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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Oct 14 2008, 09:06 PM
You may have noticed that Whitnall School District has placed a student member, Joel Rathman, on its Board. I don’t know the background information behind this, whether the District took the initiative, or the students were behind it, but I congratulate Joel for taking an interest in the Board. Joel Rathman is a non-voting member of the Board. That means he’ll be involved in discussions that take place, and be allowed to give input on behalf of the student body.
I have news for you Franklin High School Students; if you may be interested in the possibility of having a member of your student body on the Franklin School Board, it could happen if you pursue it. But, you have had the opportunity to attend each and every School Board and Committee meeting all along. As a citizen of Franklin, you are allowed to comment at the beginning of each regular School Board meeting, also.
If there is a desire for a Franklin High School student representative on the Board, I suggest you begin by attending Board meetings on a regular basis and reporting back to your student government regarding how this Board is representing you. After all, you are why the Board is there in the first place. I'm sure the Board would love to see a student or two present at the meetings!
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Oct 4 2008, 10:35 AM
I mentioned that I would be presenting the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) assessment program podcast that the school district gave at the last School Board meeting.
I was hoping Franklin Public Schools would post the PowerPoint presentation on their website, but I asked them if they didn't, to please send it to me, which they did. If anyone would like it emailed to them, just let me know.
In the half hour podcast you'll hear a presentation about:
What is MAP?
Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests are state-aligned computerized adaptive assessments that accurately reflect the instructional level of each student and measure growth over time.
Why MAP?
How does MAP work?
Students take adaptive computerized assessments.
Students get immediate results
and discussion.
You can listen to the podcast on Righty Blog HERE
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Sep 18 2008, 07:05 AM
Safety in our schools should be of great importance.
There are many aspects of safety that need to be considered…Students, teachers, the school environment, procedures.
Since Columbine and 9-11, we have domestic and world terrorism to plan and think about.
We have the House of Correction on our doorstep.
Every School District has a Safety Committee.
Every School District has a plan.
On our District's website they have an “About Our District” page.
On that page is a link to the Safety Committee.
Also, there is a “New Addition to the Website” that has just been announced.
It is a “Business Services Portion.”
“Thanks to this addition, you will be able to find information about Finance, Transportation, Building and Grounds and Technology Support Services.”
I have been looking over the site since school began this year. With the Board Goals we should expect some changes.
Last night I found this regarding the Safety Committee:
Click to Enlarge
I don’t know about you, but I have some questions.
Who is on the Safety Advisory Committee?
Who is on the School Crisis Teams?
Who is on the Student /Employee Health Committees and what are their functions?
How often do these Committees meet?
What are the Crisis Response Guidelines?
This chart was designed to “keep the community informed?”
Just how is this chart doing that?
The only thing we ever hear about our Safety Team doing, as far as I am aware, is having, in conjunction with the city, mock accident/disaster preparedness, as the city did at Forest Park Middle School this summer. And we hear about that after the fact. Now of course, that's a good thing; but we need to hear more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
09/18/08
ATTENTION!
Dear Parents and Franklin Community Members:
Throughout the day today, all Junior and Senior students will be participating in a "Mock Crash" activity in coordination with the City of Franklin Police and Fire Departments, as well as emergency services personnel from Froedtert Hospital, the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center Flight For Life. This activity includes a dramatization of a serious car accident that includes serious injuries and a fatality. Our goal is to make a strong impression on our students relative to the dangers of driving and the importance of being attentive and safe whenever they are behind the wheel. This includes the importance of always wearing a seat belt, the necessity that they never travel in a vehicle with a driver who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and the dangers of inattentive behaviors like cell phone use while driving. This activity was not disclosed in advance because we believe, and the professionals who have done this before have experienced, that the impact of this event is much greater if students did not have advance notice.
I want to thank the members of the high school staff and the professionals associated with the organizations involved today for their wonderful work putting this event together for the benefit of our students.
Sincerely,
Mike Cady
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Here are the cars from the "mock accident" on the FHS track. I have in my notes and on tape from the Buildings and Grounds meeting last week that this event was supposed to take place next week on the 23rd. The element of surprise I suppose... Now that it has taken place, track repairs will begin.
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By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Sep 17 2008, 11:53 AM
Grade: F
I’ll admit it…I’m a little bit puzzled and discouraged about the Communications issue in Franklin Public Schools. During the summer and until the Annual Meeting of the Electors, there was a “blurb” on the Franklin Public Schools website that stated there was going to be a change on the Franklin Public Schools Cable Channel . I should have printed it for safekeeping. I even believe it was in an email or two for you subscribers who get those notices. Anyone have a copy? It was supposed to be working in September.
Tanya Ruder was to have been working on setting up broadcasting Board meetings. She even video taped the Annual Meeting of the Electors and Regular Board Meeting before that. Then the message disappeared from the website. What happened Tanya? We're still listening to WMYX and watching a Power point presentation.
At the School Board meeting on July 23, 2008 I made a Comment to the Board suggesting that we broadcast our School Board meetings via the web as New Berlin does. They use Mediasite. School Board President Dave Sczychlinski responded to me at that meeting that he had not ever heard of the application Media site, but that Tanya Ruder had something in the works. If the District is having problems with their Communications, why not inform us of the problem?
They are failing in this aspect of their Board Goal.
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By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Sep 3 2008, 10:08 PM
By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Aug 26 2008, 06:56 AM
"Future Shock," a great book I read back in high school. We may have a little of our own future shock to deal with monetarily regarding maintenance and improvements in our school district:
What’s that dollar amount?
That’s the Grand Total of the Future Long Range Maintenance and Remodeling Plan for Franklin Public Schools dated 5/15/08 (revised). I received a copy of the Status of Ongoing Buildings and Grounds Projects (2007/08) and 2008/09 Buildings and Grounds Projects back at a Building and Grounds Committee meeting on May 21st. I was pretty impressed by how most of the projects over the years had been allocated funds and then came in under budget. The last two pages of the large packet were Future Long Range plans.
That doesn’t mean everything on the “wish list” will be implemented. The district has running lists for each school and they are still working on projects from prior school years.
Some of the larger items on the packed two page list include the following:
| Ben Franklin |
|
Grounds |
Create drive for loop by receiving area and dumpster enclosure |
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$100,000 |
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|
Grounds |
Additional athletic field |
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$250,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Country Dale |
|
School Bldg |
Replace Classroom Doors |
|
$70,000 |
|
|
School Bldg |
Replace coat strips with lockers |
|
$50,000 |
|
|
School Bldg |
Remodel Center restrooms |
|
$15,000 |
|
|
School Bldg |
Remodel East restrooms |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
School Bldg |
Remodel West restrooms |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
NW Exit |
Replace one door w/two |
|
$25,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Forest Park |
|
FACE |
Divide FACE into two rooms, not three |
|
$120,000 |
|
|
School Bldg |
Replace all lockers @12" to achieve 850 total |
|
$107,000 |
|
|
School bldg |
Replace lockers in girls locker rooom |
|
$225,000 |
|
|
Interior |
Retrofit lighting system to T8 |
|
$150,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| High School |
|
Parking area |
Add drop off loop and widen access |
|
$180,000 |
|
|
Parking lot |
expand student parking areas to the west and add visitor stalls |
|
$250,000 |
|
|
Pool locker rooms |
Replace lockers |
|
$60,000 |
|
|
Grounds |
Renovate stadium w/8 lane track |
|
$2,750,000 |
|
|
Grounds |
Add roads and develop practice fields |
|
$300,000 |
|
|
Grounds |
Add tennis courts |
|
200,000 |
|
|
Back hall classrooms |
Replace tile and base |
|
$50,000 |
|
|
Pool |
Renovate and allow for use of starting blocks/replace deck coating |
|
$200,000 |
|
|
Gym |
Replace air handling units and add A/C |
|
$250,000 |
|
|
Science rooms |
Upgrade and add sinks and safety equpiment |
|
$500,000 |
|
|
Near Cafeteria |
Add a Senior commons area |
|
$25,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Pleasant View |
|
Grass Playground |
improve drainage to expand play area |
|
$180,000 |
|
|
Playground |
Resurface and extend play area to playstructures |
|
$205,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Robinwood |
|
Playground |
Renovate pavement & improve drainage |
|
$159,000 |
|
|
Interior |
Renovate lighting system to T8 |
|
$110,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| SW Glen |
|
Boiler Room |
Replace Boilers |
|
$100,000 |
|
|
School bldg |
Carpet multi-year replace all |
|
$200,000 |
|
|
Exterior |
Replace asphalt, address drainage & expand playground |
|
$250,000 |
Long Range Maintenance & Remodeling Plan - Page One.pdf
Long range Maintenance & Remodeling Plan - Page Two.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2008-09 Project Status
| Country Dale |
|
School Bldg |
Run New TV cable to all classrooms |
|
7,000 |
|
| High School |
|
Roof section 4 |
Replace |
|
$55,250 |
|
| High School |
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Parking Area |
Widen egress lanes |
|
$26,000 |
|
| Pleasant View |
|
Section B |
Replace HVAC systen (1st flr remaining north half classrooms) |
|
$199,000 |
|
| Robinwood |
|
Pod H |
replace hall floor tile |
|
$20,800 |
|
| Robinwood |
|
C-pod |
Abandon and replace underground ductwork to overhead |
|
$30,000 |
|
| SW Glenn |
|
Interior |
Retrofit lighting system to T8 |
|
$85,100 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sub-total |
|
423,150 |
$0 |
|
|
|
Contingency |
|
$76,850 |
$76,850 |
|
|
|
Total |
|
500,000 |
|
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By Janet Evans
Friday, Jun 27 2008, 06:36 PM
*****************************
Update 2
It looks like pressure from the Bloggers, the Civic Celebration committee, the community and students have done the job. School Board member David Works just told me that he spoke to Dr. Patz and he is working on releasing the instruments to the Drum Major so any students who would like to participate in the parade will be allowed to do so. Let's hope everything works out and that there are enough students around to have a good enough showing.
Also, Greg Kowalski informed me that Mr. Cady called Jeanine Olson from the Civic Celebrations Committee and told her the Band Director Scott Julius agreed to help coordinate the parade. I also received an email from Mr. Cady verifying this, I asked if Mr. Julius is being compensated for his leadership of the Band, and was told he was. Mr. Cady also had this to say:
I do want to say that our school does really value our community and we do understand
and respect that our community has an expectation that the school gives
back. The band has performed for community events on numerous occasions
such as performing at fund raisers for the cultural center, providing
entertainment for hundreds of our seniors each spring when we host a
dinner and first viewing of our musical and our students complete
hundreds of hours of community service every year. It is important that
we do these things, we know that and will continue to strive to improve
our efforts in this area.
An interesting turn of events.
We'll remember this quote from Dave Szychlinski for next year:
“I spoke with Dr. Patz this morning and he
promised me that no matter happens this year, we will handle this
differently in the future so this never happens again.”
*****************************
Update 1
This has nothing to do with a referendum.
I talked to the United Music Parent's President (UMPS), Rhonda Gross, this morning.
Last year the parade was run by the student Drum Major. She said there may not even be enough students available right now. This happened a month ago. The volunteers were in charge in the past.
Contracts are still in negotiations for some of the teachers right now. You can bet it will be discussed for a band teacher to participate in the parade. The School District does care about the Community. They've gotten off easy all these years because they have had a strong parent group like UMPS. Also, being that it's late...kids make plans when it gets late. They don't wait around. There aren't 300 kids sitting home waiting to march knowing that they don't have a leader. You would think the new Band Director could have stepped up, but no, he didn't have a contract. Obviously he wanted to get paid. He could be out of town too. Who knows. The UMPS President says he's good with the students.
Not everything revolves around a referendum.
It has been said to our faces at the meetings it will be a while before there is a referendum.
Do we have a date yet?
No.
They need to get land first.
The band isn't playing because many people screwed up.
Period.
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Don’t see anything but an empty space?
That’s because as of this posting there will be no Franklin High School Marching Band in the parade.
And don’t hold your breath for one either.
Franklin blogger, Greg Kowalski brought up this issue last night on his Metro Milwaukee Today blog.
I looked into it a little further today to clarify the issue.
Tanya Ruder, District Communications Specialist reports that:
“We have had some very generous parents and students who have dedicated
their time in the past to organize the band for the parade. This has
never been a school or district organized event. This year there was no
outside person or group that worked on organizing the band. The Civic
Celebration Planning Committee was notified that the band would not be
participating approximately a month ago.
While the district is well aware that the community supports the band
and would like to have them participating, the time frame for this year
is now too short to prepare them for the event. We are going to work on
having the appropriate staff for the parade next year that can work with
available students to perform in the parade. This not only ensures that
the band will be present, but they will also be well rehearsed.
We appreciate all of the support that our community shows for the
Franklin High School Band and we look forward to participating in the
parade next year.”
Dave Szychlinski, School Board President says:
“I spoke with Dr. Patz this morning and he
promised me that no matter happens this year, we will handle this
differently in the future so this never happens again.”
I find the Civic Celebration Planning Committee at fault also. If they knew about this a month ago, as stated, they could have tried to find a band from another area to participate. Hales Corners has their parade late in the afternoon. Perhaps Whitnall's band might have played in our parade. It’s just a thought…you never know. It’s just that, a parade needs at least one band.
My main gripe is that, if this was made public perhaps a community volunteer with music experience, and I know there are some of you out there, might have stepped forward and volunteered a few hours with these students to practice a couple songs for the parade and marched with them on July 4th….for free! Does money always have to be an issue here? Does a contract for a teacher have to come into play? Can a teacher volunteer their services for a few hours in the summer?
Go ahead....criticize me for bringing that up. But I sit at School Board meetings for hours and I don’t have children in school. I can battle anyone about volunteering if you want….I have many, many years of it behind me.So, Franklin citizens…enjoy the parade…
Perhaps we will have to resort to this...
"Ingenuity at its best is seen with the creation of Willimantic’s Boom Box Parade. In 1986, no marching band could be found for Memorial Day. Five weeks later, the “Boom Box Parade” concept was born, where the local radio station, WILI, plays the marching band music on the air, and thousands of parade goers loudly play their radios (boom boxes). Anyone can march in this one-of-a-kind people’s parade. The only requirements are to wear some red, white and blue and bring a radio tuned to WILI (1400AM). American flags are optional but encouraged. There is no “official” theme for the parade. Past parade marchers have included the “Traveling Fish Head Club of Northeastern Connecticut”, which in 2003 had a “herring town” entry and in 2001 had a tribute to the Frog Bridge. Grand Marshal Wayne Norman, a WILI personality, always leads the parade."
The Boom Box Parade - July 4th Celebration
But we can call it the Boomgaard Box Parade...
That's the way things in Franklin are going lately....
Happy 4th of July
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Jun 16 2008, 04:15 PM
Today I received a response from Mr. Jim Milzer regarding the questions and concerns (below) from a Franklin citizen that were brought up after the Committee of the Whole Meeting on June 4th.
I was not told who addressed specific questions/concerns.
The response is in .pdf format:
Response to Unidentified Citizen ç here
06/17/08
Response from From Unidentified Citizen:
I'm satisfied with the answers. I have no "axe to grind" with our district. I appreciate the response, and the time taken to explain.
Unidentified Citizen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I received an email from a Franklin citizen who was in attendance at the Committee of the Whole meeting of the Franklin School Board, on June 4th. The individual does not feel comfortable contacting the Board members directly, for personal reasons, but would like answers to the following questions, and would also like to share these concerns.
I am posting the questions from the email, with permission, as I think they are interesting, along with forwarding them to the Board, Dr. Patz, Judy Mueller and Mr. Milzer. Hopefully the questions will get answered.
Here is a link to my report on the meeting, which has a link to the 1st draft of the 08-09 budget:
Franklin School Board 06-04-08 Committee of the Whole Meeting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Email Questions/Concerns from Citizen Regarding 08-09 Budget:
I was very pleased with the school board asking to see the FTE posted next
to the staffing projections. I too am interested in those numbers.
I am also interested in why I was told at the meeting that no teachers had
been laid off. Tacked onto that statement was a comment that some hours in
art and music had been cut. According to the numbers quoted that would have
been .1 FTE. 1/10th of a position.
When I talked to representatives in those departments - they told me that
two part time teachers had been laid off, and that the total of the two
would have been around 1 FTE not .1. So I am interested in this discrepancy.
I am more interested in accuracy of the presentation than the bad news. I
want finance representatives who aren't going to gloss over a situation.
I also would like to know what areas were considered for strategic
abandonment and what the general strategy or order was. Were staffing
positions considered first because they are the largest budget area? Or were
teachers considered last due to student impact? Exactly what were the
underlying principles used to come to decisions.
Were all budget areas considered? And by that I don't mean "yes, staffing was
considered". I would like to know if all areas of staffing were considered.
I have heard that our district is top-heavy. I've heard it from a lot of
different sources, and there are things I see volunteering that support the
concept of too many chiefs, too few Indians. However, I am not overly
familiar with the structure at a district level. So I started researching.
A quick perusal of our own staff directory on the website shows that 34 out
of 393 employees work at ECC. 1 in 10 didn't strike me as a good number, but
I don't know what those people do, so I started comparing our numbers to
other numbers on the DPI website.
We have 1 administrator for every 246 students.
Greenfield has 1/264
Greendale has 1/208
MPS has 1/178
Oak Creek - Franklin has 1/301
The numbers say that we aren't really top heavy. Or, more likely, if we are,
so is the rest of the system. It also shows that there are school districts
out there who are similar in size that have fewer administrative positions.
Have we researched what districts like Oak Creek Franklin and Glendale
-River Hills, and South Milwaukee are doing to maintain a better
administrative ratio?
It might be expedient for a corresponding cut in administrative FTE to
balance that out cuts in teacher’s hours. Certainly a decreasing staff and
student body means that there is a corresponding decrease in administrative
duties somewhere along the line. That means if we cut 5 positions from our
teaching staff we should be looking to eliminate a part time position at the
district level. If nothing else even a few hours trimmed from the
administrative budget might go a long way in paving the way for better
teacher relations. If we are willing to reposition our teachers and assign
them new duties, maybe we need to consider that at the top too.
I do believe good administration is worth keeping and paying. Good
administration will also have the respect of those who work under them.
My suggestions/comments on the budget meeting:
1. An impact report on proposed budgetary cuts would be helpful. This report
should have an emphasis on what this will mean to the student population.
For instance, we were able to cut three elementary positions due to a
decrease in student populations. Thankfully, we were told that no one was
laid off. Yet there are other costs to the student in reorganization. This
might mean some large classes. It might mean teachers who are teaching new
grade-levels and curriculum. I fully understand that you do the best that
you can, but I also realize that there is more than one way to arrange what
gets cut, that different people are going to have different ideas on what is
important.
2. There was no mention at the meeting that administrative or support
positions had been looked at alongside of teaching staff for budget cuts. I
certainly hope that these were considered, but I have no real assurances
that they were
3. I was very happy to see the budget posted to the website. It is good to
see that the school board is trying to improve its relationship with the
community. Something to consider. When I get an e-mail inviting me to a
meeting on the day of that meeting, I start to wonder what is being covered
that someone wants to push through with little comment. A week in advance
for those notices would be much more appropriate.
4. I really would like a clear answer on how many teachers have been laid
off and what programs are affected. I am hoping to understand why I am
getting two different numbers from the teachers and from the district.
5. Mr. Milzer mentioned that out-sourcing payroll wouldn’t be a good idea due to loss in corporate knowledge in that area. I would love to see the same argument applied to moving our teachers around to fill different positions.
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Jun 5 2008, 11:45 AM
Draft #1 of the 2008-2009 Franklin Public Schools Budget
Jim Milzer presented the Budget Draft in the simplest terms possible at the meeting, and every member of the audience was presented with a copy of the draft. The floor was open for comments and questions during the entire presentation. Once again, the Board is keeping their communication with the public moving forward.
The main concern coming from the audience seemed to be over elementary teaching positions and whether there were staff cuts. There seems to be confusion over this. It doesn't appear there were "cuts," except for a Special Education position. This was more shifting of positions, retirements, etc.
Staffing Explanation
(from my Personnel & Policy Committee Meeting and the Finance Committee Meetings report 04/09/08)
Elementary level lost 3.6 FTE (Full time equivalent)
Forest Park lost 1.0 FTE (Special Education teacher)
High School lost 2.10 FTE (retirement, P.E./Health 1/4, efficiency in sectioning math,
stacking computer class)
For a total Projected Loss of 6.7 FTE
and a Projected gain of +.5 FTE (ESL Program at High School)
= 6.2 FTE Staffing Reduction in Budget Draft
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From what I understand, the Business Department put this draft together with no input from the Board. I believe this is standard procedure. Next, the Board Finance Committee with go over the Draft on June 18th where they will consider any questions and comments from the Committee of the Whole meeting, along with anything else that may come up in the next two weeks. It's not too late...if you couldn't make it to the meeting, give a Board member a call if you have any suggestions or comments before the Finance meeting.
The number of students in the District isn't determined until September and the amount of State aid isn't determined until October, therefore, the Budget is not finalized until fall.
Changes in the Draft will continue to be made along the way.
Estimated Tax Levy Rates:
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2008-09 |
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