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.
