Monday Morning Round Up

Lots to comment on . . . not just the Edgewater . . .

MADISON SCHOOLS GET VISIT FROM POCAN AND MILLER
Last Monday they stopped by for a chat with the school board. Here's a report on their meeting. It's the only one I could find and I had been curious how it went as I had gotten an email about it. At the end of the post he includes this suggestion that I thought I'd share for those who care about school funding:

It isn’t easy to move elected officials from words to action. One thing that helps is a show of public support. You can do this in two ways (do both): First go to the Penny for Kids website and sign the petition; second, send Mark Pocan a quick email saying you support Penny for Kids and he should too. You don’t even have to explain why — he gets it.

OH . . . THE IRONY . . .
Apparently, this played right before the Joint Urban Design Commission and Landmarks Commission meeting. You know, the "handful of unelected people" that should be ignored because the Council knows better . . .

I don't know who took the time to do that, but I appreciate it. I had gotten a clip of it from a neighborhood person but the video wasn't working, only the sound. Their description with the video is as follows:

Madison, Wi Mayor Dave Cieslewicz bashed members of his Landmarks Commission after they ruled in a way he didn't like. He called them a "handful of unelected people on one committee" and described the process as "fundamentally undemocratic" even though he appointed them. In this PSA, Mayor Dave asks residents to serve on city committees. He does not mention that he'll publicly bash your hard work . See here.

THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG
Dorothy Borchardt was quick to respond to news of the RTA appointments on Friday:

I bet the Mayor won't think their decisions are "undemocratic."

The WSJ reported that the Mayor thinks "unelected people on a committee shouldn't be able to block important development it should be decided by the elected representatives of the people." TCT reported the Mayor thinks it is "undemocratic for unelected people" to make decisions."

If the Mayor feels unelected people shouldn't be making big decisions ...why did he support appointing an RTA Board before the referendum on an additional sales tax, to cover commuter rail, goes to the voters? Why didn't he let the voters decide? Or, does it only apply to decisions made by the unelected individuals that the Mayor agrees with? If that is the case ...look for trolleys to be added to the trains before Metro is expanded to meet the needs of the community.

HARSH WORDS FOR DAVE FROM FORMER CITY STAFF
Jay Rath continues his excellent coverage of the Edgewater issue. What surprised me tho, was this comment:

Kitty Rankin, for three decades the city’s preservation planner, is alarmed by such talk. "The mayor is in the development community’s lap by repeating a phrase that the Landmarks Commission process is flawed," she says. "I have yet to see that it is indeed flawed."

Ouch. Even more interesting is what Bob Dunn says:

"No, no," says Hammes president Bob Dunn. The company promised from the start that its project would not set a precedent for the neighborhood. Now, however, it could set a precedent for the entire city. Dunn has plenty of problems with the ordinance, and he’d welcome change, but that "in no way was the intention of this project."

Intention or not, that is the impact. Read the article, its good. I hear there is another one coming today.

STATE JOURNAL BACKFIRE?
Several folks have mentioned they'd like to thank the State Journal for urging people to contact their alders in support . . . they promptly contacted their alders in opposition. Alders have heard that as well from people who called.

SCREW THE LAW AND PUBLIC PROCESS
In the State Journal editorial on the Edgewater, they list 7 alders, who haven't been engaged to the extent of Rummel and Verveer, who have made up their minds that they are voting in support of the Edgewater. I find it interesting, because to date, there has been no testimony or evidence provided that there is a hardship for the owner (not Hammes). Just a reminder, this is what the council must find first, then also find that that the meet the criteria for a certificate of appropriateness or variance (more here):

after balancing the interest of the public in preserving the subject property and the interest of the owner in using it for his or her own purposes, the Council finds that, owing to special conditions pertaining to the specific piece of property, failure to grant the Certificate of Appropriateness will preclude any and all reasonable use of the property and/or will cause serious hardship for the owner, provided that any self-created hardship shall not be a basis for reversal or modification of the Landmark Commission’s decision.

SURVEY SUCKS
I didn't want to choose any of the option in the Channel 3 poll on the Edgewater, they too, are ignoring the law and just wanting people to vote on if they like the Edgewater project or not. The survey is really lopsided, but you can just keep voting, so its easy to manipulate. From the alders I've been talking to, their districts are either against or running about 50/50. No surprises that the downtown districts lean more against. As Alder Rummel put it, her constituents who live in historic districts don't understand why they have to follow the law when replacing a porch railing, but a huge developer with lots of money gets to just ignore the laws.

ZWEIFEL JOINS IN
No, not in criticizing Mayor Dave . . . but, I was pleasantly surprised to see Zweifel write this piece in support of state legislation that would, among other things, restore funding for WYOU. Thanks Dave!

WHY IS OLINGER LEAVING?
Most people know, I'm not a big fan of Olinger. Many I know and respect are. So, I'm torn by the news of his departure personally. Politcally, I'm very nervous. While no one is talking much, Bruer pretty much said it all:

City Council President Tim Bruer said Cieslewicz is exercising his authority to shape the city's administration, and that the mayor wants someone more in line with his vision and beliefs and desired management skills. Olinger has done nothing inappropriate, Bruer said

"The mayor is looking at changing demands and challenges facing the city and felt he needs to bring in a different manager," Bruer said, adding that he supports the mayor's decision.

Do we really want someone in line with his visions and beliefs?

STILL TIME TO GET YOUR SHOT
Public health is still hosting clinics for people to get their H1N1 flu shots. Here's who's eligible:
• Pregnant women
• Persons who live with or care for infants less than 6 months of age
• Children and young adults 6 months through 24 years
• People 25 through 64 years with underlying health conditions. For a listing of underlying health conditions
http://www.publichealthmdc.com/disease/swineflu/K12/UnderlyingConditions.cfm
More details here.

NEED TO HEAR FROM ARTS COMMUNITIES

Dear Madison Arts Community;

The City of Madison has been updating zoning codes to make them more user friendly, align with the goals of the Comprehensive Plan and neighborhood plans, reflect newer growth and work patterns, encourage biking and transit use, facilitate mixed-use sustainable development, and achieve quality in-fill development. Roughly two months ago, a new draft zoning code was introduced to Madison’s Common Council. Last month, that draft zoning code was referred to the Madison Arts Commission for their review and recommendations.

On Tuesday, December 8, at their 5:00pm meeting in room LL 110 of the Madison Municipal Building the Madison Arts Commission will discuss Madison’s proposed new zoning code language and how it may affect area artists.

There have been many opportunities for public input during the process of developing the new zoning code. However, members of MAC feel that, because zoning codes affect so many artists in our community, extra efforts should be made to inform artists of when and where the Madison Arts Commission discussion of this item is taking place and to invite participation. The commissioners welcome citizen input as they formulate their thoughts and their recommendations to council.

At a previous MAC meeting, City staff briefed MAC on the rewrite and identified the areas of the new code that had the greatest potential to impact artists. Therefore, commissioners are paying particular attention to areas of the code that relate to live/work space and use of accessory dwellings for artistic production.

The proposed code can be found on the City’s Zoning rewrite website:
http://www.cityofmadison.com/neighborhoods/zoningRewrite/

If you cannot attend Tuesday night’s MAC meeting, please feel free to email your comments prior to or at their meeting and they will be shared with the commissioners (note: any written comments become a part of the permanent public record). There is also a “your thoughts” link on the zoning rewrite website that welcomes citizen input.

Sincerely,
Karin Wolf
Staff to the Madison Arts Commission

CANCELLED CITY MEETINGS
With snow coming, this is good timing. Looks like you can now sign up for an email list or rss feed to alert you to cancelled meetings. Much appreciated!
* RSS Feed: Cancelled Weekly Meetings RSS
* Email List: Cancelled Weekly Meetings (under City Hall), can subscribe at : https://my.cityofmadison.com/)

COUNTY ELECTIONS
It's widely rumored and I keep getting asked, but no, I am not running for County Board Supervisor. I like my supervisor Barbara Vedder just fine, thank you.
Read more!

The (School Board) Week Ahead . . .

Kinda . . . a little . . .

I thought this sounded interesting:

Pocan and Miller will speak Monday 11/30 - Agenda of the Madison School Board for 11/30 includes:

Discussion with State Joint Finance Committee Co-Chairs regarding K-12 Funding in Wisconsin and the Impact of the State Budget on School District Finances.

The meeting is at 5:00 PM in room 103 of the Doyle Building. Read more!

School Budget Hearings Coming Up

Community members will have the opportunity in three upcoming sessions to learn more about and give feedback on the proposed preliminary Madison School District 2009-10 budget.

BUDGET FORUMS - (Brief budget overview with Questions)

Thursday, April 23, 6:00 p.m. at Memorial HS - Wisconsin Neighborhood Center

Tuesday, April 28, 6:00 p.m. at La Follette HS - Room C-17

PUBLIC HEARING - (Public Input)

Wednesday, May 6, at 6:00 p.m. in the Doyle Building's auditorium, 545 W. Dayton St.

Superintendent Dan Nerad brought forward on April 13 the proposed $367 million budget for the Board to consider. The budget contains $3.9 million in reductions and efficiencies made necessary by state-imposed revenue caps.

Budget highlights and the complete proposed budget are available here or by going to www.mmsd.org and clicking on "2009-10 Budget".

The Board of Education members, who bring forward and vote on changes to the proposal, could approve the preliminary budget anytime from May 11 to June. The new fiscal year starts on July 1.

The budget is not finalized until October after adjustments are made based on actual enrollment numbers and the final state budget.

COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? PLEASE CONTACT:
Madison Metropolitan School District
Public Information Office
545 W. Dayton St.
Madison, WI 53703
608-663-1879
comments@madison.k12.wi.us

Here's Board President Arlene Silveira's Info as well:

Last Fall when we went to the community with an operating referendum, we positioned it as a partnership plan. The projected budget gap for the 09-10 school year was $8M. We asked the community to support a referendum for $5M of this gap and committed to finding the additional $3M through looking at processes and efficiencies. I again want to thank the community for their overwhelming support of our referendum. IN the budget the presented to the Board this week, the Superintendent and his staff were able to find >$3M in cuts that maintains our district programs and services. It is very nice to start off with a budget that will allow us to focus on the future rather than focus on what has to be cut.

The proposed budget:

- maintains district programs and services as indicated during last fall's referendum campaign.
- allows for a projected 2.5% growth in non-salary items.
- include salaries and benefits consistent with recent contract settlements.
- provides some funding related to the Math and Fine Arts Task Force recommendations and the anticipated new Strategic Plan.
- includes a projected tax lev increase of 4.12% - about half of which is as a result of the approved 2008 referendum.
- has a projected tax rate increase of $0.01. The impact for a $250,000 home is $2.50 in increased taxes.
- does not take into consideration any increase in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
- does not have to utilize $2M of savings in the 07-08 fund balance, as was projected in the lead up to the 2008 referendum.

District Budget Reduction:

- The district was able to reducing the budget by $3.9M. There are a number of cuts made, which do not affect programs and services. 2 major changes are listed below. If you want detail son the other cuts, please let me know.
- SAVINGS of $912,914 = The Board made the decision last year to use some of the TIF funds from the City of Madison to pay off debt early in the 08-09 fiscal year.
- SAVINGS of $850,000 = under the direction of our new Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, we looked at our yellow bus transportation costs and sent out RFPs. We are going to employee 2 carriers next year, instead of 4, resulting in substantial savings.


Next steps:

- this budget is the budget recommended by the Superintendent
- opportunities for public feedback in the budget process:

- APRIL 23, 6pm, Memorial High School: Public forum to learn about the budget
- APRIL 28, 6pm, La Follette High School: Public forum to learn about the budget
- MAY 6, 6pm, Doyle Administration Building: Public Hearing 09-10 budget
- MAY 6, 5pm, Doyle Administration Budget: Approval of 09-10 Budget by the Board of Education
- during this process, the Board is able to submit budget amendments.

I suspect there is an error in the last date listed above. Will correct it if I find out the right date. Read more!

School Board Update.

Thanks to Arlene Silveira for these updates!

MMSD Board of Education Progress Report – January, 2009

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a restful winter break. I wish you
all a happy and healthy 2009. December was a fairly quiet month for the
Board.

Legislative: The Board met with Madison state legislative delegation in
December. This meeting was an opportunity to touch base and get an
overview of the state budget and school finance plans that are being
developed throughout the state. The dire condition of the state budget
is certainly going to be their focus in the coming months. The Board
will discuss our legislative agenda for the district at the 1/12/09
Board meeting. Once we approve our agenda, we will be working with the
community and other school districts on the best way to advocate for the
state budget and school finance programs.

Regular Board Meeting: The Regular Board meetings will now be held on
the second Monday of each month at 6:00pm. This is a change from having
the meetings on the first Monday of the month. Committee meetings will
now be scheduled on the first Monday of each month.

Community Partnerships: The Board approved funding (under Fund 80)
proposals for the following organizations to provide specific community
service activities for the 2009-10 fiscal year. These are exciting
proposals that will benefit our students in the MMSD. The organizations
are: Literacy Network; Asset Builders of America; Vera Court
Neighborhood Center; Goodman Community Center; UW-Madison Pre-College
Initiatives; Children’s Services Society of Wisconsin; Lussier Community
Education Center; Gay, Straight Alliance for Safe Schools; UW-Madison
Center for Biology Education; Urban League of Greater Madison
(Bootstrap); African American Ethnic Academy; and Kajsiab House.

Strategic Planning Process: The Board approved the Superintendent’s
recommendation for the structure and timeline for the MMSD strategic
planning process. The strategic planning session will take place during
the month of January. We are in the process of finalizing the strategic
planning team. We have approved the use of an outside facilitator for
the planning process. Dr. Keith Marty has extensive experience in
working with school districts in developing strategic plans. I am very
excited about the planning process and will update you as we move
forward.

What’s Happening in January? January will be a busy month. We start
our new committee structure on January 5. The community input sessions
on the recommendations from the Math Task Force will take place in early
January. The strategic planning meetings will also take place.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact
the Board at comments@madison.k12.wi.us or call me at 516-8981.

Best regards, Arlene Silveira

Read more!

Advertising in Schools

The role and appropriateness of advertising in our society leave much room for debate - buses and billboards - to name a couple issues. But when it comes to our schools . . . to the children of Madison . . . I think it deserves even more scrutiny. And when that advertising can lead to death, it deserves and even higher level of scrutiny. I really appreciate the folks raising the level of consciousness about this issue. Join them on Monday if you can or sign their petition!

BRING THE ADS DOWN!
Rally to stop Army ads in our schools!

Monday, Feb. 4th
Madison School District Doyle Administration Building
545 W. Dayton Street
6:30pm

Rally to remove the army recruiting advertisements from our high school
scoreboards! Join us to encourage a broader segment of the Madison
public to actively oppose these ads!

The ads violate the School Board’s own policies. Broad public pressure
is needed to cause the School Board to act. While the School Board has
not even placed the matter on their agenda for discussion, students have
been viewing the ads for over four months already in their gyms and
sports arenas. With most of the Madison School Board’s work on hiring a
Superintendent behind them now, there are no more excuses for the Board
not to take up this issue now. At the rally we will also be launching a
public petition drive to oppose the ads. Please join us at the rally on
MONDAY, Feb. 4th, to renew our call to bring down the ads. Bring
colorful signs or carry our signs at the rally. Bring the Ads Down!

BRING THE ADS DOWN Rally
MONDAY, FEB. 4th
545 W. Dayton St.
6:30pm

Read more!

We have a new Superintendent of Madison Schools

In a note from Arlene Silveira last night I learned:

The Madison Board of Ed has unanimously selected Dr. Daniel Nerad to be the next Superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District. Dr. Nerad is currently the Superintendent of the Green Bay Area Public Schools. Information on Dr. Nerad is attached.

The press release reads as follows:

Dr. Daniel Nerad selected as new Superintendent of MMSD

The Madison Board of Education unanimously voted to select Dr. Daniel Nerad as the next Superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District. Dr. Nerad has conditionally accepted the position, pending a final background check, successful contract negotiations and a site visit by a delegation from the Board. Dr. Nerad is currently the Superintendent of the Green Bay Area Public School District.

The interview process was extensive with each candidate being observed as they visited schools, met with staff, participated in a community “meet and greet” and interviewed with the Board for over 4 hours. Each candidate was initially screened and interviewed by the district's consultant, Hazard, Young and Attea (HYA).

Throughout the interview process, the Board referred back to the list of “Desired Superintendent Characteristics” developed by the community in September. It became evident why Dr. Nerad was Wisconsin’s 2006 Superintendent of the Year. The Board was impressed with his work with diverse communities, collaborative decision-making practices and his innovative engagement of the community. Dr. Nerad also believes in research-based instructional strategies to challenge and engage students at all points along the educational performance continuum.

The Board believes Dr. Nerad has the skills and track record required to take the MMSD to a higher level. His leadership style embraces community engagement. In setting the vision to move the district forward, Dr. Nerad has high expectations of the Board, staff, community and himself.

The Board is very happy with the process conducted by HYA. “From the community input sessions through the final candidate deliberations, we are pleased with the community and staff involvement and the caliber of candidates brought forward by our consultant, said Arlene Silveira, President of the School Board. "The Board worked together as a team to make this a successful process.”

"The Board of Education would like to thank our staff and community for their involvement, feedback and support during this process," said Silveira. "The Board also thanks all of the candidates who visited our district, a very impressive group of leaders who believe in success for all children."

The Board and administration will be working on a transition plan. Dr. Nerad is scheduled to take the helm of the district on July 1, 2008. Art Rainwater, the current Superintendent, will retire on June 30.

For more information, contact: Ken Syke, 663-1903, or Joe Quick, 663-1902.

About Dan Nerad

Professional Experience
• Superintendent of Schools and Learning, Green Bay Area Public School System, 7/2001 – present
• Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Green Bay Area Public School System, 7/1996-6/2001
• Executive Director of Curriculum, Green Bay Area Public School System, 7/1991-9/1996
• Supervisor of Children At-Risk Programs, Green Bay Area Public School System, 7/1989-6/1991
• School Social Worker, Green Bay Area Public School System, 8/1975-8/1989

Education
• Bachelors Degree, Social Work, UW-Madison, 1973.
• Masters Degree, Social Work, UW-Madison, 1975.
• Specialist Degree, Educational Administration, UW-Milwaukee, 1991.
• Doctorate Degree, Educational Leadership, Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, 2002.

Honors and Awards
• 2007 American Association of School Administrators Civic Star Award
• 100 District Leader Network for Civic Engagement and Service Learning
• 2006 Wisconsin Superintendent of the Year
• 2006 Boys and Girls Club of Green Bay Service to Youth Award
• Green Bay Drug Alliance Outstanding Education Award
• National Association for Community Leadership – Distinguished Leadership Award

Community and Civic Memberships
• The New North – Executive Committee and Board
• Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
• Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors
• Junior Achievement Advisory Board
• Wisconsin Teach Retirement Board
• Bay Area Community Council Board
• Advisory committees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Milwaukee
• Institute for Learning Partnership Board – University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

Professional Memberships
• American Association of School Administrators – Governing Board Member
• Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators – Large District Caucus Chair
• Minority Student Achievement Network – Governing Board
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
• Phi Delta Kappa

Read more!

Meet the New School Superintendent

Just passing this along . . .

The Madison community is invited to meet and greet each of the three finalists for the Superintendent position of the Madison School District.

The Board of Education has scheduled a Community Meet and Greet for each of the finalists on January 22, 23 and 24. The sessions will be from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in rooms on Level 4.

One finalist will be present each day.

In the first hour, you will be able to briefly meet and greet the candidate as part of a receiving line. From 5:00 to 5:15 p.m. each day, the candidate will make a brief statement and might take questions. The session will end promptly at 5:15 p.m.

No RSVP is necessary.

This weekend, the Board will select the three finalists from among five semifinalists named on January 7.

The community is invited to this Meet and Greet so please forward this to anyone who might be interested in attending.

The announcement of the new Superintendent is scheduled for early February. For more information about the Superintendent selection process, see the MMSD Today article at http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/today/756.htm

Thanks for your interest in and support of the Madison School District. Read more!

And then there were 5

Thanks to Arlene Silveira for the update on the Superintendent search . . . .

Good evening,

Tonight the Board met with our superintendent search consultants and selected 5 semi-finalists for the superintendent position. There were 25 applicants for the position. The consultants screened the applicants against the "ideal characteristics" that were selected based on community and staff feedback. They then interviewed 10 and chose to bring 5 forward to the Board as semi-finalists.

The 5 semi-finalists (in alphabetical order) are:

1. Dr. Bart Anderson, County Superintendent - Franklin County Educational Service Center, Columbus OH
2. Dr. Steve Gallon, District Administrative Director, Miami/Dade Public Schools, Miami FL
3. Dr. James McIntyre, Chief Operating Officer, Boston Public Schools, Boston MA
4. Dr. Daniel Nerad, Superintendent of Schools, Green Bay Area Public School District, Green Bay WI
5. Dr. Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, Chief Academic Officer, Racine Unified School District, Racine WI

The Board was very happy with the caliber of the candidates brought forward. The next step is to interview each of the candidates (90 minutes) on January 18 and 19. On January 19, we will narrow the field down to 3 candidates. The 3 candidates will then come back to the district the week of January 21 for more extensive interviews.

We hope to select our representative candidate on January 26. We will then visit their district, start contract negotiations and perform the detailed background check. If all goes well, we will announce our new superintendent in early February.

If for some reason there is not a fit with any of the candidates, we will open the process up again. We are not constrained by a timeline and will not hire unless we feel totally comfortable with our selection.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Read more!

No School Board Races this Spring?

Seriously? Two open seats, only two candidates. Congratulations to Marj Passman and Ed Hughes on their impending wins to replace Lawrie Kobza and Carol Carstensen. You'd think, with all the recent hoopla, there would have been more candidates.

Well, actually, there was one other person who pretty ineptly tried to run. Ely James (Dorothy Borchardt, Treasurer) filed, first for one seat, then for the other. Then, came up short on his signatures. With 90 minutes left before the filing deadline, only 80 of his signatures were valid and he chose not to try to get the last 20 signatures. Apparently, it was too hard to walk out the door and ask 20 people to sign his papers to allow him to run.

Wow. I bet that would have been a well run campaign!

Here's the list of county board candidates. Thanks to Vikki and the Isthmus for posting that information. More snooze.

While I'm at it, here's the November/December update from School Board President Arlene Silveira on issues going on at the school board level:

1. Expulsion Process: The Board has had a series of meetings on the topic of expulsions, reviewing the process to ensure consistency, fairness and equity. In November, the Board had a dialogue with Hearing Examiners over student discipline and the expulsion process. The Board also approved standard of review that we will use when reviewing expulsion information.

2. High School Redesign: The Assistant Superintendent and 5 high school principals gave a progress report on the high school redesign process. The report is linked at www.mmsd.org/admin/hs/ReDesign_Progress_Report_Nov_2007.pdf Next opportunity for public involvement will be after the holidays.

3. Security: As part of a safety/security plan, the Board approved the following positions:

• 4 High School Engagement and Behavior Case Managers. This person would, with the assistance of Administrative and student support staff, identify, monitor and intervene with students who are clearly disengaged, truant, and capable of great disruption of their education and that of others.
• 5 Middle School Positive Behavior Intervention System Coordinators (one each at Jefferson, O’Keeffe, Whitehorse, Blackhawk and Sherman – schools with enrollment between 300-499 and no assistant principal). This person works with staff to utilize strategies to assist in curbing harassment, bullying, out of control bus behavior and poor classroom behavior.
• 8 additional High School Security Assistants. High School Principals identified that there is a need for more “eyes and ears” in the schools. These assistants will work with students and focus on building relationships.
  

4. Equity: As one of the Board priorities for the year, we started discussions on student-focused and school-focused equity issues. Our goal is to identify target focus areas, develop action plans and measurements and create an equity policy by the Spring 2008.

5. New School Name: The Board approved a 13 member Citizens Naming Committee, selected to review feedback on the names for the new school and make a recommendation of a minimum of 4 names for consideration to the Board. 87 names have been submitted.

6. Play and Learn: The Board approved the expansion of the Play and Learn program to include mobile Play and Learn Groups for caregivers and children (i.e., District will purchase 2 vans allowing Play and Learn to become mobile and work with a multitude of neighborhood centers).

7. Finance/Operations: (Lucy Mathiak, Carol Carstensen, Maya Cole) The committee met in executive session for discussions related to possible sale of district property. The committee continues to focus on initiatives to incorporate community service funds into long-term budget planning, and efforts to provide current and comprehensive information to the board before votes affecting district spending.

8. Long Range Planning: (Carol Carstensen, Lucy Mathiak, Beth Moss) The committee started the review of current enrollment projections and identification of schools with potential space problems. The committee reviewed Plan A to address boundaries for the new school on the Far West Side and boundary changes to the Memorial Attendance Area. The plans are available at http://www.mmsd.org/topics/newschool/

9. Human Resources: (Johnny Winston Jr., Lawrie Kobza, Beth Moss) The committee reviewed the Human Resources annual report. They studied the Administrative pay report and made recommendations to the full Board for consideration. They also reviewed the Contract Compliance 5 Year Plan and discussed participation by historically underutilized businesses and related equal opportunity measures.

10. Performance/Achievement: (Lawrie Kobza, Johnny Winston Jr., Maya Cole) The committee reviewed information on School Climate Surveys and also started preliminary discussions on the Youth Options Policy and Charter School Policy. The committee is spearheading the development of a new Board policy chapter, “Educational Options”. The committee developed a written list of “considerations” the Board may reference when making decisions regarding the provision of educational options.

11. Community Partnerships: (Maya Cole, Lucy Mathiak, Johnny Winston Jr.) The committee is working on defining partnerships and is looking at the Parent Involvement policy. The committee received an update on the Elvehjem playground and fundraising efforts. The group is fundraising to build the first fully accessible playground in the state.

12. Communications: (Beth Moss, Carol Carstensen, Lawrie Kobza) The committee is discussing formats for future Board public forums. The committee also is encouraging attendance at Community Conversations held as part of the Wisconsin Way Initiative. Representative Sondy Pope-Roberts spoke at the meeting to encourage the Board to join the WAES initiative, lobbying for change in the state funding system.

13. January: The Board will be busy with the interview process for the new Superintendent. Our consultant will bring a slate of candidates to the Board on January 7. We hope to have the candidates narrowed down to a single candidate by the end of January. We will also continue discussion on equity. The Citizen Naming Committee for the new school will start meeting with the goal of providing name recommendations to the Board by February 18.

Read more!

Your Input Needed for Schools

Because, as go the schools, so goes the City.

An Invitation to Our Parents, Students and Community

As you may be aware, the Board of Education has initiated its search for a new superintendent of schools. To provide counsel to us in this important process, we have retained the services of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, Ltd., a search firm that specializes in assisting boards with the identification and selection of superintendents.

A very important step in this process is the identification of the characteristics we will be seeking in our new superintendent. We invite you to participate in the identification of these characteristics by attending a Community Information and Input Session and/or completing a Leadership Profile Assessment form which can be found on our web site.

The Community Information and Input Sessions, which will be facilitated by a member of the consultant firm, will be held on:

* Wed. Sept. 19 at 10:00 a.m. at the Exhibition Hall at Alliant Energy Center (1919 Alliant Energy Center Way)
* Wed. Sept. 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium at Memorial High School
* Thu. Sept. 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium at La Follette High School

These sessions will likely be 60 to 90 minutes in length. Every effort will be made to provide Spanish and Hmong interpreters.

To access a Leadership Profile Assessment form, you can go to the Madison School District website ( www.mmsd.org) and click on "Superintendent Search". You can:

1) complete a form and submit it electronically, or

2) print a form, complete it by hand, and either bring it with you to one of the Community Sessions or mail/fax it to the address/fax number indicated on the form.

All forms must be submitted by September 20.

Thank you in advance for your assistance with this most important task.

Sincerely,
Arlene Silveira
President, Board of Education

Read more!

Cities and Schools working Together

A former City Council member sent me this article about how Portland is spending spending $1.6 million to keep poorer kids in their schools. They have a program they initiated to keep poorer students in gentrifying areas of the City. Apparently they lost 11,000 students as the poorer people move out of the area and the richer people move in and send their kids to private schools. And of course, that then meant that the school district was losing state aids. The money is used for rental assistance, gap mortgages and grants to parent and neighborhood groups.

The program is called the Schools, Families, Housing Initiative. And the money will be spent as follows:

• $950,000, will go to the Portland Schools Foundation for grants aimed at promoting neighborhood schools, so newcomers will decide to send their children to them. The grants could be for anything from repairing broken windows to designing an after-school program.
• $450,000 in rental assistance for families with school-age children in schools with high student turnover. I should help 80 families avoid eviction and keep their children in the same school.
• $200,000 for a cash reserve, allowing the Portland Housing Center to offer about 40 below-market second-mortgages to help first-time home owners bridge the gap between the money they borrow and the house they want. The average amount would be about $5,000 per family.
  

This is an interesting concept. It's great to see the City working with their School Board. Do you think the City of Madison City Council, the School Board, Mayor's office and School Administration will ever get to the point where they are actively looking at the impact of schools on our neighborhoods and develop strategies to help keep our schools and neighborhoods strong? Or will we continue down the path where we say "It's the school board's problem"? And the School Board says "It's the City's problem"? It's not our responsibility, with everyone pointing in the other direction.

It's painfully obvious to so many in the community that as the schools go, so goes the City. I had thought there was some serious momentum to work on these issues between the City and Schools after last year's school budget, but those efforts seem to have fizzled or taken the back seat to other issues and I think that is a shame. In fact, the Board of Education-City Liaison Committee hasn't even met since the new council has been appointed. They have agendas for January, February and March but only minutes for their February meeting. Note, the two City Council members (Knox & Thomas) didn't even show up.

Just think, if the Cities and Schools were working together in a meaningful way, perhaps we could find partnerships and ways to help each other with the following:

• Getting kids safely to schools
• Crossing Guards
• Bussing (I think the schools spend something like $750,000 to get kids to school, in addition to $250,000 for bus passes for poor kids.)
  
• Space sharing
  
• Community and Neighborhood Meetings
• After school uses of space for community uses
  
• Sporting events & activities (We could coordinate usage of the parks. Most notably rentals at Breese Stevens, Warner, and a West Side park plus MSCR activities cost $80,000)
  
• Police Officers in the Schools - The schools pay for 4 police officers
  
• Coordinating planning efforts so that when we create new neighborhoods we are working with the schools to figure out where the kids will attend schools and what impacts it will have on the school district
• Coordinating human services
• Coordinating services at our libraries

I'm sure you can probably think of more areas where we could overlap and mutually benefit each other. But it seems, we can't even get this conversation started. I'd like to see it happen before the schools face their next big crisis and before our neighborhoods have to struggle more. Now is the time to be working on these issues, instead of taking a 4 month vacation from meeting. Or worse, before we're spending even more money like Portland to fix the problems we helped to create. Read more!

Random Monday Morning thoughts

Gender, City's Hiring Practices, Schools, Affordable Housing and more . . .

Gender - Paul Soglin has some comments about a news article about the resolutions I introduced about lack of gender and pay equity in top management positions and gender equity on city committees based on information I provided on my blog post and follow up . He asked what took me so long to notice that so many women managers were replaced by men. Good question. It wasn't that it took me this long to notice, it took me this long to feel like I might get support on the council. There's still only 7 women on the council, but its one more than before. Even so, I had a hard time getting co-sponsors, even from the women. So far, Lauren Cnare signed on, followed by Satya Rhodes-Conway and Marsha Rummel. ThuyPham-Remmele had this to say:

Thank you for sharing this.

Currently I don't see the need for more "feel good" resolutions.

Staffing is the Mayor's job and I expect him to do it right.

Also, as Common Council we approve his hiring/appointing decisions and can address this matter through established city process without having to create more work for the already backlogged Affirmative Action Commission.

Furthermore, the City of Madison encourages volunteers to participate in civic duties, I don't see how CC control/select the volunteers. Currently we have many vacant positions, for the sake of "gender balance" we may end up NOT accepting dedicated male volunteers until sufficient females meet the quota, if ever.

Thuy

I still have to circulate it among more council members, but generally speaking, it seems gender equity is a difficult issue to address. Yes, even here in Madison. It still needs 11 votes and it seems incredible that we can't even count on the women to vote for this. Luckily, I'm certain several men will sign on without hesitation. Oh, and for the record, I talked to Affirmative Action Commission members, they are not backlogged, the Council hasn't addressed this issue in the past 6 years I've served on the Council and I'm not aware of any city committee commission positions we are holding open for gender balance because we don't have quotas and we shouldn't. Paul Soglin had some good recommendations and I agree, its about recruitment. That's why I was so surprised to read the hiring practices for the City of Madison and find this:

Job announcements will be sent to all city agencies via e-mail and to a mailing list for recruitment purposes. The Human Resources Department will only pay for local advertising if funding is available. Ads in professional publications will be paid for by the hiring agency.

City's Hiring Practices - Maybe the above quote explains how we hired someone for the Facilities and Sustainability Manager position that was unqualified. However, I don't think so. I've requested additional information about the other applicants and will share them when I get them if the media doesn't. Several people have asked for the job description and application. I am hoping that the good folks at Isthmus will make all of this information available when it becomes available. Vikki Kratz did an open records request and they told her to pick up the information on Friday at 4:00, but when she got there, everyone who knew anything had gone home for the day, so hopefully she will get the information today.

Schools - School Board members, please do the right thing tonight. Do not consolidate Lapham and Marquette to save $81,000. It's an incredibly short-sighted thing to do and it is not good for the community as a whole. I've heard so many good arguments about why consolidation is a bad thing, but the ones that probably bother me the most are:

1. Health and safety of the kids as they try to get to school. It's hard to promote a healthy lifestyle and walking and biking to school when kids in these areas have to cross E. Washington Ave, Williamson St., E. Johnson and E. Gorham. The less kids that have to cross these streets the better. The current set up isn't ideal, but it is better than what was passed in the budget. (Please don't stop the bussing for crossing guards, we couldn't possibly fund enough crossing guards for these streets!)
2. The Tenney-Lapham and Marquette Nieghborhoods have worked really hard to get developers to include family-friendly housing in their new developments so that we can increase the number of kids in the area. Consolidating the schools sends the wrong signals and sets the efforts of the neighborhoods back.
3. Projections indicate that within 5 years, the schools will be overcrowded. Again, this seems incredible short-sighted to consolidate the schools now.
4. It's only $81,000 that will be saved. We can't be that desperate for money. Or, we need to re-examine our priorities.

Affordable Housing - I don't know much about RDM, but they are offering 3 bedroom condos starting at $94,900. Their project is The Crossing at Elver Park. What amazes me the most is, if they can convert the 3 bedrooms at Elver Park to condos at this price, why can't the city create affordable housing on Allied Drive when we've put $5.5M of TIF into the project?
I was so surprised I picked up the phone and called the sales folks and asked them how they did this. They had no federal, state or local money to help make it affordable. The ad didn't seem to be a scam where they list the lowest price to drag you in then sell you something at a much higher price. I probably should have asked what kind of reserves they were providing for the condo association and what kind of warranties were included on the condos. Nonetheless, if a private company can do this with no federal subsidies, the City can certainly do much better in Allied Drive. Some of the numbers I have seen have us spending that much money just to renovate the units. Read more!

$81,000 would keep our neighborhood school open?

Is it true that $81,000 is all it would take to prevent the Lapham-Marquette pair from being consolidated? And that if it remains consolidated, it will be overcrowded in 5 years? I'm not on the school board, and I don't know their budget that well, but if that is true, it seems there has to be a better solution.

My cursory understanding of the budget is that the consolidation saved $522,000. Of that amount $201,000 was from salaries of a principal, a librarian and another staff person. The other 321,000 was for rent saved by having the alternative programs in school district owned space instead of renting.

In other words, if Lapham and Marquette kept the same kids in their schools and added the alternative programs, it only saves $201,000 to consolidate the schools. Another $119,000 could be saved by not having a second principal, by sharing a principal between the schools. That leaves $81,000.

Surely, we're not closing a neighborhood school over $81,000, are we? There has to be a better solution.

p.s. sorry so late this morning, google was giving me a rough time! Read more!

A WTF morning.

So, I started three different blogs this morning, I delayed two of them cuz the links I was trying to use on the city website weren't working. The third, I decided to save for tomorrow. Plus, I think I was just so disconcerted this morning after reading the WSJ and watching the channel 3 news.

All I can keep thinking is wtf? I went to bed, as I think many of my neighbors did, thinking that the Marquette and Lapham schools would not be consolidated. At least that was what we were told by the very folks that were voting on this issue. It's been 4 hours since I read the news and I think I'm still stunned. This is so totally unacceptable. As downtown neighborhoods struggle to increase homeownership, keep housing affordable, bring and keep families downtown and create neighborhoods that have a high quality of life, this is a huge blow. And how ridiculous is it that we will have to bus our kids across East Washington because it is too hard for the kids to cross, instead of having so many of our kids being able to walk to school. I have to believe that the $522,000 they saved just wasn't worth it. And I'm afraid that future school referendums will suffer as a result. Please contact your state representatives today - something has to be done about school funding.

My second wtf moment was a little more petty. Who cares who gets the credit? Seriously.

The point is, there is now $3.8M in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and that is good news for the families who, for years to come, will be assisted by this fund. Now, since I'm on the Housing Committee, I guess I'd better get to work making that money work for us as we reach our goal of $10M. I've already started talking to the chair of the affordability sub-committee about three ideas. Stay tuned!
Read more!

Keep downtown schools open!

Note: I'm not an expert on school issues by far, and I'm still trying to catch up on all of the issues regarding the boundary changes. Thanks to those who have met with me, called and e-mailed and helped me keep up just a little!

Sunday's paper had a story on the dilemma facing the Madison School District. The story pointed out many interesting dynamics of how the city grows and how approvals by the City of Madison to build housing effects the School District. Despite our recent efforts to create a Comprehensive Plan for the City of Madison, sometimes, we work at cross-purposes with ourselves and with other local governments, including the Madison Metropolitan School District.

As someone who sits on the City of Madison Plan Commission, is participating in the BUILD plan for the E Washington area and is seeing new projects built in my district, I find it alarming that there is even talk of closing downtown schools. All of our City plans indicate that we are trying to increase homeownership on the isthmus, create a variety of housing options and bring additional families downtown. The recent project on the 800 block of E Washington has some family townhomes across from Reynolds Park and is ideal for families that may eventually have kids that go to school a few blocks away at Lapham School. Closing that school or other isthmus schools would be devastating to the efforts of the neighborhoods to make our neighborhoods more family friendly.

Furthermore, given recent school referendum results and frenzied rhetoric about rising taxes, I don't see approvals to spend money to build new schools passing any time soon. We're going to need these schools to be open so we have some place to send our children to school in our community. I still have much to learn regarding these issues and will be listening to parents and others in the community, but one thing is clear - closing downtown schools will create more problems than it solves, is inconsistent with in-fill development plans for the area and is very short-sighted. Read more!