The last two weeks have been some of the toughest and least fun since I've been on the school board. Because of a HUGE cut in state aid, the MMSD is facing a 30 million dollar budget gap next year and we have two choices: cut programs or raise property taxes.
In my board packet last week, I got a 4 inch binder full of hundreds of pages of "reductions and efficiencies," possible budget cuts ranging from insignificant to devastating. I was relieved to hear from the superintendent that the budget cuts aren't in any way "for sure" or even recommended. But basically, the less we cut, the more we tax-- and that's really tough on property owners in this economy.
I'll give more info about specific budget proposals in the future, and if you have an opinion about specifics, talk to me or come to student senate.
Other things we talked about at tonight's meeting:
• Infinite Campus: The District approved a plan to increase usage of IC, including a mandated use of the Gradebook for teachers and a goal to have 100% use of IC by 2012.
•The Board is submitting a waiver request to the Department of Public instruction, asking to allow the MMSD to have a day reserved for only 6th graders and 9th graders for orientation
• Christopher Xu, a 5th grader at Muir elementary, was recognized for having the highest score in the state on the American Mathematics Competition Grade 8 Test. And he's currently taking pre-calc. No joke. Way to go, Christopher!
•We voted to authorize the Superintendent to submit to the DPI an application for a charter school proposal for the Badger Rock middle school. It's very exciting to see this sustainable, service-learning school continue to be planned and supported.
FUN FACT: Did you know that the assistant superintendents meet at least once a month with ALL the MMSD principals? I wonder if it's separately or all in one big room.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
100 Days of School
My little sister informed me that tomorrow is our hundredth day of school. So even if you're not bringing in 100 sugar cubes like she is, congratulations on getting through 100 days!
Though my body is telling me to get some sleep for once, I have a VERY IMPORTANT announcement.
Anyone interested in running for the Student Senate election should come to the info meeting at 5:30 on Tuesday, February 16th at the Doyle building. More info at your school.
But really, guys, if you're at all interested in how the school system works, want to make a difference, like speaking up, like politics, want a credit, OR want something that looks great on you're resume.. think about it!
There's 2 positions: Student Liaison to the Board (my job!) and Student Senate President. Anyone can run.
But I actually do have some gossip for y'all (in the form of comments on tonight's BOARD MEETING)
1. First and foremost, I voted tonight on whether or not to fire the superintendent. Well, it wasn't really like that--- I just had an advisory vote to extend his contract, but it was still kind of fun to think of me, the student, voting on the superintendent's job. I told him that my voting yes was dependent on whether or not he gives us a snow-day tomorrow. We'll see.
2. We got a summer school report last week that was pretty interesting. Did you know that 1,323 high school students attended summer school last year, 62 of whom completed graduation requirements? Almost 50 courses were offered. This year, in addition to credit recovery and enrichment, they're doing something new: high schoolers can take Health and Physical Education in the summer (even if they haven't failed it bef0re) and get these classes out of the way to free up their schedules during the year.
3. Lafollette students have something to be excited about. Plans are underway for a new Credit Union branch to be built and opened within the school. Located in a new welcome area, the bank will be a place for students and staff to learn about banking/making financial decisions. I'm sure it'll be extremely convenient to have a bank right at school!
4. Infinite Campus survey was presented to board members. As I'm sure some of you are aware, the majority of teachers still aren't using IC to its full extent. IC could be a very useful tool, with gradebooks, a messaging system, calendars and other tools--- our challenge now is to teach the system to teachers and students so use increases. Right now, the teachers who use IC the most tend to be newer teachers as well as Physical Education and Foreign Language teachers.
5. Finally, the Board had a discussion last week on the Lafollete Area Schools long range planning. As I'm sure students in the Lafollette attendance area are aware, due to changes in neighborhood growth patterns, some schools are experiencing overcrowding. The Board, in conjunction with a committee of district staff and community members from the area affected, are reviewing many options for the area and trying to choose a plan that has the least impact on students. I'll let you know when there's news!
That's all for tonight, folks. Even 2nd Semester Seniors need sleep.
Though my body is telling me to get some sleep for once, I have a VERY IMPORTANT announcement.
Anyone interested in running for the Student Senate election should come to the info meeting at 5:30 on Tuesday, February 16th at the Doyle building. More info at your school.
But really, guys, if you're at all interested in how the school system works, want to make a difference, like speaking up, like politics, want a credit, OR want something that looks great on you're resume.. think about it!
There's 2 positions: Student Liaison to the Board (my job!) and Student Senate President. Anyone can run.
But I actually do have some gossip for y'all (in the form of comments on tonight's BOARD MEETING)
1. First and foremost, I voted tonight on whether or not to fire the superintendent. Well, it wasn't really like that--- I just had an advisory vote to extend his contract, but it was still kind of fun to think of me, the student, voting on the superintendent's job. I told him that my voting yes was dependent on whether or not he gives us a snow-day tomorrow. We'll see.
2. We got a summer school report last week that was pretty interesting. Did you know that 1,323 high school students attended summer school last year, 62 of whom completed graduation requirements? Almost 50 courses were offered. This year, in addition to credit recovery and enrichment, they're doing something new: high schoolers can take Health and Physical Education in the summer (even if they haven't failed it bef0re) and get these classes out of the way to free up their schedules during the year.
3. Lafollette students have something to be excited about. Plans are underway for a new Credit Union branch to be built and opened within the school. Located in a new welcome area, the bank will be a place for students and staff to learn about banking/making financial decisions. I'm sure it'll be extremely convenient to have a bank right at school!
4. Infinite Campus survey was presented to board members. As I'm sure some of you are aware, the majority of teachers still aren't using IC to its full extent. IC could be a very useful tool, with gradebooks, a messaging system, calendars and other tools--- our challenge now is to teach the system to teachers and students so use increases. Right now, the teachers who use IC the most tend to be newer teachers as well as Physical Education and Foreign Language teachers.
5. Finally, the Board had a discussion last week on the Lafollete Area Schools long range planning. As I'm sure students in the Lafollette attendance area are aware, due to changes in neighborhood growth patterns, some schools are experiencing overcrowding. The Board, in conjunction with a committee of district staff and community members from the area affected, are reviewing many options for the area and trying to choose a plan that has the least impact on students. I'll let you know when there's news!
That's all for tonight, folks. Even 2nd Semester Seniors need sleep.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Jan 11th Meeting and 2nd Semester
Happy Second Semester, everyone!
Freshmen-Congrats on your first finals.
Sophomores and Juniors- No sweat.
Seniors-Woohoo! It's free fallin' from here on out.
So... in the mad craziness of cramming for my finals (Mr. Dominic's Calc BC final-- BEWARE!) I never got a change to write about January's board meeting.
January 11 was an exciting and emotional night, for the board and for me personally. I realized while I was speaking about 4K how incredibly important education is. We're lucky in the US (specifically, in Madison) to have a good public school system but while our goal is that EVERY child graduates with the skills to become a knowledgeable and successful citizen, the sad truth is that this doesn't always happen. Our goal on the board is to change that.
When I first saw the Strategic Plan numbers, I thought to myself "Wow, how can the Board expect to get 100 % of kids performing at grade level on the WKCE's? That's impossible." But I realized that the point of a goal is to shoot for the stars. Anything less than 100% wouldn't be good enough.
Anyways. The meeting:
4K--Support for 4K was strong from the community, local day care providers and board members. But we can't ignore the economy and the continued cuts from the state budget for education, and the Board struggled to find a way to provide 4 year old kindergarten without taxing Madisonians to death. We also had to decide whether or not to implement 4K this year or in 2011.
For the first time since I've been on the board, I found myself completely unsure how to vote. I usually look to the board members for guidance, but on this one everyone was torn. I had to just trust myself, and remember the students. What I concluded was that however many dollars it takes (10, 20, 75), that amount of money is nothing compared to the priceless value of educating a child. 4K provides the incredible opportunity of teaching the children in our district who don't have the money for expensive preschool, or whose parents work and don't have time to teach them their times tables at age three. 4K gives all children a chance to get ready for kindergarten. Finally, 4K in the long run helps tax payers and puts us closer to closing the achievement gap.
I felt that we couldn't wait another year. So did Marj Passman, Ed Hughes and Beth Moss. But with one board member absent, the vote to start 4K this year tied, which means no action. The Board voted again, this time postponing 4K until 2011. This was a disappointment for me, but also a victory to know that our district will soon join the thousands of others providing 4K.
Charter School:
The Board gave members of the Environmental-focused middle school proposal group direction to continue planning and come forth with a detailed proposal at a later date. Keep posted!
Tomorrow is the annual State of the District address. IT will be held at 5:30 in the gym at Wright; also on cable TV.
Tuesday night, Student Senate, 6 Pm. Be there!
Freshmen-Congrats on your first finals.
Sophomores and Juniors- No sweat.
Seniors-Woohoo! It's free fallin' from here on out.
So... in the mad craziness of cramming for my finals (Mr. Dominic's Calc BC final-- BEWARE!) I never got a change to write about January's board meeting.
January 11 was an exciting and emotional night, for the board and for me personally. I realized while I was speaking about 4K how incredibly important education is. We're lucky in the US (specifically, in Madison) to have a good public school system but while our goal is that EVERY child graduates with the skills to become a knowledgeable and successful citizen, the sad truth is that this doesn't always happen. Our goal on the board is to change that.
When I first saw the Strategic Plan numbers, I thought to myself "Wow, how can the Board expect to get 100 % of kids performing at grade level on the WKCE's? That's impossible." But I realized that the point of a goal is to shoot for the stars. Anything less than 100% wouldn't be good enough.
Anyways. The meeting:
4K--Support for 4K was strong from the community, local day care providers and board members. But we can't ignore the economy and the continued cuts from the state budget for education, and the Board struggled to find a way to provide 4 year old kindergarten without taxing Madisonians to death. We also had to decide whether or not to implement 4K this year or in 2011.
For the first time since I've been on the board, I found myself completely unsure how to vote. I usually look to the board members for guidance, but on this one everyone was torn. I had to just trust myself, and remember the students. What I concluded was that however many dollars it takes (10, 20, 75), that amount of money is nothing compared to the priceless value of educating a child. 4K provides the incredible opportunity of teaching the children in our district who don't have the money for expensive preschool, or whose parents work and don't have time to teach them their times tables at age three. 4K gives all children a chance to get ready for kindergarten. Finally, 4K in the long run helps tax payers and puts us closer to closing the achievement gap.
I felt that we couldn't wait another year. So did Marj Passman, Ed Hughes and Beth Moss. But with one board member absent, the vote to start 4K this year tied, which means no action. The Board voted again, this time postponing 4K until 2011. This was a disappointment for me, but also a victory to know that our district will soon join the thousands of others providing 4K.
Charter School:
The Board gave members of the Environmental-focused middle school proposal group direction to continue planning and come forth with a detailed proposal at a later date. Keep posted!
Tomorrow is the annual State of the District address. IT will be held at 5:30 in the gym at Wright; also on cable TV.
Tuesday night, Student Senate, 6 Pm. Be there!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Exciting Meeting tomorrow!
Hello everyone, and welcome back from break. Hope your first week went well! After a grueling first day back last Monday (but I have to say it was nice to see all my friends again) I attended my longest board meeting yet. Started at 5:00 sharp. I left the building at 10:20! Wow! The meeting, as you can imagine, was packed with some really hot issues. The board (me included!) will be voting on many of these tomorrow. Stay tuned!
4K-- Unfortunately, we learned that the MMSD will most likely not be eligible for grants for 4K from the state. We could receive these grants in a few years, but the biggest costs for the district will occur in implementing 4k, which was planned for this coming fall. With this setback, board members are now faced with a question: should we go ahead with 4k and provide this much-needed program to our districts' children? we could use some pretty brilliant methods to finance it, but taxes would still go up for madison citizens. or should we postpone 4k, and hope that perhaps the state budget will give us a little extra money in the future (haha. yeah right).
Behavior in the MMSD-- we had a lengthy discussion of programs in the district to help children with serious behavior problems. These aren't just kids who don't do their homework, or who are snotty to their teachers once in a while. Some kids, because of mental disabilities or very difficult home situations, need a lot of extra help from the district. The board learned about various programs that schools use to help these students and the schools' behavior issues as a whole. Some board members posed a difficult question-- is the recent philosopy that students with severe mental disabilities should be included 100% in the classroom beneficial to those students, or can such students cause so much of a distraction to other students and themselves that they may be better off being educated outside of the school, in a more one-on-one enviornment?
Anti-Bullying-- Bullying, especially in middle school, has been around forever. However, even if some parents and teachers may claim it's "just a phase," bullying is an alarming problem that can cause very destructive consequences. As celebrities such as Demi Lovato begin to speak out against bullying, the MMSD is following suit and evaluating the measures our schools take to prevent and handle bullying. See the district website for the presentation!
New middle school-- The board received an early proposal from a huge, diverse group of community members to start a new "project-based" charter school with an enviornmental focus. Located in the Badger Road/Beltline neighborhood, the school would serve some of the district's neediest children, many of whom now are bussed to Sennett middle school. Through project-based learning, cultural awareness and education about the enviornment, the charter school hopes to bring the students of the school together with community members to increase achievement and activism in the neighborhood. Stay posted!
And that's all for tonight. I'll let you know how things turn out after tomorrow's meeting!
4K-- Unfortunately, we learned that the MMSD will most likely not be eligible for grants for 4K from the state. We could receive these grants in a few years, but the biggest costs for the district will occur in implementing 4k, which was planned for this coming fall. With this setback, board members are now faced with a question: should we go ahead with 4k and provide this much-needed program to our districts' children? we could use some pretty brilliant methods to finance it, but taxes would still go up for madison citizens. or should we postpone 4k, and hope that perhaps the state budget will give us a little extra money in the future (haha. yeah right).
Behavior in the MMSD-- we had a lengthy discussion of programs in the district to help children with serious behavior problems. These aren't just kids who don't do their homework, or who are snotty to their teachers once in a while. Some kids, because of mental disabilities or very difficult home situations, need a lot of extra help from the district. The board learned about various programs that schools use to help these students and the schools' behavior issues as a whole. Some board members posed a difficult question-- is the recent philosopy that students with severe mental disabilities should be included 100% in the classroom beneficial to those students, or can such students cause so much of a distraction to other students and themselves that they may be better off being educated outside of the school, in a more one-on-one enviornment?
Anti-Bullying-- Bullying, especially in middle school, has been around forever. However, even if some parents and teachers may claim it's "just a phase," bullying is an alarming problem that can cause very destructive consequences. As celebrities such as Demi Lovato begin to speak out against bullying, the MMSD is following suit and evaluating the measures our schools take to prevent and handle bullying. See the district website for the presentation!
New middle school-- The board received an early proposal from a huge, diverse group of community members to start a new "project-based" charter school with an enviornmental focus. Located in the Badger Road/Beltline neighborhood, the school would serve some of the district's neediest children, many of whom now are bussed to Sennett middle school. Through project-based learning, cultural awareness and education about the enviornment, the charter school hopes to bring the students of the school together with community members to increase achievement and activism in the neighborhood. Stay posted!
And that's all for tonight. I'll let you know how things turn out after tomorrow's meeting!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
4K and Reading-- the MMSD, as of December 9th
Happy Snow Day!!!
You guys better thank me! I handed Superintendent a check under the table at Monday night's board meeting. Am now accepting donations to reimburse.
Just kidding. Wow-- I can't remember a day before this when school was actually canceled the night in advance. It was sure nice, though, to go to bed knowing for sure there was no chance we'd have to go to school.
Since I have the day off, and since my Calc 2 homework or research on Millard Fillmore (the world's boring-est president) don't look like such a good idea, I've decided to instead write a little bit on Monday's meeting.
It was surprisingly intense! We discussed 4 year old kindergarten, and heard several day care providers from the community urging the MMSD to reconsider how much they will be reimbursed. Basically, when 4k starts next year, some of the 4 year olds will be within a MMSD school building, and others will go to a community day care center. But now the education will be free, and the district and these community providers are joining forces to make it happen.
4k is really exciting, since it provides a great opportunity for four year olds to get a head start with learning before they get to kindergarten. It's also a promising step towards eliminating the achievment gap. Right now, we're smooting out some rough edges-- deciding whether to start with all of the buildings and teachers, or whether to "phase in," starting with 1/3 or 2/3 the amount of resources, and then increase it in the next few years.
However, though there's still some negotiating to go, the 4k plan seems to be on its way. Another issue that involved a lot of intense discussion was the district's Reading Recovery Program.
Reading Recovery is a program for first grade students who are really struggling with reading. Targeted at the lowest 20% reading level students, Reading Recovery provides very intense one-on-one training every day which, when continued throughout the year, has very good national results of getting kids back on track.
However, in the last few years, RR in the MMSD has had less success than the national average (42% students finish the program versus around 60% nationally). This lead the district to worry and evaluate the program. At our meeting, we discussed schools that had experienced success with reading recoverey, and other ones that had not. The team that evaluated the program has recommended "full implementation" of reading recovery at schools with the most needy children, which would hopefully increase the success rate at those schools. However, due to limited resources, Reading Recovery can not be implemented at every school.
School Board members have expressed a desire to evaluate not only the RR program, but to take a comprehensive look at ALL of the reading programs in our district, to see which are working and which are not. Reading, as most will agree, is the single most important step to ensure students a continued successful education.
More to come! Let it snow!
You guys better thank me! I handed Superintendent a check under the table at Monday night's board meeting. Am now accepting donations to reimburse.
Just kidding. Wow-- I can't remember a day before this when school was actually canceled the night in advance. It was sure nice, though, to go to bed knowing for sure there was no chance we'd have to go to school.
Since I have the day off, and since my Calc 2 homework or research on Millard Fillmore (the world's boring-est president) don't look like such a good idea, I've decided to instead write a little bit on Monday's meeting.
It was surprisingly intense! We discussed 4 year old kindergarten, and heard several day care providers from the community urging the MMSD to reconsider how much they will be reimbursed. Basically, when 4k starts next year, some of the 4 year olds will be within a MMSD school building, and others will go to a community day care center. But now the education will be free, and the district and these community providers are joining forces to make it happen.
4k is really exciting, since it provides a great opportunity for four year olds to get a head start with learning before they get to kindergarten. It's also a promising step towards eliminating the achievment gap. Right now, we're smooting out some rough edges-- deciding whether to start with all of the buildings and teachers, or whether to "phase in," starting with 1/3 or 2/3 the amount of resources, and then increase it in the next few years.
However, though there's still some negotiating to go, the 4k plan seems to be on its way. Another issue that involved a lot of intense discussion was the district's Reading Recovery Program.
Reading Recovery is a program for first grade students who are really struggling with reading. Targeted at the lowest 20% reading level students, Reading Recovery provides very intense one-on-one training every day which, when continued throughout the year, has very good national results of getting kids back on track.
However, in the last few years, RR in the MMSD has had less success than the national average (42% students finish the program versus around 60% nationally). This lead the district to worry and evaluate the program. At our meeting, we discussed schools that had experienced success with reading recoverey, and other ones that had not. The team that evaluated the program has recommended "full implementation" of reading recovery at schools with the most needy children, which would hopefully increase the success rate at those schools. However, due to limited resources, Reading Recovery can not be implemented at every school.
School Board members have expressed a desire to evaluate not only the RR program, but to take a comprehensive look at ALL of the reading programs in our district, to see which are working and which are not. Reading, as most will agree, is the single most important step to ensure students a continued successful education.
More to come! Let it snow!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Student Senate
We had an amazing Student Senate meeting last Tuesday. For those of you unfamiliar with the group, Student Senate is open to any and all MMSD high schoolers. We meet every other Tuesday to discuss student-related issues in the school district, and ways that we, as students, can get more of a say.
This year is an extremely important one for the future of students. Last year, under the leadership of the new superintendent Dan Nerad, the school board and community embarked on a process called The Strategic Plan. Though it sounds kind of technical and formal, the strategic plan is essentially the "paper copy" of all of the goals for our school district--- what we want to acheive, and how we're going to do it.
A big theme in the process last year was the achievement gap. Why it occurs, and how we can work to close it. As you can see from the mission statement (top of this webpage), closing the achievement gap and providing OUTSTANDING EDUCATION TO ALL STUDENTS is the purpose of our schools.
Sounds impossible, right? Well, the strategic plan is broken into many sections, each of which have specific goals and ways to implement them. Three of the "action" plans are: Staff to Student Relationships, Staff Retention (how we hire/keep our teachers!) and Curriculum.
At Student Senate last week, we broke into groups and read these plans, learning how the district plans to improve relationships within schools, hire qualified and diverse teachers, and provide a stimulating and contemporary curriculum. Wow, that's basically everything that determines whether or not students have a good experience at school (Yeah, okay, all that AND the caliber of the cafeteria food).
We had some really great discussions in our groups, and while we found a lot we liked in the district's plan, we also found a lot we thought could be improved. Sometimes, the language was vague and we felt the plan's goals were misaligned. The group I was in that dealt with Relationships thought that communication was the key to this goal. We feel that our schools really need to teach both students and staff how to communicate so they can better express what they need to help their instruction and learning.
We'll continue our discussion next meeting, December 8th, at 6 in the Doyle Building on Dayton Street. Anyone is welcome!
This year is an extremely important one for the future of students. Last year, under the leadership of the new superintendent Dan Nerad, the school board and community embarked on a process called The Strategic Plan. Though it sounds kind of technical and formal, the strategic plan is essentially the "paper copy" of all of the goals for our school district--- what we want to acheive, and how we're going to do it.
A big theme in the process last year was the achievement gap. Why it occurs, and how we can work to close it. As you can see from the mission statement (top of this webpage), closing the achievement gap and providing OUTSTANDING EDUCATION TO ALL STUDENTS is the purpose of our schools.
Sounds impossible, right? Well, the strategic plan is broken into many sections, each of which have specific goals and ways to implement them. Three of the "action" plans are: Staff to Student Relationships, Staff Retention (how we hire/keep our teachers!) and Curriculum.
At Student Senate last week, we broke into groups and read these plans, learning how the district plans to improve relationships within schools, hire qualified and diverse teachers, and provide a stimulating and contemporary curriculum. Wow, that's basically everything that determines whether or not students have a good experience at school (Yeah, okay, all that AND the caliber of the cafeteria food).
We had some really great discussions in our groups, and while we found a lot we liked in the district's plan, we also found a lot we thought could be improved. Sometimes, the language was vague and we felt the plan's goals were misaligned. The group I was in that dealt with Relationships thought that communication was the key to this goal. We feel that our schools really need to teach both students and staff how to communicate so they can better express what they need to help their instruction and learning.
We'll continue our discussion next meeting, December 8th, at 6 in the Doyle Building on Dayton Street. Anyone is welcome!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Thank you!
The election results are in. I will be serving another year as your board representative! I wish to extend a great thank you to all who voted for me. This next year I'm hoping to really up the student involvement in Student Senate and in front of the board. If you're interested, message me on Facebook, join the Madison Student Senate group, or come to one of our meetings on Tuesday nights.
Good luck to everyone on finals and congratulations to our graduating seniors.
-sarah
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