If only we had more money.

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.

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.

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!

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 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!

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!

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

Vote Sarah Maslin for Student Liaison

On November 1^st, 2008, Madison high school students joined forces to rally for support of November 4^ths referendum vote. Holding brightly painted signs and shouting “Save our Schools--- Vote Yes!” the enthusiastic group of students drew a crowd, including newspaper and television reporters. More importantly, the student-led campaign contributed to the success of the 13 million dollar referendum, which passed with a 68% yes vote.

As your 2008-2009 Student Liaison to the Board of Education, I organized the student referendum campaign. I attended dozens of board meetings, planned the student rally, and arrived at 6 AM to Capitol Square ready to persuade citizens. The success of the referendum, which saved our schools from millions of dollars of budget cuts, was the most important project I took part in—but only one of many.

I attend board of education meetings every week, sometimes twice a week, which are known to last up to five hours. I’ve created an online forum where I post board activities and events, for students to comment on and approach me with questions and concerns. As a leader of student senate, I’m working on a policy change to expand involvement in district wide student government.

However many achievements I list off, my message is simple. Madison’s support of the referendum proves how dedicated our district is to providing all students with an exceptional free public education. I strive to bring that same dedication to the Board and to this campaign. As your 2009-10 student representative, I will continue to put my time, my energy and my heart into fighting for you on the board. I promise to respond to student questions and concerns, and always put you first when making decisions: because, after all, school is for the students.

 

Student Senate Elections

A chance for all students to exercise their right for democracy! The elections for the student liaison and alternate to the board of education are coming up soon. 

What can you do?

• Run for one of the two positions: talk to your SLC principal or guidance counselor for information and candidate packets, or attend a student senate meeting-- you don't have to already be a member!

-Tuesday, March 17th, 6 PM at Doyle Administration Building: next student senate meeting

-Friday, April 30th, candidate packets due to Assistant Superintendent's office by 4 PM

• Vote in the election, which will be held the week of May 13th

School Board News, March 2

Hey, students! In case you weren’t aware, you have a high school representative on the MMSD Board of Education. My name is Sarah Maslin, I’m a junior at West High, and I attend the board meetings with an advisory vote to represent the voice of the students of Madison.

In the past couple months, under the leadership of our new superintendent Daniel Nerad, the school board has collaborated with teachers, students and community members in an exciting process called “Strategic Planning”. The mission of the process is to realign the goals and procedures of the district to achieve success for our students.

The board also recently renewed the contract for our district’s dual language immersion charter school. Congrats Nuestro Mundo for another five years! After this huge success, the district is starting to plan for dual immersion programs within other MMSD elementary and middle schools.

The administration is beginning to plan the future of 4-year-old kindergarten in the MMSD. Though still in the very early stages of planning, MMSD staff, Madison day care providers and community members are excited to embark on this process. Our goal? Providing all young children with the early childhood education to prepare them with the knowledge and skills needed to enter kindergarten.

My job as student liaison to the school board is to speak for the students. In order to do my job, I need your help! Visit my blog at http://studentsofmadison.blogspot.com to read about hot topics on the board, as well as to ask questions or make comments about your school or the district. Come to student senate on Tuesday nights at 6 at the Doyle building—it’s a great way to make friends, get volunteer hours and get involved!

Upcoming Student Senate Meetings

The informational meeting for the student senate election will be held on:

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. in room 103 of the Doyle Building (this meeting is prior to the next student senate meeting).

Also:  joint meeting with MSAN and the Asian American Association on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Doyle in the Auditorium.

Student Senate

What can YOU do to get involved?

Students complain every day about nearly every aspect of high school: their classes and schedules, the food policy, what's unfair and unjust. Instead of complaining: do something about it! You could be a part of a huge effort to increase student involvement in the MMSD. 

Student Senate is in the process of restructuring the role of students in our district. Our goal is for every school to have an operating student council, which communicates with Student Senate: kind of like a Student Council, but with members from all of Madison's High schools. Student Senate will serve as a forum for students to express their opinions and concerns, which will be discussed and presented to the school board. 

Student Senate is a great opportunity to get involved in your school district and your community, as well as a hot item for a college resume. Plus, with fun people and pizza and soda at every meeting, it's a blast. 

Everyone's invited. We meet every other tuesday, for an hour and a half. It's a small commitment to make a big difference.

Check it Out, CLICK HERE!

Happy Second Semester!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all did well on your final exams, and have had a good start to the second semester. The school board has been busy, as usual lately. Here's some of the hot topics:

• the 5 year charter for our district's bilingual school, Nuestro Mundo, was renewed at last Monday's meeting. Hurray for 5 more years of this amazing opportunity for young children to learn in both English and Spanish.

• the Superintendent, in collaboration with the board, district staff and community day care providers, are beginning to look into starting a 4-K program in the MMSD. This would provide an early education to four year olds, to supply them with the skills and knowledge needed to enter kindergarten. 

• The board submitted a request for a waiver for some of the time missed during the snow days in December and January. I'll post updates on the result of this waiver, as well as any changes in the school calendar or bell schedules.

• Community members from all over came together on January 29-31st to begin the Strategic Planning Process. The goal of the process is to realign the mission of the school board, targeted at student achievement and preparation for life outside of school. Check out the new mission!

We did it!!!!

The referendum passed! I was thrilled to hear news of Obama winning county after county and state after state, but as the night of November 4th got later and later, I waited anxiously to hear the results of the referendum vote. But thanks to community support, and the huge efforts of school board members, volunteers, and students like you, the referendum was approved.

Thanks so much to everyone who showed up at the Capitol Square rally last Saturday. It was a great success! We had at least 20 kids, multiple news reporters (with stories in the Capitol times and on Channel 3 news featuring our cause!), and tons of supportive farmers-marketers. I think our effort, as students, really made a difference in the outcome of the vote.

Though we avoided cutting countless programs, classes and positions by approving this 13 million dollars to patch up the budget gap, our work isn't over. We embark now in a process of strategic planning- to find out the best way to spend our limited money. The superintendent and board members will be consulting students, teachers, community members, and anyone with a voice about their personal concerns and ideas. We also have a long ways to go in Wisconsin and the United States as a whole to receive more financial support for our schools, and our future...

sarah

REFERENDUM Rally. BE THERE!

WHO: ALL STUDENTS, SIBLINGS, FAMILY. TELL EVERYONE.

WHAT: RALLY FOR AWARENESS AND SUPPORT OF REFERENDUM

WHEN: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 8 am to 12 pm

WHERE: CAPITOL SQUARE AT ENTRANCE TO STATE ST.
DURING FARMER's MARKET

WHY: Help raise awareness and support for the referendum Next Tuesday’s vote of whether to provide the school funding to prevent 13 million dollars of budget cuts is ESSENTIAL to your future and that of your peers. 

Also... planning meeting Thursday at 3 pm, 821 Williamson St. Pizza and soda provided. Your leadership is NEEDED!

contact me with questions. 

TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

What can you do?

The increase of student awareness about the referendum in the last few days has been great and exciting. 

I have many students asking me, what can I do to help? Here's a list of things you can do. IF you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

1. Email Natalia Thompson, project coordinator for Madison SOS and organizer with the CAST referendum efforts (nmthompson01@aol.com) with your home address to get a VOTE YES FOR SCHOOLS SIGN delivered to your house, for free
2. Write a letter to the editor (more info online at http://madisoncast.org/action.html)
3. Sign up for a lit drop (http://madisoncast.org/action.html

Tonights Referendum Meeting- WOW!

I just got back from a referendum filled day. 

Today at West High's regular weekly student council meeting, we had a reporter (Andy Hall) from the State Journal interviewing students about the referendum. This was a great opportunity for me to inform the student council about the referendum, as well as get a chance for (hopefully) a bit of media coverage from the students perspective.

I'm working to spread awareness among students- I think student's voices are the most persuasive and valuable resource to gain support for the referendum vote... Besides- we should all be passionate about this issue- we're the ones who have seen and will see the consequences of budget cuts. (Writing lab and Theater 3 from West, Italian from Lafollette, etc. etc.) 

I also attended a referendum forum meeting at Jefferson Middle School,  where Superintendent Dan Nerad, Assistant Superintendent Erik Kass, fellow board members and I listened and responded to community members' questions and concerns about the referendum. It was discouraging to hear very negative criticism towards the efforts of the board, but also encouraging to hear support from the referendum, and the universal view that the Superintendent and the Board's communication and willingness to answer questions has been phenomenal throughout the process.

Unfortunately we, the students, cannot vote on November 4. But this isn't to say we don't have a role in the referendum movement. In fact, I think the potential role of motivated, passionate students is the most important and perhaps the most influential for community members. We need to have conversations with anyone and everyone about the referendum, encouraging them to look up the facts and attend community meetings to help them make an informative vote. We need to help out in distributing flyers (THIS SATURDAY! SEE BELOW). We need to speak to the media, provide the student aspect.

The referendum doesn't come down to dollars and numbers. It comes down to our future. By supporting the referendum, we're supporting the education of our children and investing in Madison and the world as a whole. 

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD PUT UP A YARD SIGN. PLEASE COME HELP DISTRIBUTE LEAFLETS ON SATURDAY. PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH SUPPORT. THANKS GUYS!

What's New- the Referendum

Hello again everyone,

Since you're reading this post, I can assume you've seen my messages or heard about my blog. Great! Thanks for keeping up--- it's imperative that Madison students stay informed, if we want to have a voice in the district, and I think this blog is a great way for me to help out. Please tell all of your friends and peers to check my site out, and please contact me with any questions, ideas, concerns, etc.

This is an exciting and important time for the youth of America, as we watch our country's economy staggering while two radical opposites compete for president. Check out my poll to see what other peers in Madison think of Obama and Mccain, and get involved in the election, even if you can't vote--- this election is our future!

November 4's vote will also be key in determining the future of Madison's schools. Community members of Madison are voting on a referendum to give more money to the school district. Since 1993, our district has had to cap our budget to a certain amount every year, which has increased at much lower rate than expenses- creating a gap in the amount of money we need to sustain our programs and the amount we actually have. 

Our schools have suffered as a result of the budget gap, having to increase class sizes and cut programs all across Madison. It's an unfortunate problem that can only be solved by cutting programs or initiating a referendum. 

The referendum asks tax payers to provide funds to lower the budget gap, and avoid cutting more programs and compromising our education. You can read more about it on the school district website- which has useful information about the fiscal situation, the referendum, and the possible outcomes and their effects on students. 

Please take the time to learn about this referendum and inform your parents and friends- budget cuts have had, and will continue to have, a huge impact on your experience in school. Also- please comment on your opinion, and any questions you may have. 

Thanks!

Sarah

Welcome!

Hey Madison Students!

So maybe going back to school isn't at the top of our "10 Things I'm Looking Forward To" list, but I'm trying to enjoy the end of summer, not get too down about going back to the rat race, and be positive about the upcoming year-- I have high hopes for our school district in 08/09! 

Thanks to all of you who voted for me in the election last Spring- and for all your comments and support. In case you weren't here, or didn't vote, here's the deal: Every year, one Madison high school student is elected to serve on the school board of the Madison Metropolitan School District. It's this student's job to attend the weekly school board meetings, learn about the issues involved, and serve as the voice of the students when advising the board and voting at meetings. 

I started my term as your representative in July, and had to try to learn fast as we're in the middle of heated discussion concerning a November referendum for more funding for our schools. As we discuss, debate, and decide on this and other important issues, I'll try my best to keep you all informed via this blog. 

Please check back for updates, and never hesitate to contact me with questions, comments and concerns. 

Here's to a great school year!

your representative, 

-Sarah