rates for monthly premiums for a family, that buys them about 8 years of health insurance before they have to pony up the full $1200-1400/month. These folks could easily retire at 58 and pay not a dime until Medicare kicks in.

That's the story on retirement benefits. Some have a very sweet deal; others definitely do not fare so well. The only thing that is equal for all 3 groups is that they are part of the Wisconsin Retirement system. That's definitely a nice perk...depending on your salary at retirement and years of service.

Bray & Sun Prairie - Just how cozy are we?

Cozy enough that we buy THEM lunch...not vice versa! Imagine that. WE (the taxpayers) buy the architect (who we payed over $3M just for their work on the new high school) lunch!

That's right. Buried within pages and pages of checks written by the school district is one to Milio's. Thanks to the questioning of a detailed community member, an inquiry was made regarding check number 855855 in the amount of $209.11 to Milio's for the dreaded "Multiple Invoices".


What does "Multiple Invoices mean? Well it means you have go to another file "the Check Detail for 04-14-08". From this we get the information at right. That this is actually THREE checks made out to Milio's (SP-EYE: see the BAFFLE report for more info on that subject).
http://sp-eye.blogspot.com/2007/08/more-pizza-and-subs-for-district.html

Step 3 of the convoluted process is that someone has to make an inquiry to find out exactly what $44.70 for "HS Office Supplies" really means. Deputy District Administrator Phil Frei explained,

"Bray and Paul Keats met with staff regarding the new high school. In the past Paul Keats (via the district) would pick-up the bill for subs for the architect for one lunch and then Bray would pick-up the next bill."

The good news is that Frei added, "In the future all parties will pay for themselves each time."

The not-so-good news is that how did we come to this decision ONLY after an inquiry from a resident? Why isn't the Finance Committee looking into these expenditures? No one on Finance or the School Board even batted an eye, let alone asked a question. For new board member Terry Shimek, this is just one of those little expenses that he doesn't worry about. Who cares about $45 of taxpayer dollars? Who cares about a $300+ steak dinner for school board members? [SP-EYE note...why does it always seem to involve food???] As he indicated during his campaign, he's only concerned about the really big expenses. Newsflash, Terry. The little ones add up. And abuse is abuse. whether its a "small" one or a mega-scale one. And...shouldn't we be addressing the small abuses BEFORE they become large ones? You think former Governor Spitzer started out with $4500 call girls? Or did it start with something innocent like a lunch on the taxpayers?

Is this really only the tip of the iceberg? What other cozy arrangements are hidden inside our $65M annual budget.

What really should get one to wondering is how at Monday night's school board meeting, it was announced (with pride I might add) that it is anticipated that the new high school project will be under budget by....get this....about enough to build that pool (and operate it!) that got voted down in the recent referendum.

Many of us are not opposed to a pool, but, as Chris Mertes says, "This one doesn't pass the smell test".

Ok...so $45 lunches that we buy for the architect don't cause you any heartburn? Fine. Then how about this:

Despite School Board Policy DJ (Purchasing) which states,

Because the Board cannot relinquish its responsibility and accountability as an agent of the state and to the citizenry of the district, the following guidelines are established with regard to purchasing:
1. Bidding Approval
The Board shall approve any bids or quotations as required by state or federal law, and all quotations and/or bids greater than $25,000, except as otherwise provided. Any bid needing Board approval will first go to a Board sub-committee, when practical, for approval and then to the Board, unless it is an emergency purchase.

and in Procedure DJ-R(1) (Purchasing Procedures)

2. Except as provided in sub-section 1 (see below), no purchases shall be made for supplies, services, or equipment costing $25,000 or more unless competitive quotations or bids for those items are obtained, provided the purchase is a budgeted item and the purchase is approved by the Board.

1. Bids are not required for:
a. Instructional materials
b. Miscellaneous and operational supplies less than $5,000 or replacement parts
c. Prices from single source vendors.
d. Municipal/government/state or federal contracts.
e. Maintenance contracts of one year or less duration and less than $25,000
f. Used equipment ...
g. Negotiated purchases. ....where multiple bidders are not available

See anything there which suggests that the board isn't required to bid the architect out?

When asked, Caren Diedrich's response was that because Bray is the only architect "that really knows the school district's buildings" (gee...that's not because they built them all, is it?) then Bray qualifies as an exemption from bidding as a "sole source vendor" under 2.c above.

The school board did not put the architect out for bids. The jobs were handed to Bray without even thinking about getting a better price through a policy-mandated (never mind common sense fiscal responsibility!) competitive bid project .

...and THAT is what a $45 lunch of Milio's subs gets you.

Re-vote on Boundary Issue Coming????

Even before last night's school board meeting, several individuals reported that they had discussions with officials. Word is that the board will be re-considering the boundary issue during the May 12, 2008 school board meeting.

That may bode well as a sign that the remnants of the school board's "old guard" are finally listening to the public. Beyond the issue of WHAT decisions were made, HOW those decisions were made raised a stench within the community.

Unfortunately, this news raises further questions about the inner workings of the school board. How is the agenda for a meeting set? Who decides what gets on the agenda? How can someone know what will be on the agenda before the agenda is made public? Isn't this dangerously close to a "walking quorum"?

#2 Rewarding Career that Lets You Have a Life...

From Yahoo ...

While many Americans enjoy a mere one or two weeks of vacation time each year, some professionals spend two to three months of each year away from the job.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that the following five careers will experience some of the fastest job growth of all careers over the next decade. Each one of these career paths offers its own set of perks in addition to seasonal scheduling:

"2. Teacher K-12
Many teachers use the summer to catch up with family, enjoy long vacations, and complete additional online education courses. Even with three months off, many K-12 teachers earn over $41,000 per year. [SP-EYE: and that's just salary; it doesn't consider benefits, including "supplemental pay more. More on that to come.]

Changes in recruitment policies now mean that you can start a teaching job in many places before completing a degree in education.

New state and federal mandates require job applicants to complete at least a few online education courses before beginning their teaching careers. Many school districts have even invested in dedicated recruitment programs designed to help professionals from other fields earn education degrees. For retirees, a teaching career offers the chance to stay active while earning an income and enjoying summers off."

Read the full article:
http://education.yahoo.net/degrees/articles/featured_top_5_extra_time_off_careers.html

Contract Parity - Salary & Health Insurance

(pt. 3 in a series)

Union contracts frequently get glossed over by the school board, and certainly are nearly invisible when buried amid the annual budget voted on at the annual elector's meeting. SP-EYE wonders if anyone is really looking at this information to see how our district employees are compensated.

After reviewing the current contracts for supports staff (Local 60), teachers (SPEA) and administrators, a table has been prepared which attempts to capture the nuances of each of these contracts. Presented in this format, it allows one to also compare certain contract aspects across the unions.

Salary comparison

Support staff, which are certainly mission critical to the success of teaching staff and administrators are clearly paid on a significantly lower scale. Did anyone see them picket a school board meeting crying out for a "fair contract"?

The broad salary range is somewhat deceptive; only 3 classifications (representing a handful of positions) earn an entry salary more than $15.00/hr.

Note also that while teachers' unions across the nation always present their case for poor wages in terms of average or base salaries, there are a preponderance of options available to them in terms of "supplemental" or extra/co-curricular pay. Lastly, and it is not presented here, teaching staff may also add to their salaries by serving as summer school teaching staff.

Local 60 members are eligible for longevity pay, but only initially get 3% of their 39 month salary (not their CURRENT salary) after 4.5 years. Meanwhile, teachers receive a "step" increase of 3% every year.

Health Insurance comparison
The most obvious question to ask is how fair is it to expect the lowest paid staff to pay for 9% of health insurance benefits when teachers and administrators generally will pay for 2% or less. The cost of the premium does not change between groups; it's merely the dollar share that one group pays vs. another. Similarly, Local 60 members pay just under 15% of the cost of their dental premiums, while these plans are paid 100% by taxpayers for administrators and for single SPEA members. SPEA members only pay 5% of the family dental premium.

Why do we pay for life insurance premiums at 4 times the administrators salaries, while only at 1X for SPEA and Local 60? That's 1/2 million dollars of insurance for the top administrators! How many taxpayers have life insurance policies worth $500K...and pay nothing for them????

The Hidden Paycheck (pt. 2 in a series)

How much are your benefits worth? How much do you pay for your benefits...particularly your health insurance premiums?

At right is data for the 2005-school year, for area school districts, along with averages statewide. The Wisconsin Association of School Boards, of which Sun Prairie--as is true for most districts--is a member, USED to publish salary and compensation data reported by districts statewide on their website. Interestingly enough, that data is now only available to "members" who can log-in and obtain the data.

Historically, Sun Prairie teachers have paid NOTHING toward the cost of their health insurance premiums. [SP-EYE note: Beginning July 1, 2008, teachers will pay about 1% of the cost; 2% if they choose not to participate in a health risk assessment monitoring program.]

As the data shows, Sun Prairie teachers contribute far less than the average of both area schools and statewide towards their health insurance premiums. In the Madison teachers' union current contract, teachers pay 10% of their premiums. Most state employees, who historically paid nothing towards their health insurance benefits (in lieu of lower salaries relative to the private sector) now are paying between 6 and 10% of the costs. And that percentage has increased with each new biennial contract.

Are teachers underpaid? Perhaps a case could be made, particularly for new (1st year) teachers. Are teachers under-compensated? That is the real question to be asking. We really can't fully answer the first question without considering all the pieces of the pie.

A good article, published in 2001, addresses the compensation issue. It may be a few years dated, but conceptually the points raised remain valid.

http://www.wpri.org/WIInterest/Vol10No3/Hruz10.3.pdf

A few key excerpts from this article are provided below:

"Teachers earn considerably more than most workers in the state, and do so for a job that only involves, at most, ten months of full-time employment."

"It is only to salaries that proponents of higher teacher compensation draw attention, while they remain silent on the value of the benefits that public school teachers are afforded. This focus is deceptive but necessary if the teachers’ union is to be able to convince anyone of the claim that its teachers are not remunerated well."

- WISCONSIN TEACHER COMPENSATION: A Bum Deal or a Plum Deal?
Thomas Hruz - Wisconsin Interest Fall 2001

"It is within the realm of employee benefit compensation that public school teachers, like most public employees, own the privilege of being some of the highest compensated. Put simply, the financial benefits that flow to public school teachers are very nice both in absolute terms and — to play the teachers’ unions game — in relative terms. Public school teachers in Wisconsin receive some of the best health care coverage experienced by workers in the state, and are they are also welcomed into the generous pension payments of the Wisconsin Retirement System for government employees."

Are Sun Prairie teachers underpaid? (part 1 of a series)

The Jeopardy answer is: "Teacher pay".

The question is: "What is it that no one wants to talk about?"

Ever since the teachers' union (SPEA) picketed a school board meeting en masse this past January, the question has lingered. Now that a contract has been signed, it's time people did talk about it. It's like one of those dark family secrets that no one ever wants to be the first to discuss. The result? It festers like an untreated infection.

We now have two new school board members, both of which have served on the Finance Committee, and one of which works for a major financial institution. Maybe we'll finally have fresh eyes to review the financial picture.

According to the 2007-2008 Annual Meeting Report, [SP-EYE note: try to find THAT document on the district website!] the total budget for Sun Prairie schools is $61.9M. $37.3M of that goes to salaries, and another $17.3M goes to benefits. That's a combined $54.6M -- 88.1% ---of the District budget that goes directly to salaries and benefits.

According to the City of Sun Prairie's website, the median income for Sun Prairie households is $51,345. The average salary of all teachers in Sun Prairie is about $ 46,400. That means that a single teacher in a SP household represents 90% of the MEDIAN (not the mean; the median means 50% of salaries are greater and 50% are lower ) household income!

If one takes the time to look at biweekly "school board packets" on the District website, and specifically peruses the "Personnel" information, they would see that in the past several weeks, seven (7) teachers have announced their plans to retire. Their salaries are presented at right. Now, an average salary for ONE person, of $70,000, is 36% higher than the median household income in the city. Those are damn fine salaries at which to retire, particularly if you have an understanding of the Wisconsin Retirement System.

SP-EYE is not opposed to a fair wage for our teachers. Educating our children is an important function. But at the same time, let's not be naive. Teacher's contracts call for 190 days of work per year. The average worker works 260 days per year. Do the math. That means that teachers' salaries should really be multiplied by 36% to adjust them for comparison with other workers.

What many point to is the low pay for entry level teachers. According to the contract just signed, that pay is $29,706 for the 2008-09 school year. Adjusted for 190 days and 8 hours per day, that comes to $19.54/hour. That average salary at retirement of $70,000 clocks in at just over $46/hour.

It has been argued that teachers deserve better salaries because of the critical role they play. We find that logic to be borderline offensive, because it comes dangerously close to a "we're more important than other occupations" mentality. What about our police force, who make far less than teachers? What about the Local 60 union folks that provide "support services" for the District? Could the teachers and administration function without them? What about public works staff that clean the wastewater that you flush away each day without a thought? If they didn't do their job, our rivers and streams would be a toxic dump. What about those that ensure we have clean water to drink? How about the farmers that grow or raise the food we eat? The question of who deserves more is a slippery slope indeed that quickly becomes offensive to all, and amounts little to a "chicken before the egg" argument.

How many of you make even close to $46/hour? Do YOU think teachers are underpaid? Since teacher salaries alone account for 40% of our $62M district budget, is it time our school board paid closer attention to these contracts?

In our upcoming parts of this series, we'll talk about the other big issues: benefits (including health insurance), extracurricular pay, and parity of contracts between Local 60 (support staff, SPEA (Teachers), and administrators.

What's the 411 on the Community Engagement Task Force?

A meeting of the Community Engagement Task Force scheduled for this Tuesday has been canceled via an e-mail sent only to Task Force members. The e-mail actually creates more questions than it answers:

• Will the Task Force even continue in its current form? Some school board members were not exactly thrilled with the idea of another task force.


• Assuming the task force continues, will Mary Ellen Havel-Lang continue as a member (now as a citizen?


• Will a new school board member be appointed to serve in the role formerly filled by Havel-Lang?


• Should this notice have been posted publicly?


• Could this e-mail be considered a "violation" of open meeting laws? Several board committee citizen representatives have been publicly chastised at board/committee meetings for sending e-correspondence to other committee members. Is this really any different? (Oh...wait...of COURSE the board will find some rationale to justify it!)


• Are materials which are sent to committee members (as referenced in this correspondence) made available to the public at the same time?

Expulsions up 400%

OK. Elections are over. It's time to get down to brass tacks (maybe). Here's a subject we've been wondering about, but about which we've heard very little. Sure, expulsion hearings are "posted", but certainly not printed in the paper. You would only know about them if you watch the school board's "Upcoming School Board Meetings" page: http://www.spasd.k12.wi.us/web/glking/stories/storyReader$26
(SP-EYE question for another day: How can the public ever find out about these things if they have names like "storyReader$26" anyway? Maybe the Task Force for community engagement could answer that? Oh...wait...THAT committee is on hold for now...but you weren't told about THAT decision either).

Following an open records request for information related to expulsions over the past 2 school years (Grade level and reason for expulsion), we learned the following:

2006-07 school year
4 expulsions
- 3 for fighting/violence
- 1 for insubordination/threats

1 expulsion in each of grades 9-12

2007-08 school year
15 expulsions (1 more scheduled this week)
- 7 for drugs (possession and/or sale)
- 7 for weapons (2 knives; 5 BB guns)
- 1 for violence/threats

1 expulsion in elementary school (grade 5)
6 expulsions in middle school (1 in grade 6, 5 in grade 8)
8 expulsions in high school (2 in Gr. 9; 3 in Gr.10; 1 in Gr. 11; 2 in Gr. 12)

Why isn't the school board talking bout this?

Our board fought hard at several school board and finance committee meetings, essentially stalemating any agreement on limiting reimbursement expenses for school board members' meals while at conferences. How shameful that the board is willing to expend such time and effort defending something as ludicrous as their right to a $42 steak dinner but then avoid discussing the rise in expulsions at the board table.

This is the heart of what's wrong with the school board, the district, and to some extent, the city as a whole. It's time we stopped stuffing these things in the closet and started talking about them. It's time our school board came up with something other than Dr. FeelGood, plain vanilla agenda items.

Ding Dong! Havel-Lang rejected by voters.

It was no April Fool's joke. Sun Prairie voters made a firm statement for change on our school board, voting out 4-term incumbent Mary Ellen Havel-Lang.

Election Results

Sun Prairie School Board (3 Seats)

Jill Davidson......................2,259.......24%....- 3 yr term
(I) David Stackhouse.........2,232.......24%....- 3 yr term
Terry Shimek.....................2,041.......22%......1 yr term
(I) Mary Havel-Lang.................1,481..........16%
Al Slane........................................1,326..........14%