New Funding Source for MPS

Milwaukee Public School District is capitalizing on a new funding source. They needed another elementary school and improvements to one of their high schools. They have the money. No, it did NOT come from taxpayers.

Milwaukee Public School District is selling naming rights to those buildings and by doing so, fully funded their needs. Their Superintendent claimed that tight budgets and limited tax dollars are the reasons MPS and other school districts are going to have to get creative. What a novel idea (the getting creative part, not necessarily the naming rights part).

Does this mean we will see a PepsiCo Elementary School in Milwaukee? Not necessarily. While a company like PepsiCo could buy naming rights, it is entirely up to them what they would name the building or part of the building they have funded. Theoretically, PepsiCo could pay for a new school and name it WEB Dubois Elementary School and then put up a big Pepsi scoreboard in the gym. Or Shopko could fund an auditorium addition to the high school and name it Shopko Hall II.

Just out of curiosity, what would Oshkosh think of such a maneuver to keep OASD running, upgrade facilities, raise teacher salaries, etc?

"Official" Recount Minutes

The official school district minutes of the recount have been published on Tony Palmeri's blog. Since they are so lengthy, here is the link instead of reproducing the entire file.


http://www.tonypalmeri.com/recountminutes.htm

New School Board

We finally have a verdict. By a margin of 11, Amy Weinsheim rounds out the school board. Dan Becker will not pursue the results further.

For the next year we will be seeing the faces of Don Sween, Karen Bowen, Tom McDermott, Ben Schneider, Amy Weinsheim, Dennis Kavanaugh, and newcomer Wayne Traska.

Good luck to them all. Hopefully in the year ahead we will see everything the BOE members have been promising brought to fruition. I look forward to the long range facilities plan, restructuring, the health initiatives to remove soda from district schools, the phasing out of VIP and Teen Parenting, the next budget, new partnership initiatives, and better communication.

It will be interesting. See you at the meetings.

Recount notes from Thursday

These are the transcripts of notes taken from the recount proceedings. Mr. Becker has a request in for the official minutes of proceedings once everything concludes and I will ask for a copy to post here as a matter of public record. Reader beware, more than one person took these notes. There may be interpretations and opinions of a variety of witnesses to include the candidates. Any perceived bias is your own interpretation.

Ballot bin from county is not covered nor sealed in any way though the individual bags are sealed.

District 17, Wards 32 and 33.
Dan questioned ballot security on open bin. Collins explained that the county's answer to that question is that they never seal the bins.

Ballot for ward 21 was put on ward 22 and in with 17. Recreated ballot on wrong ballot form. Original came from district 11. Sight checked absente ballots that had been recreated, 23 total. Ballot came from ward 22 but in district 17, ward 32 bag. Objection to how a ballot from one ward got in another's sealed bag. Explaination: ballot was probably absentee sent to wrong poll, forwarded to correct poll and recreated on a different form. Ballot has N Westfield Address, it is not in the right ward though supposedly corrected by being sent to proper ward. Should be District 17, ward 32, not district 11, ward 22. Canvassers accept ballot in ward 32.

Election night totals:
Ward 32 = 426
Ward 33 = 380
Ward 36 = 0
Ward 38 = 0

Dan requested envelope be marked for signature being missing.
Canvassers ruled to pull the envelope

Object to envelope, no record in Clerk's log it was ever received by City Hall. Envelope accepted, though marked because Clerk's log is just an internal checking device. Envelope was signed and witnessed.
Another envelope not recorded as being received. Marked and accepted because was signed and witnessed.
Objection, signed in pencil
Objection, signature partially missing. Over ruled
Objection, envelope has no record of being sent or received by city hall.
Objection, envelope signature. Marked and allowed.
Objection, envelope has no record of being sent or received by City Hall
Objection, envelope has no record of being sent or received by City Hall
Objection, signature in pencil, overruled
Objection, discrepency in district
Objection, voter registration number is incomplete, marked in ward 32
Objection, voter registration number is incomplete. Something to do with address
Objection, address on envelope

More envelopes than ballots in ward 32

Ballot security questioned, several ballots stamped "PRU" by City Hall. Questions about duplicating and recreations
Questioned validity of ballot, requested or recreated.
Question whether ballot was counted originally by voting machine because it was rejected by the machine at least once or twice before it finally was accepted by machine at recount.
Machine jammed during recount
Machine jammed again
Ballot rejected twice, ballot had been done in ballpoint.
Blank Ballot according to machine, LC, was not blank.
Serious concern with accuracy of machine, ballot was not blank. Questioned bringing in a new machine. Request denied saying the recount would have to start over. Dan took back request, keep going, don't start over. Count continued with same machine. Dan commented one rejection acceptable, two rejections is an anomoly. Over ruled.

Machine jammed again
Machine jammed again. Ballots recreated
Ballot rejected. Dan asked his concerns be noted.
Ward 32 had over 100 ballots recreated because machine could not read them.

Ballot rejected because had only one set of intitials

City Clerk does not know how ballpoint pen got in voting booth. Can either hand count or continue to recreate ballots. Decision made to recreate. Ballpoint should not be allowed in booths to mark ballots. Ward 32 had pens used. Machine would not read ballots. How were they accepted on election day but not today? Ubrig stated the new machines can read pen, the one on election night was a new one, this one is old one.

Esslinger questioned whether it wasn't reasonable to accept that pollworkers watch the booths for stray pens. Pam stated that poll workers are encouraged to do so and pen is discouraged. Pam did bring new machine, but count would have to start over. All decided to continue with count as is.
District 17, 230 ballots had to be recreated.
Machine counted 805 on dial. Started with 806. One ballot had been pulled because of initials.

One bag could not be secured and was placed inside another new bag that could be.

Dan's lawyer stated that according to case law, one signature on a ballot instead of two does NOT invalidate the ballot. Also, absentee ballots that do not have an application on file, MUST be voided according to case law. OASD attorney recommended canvassers continue as have been of pulling single signature ballots and including absentee ballots without applications until he can look over the laws.

Town of Algoma ballots have to be separated by wards.
Objection, some ballots are starred because premanent applications for absentee ballots on finle at Town Hall. Permanent list not brought in. Algoma Clerk called to have list brought in.

Objection, Envelope with no application, over ruled and accepted
Objection, four more same condition. Overruled, marked.

There is nothing on written instructions that states a poll worker must sign the outside of a bag.

Objection, envelope with no application, Marked.

Objection, envelope had no application. Marked. Signature is also different. Signed by legal guardian. Dan questions if POA needs to be on file. Town of Algoma Clerk says they do not require POA on permanent absentee list.

Break until Town of Algoma can bring in Permanent list.

Objection, absentee ballot no address
Objection to absentee ballot. Numbers did not match name on lists
Objection to ballot.

No distinguish marking between town and county voting lists

Question of voter intent.

Objection to one set of initials, pulled
Objection to one set of initials, pulled
Deputy Clerk unaware ballots need to be initialed. 5 ballots in question.

Objection to Town of Winneconne ballot put into town of Black Wolf, recreated ballot envelope.

Insufficient amount of blank ballots available for recreation process. Used Town of Black Wolf Ward 3 ballot in lieu of Town of Black Wolf Ward 2 ballot. Recreated ballots were marked to be used for Ward 2.

Ballot found with only one set of initials. Noted, no objected. Ballot was pulled. Recreated 18 ballots for Town of Black Wolf.
Machine count was 406

Town of Oshkosh ballots cast 548.
Envelope signed in pencil by person and witness, accepted
Same objection, ballot accepted
Same objection, ballot accepted
Same objection, ballot accepted

Lack of application, ballot accepted

Signature of RW missing for application. Jeannette Merten said she had a letter for both the husband and wife. Jeanette will provide signature by Monday. Marked and counted

Missing absentee baloot. 14 set aside while regular ballots are reviewed. Missing ballot found.

Town of Oshkosh had 44 recreated ballots.

There was a completely blank ballot. The poll workers noted to Jeannette that they wanted to leave it blank. Pressed "Yes" to override machine to have ballot accepted and counted.

Machine count: 548 at end for Town of Oshkosh

Town of Vinland: ballots cast 453, recorded in two shifts
Dan objected on bassi of ballot tampering. Requested that ballots be excluded. Voter intimidation or fraud may have occurred. Amy does not believe intimidation or fraud occurred. Recommendation: Count ballots and record for now until further decision made on whether they will be accepted or rejected. Does not preclude the individual making the accusation from coming forward.

The list of permanent absentee ballots was not available.
Objection to lack of application
Envelope with pencil signature
no address for witness
no address for witness
lack of application, permanent absentee
lack of application, permanent absentee
lack of application, permanent absentee
no address for witness
ballot with no intitials
Amy noted set of initials on ballot does not match any other intitials and was in different colored ink though stack of ballots had yet to be gone through.
Machine tally: 453

Town of Nekimi
All absentee ballots missing a poll number
envelope with no application
applications for permanent absentee ballots unavailable
pencil signature
no registration on list, registered at poll. Registration documentation is not provided because the form contains proprietary info such as driver's license number
Recommendation to accept all 5 ballots. Accepted by canvass board. Amy said voters should not be denied/rejected due to Town's housekeeping problems.
Recreated ballots: 17
Machine count 176

End of Thursday's proceedings.

Recount Update from Wednesday

Ward 21 and 22

Amy objection to ballot with one signature, ruled to pull ballot
Dan objection to inconsistancy of the board for not pulling bag with no inspector signature
Amy comment that ballots in bag were signed
Amy objection ballot with one signature, ruled to pull ballot
Dan renewed objection to inconsistency of board rulings
Dan objection last three ballots in Dan's favor had only one signature and were pulled from count
Dan objection to Ward 22 because of number of procedural anomolies

Ward 23 and 24
One rejection ballot in rejection envelope. Rejected by poll worker. Collins moves to accept anyway. Dan objects because poll worker had already decided it was invalid. Overruled, ballot counted.
Count 426 ballots in hand, tape shows 425 from election night. Reject added one
Dan requests that the number from poll list be counted. Counted names compared to ballot count.

OASD Lawyer remarks there are less ballots than people logged in as voted by at least one. Voter could have changed mind and left with ballot.

Ballot marked. First and middle name transposed. Can't tell which it is supposed to be.

Dan objected to missing witness address. Had been rejected by poll worker. Canvassers accepted ballot. OASD attorney, Tony, said didn't need address.

Objection to signatures on absentee envelope. Two signatures for elector one for witness.

Dan objected to envelopes missing "ABS." Standing objection as all envelopes are missing this yet all other wards had "ABS."

Dan objection, address on absentee envelope does not exist. Name matches log. Ballot accepted as clerical error. Address is proof of residency. How do we know ballot cast was from a resident.

Objection: Signed and sent without witness signature. City Hall sent back/called. Elector resigned in front of witness. Do not know if envelope was tempered with or if any other irregularities.

Objection renewal: unsiged ballots are being pulled but unsigned bag accepted. Signature missing in both cases is the Poll Officials.

Objection, ballots being eliminated for lack of inspector initials are Dan's only, not Amy's.

Objection: ward 24 ballots missing required signatures

Teresa and Amy both at ballot table though Amy gave permission for Teresa to speak while she breastfed her baby at the table. Recount rules are only one person allowed to speak: either candidate OR representative.

Dan requested ballot withdrawn because one set of initials

Question of voter intent. Marks in school board area. Stray dot by Dan's name.

Ward 25 and 26
Heilmann walked up to Monte to deliver a letter. Dan was standing in conversation with Monte. Heilmann did not look at nor speak to Dan and has not to this point during the course of proceedings. Has spent part(s) of every day talking to Amy and her supporters. This is the "boss" of canvassers.

Ward 26 and 27
Dan objected: Absentee ballot envelope, no signature. Ruled pulled
Dan objected: absentee ballot signed in pencil, overruled
Dan objected: absentee ballot signed in pencil, overruled
Dan objected: absentee ballot signed in pencil, overruled
Dan objected: absentee ballot signed in pencil, overruled

Witness on absentee ballot from outside school district, Dan asked be marked

Dan objecting witness address missing. Amy commented witness address not necessary

Plastic lock found in bag with ballots. Lock #273353 found between two ballots. Pam Ubrig came in. It is seal from memory card slot set in place when machine is in election mode. Is broken at end of day to retrieve memory card.

Problem with ballot machine accepting ballot. Message stated unmarked. Reinserting and rejected as unmarked. Ballot was recreated and new one inserted.
Second ballot rejected as unmarked though clearly marked.
Pam was consulted. She directed the second ballot to be recreated. Pam stated the possibility that the differing marker on one and the ink pen on other may cause problems.
Recreating ballot for stray marks.

Monte followed Collins to conference room A to see ballots secured and new ones brought out. Heilmann stopped Collins in hall to hand her an email about 4 yr old Kindergarten.

Difference in Ward 28, poll worker has 469 ballots, machine said 470. In Ward 29, there is a difference of one as well. Between the two wards, the numbers in district are the same. Dan objected. Explaination is given that someone may have voted in the wrong ward. RG may have voted in the wrong ward, there are two addresses listed. Her application was also not properly updated. There is no way to know the length of time this person lived at an address. Weinsheim comments that Mr. Becker's challenges amount to voter suppression. Becker comments that Weinsheim had no problem having ballots voided that had no signatures. Mr. Becker asked the minutes be read back. The minutes taken by Ms. Collins had not included Mr. Becker's comment. OASD attorney stated that the comments were irrelevant.

Dan objected, No application for absentee ballot.
Dan objected, witness signature in wrong place

Board canvassers deciding about consistancy. Many ballots without both poll signatures pulled, all in Ward 28.

Ballot jammed in machine.

Walking canvasser concerns, extraneous conversation between board of canvassers as they go to same church. Dan objects to objectivity.

Ballot with one set of initials.

Sealed ballot bag without all ballots in bag. Wards 28, 29, 34.

Pam Ubrig made statement regarding Wards 30 and 31. When canvassing for council, it was discovered that there were two extra ballots cast than numbers used or signed in. Ballots 231 and 232. There is a procedure in the book to eliminate 2 ballots.

Ward 30 1 absentee ballot with no witness address
Ward 31 2 absentee ballots with no witness address

Verifying ballots. Ubrig stated that the ballot went through machine twice in Ward 30. This was after Pam spoke with her chairman. OASD attorney now asks which ballots should be discounted, as two need to be removed.

Poll worker rejected absentee ballot by SR. MF because was signed in wrong place. Canvassers voted to accept as valid.

Dan objected a ballot was sent to an unregistered voter.

More envelopes than ballots in Wards 30 and 31
Ward 31 ballot missing one set of initials.

This concludes Wednesday.

Recount Update from Tuesday 4/11/06

These are the transcripts of notes taken from the recount proceedings. Mr. Becker has a request in for the official minutes of proceedings once everything concludes and I will ask for a copy to post here as a matter of public record. Reader beware, more than one person took these notes. There may be interpretations and opinions of a variety of witnesses to include the candidates. Any perceived bias is your own interpretation.

Wards 17 and 18
Objection to Karen Bowen looking over ballots.

Objection. Ballot does not have address for witness. Poll inspector had invalidated. No address registered for witness. Canvass board can validate a ballot, so they overrode poll inspector's invalidation.

Recreated 4 ballots from 18 and 6 from 17.
No signature on original ballot but a signature on recreated ballot. Set ballot aside.

Dan object to envelope being signed in pencil for absentee ballot.

Dan objected to absentee envelope. Was sent to Arboretum Dr. Note on envelope said he moved to Bethel Home. Family said he voted at Bethel. Possibly a duplicate vote.

Objection to envelope being signed in pencil. Envelope marked. Canvass accepted signature.

Objection to ballot marked #1 already pulled out for no signature. Canvass to make determination about voting certification by clerk attached.

Robert Ginke not showing as absentee ballot. Canvass pulled envelope. Will pull random ballots if more ballots than envelopes.
Ballots show 76, Envelopes 89

Objection to Karen Bowen touching envelopes and materials. Noted and Canvass reminded Bowen that parties are not allowed to touch.

Enveloped marked, uncertain of address.

Ward 11 and 12
one absentee envelope signed in pencil, one not logged in.

Problems with machine. Didn't count last ballot. Ballot contains red pen and black marker. Ballot marked out of place.

Ward 13
No absentee ballots.
recreated ballot because of stray mark

Wards 15 and 16
Bag of ballots with no inspector signature
12 bags, 1 with signature, 1 without. Bulk of ballots in bag without inspector's signature.
Lawyers for both sides present.
Canvass continued with count. City Clerk calling poll workers, poll inspectors, chairman. Proceed with district 9, bag will be left untouched.

Representative from district 8 poll worker
Becker's attorney, Elizabeth Hartman, present.
Others present include: William Gerth, Dorothy Gerth, Dorothy Unger, Jim Martinez (securer of ballots and bins when put in City Clerk vault). Mr. Gerth put ballots in bin personally. Marion Unger witnessed the threading yellow ribbon (zip tie?). Explanation of no signature on bag. Pam stated "it was just missed." Attorney Hartman statment: in manual, shows lack of ballot security, should not be included. Amy stated that fraud was suspected. She does not believe that is the case. Objection should be noted but votes should be counted. Dan's concerns: "Who has access to the vault?" 20 people, according to Pam, have access to the vault (all first floor workers). Mr. Martinez states that he is responsible for sealing bins. Dan's concern is that ballots can not be confirmed from district 8. Amy frustrated that this process seems to be voter suppression. Dan objects that the district 8 bag without signatures be altered (opened) in any way until it can be verified. Chief Inspector will be contacted and meeting to be set for testimony. Attorney Hartman and Chief Inspector Marion are enroute back to recount. For further discussion of district 8, wards 15 and 16.

Reconvened. Marion explanation for no signature: "It was a complete oversight, I am very sorry, I lined up too many things to be signed." Board of canvassers voted to count ballots with Dan's objections noted.

District 10
Ballot recreated because of stray marks in school board ovals. Dan objected to absentee ballot with no application.
Dan objected to absentee envelope with pencil signature
Dan objected to incomplete signature on absentee envelope
ballot set aside, no poll worker signature
recreate ballot at Dan's request
recreate ballot at Amy's request
recreate ballot at Amy's request
Dan objected to signature on absentee ballot, overruled
recreate ballot at Amy's request
recreate ballot at Amy's request
recreate ballot at Dan's request

Recount Update from Monday

These are the transcripts of notes taken from the recount proceedings. Mr. Becker has a request in for the official minutes of proceedings once everything concludes and I will ask for a copy to post here as a matter of public record. Reader beware, more than one person took these notes. There may be interpretations and opinions of a variety of witnesses to include the candidates. Any perceived bias is your own interpretation.

Becker objected to Amy's list of those who can speak for her if she needs to leave or step out. Objection to Karen Bowen as she is a sitting member of the school board.

Canvass panel decided to do Town of Utica first though they had originally planned on City ballots first. Ripon needs the Utica ballots for their own school district recount.

Two poll workers from Black Wolf were brought in to help and to act as substitutes should one of the canvassers be absent. Margaret Gantner and Lois Lindey.

Broke seal on Town of Utica ballots at 8:43.
Extra ballot in stack. Counter says there were 90 on election night but have 91 in stack.

Procedural Note: Penciled or partially filled bubbles were recreated to ensure machine can read votes. Ballots are viewed by both candidates two at a time before being fed to machine. ONLY canvassers allowed to touch ballots.

There are 73 absentee envelopes and 54 ballots in wards 1 and 2 from Friday as revealed by canvass minutes from Friday.

Clerk from Town of Utica arrives with the missing materials that should have been with ballots. Dan voices objection that he was not allowed to ask her questions about the discrepency in ballot numbers versus recorded number of ballots.

total of 91 ballots run this time.

Utica Ballots released to Clerk for transfer to Utica.

Wards 3 and 4 seal broken at 10:06am
248 ballots cast according to election count
99 ballots cast according to election count

Absentee ballots: Application and envelope but not listed in log book. Dan requested envelope be marked. Another application and envelope, but not in log. This occurs eleven more times. All are marked for not being recorded in log.

Ward 3 had 17 absentee envelopes and ballots
Ward 4 had 16 absentee envelopes and ballots

Dan Objection. Absentee ballot returned blank, don't know what the intent was. City Clerk logs it to allow the voter to remain on their list for the next election. Amy comments for the record that the objection is inappropriate by questioning voter's intent. Dan expressed his right to question why someone would request an absentee ballot and send it back blank.

Ballot rejected while inserting. Machine flashed "invalid" Message. Possibly crimped or bent. "Being tempermental" according to city clerk. Coding could have been altered in some way.

Ballot jammed in reader. Machine recorded it as read. Removed from reader, dropped in machine, relocked machine, continued feeding ballots.

Returned ballot jammed in reader. Not counted according to machine. Ballot removed and refed.

City Clerk thinks a ballot may have been read twice. All ballots from 3 will be rerun before beginning 4.

Dan requested a ruling on a ballot concerning voter intent. Ballot marked twice for school board. whole circle filled in for Traska, partial circle for Becker. Canvass ruled Becker did not get vote, the mark is a voter error, not meant to be a vote. At final count, the only change was Dan lost a vote. It appears the machine counted this ballot on Tuesday, but canvassers took back the vote.

Wards 5 and 6 unsealed at 11:35am
Dan objected to ballot. Canvassers ruled votes were for Monte, Wilson, and Weinsheim as voter's intent. Dan requested the ballot be marked.

Wards 7 and 8 unsealed at 1:00
Districts 5,8,11,12: ballots were unsecured and recreated according to city clerk.

Dan questioned absentee ballot over missing birth date. City Clerk says DOB not required. Objection withdrawn.

Dan questioned another ballot. First initial and last name instead of full name. Did not put full first name, initial could be anyone. Envelope was witnessed. Envelope accepted and marked.

Objection over number in poll book being on one line in one book and another line in another log. Can't tell who actually voted. Did person assigned number vote or did absentee person who was supposed to be assigned number vote.

Envelope was missing a ballot number but both log books had one listed. Another envelope not numbered but is in log.

32 envelopes. 32 ballots for Ward 7, Ward 8 missing ballots. Envelope/Ballot count doesn't match.

2:40pm ballot box broke down. Box would accept, but not read, ballots on first try.

lost track of two recreated ballots

Patricia Meyer- absentee ballot exists but was not requested- canvassers now checking each request- all applications checked, no request from Patricia Meyer.

Objected on premise that empty envelopes were due to voters simply sending them back to ensure receiving an absentee ballot for each election thereafter.

Ward 9: 8 ballots but only 6 envelopes. Dan objected to inspector initials in wrong box.

Found the two missing ballots from earlier.

This is where notes form Monday end.

Recount Update

These are the transcripts of of notes taken from the recount proceedings. Mr. Becker has a request in for the official minutes of proceedings once everything concludes and I will ask for a copy to post here as a matter of public record. Reader beware, more than one person took these notes. There may be interpretations and opinions of a variety of witnesses to include the candidates. Any perceived bias is your own interpretation. The first part is copied from my post on Oshkosh News. Following that is the information from the notes being kept by spectators.

Friday, April 7, 2006
The city clerk read into the minutes her report of findings regarding some irregularities in the voting on Tuesday. One item was that two machines' clocks had not been adjusted for daylight savings during the test procedure. It is unclear if the polls closed early or not, that is still being looked into. This was a trainee mistake. One machine malfunctioned and votes were collected in the auxiliary slot, discussion brought out the possibility that the malfunction could have dissuaded some voters. Two memory cards arrived at the clerk's office blank. Pam suspected that static electrical shock could have been the culprit (as in walking across carpet and zap).
Second point of interest was a question by Janey Robson (sorry, I'm guessing on the spelling) asked, as a private citizen with four children in the district and former substitute teacher in the district, who pays for this recount? She stated she did not want money taken from her children's education for this. I found this interesting as this is the same person who cheered the loudest for Amy at the LWV forum, she also spoke in favor of the calendar last year to support her friend Amy. I wonder, would she have been equally distressed if it had been Amy who lost by eight votes? What if it was her (Janey's) vote that was not counted? As taxpayers, shouldn't every one of our votes count? Wouldn't it be better for Amy to win free and clear with no questions about irregularities? I know if I were supporting Amy, I would want to prove that she deserves the seat and the community agrees with the way Amy handles herself on the board. Maybe Ms. Robson disagrees. As a candidate and a taxpayer with four children, I want to know that every vote was counted despite the irregularities cited by the city clerk, but that is just me. It would seem, a recount is the only way to ensure all of our voices are heard.
To answer the question, the district is supposed to have provisions to cover these situations without taking money from student education. In addition all of the workers are employees of the district drawing paychecks from the district. They would be getting paid regardless of which room in the district offices they are in.

Friday from written notes:
City Clerk Pam Ubrig guided canvassers through process of setting up machine to count ballots. Read into the record her report of what occurred on Tuesday during the election. Memory Cards and tabulators were tested. Two district clocks in wards 4 and 5 did not have time changed, poll workers reported the polls were open from 7 to 8 regardless. Pam attributed the clock issue to a trainee who for got to change the clocks when testing the ballot machines. District 4 had problems with ballot box in February, it was fixed and used again in April. This machine jammed so used auxiliary slot until machine could be fixed. Pam stated it was possible voters could have left during this malfunction, but it is also possible they would have left anyway. Ward 30 and 31 showed an absentee was counted twice. Two memory cards were erased between machines and city clerks office Tuesday night. Those ballots were entered manually and the memory cards reprogrammed. Pam stated electrical shock could have erased them as could a magnet.

City clerk demonstrated how to run a test of ballot machine. Had a difficult time even with written instructions. Could not correct mistake of answering computer's question wrong. Ran ender card to start over. Pam read directions to Teresa Collins so that Teresa would know what to do to resume counts in future. Performed "Public Test." Tested blank ballot successfully in all directions. Checked machine for ability to read overvotes and kick it back. Machine reads which race was over voted. Teresa directed to identify over vote and override if not a school board over vote. Ran test results.

Janey Robson: Is this going to cost anything. Here on behalf of her four children and as former substitute teacher in this district.

Paul Esslinger: Important to taxpayers to count all votes. Stated as a taxpayer.

Machine being used is number four. No particular reason for choosing this one.

There are three canvassers and two tabulators, all employed by the district.

Election logs are color coded: City is red, county is blue, school district is green.

Question about absentee envelop. Voter had not noted correct poll for voting on absentee ballot. A registration card was sent to make the correction for next year. A note was written on the envelop. Ballot was sent to appropriate poll.

Objection by Dan: Ballot envelope not signed in pen, was signed in pencil. Canvassers ruled to accept envelope. Dan asked that it be marked.

That is the end of the written notes for Friday. I will follow up with separate posts for Monday, Tuesday, today, and tomorrow.

New, Improved Board Minutes

Here are the minutes from the April 5 School Board Meeting. As always I will report the events as they happened in normal print. As an update, I will also include audience comments and my personal impressions; both will appear in brackets. Nothing malicious will be repeated. As always I welcome reasonable discussion of the meeting. I will also be posting these minutes on other web news sites that I had before with one exception. Now on to the meeting...

Meeting began at 7:00 with all members present. Noted the member-elect was not present. [Audience member noted that Traska had not been going to every meeting and the ones he did, he was 20 minutes late on average. I commented that I hope that is not a trend.]

Presentations by Webster Stanley students about mission statements. [Very interesting, watch the replay if you can]

Nonagenda forum
Representatives from Custodial and Maintenance Department: Refuting Sodexo's glowing report to the BOE. All things Sodexo took credit for were already in place before they came along. Training hours reported are questionable. Sodexo's contractors are not doing what Sodexo claims. Evaluation was not for things requested. Webster is flooding in certain areas and Sodexo's solution was to close off the area without fixing the flooding problem. Electrical and Landscaping are doing more damage, costing money for repairs to equipment and other damage from flying rocks. Sodexo's reorganizing work space led to architecture expenses and no solutions. Sodexo is creating an unsafe work environment. There are no new measures in place as Sodexo's report claimed. Turpin brought in people to move things in a school while the principal was on vacation and won't return the property that was removed. When Turpin was confronted about much of this he challenged "Prove It." Work orders have no place for dates so no way to know how old they are. Turpin keeps coming back with "Prove it." "Get it" site unreliable for dispatching work orders but not allowed to handwrite work orders.
McDermott: Please submit a written report, time is up.
Reps: Have submitted reports in the past, they were ignored. This is not union. Request meeting with Sodexo to resolve some problems.
[I have been researching Sodexo and Tremco (who will be doing the roofs), both have numerous
lawsuits in more than one country. Tremco is under investigation by the state of New Jersey for messing up school district roofs across the state and charging more than they should have and claimed they would. Other school districts and colleges have been filing numerous complaints about Sodexo's food service quoting low prices to get contracts and jacking up prices. Some people here complained about the price of a carton of milk at the Elementary schools being 35 cents. With Sodexo's food service at UWO, the same carton is 79 cents. One district board member said that is normal for a large company. Bad service is normal???]

Agenda Forum:
None

Superintendent's Report:
OASD responded to shooting with a lockdown at St Francis Cabrini. Shelters were set up for kids living in the area for Stanley Students.
School/Business Summit: Jamie Vollmer was key note speaker. Changes in Public Schools: "Schools Cannot raise America's Children."
[Great summit. I hope the camber has another next year as promised. I would say to the district regarding Mr. Vollmer's quote: "Parents cannot educate students." Has anyone tried to figure out lattice? The math curriculum needs to be seriously reconsidered.]

Policy and Governance:
Rule 378
New Health and Wellness Policy
Independent Review, IEP policy
Rules for Student Achievement
Next meeting: May 2, 4:15 in board room.

Consent Agenda:
8,9,12 pulled

Rest voted in unanimously.

Resolution 8 and 9 grouped together by Schneider.
Schneider: Process was improved. Quite a negative response from community. Went form 17 to 15 early release days. Need Snow day built into the calendar before date of graduation. September 6 early release after one full day of school does not make sense. Need compromise at board level. Five members of the board are predisposed to not changing. [Actually, Amy claimed to be on the fence during the campaign.] Slight improvement but need more input. Too many early release days. Won't support either.
McDermott: Will support. Need to stick with system. Need frequent and regular collaboration. [Frequent? Than why were two valuable collaboration days dropped???] Wednesdays have fewest conflicts with student activities. [Apparently early release of sending kids home only to have them have to go back to school at 3:30 for practice is not a conflict with student activities.]Will stick with this and look at student achievement.

Vote on 8 and 9 was the same.
Becker and Schneider: No
Weinsheim, McDermott, Bowen, Kavanaugh, Sween: Yes

Resolution 12: Modified VIP and Teen Parenting.
McDermott: Will support though don't support 4K as part of funding.
Bowen: Will Support. Report is clearer. Services not eliminated. People should contact administration or Board if there are problems.
Sween: With VIP administration and teachers met? Teen parent does not look like coordinator was involved.
Heilmann: Haviland was there.
Sween: This is the same thing we had before?
Heilmann: This is the same plan presented before.
Schneider: We are counting on 4K revenue. 1 VIP for three high schools. What changed?
Heilmann: Kept 1 VIP. Core will cover grades 9 and 10, but nothing was in place for 11 and 12. Will have guided study halls. VIP will move to more technology focused from now on.
Schneider: Administration pushed for old plan hard.
[Sween and Bowen chatting away to each other. What happened to respect, Mrs. Bowen?]
Schneider: We should get plan A and B right from the start instead of only one plan and then wasting time asking for another that better meets needs.

Sween and Becker: No
Schneider, Bowen, Kavanaugh, McDermott, Weinsheim: Yes

Future Agenda:
April 24 will be reorganization meeting at 7pm.
Bowen will present her experiences at the Charter School Conference she went to over the weekend.

Workshop: Community engagement Report:
Traska invited to table as member-elect.

[I have hard copy of the report if anyone wants it emailed to them]

PMP: This is what the public wants [according to the report with a little over 300 participants]:
There should be space for art and music, not carts.
School should be a welcoming environment, location is not necessarily important.
Boundary changes will be accepted.
If building is too expensive, replace or absorb kids into another building.
Long distance learning is more efficient.
Moving between buildings is undesirable.
Performance sports are desirable.
Public opinion is very disconnected.
Bowen: What does changing configuration mean?
PMP: Grades in a building could change based on need. Compared to West Bend schools. Sports was a concern in reconfiguring schools. Middle schools could be reconfigured.
Schneider: What was the greatest area of concern?
PMP: Families said they would leave over too large class sizes. Equal access to technology-computers. Quality teachers. HS equal programming.
Schneider: Any concerns?
PMP: They are willing to accept a range. They want all school equal: same teacher quality, same on-to-one time.
Bowen: Are these values?
PMP: Marker of quality is value. Should be able to go to any school and get the same education. Building disparity is a concern. More special ed students in one class versus another is concern. [Communication during the forums created a better understanding from community and more willingness to compromise.] Did not want identical schools, just don't want really bad or really good.
Heilmann: Equal size schools?
PMP: Smaller school more desirable. Did not like split grade classes. Many parents had Special ed students. Larger building is better for special ed kids. Smaller schools exclude special ed kids. Parents want equitable schools especially for special ed kids.
Schneider: Have 17 elementary, 5 middle, and 2 HS [counting buildings, not counting charters or East HS]. Many are capacity. What is acceptable transportation if boundaries change?
PMP: 15 minutes by car not a big deal. 30 might be a burden. Don't want kids on a bus for an hour. Shouldn't have to pass a school to get to yours. People expect resistance to change because people fear nothing will get done anyway.
Schneider: What is next?
PMP: Things need to be added: Tallies, Clarification. Need more form community, especially those with problems. Need important opinions leaders in community. They will pass on to rest of community. Best choice for more info. Could do random sample, not best choice. Should we continue forward? Add more community input?
McDermott: Need more community balance. Hold more focus groups. Want thorough sample with broad range of representation.
Kavanaugh: Are we devaluing the initial responders by seeking more?
PMP: If not a part of a group, people were not included. Need access to a broader group. Business community underrepresented.
Heilmann: Sent out special invitations and got little response. [I didn't get one...sniff.] We are trying not to target people.
PMP: Always going to have complaints.
McDermott: Chamber participated with a focus group. Don't know that they have more willing participants. Need to do this carefully.
Bowen: Suspect you will hear what you have already heard. Have not heard this before.
PMP: Difficult to sit on BOE and know everything.
Bowen: We don't know what is going on. Will these community-minded people keep their word if we make a decision? Need more focus groups. Need broader view from community so we can tell dissenters, "the community wanted this."
PMP: You will not please everyone. Some will complain, "you didn't talk to me." We should seek out those that have spoken frequently at board meetings and select 15 or so because they are active.
Bowen: Could pull minutes. Also from city council meetings.
Kavanaugh: Could target home schoolers. We will need to draw the line at some point. Need this for next budget. Need to do something.
[What about targeting parochial schools since those families pay taxes and tuition? Especially UCS who shares bussing with OASD.]
Weinsheim: Share Kavanaugh's concerns about dawdling. Some speakers are not connected to schools.
PMP: There are people out there. Can accomplish soon. Announce at YMCA, Library, radio, web, newspaper. Not that many get paper. We talked to admin about radio a while back.
Heilmann: Haven't done yet. Will do.
PMP: Will not set anything up of great cost without board approval. May 20 will have meeting.
Bowen: Bob Burnell advocates strongly for this. Did we get Hmong group? Way not? Can't do this without them. Boys and Girl's club is in my neighborhood, near east side. [What about other minority groups? Apparently only one is important? May not have gotten Hmong because of language barriers and culture issues.]
PMP: Will make intentional efforts.
Traska: Saw realizations at last forum. Need to communicate.
PMP: Need to do creative communication, not just during campaign time. Heilmann needs to get used to getting word out to community more. Need to commit to long-range plan.
McDermott: Additional groups quickly by May 20 for recommendation report.
Traska: How soon will we get facilities report?
PMP: May 20. [Was stated earlier in discussion] Should get all reports on website.

Executive session.

Thank You

To all of those people that voted for me, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I think getting nearly 3000 votes in my first ever election is very good. I consider it a victory that I made it through the primary and got nearly twice the votes in the general election. This was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot along the way. I met so many wonderful people who were willing to share their concerns, questions, and comments with me. Thank you all.

For those that made the top three, I wish them all a lot of luck. I think they will need it. There are some long and hard roads ahead with boundaries and restructuring, not to mention roofs and budgets. I will be at my post taking notes and posting them on various news sites. I will continue to promote communication and be a voice for those that ask. I will continue to battle for more instructional time and to protect the interests our our children and our community.

I have already been asked if I will run again next year. I am seriously considering that option. I have learned so much in this campaign. I enjoyed every nerve-wracking, malox moment. I will continue to keep my blog up and running the name will change a little. Comments will continue to be enabled. I will still be accepting emails and phone calls should anyone need to voice any concerns or ask questions. My email is monte06@sbcglobal.net and my phone number is 233-9878. Here's to looking forward.

Thank you all again.

Michelle

24 Hours To Go

Well, I am getting ready for bed and contemplating my day tomorrow. Fortunately, I have classes for most of the day and I have to register my children for catechism next year tomorrow afternoon. By the time the butterflies start doing the polka on my spleen, I will be in class again. Somewhere in there I have to find time to vote and eat a meal or two. I know pretty much who I am voting for in most of the races. Shhh, its a secret. I'm having trouble coming up with a third in one of the races. Shhh, that's a secret too. It would be a shame to throw a vote away because no one seems worthy. I am sure there are a few out there who might feel the same about me. Nah, never happen. Anyway, it has been a long and exciting trip and I look forward to what comes next, win or lose.

Home Stretch

This is a reflection of the last few weeks. In 48 hours we will know who is going to represent our district for the next three years. This has been a wonderful experience. I have met so many people and learned more than I imagined. I hope people were able to catch at least one of the forum replays. I watched the last LWV debate and the Progress Oshkosh Forum. Boy, do I take school board issues seriously. I guess I should make a note to relax a little. It is hard to remember to smile when one is extremely nervous.

I will be spending the next couple of days doing my normal schedule of work and homework, as well, as answering calls and questions from those still trying to make decisions for Tuesday. Miles Maguire has posted additional questions not asked at the LWV forum on the Oshkosh News Website.

I will be posting as often as I can get to a computer over the next couple of days to reflect on the end of this journey and the beginning of the next, whatever that may be.

Here's to crossed fingers, toes, and eyes.