4K-8 in Each Community Will Cost Over $1 Million

This year’s Enrollment Projection report is posted on the district website at www.mononagrove.org.

Superintendent Gerlach gave an update on the “Race to the Top” program. Our district may only be eligible for $277,000. To participate, we must sign a Memorandum of Understanding, which the Board approved.

Patti McGinnis presented the results of the 4K-8 in each community study. There is a 121 page report on the district website. First year costs are estimated to result in increased district expenses of approximately $1.1 million. On-going costs are estimated to result in increased district expenses of $150,000-$200,000 depending on how many buses are needed. The report will be placed on the Board agenda in January for action.

The Board modified the Open Enrollment Policy $425, but the minutes do not reflect those changes.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

Five Year Structural Budget Deficit

Wisconsin will submit an application for the “Race to the Top” federal fund. The hope is that Wisconsin would receive $150-$250 million, but it is unclear how that money would be spent and which districts would be eligible.

Budget Deficit Workshop is scheduled for December 16^th from 5:30 – 10:00 p.m.

The board reviewed a Five-Year Budget Forecast Model which illustrates a consistent structural deficit. The District will need to cut operational costs by $1 million for each of the next five years.

Holly Elsberry, Monona Grove alum and current student teacher in the district, presented information on the White Privilege Conference which will be held in LaCrosse on April 7-11, 2010. She presented information on this conference because she feels that it provides a valuable learning experience and that our School District needs to put focus on understanding racial and cultural differences in the forefront in order to promote equity in our schools.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

Harassment Policy Finally Approved

Study on 4K-8 in each community will be presented to the board on December 22, 2009.

Discussion on class sizes, especially at the high school where last year the district spent $135,000 on overload pay for courses above the district guidelines. The administration suggests increasing some high school class size guidelines because they are smaller than middle school size guidelines. This is being discussed as a budgetary issue and an equity issue.

Board Policy #114 – Harassment – School Board Members, Volunteers, and Other Community Members of the MGSD. The board approved new language for this policy. (Susan Manning voted nay, and requested that the minutes reflect her continued concern with the conflict of interest she believes is created for the Superintendent under this version of the Administrative Rule.)

Superintendent Gerlach laid out the timeline and process for budget discussions. The board will meet on December 16, 2009 for a budget workshop. There will also be public hearings and staff meetings relative to the budget.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

Study Commissioned on Ad Hoc Recommendation

Set the date for next year’s Annual Meeting for Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at Monona Grove High School.

Discussed President Susan Fox’s newly created website update. The Board would like to have a disclaimer on these updates which indicate that they are not official approved reports of the full board and are not intended to take place of the official minutes. In addition, if there are any opinions within the reports, they are opinions of the President, not the full Board of Education.

Reviewed draft implementation plan of the district goals relative to improvement of student performance.

Budget Deficit – Superintendent Craig Gerlach asked the Board about priorities when making budget cuts. The Board indicated that all things are up for discussion at this point.

Board Policy #114 – Harassment – School Board Members, Volunteers, and Other Community Members of the MGSD. Discussion was tabled for the second time and will be discussed at a later date.

Patti McGinnis has been hired to study whether it is possible to provide 4K-8 education in each community. This was one of the six recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee to Study 4K-8 Grade Configuration. She will present the results of her research in December or January.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

Annual Meeting

Superintendent’s Report – Craig Gerlach

· The Literacy and Social Studies Task Force is reviewing course alignment with college/career readiness.

· The Gift and Talented Advisory Committee began reviewing district policy.

· The Ad Hoc Committee to Study Grade Configuration for Grades 4K-8 researched district wide facility needs and the School Board approved the committee’s recommendations.

· We have experienced a tremendous increase in the number of children who have applied to enroll which is a good problem to have.

· Our district received a PEP (Physical Education for Progress) Grant for over $460,000 to purchase state of the art fitness equipment for our schools.

· The Board recently created six goals centered on student achievement, continuous school improvement, educational environment and communication.

· Financially, we face many challenges as Wisconsin public schools are experiencing a decrease in per pupil revenue for the first time since the revenue limits were imposed since 1993. With an anticipated budget deficit of more than $604,000, difficult decisions lie ahead for the district.

School Board President’s Report – Susan Fox

· Summarized some of the work done by the advisory standing committees over the previous year and thanked Board members and community representatives for their service.

· Noted the Board’s decision to work without standing committees for 2009-10 in order to avoid redundancy and more efficiently utilize staff resources.

· Teachers are working to align curriculum with the benchmarks measured on tests.

· Noted her posting of summaries of Board meetings on the website as a way to inform community members of Board business in a timely way.

· Copies of the Annual Meeting booklet will be available in the District Office.

A Long "To Do List"

McKinstry performance energy conservation projects. The District locked in at 0 percent interest on financing the Qualified School Construction Promissory Notes, and with an average interest rate of 3.24% for the General Obligation Promissory Notes. Culmination of both of these financing options will result in a $345,000 savings in interest payments. This would significantly reduce the project cost of this energy improvement.

Board Policy #411.1 – Student Harassment and Policy #512 – Employee Harassment. Changes to both policies were approved.

Board Policy #114 – Harassment – School Board Members, Volunteers, and Other Community Members of the MGSD. Needs more work and will be discussed at a later date.

Preliminary budget shows a deficit of slightly more than $604,000.

Future Agenda Items -- essentially, the Board's "To Do List":

1. Status of athletic fields in district and of grading of fields at Glacial Drumlin
2. Response to Intervention
3. Baldrige Continuous Improvement Process
4. List of policies that need revision
5. Scheduling of “Big Ideas” meetings and/or listening sessions
6. Open Enrollment process
7. Suggestions for others
8. Limiting the amount of non-academic issues per meeting;
9. Gifted and Talented update
10. Disproportionality
11. School Climate, discipline, study halls, school suspensions
12. Budget Session – what we need to do to move forward
13. Financial support for academic groups within the school

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

Attempt to Rescind Previous Work Fails

The Board is meeting twice a month, due to the elimination of citizen committees.

Discussed Policy #114 – Harassment – Susan Fox provided new language and topic will be discussed at a future meeting.

Amended Board Policy #622.2 – Fund Balance

MOTION: Peter Sobol moved to approve the following language “In the event an approved budget projects a fund balance of less than 15% at the end of the fiscal year, the Board shall develop a plan to return the fund balance to a 15% minimum.” Jill List seconded. Motion failed after a roll call vote: Ace, Manning, Fox & Norton voted nay. McCutchin, List & Sobol voted aye.

MOTION: Susan Manning moved to approve the following language “The school board shall strive to maintain an operating fund balance of approximately 15%-25% of the district’s operating budget.” Jessica Ace seconded and the motion carried.

On July 20, 2009, the Board amended Policy #151 on School Board Policy Adoption, Revision and Deletion. Now, Susan Fox requested a rescission of the previous action because some Board members were confused and claimed lack of opportunity to fully consider the repercussions of the policy change.

MOTION: Susan Manning moved to rescind the action from the July 20 meeting and Jessica Ace seconded. Motion failed after a roll call vote: Ace, List, McCuthin & Sobol voted nay. Fox, Manning & Norton voted aye.

Susan Fox stated that because an amendment to this policy was previously approved with no written language, it was now necessary to approve the language to accomplish the policy change.

MOTION: Lionel Norton moved approval of Board Policy 151 – School Board Policy Adoption, Revision and Deletions as presented. Peter Sobol seconded. Susan Fox stated for the record that although she did not support the policy change, she believed the language before the Board accurately reflected the intended change and she would therefore vote to approve. Susan Manning stated that she opposed the change and would not support the motion. The motion carried.

District Goals were approved as presented.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

PEP Grant

MG District received a PEP Grant valued at $434,000 for the physical education departments. Reed Foster & Madonna Wendt played a key role in receiving the grant.

The Board discussed Board Policy #662.2 – Fund Balance. The issue was ultimately tabled until the next meeting.

MOTION: Peter Sobol moved to approve the letter of understanding between the district and Kids Safari. Jessica Ace seconded and the motion carried.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

District Goals

Work session and discussion of District Goals

Main themes:

• Student Achievement
• Continuous Student Improvement – Strategic Planning
• Budget - Facilities
• 4K-8 Grade Configuration
• Curriculum / Instruction – Alignment with Standards
• Personnel
• Performance Management
• Educational Environment / Culture / Climate
• Communication

Amended Board Policy #151 – School Board Policy Adoption, Revision and Deletion. New policies may be adopted with a majority vote, but revisions or deletions require approval by at least two thirds of the members present.

Amended Board Policy #751 – Student Transportation Services. Allows for the district to recover costs for transportation of students to daycare facilities under some circumstances.

Discussed Superintendent Evaluation.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

Citizen Committees Eliminated

Susan Fox requested a motion that the Board would not establish standing committees for this year. MOTION: Susan Manning moved and Jessica Ace seconded the motion. The motion carried by a vote of 5-1.

Susan Fox thanked the 12 citizens who applied for the committees, but it was not necessary to appoint any of them after they were eliminated.

Board directed the administration to draft language in the transportation policy to allow transportation to a daycare provider at no cost to the district.

The Board voted to accept recommendations 1-6 of the Ad Hoc Committee on 4K-8 Configuration (see previous post for details).

Superintendent Craig Gerlach requested that the district hire a part-time director of human resources. MOTION: Peter Sobol moved and Jason McCutchin seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

Report from Ad Hoc Committee

Report from Ad Hoc Committee to Study 4K-8 Grade Configuration from Jennifer Pickel & Jennifer Jindrich

Six Recommendations:

1. Add modular units to Cottage Grove Elementary Schools to accommodate enrollment growth, as a temporary solution to a potential long-term problem.

2. Research 4K-8 programming in both communities. Report findings at a School Board Meeting by the end of the 2009-2010 school year.

3. Research sixth grade programming/curriculum. Report findings at a School Board Meeting by the end of the 2009-2010 school year. Temporarily keep sixth grade Monona students at Winnequah.

4. Research 4K-4 grade schools at Taylor Prairie and Cottage Grove Elementary. Report findings at a School Board Meeting by the end of the 2010-2011 school year.

5. Maintain Winnequah and Maywood Schools until 4K-8 program in each community is determined, or until it is fiscally not feasible to operate both buildings.

6. Research real estate options district wide.

Received 14 applications from community members to serve on Board committees. Susan Fox will interview each applicant individually.

Discussion about transportation of students from Cottage Grove School to Kid’s Safari. Will be discussed further at next Personnel & Policy Meeting.

Update on Athletic Field Use Ad Hoc Committee.

Budget will be presented in December.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.

Newly Elected Board Selects Officers

Newly elected school board elected a new slate of officers:

• President – Susan Fox
• Vice President – Peter Sobol
• Treasurer – Susan Manning
• Clerk – Lionel Norton
• Members – Jessica Ace, Jill List & Jason McCutchin

Seeking citizen applications for the Personnel & Policy Committee and Curriculum Committee by June 1, 2009.

Superintendent Craig Gerlach stated that the district has a $750,000 budget deficit. The district is hoping to use stimulus money (ARRA) to balance the budget.

The Ad Hoc Committee to Study 4K-8 Grade Configuration will make recommendations in June.

The Board conducted a variety of other board business, which can be found in the minutes on the district website.