2008-09 Expulsions Still at Double Digit Levels

In a follow-up to our summary last year, when we reported that 16 successful expulsion hearings had been conducted during the 2007-08 school year [Hmmm. The board /district was "successful" in expelling the students, but can expulsion really mean anyone was successful????] is that even the right word???) , SP-EYE recently learned that 13 expulsion hearings were conducted this past school year. All 13 studented were expelled. That's down 3 from 2007-08, but still more than three (3) times the number of expulsions in prior years.

Here are the numbers:
p 13 expulsion hearings were held between the start of the school year and June 1st, 2009.
p The School Board issued expulsion orders for all 13 students that were recommended.
p Expulsions by grade levels:

• 8th ... 1
• 9th... 8
• 10th ... 3
• 11th ... 1

- The primary reason(s) for initiating expulsion:

6 for Repeated Misconduct/ Fighting

4 for Sale/Purchase of an illegal drug

2 for Bomb Threat

1 for Possession of knife

What happens to students that are expelled?
Good question. We asked Dr. Culver, and he responded as follows.

When students are expelled, educational services are terminated for the term of the expulsion unless (a) the student has a disability under IDEA [i.e. special education IEP] or (b) the School Board orders services to be provided during the term of the expulsion. In these cases Student Service provides a tutor several hours a week who meets with the student away from a school site.

How much does this tutoring cost the district?
In 2007-2008 three students with IEPs were expelled. The services cost for all three students was $6355. In 2008-2009 two students with IEPs were expelled and two students had services ordered by the School Board until they were permitted to apply for reinstatement. The services cost for all four students was $6355. These amounts are budgeted for in the Student Service budget under Home Bound Instruction. [ Fund 10-610-110-173000-000 for regular education students ; Fund 27-610-110-156210-011 for special education students]

Home Bound Instruction covers a wide variety of situations where services have to be provided due to various circumstances, most frequently a health or disability issue; but expulsions are also included here. In most cases (in fact all 13 this year) the School Board permits a student to apply for early reinstatement after a period of time that varies from weeks to semesters to years, depending on many factors [as per Board Procedure JG-R Considering Student Expulsions] . Before reinstatement is permitted, a number of conditions are imposed by the School Board that must be met by the student and parents. Conditions are ordered in place that must be met after a student is reinstated, as well. If these ongoing conditions are not met the students is removed for the original term of the expulsion. It is very individualized to the student, his or her parents, and the nature of the violation.

N

Sun Prairie is tops!

The old adage goes that the only two sure things are death and taxes. For Sun Prairie, let's make that GROWTH and TAXES.

Recently, our luvable little---errr....BIG----city rose to the top of two charts:

1. Sun Prairie is the top growing city in all of Wisconsin (any surprise there?)

The article states that,

"The city, which counts artist Georgia O'Keeffe as its most famous native
daughter, has now swelled to 27,758 residents, making it Dane County's
second-largest city. A 24 percent growth rate since 2000 also makes it the
fastest-growing city in Wisconsin, with more than 10,000 new residents."

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/index.php?ntid=318899

1. Sun Prairie also ranks number one in Dane Country in terms of taxes...according to the fair tax comparison performed by the Wisconsin State Journal. (that probably doesn't come as a surprise either).

Read the article

Review or download the tax comparison table

Remember folks....a mill rate is just a number; a mill rate alone is like toast without butter. The Senior Partners love to quote mill rates and use them to their advantage. "Hey....look at us! We're nowhere NEAR the awful mill rate people face in the town of Montrose!". But in the end, it's all about the benjamins....YOUR benjamins. You have to look at a mill rate relative to the assessed value of your home. And THEN, you have to consider that assessed value relative to what a fair market value would be. THAT converts something that aspires to BE a number into a real cash liability...your property tax bill.

Candidiate Update: Whalen in

Despite reports from numerous sources that John Whalen was NOT going to run for re-election, it seems that he now IS running to retain his board seat.

He was circulating nomination papers at the Special School Board work session on Tuesday Dec. 2.

The current buzz is that his employer likes the prospect of Mr. Whalen serving as a board member.

Hmmmm.

Stay tuned. This means that Whalen, Shimek, and Slane all plan to retain their seats. Several folks have been asking the question: "Will Mary Ellen Havel-Land submit candidacy papers?" SP-EYE has not heard anything along the lines, but we'll keep you posted as information comes available.

The biggest secret in Sun Prairie...

...and perhaps most school districts...

...is that once a year, YOU-- the residents of the Sun Prairie School District (18 yrs or more)-- get to vote on the property tax levy portion of the school district's budget. But you don't. Sadly, it's because the annual electors meeting is one of the best kept secrets in this or any other school district.

What is the annual electors meeting?
The annual electors meeting is statutorily mandated and represents the ONE crystal clear opportunity that school district residents get to determine the tax levy. Certainly, the school board gets to approve a budget, but every annual school district budget rides pretty firmly on the amount of property tax levy voted on at the annual electors meeting. If the electors vote for a lower tax levy than the district wants, then the district and school board will have to sharpen their pencils and re-work their budgeting. Sometimes when this happens, thinly veiled threats of having to cut major programs are heard.

Think the school district is spending (or budgeting) too much (like having a surplus of $1.5M last year that YOU paid for with property taxes!)? Then attend the annual elector's meeting. Sure...the school district does what it minimally must to announce the meeting. But it could do a lot more. Like publish the meeting notice for at least 6-8 weeks prior to the meeting on the website--instead of waiting for some nasty website to alert them to do so. Or perhaps sending a flyer out to all district residents. The annual electors meeting is certainly worthy of the costs for a special flyer.

Twice each month at board meetings, you get to speak your peace and have the school board either force a smile or roll their eyes at your comments before rubber stamping whatever the district wants with their votes. ONCE each year, YOU have the opportunity to take back some control over what the board and district do with your tax dollars.

But...nobody comes. Except of course for the usual suspects [ Who IS Keyser Soze?] : school board members, administrators, and many teachers and a very few residents who are keenly aware of the meeting and do what they can to have their voices heard.

What happened at this year's electors meeting?
On Monday October 13, the annual electors meeting was held at the usual place and time: high school auditorium, 7:00 PM. We get anywhere between 4000 and 8000 voters to come out for spring and fall elections, but, as is usually the case, less than 50 electors attended the meeting.

At this meeting, the electors who were present voted to:

• Freeze school board member annual 'salaries' at $3,500 (president) and $3,200 (others). This motion, interestingly enough, was made by former school board member Mary Ellen Havel Lang.
• Set the date of NEXT year's annual meeting for Monday October 12, 2009. Mark your calendars NOW.
• Voted to approve the purchase of land for the high school's home construction program, and also allow sale of the finished home. This is a great program, and, while other districts have not been so fortunate, Sun Prairie has more than covered its costs each year.
• Set the 2009 tax levy at $41,124,489 by a vote of 26 for, 11 against. This vote came after resident Rick Mealy made a motion to approve a tax levy of $40,424,489 failed by a vote of 10 to 27. Mealy's motion was based on (A) returning $500,000 of this past year's surplus to the taxpayers (instead of using it to pay down future debt) and then (B) reduce the levy by an additional $200,000 to send a message to the District that they need to curb their wasteful spending and reign in their budget in tight economic times.

YOUR chance to vote!

The annual Sun Prairie Area School District elector's meeting will be held Monday October 13, 2008 at 7:00 pm in the Sun Prairie high school auditorium.

Finally, it's YOUR chance to vote. Items up for vote include:

$41,124,489.00

That's the tax levy the school district would like to set for 2008-09.

$3,500.00 / $3,300.00
That's annual "salary" we pay the school board president and other school board members. Think they deserve a raise? a paycut? This is YOUR chance to have a say and cast YOUR vote instead of just watching school board members cast theirs.

$500,000.00

That's the amount from last year's $1.5M in budget surplus that school board Finance Chair Jim McCourt would like to use to pay against future WRS loan payments due. Would you rather this $500K be used to reduce the amount of the tax levy and lower your property tax bill?

Be informed. Be a part of of the process. At this meeting, the ELECTORS (us) get to vote. Obtain a copy of the Annual Report (which coincidentally the District posted after SP-EYE noted it's distinct absence.)

$111,268,227.00
That's the net total expenditures expected for all funds for 2008-09.

24.35%

That's the total fund expenditure increase over last year.

School Board to buy more land??

On Monday Sept. 22 at 6:00 pm, the school board will convene a closed session to deliberate the purchase of additional land associated with the high school project.

Undoubtedly, any purchase will only add to the $965M tab. We have no other details, so we don't have any information as to how much the land would cost, how it will be paid for, or why it is needed.

It would seem that any additional land needed would/should have been identified during the exhausting high school planning process.

All land acquisitions must be approved by electors at either the annual meeting (October 13) or at a special elector's meeting.

Appearances are everything

At the September 8th meeting of the School Board's Finance Committee, citizen representative Rick Mealy requested more information about check number 88669 to a local lawn care firm. Getting insufficient answers to his questions from Business Services Manager Rhonda Page, Mealy contacted Tom Brooks, the District Buildings and Grounds Manager. Brooks indicated,

"We called them for a quote and the quote seemed very reasonable for the removal and stump grinding. We were happy with the way they performed at SOAR, so when we needed two more removed at Ashley we called them again. They again responded quickly and cleaned up after themselves. I would anticipate calling them again if the need arises. "

Again, Mealy's questions were not completely answered. So...on to a little detective work. There was no website for the firm, but there was a yellow page ad in the Sun Prairie phone book. A Google search of the company's phone number revealed that the phone number was also the home phone number of someone with the same unusual name as a certain member of the SPASD District Administration.

In a pre-Finance Committee meeting discussion with board member Terry Shimek, Shimek understood the underlying concern about the district contracting out for business with family members. But he seemed to be the only one who knew of the situation and understood the potential gravity. Interestingly enough, Phil Frei, Rhonda Page, and school board member/ Finance Committee chair, Jim McCourt all indicated that they had no idea that a familial relationship existed between a school district administrator and the local lawn care firm.

What is at issue here is not the quality of the work performed or even the price of the work performed. The underlying theme that the school board and district do not seem to understand is the need to conduct business in a manner which ensures against any potential conflicts of interest.

Even for such a small amount ($1450), if the district even considered having the firm in question perform the work, they SHOULD have accepted at least two other bids and gone with the most competitive bid. Only doing business in that manner could the board and the district escape the questions that continually gnaw at the root of trust. The fact that other district staff presumably had no knowledge of any relationship only adds further fuel to a smoldering fire.

$1,500,000 Surplus in 2007-08 Budget!!!!

Whether it be by over-budgeting, or underspending, the proposed budget presented to the school board on Monday September 8, 2008 shows that just under $1.5M is in "Un-Designated" Fund Balance account 933 000.

Funny this figure has not been widely publicized. In fact, at the August 25 Finance Committee meeting, Phil Frei announced that $500,000 was "leftover" from "dock days and utilities savings. He never indicated that the TOTAL surplus was 3 times as much.

Neither did board member/Finance committee chair Jim McCourt:

"There is one item in here that is very good news. We didn't use all of last year's funds, and there's about a half a million dollars that's left that we are going to be taking as an advisory item at the annual meeting and asking at the annual meeting if we want to use it to pay down the debt or use it to reduce the tax levy, or some combination there of."

[SP-EYE: Are you looking at the same "budget" sheet as us, Jim? Because we see $1.5M...not just $500K.]

Roger Fetterly commented that DPI rules and opinion offered by the Attorney General do not allow a school district to plan on (and includes as a line budget item) a surplus in the Ending Fund Balance, Unappropriated (Acct. 933 000).

Stackhouse Steams

Fetterly exceeded his 3-minute time limit and thus quickly summarized: "I think you get the message: your budget isn't very good." Before Fetterly returned to his seat, board president David Stackhouse asked Frei point-blank, "Mr. Frei, has the district violated the law?" Fetterly remained at the podium in order to hear Frei's response even after being told several times by Stackhouse to take a seat. "You don't tell me when to stand and when to sit down," Fetterly said." After a very pregnant pause, Phil Frei gave the classic defendant's response to Stackhouse's question: "Not to my knowledge."

So what about that $$500K??

District Administration and the school board would LIKE to apply that $500,000 against future Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) loan payments. However, Finance Committee citizen representative Rick Mealy suggested that the $500K should be used to reduce the tax levy and the mill rate, and that the decision should be made by the electors at the annual meeting.

Now Jim McCourt is says that while the board may ask the electors what their preference is for the $500K, that is advisory only...and the board can do whatever it chooses.

What about the other $1M surplus???
When asked about the other $1M in surplus, Phil Frei indicated that it would be used for "cash flow" during the 2008-09 school year. Cash Flow Accounts are kind of like a home equity loan...you use them as you need them but the intent is to return the money to where it came from. Note however that in the budget, the $1.5M disappears. The only thing projected to be left at the end of the 2008-09 school year is $100,000...the intent of which is to add that to the existing "Fund Balance". (Think of it as a "rainy day" fund).

Since that $1M never reappears as an addition to the fund balance, that means that it is intended to be consumed/spent during the 2008-09 school year. And that means that the amount of money needed for the 2008-09 budget is really $1M higher than it appears to be.

Banks have to follow "truth in lending" rules. Why don't school districts have to follow "truth in budgeting" rules???