Budget Reconciliation Voted In

Tonight, the BOE voted in favor of the budget reconciliation with a vote of 4-3. Mr. Schneider, Mr. McDermott, and Mr. Traska voted no because of the registration fee. Mrs. Bowen supported the fee because we had it before and it is the same exact amount her parents paid when she was in school. She also was not bombarded by large numbers of people who were opposed to it unlike Mr. Traska, so she does not feel this is something the community would not support. Mrs. Weinsheim supported the fee because public school is not free unlike some arguments she has heard to the contrary. The fee puts the cost of the district on those who actually use the district. Mr. Sween and Mr. Kavanaugh both felt the fee was reasonable and not unusual.

So, if you did not know what was in the reconciliation plan, we now have a $25 per child registration fee with a family cap of $75. Families who qualify for free and reduced lunch can also qualify for free and reduced registration fees. Mrs. Weinsheim assures that if a family does not qualify, they could still petition their school's principal for a waiver for hardship. Mrs. Bowen assures that if OASD finances change, the fee could be revisited. We also lose Journeys charter, the alternative charter school for grades 7 to 12 that served kids who do not do as well in a traditional classroom environment. VIP was eliminated after being significantly reduced in last year's budget reconciliation.

The vote also eliminates several custodial positions and farms those union positions out to independent vendors. I find it ironic that Mrs. Bowen was endorsed by the Winnebago County AFL-CIO, yet she voted to contract out union jobs and has consistently done so in past budget reconciliations.

Revenues! Expenditures! Budgets! OH, MY!

Recently I was asked an interesting question by a community member. I answered on Oshkonversation's new election forum where community members can pose questions to specific candidates. You can click on the title of this post to be taken to Oshkonversation. Here's my answer:

"Good Morning, Oshkosh. Since no one seems to have questions just yet, I thought I would answer one I have been asked recently out in the community. I was asked if I am conservative or liberal about the budget and spending.

I hear these terms tossed around like bean bags and the definitions rarely seem consistant, so I'll answer how I think the budget should be handled and let the readers decide where that puts me. Personally, I consider myself Libercervative. I have some opinions that lean to the right and some that lean to the left, but regardless of my personal opinion, I have to vote my constituency's opinion.

I tried one of those online "Which Party Are You" quizzes and found out I am a DemoRepubliGreen. So much for conclusive evidence.

Anyway, as for the budget. Considering the current state of affairs, I think it is time to evaluate what we have and what we spend. I would recommend zero-based budgeting for the next two to three years to see how much we really need and spend. Every expense would be justified and every dollar accounted for. This is not micromanaging, it sets a base line for the next step. I have spoken to Mr. McDermott and Dr. Heilmann about this and it seems entirely possible with one modification. According to Dr. Heilmann, we cannot go to zero, however, we know what is required by the state and that amount would be the baseline.

The second step is in consideration of the various initiatives we have started and programs we are looking toward. After establishing a spending trend with a zero-based budget, we need to look at a combined Performance/Program-based budget. Before assigning a dollar amount, we decide our goals for the district and how the goals will be measured. We budget based on those goals. It's kind of a needs versus wants type of budget. We budget for our needs and where we meet our goals we can reward for the wants.

This form of budgeting also rids us of the infamous line-item budget we currently use and makes micromanaging far more difficult while retaining the ability to see where money is being leached away.

I don't consider this conservative or liberal. I consider this common sense."

THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you to everyone who braved the beautiful weather and short lines to vote in the primary on Fat Tuesday. I appreciate all of the support I have received to this point.

Now is the time to step things up, roll up my sleeves, and really dig in. I will be out and about and spreading my message and answering questions. I will continue to keep up with updates on this blog and I will answer emails and phone calls. Anyone interested in a lawn sign, making a donation, or just has some questions call 233-9878.

Congratulations to the other three candidates who made it through. I look forward to the League of Women Voters Forum on March 7.

Thank you again.

Michelle Monte

Oshkosh News Coverage of School Board Election

Recently I have been approached by a journalism student of Miles Maguire. Stephanie Barnard has been asking questions of and interviewing all of the candidates. In the last couple of days two of those articles have been posted on Oshkosh News. One is about how the candidates would grade Dr. Heilmann and the other is about my and Kent's campaigns.

SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!

Nope, not Jerry Maguire. Not even a humble campaign request (though donations are being accepted). A discussion on Oshkonversation recently asked for ideas on saving money, particularly to avoid a registration fee for next year. At first, I did not think there was anything we could do about the registration fee at this point. After looking at the budget and the reconciliation plan, I still wasn't seeing it. After talking to some community members and reading ideas on Oshkonversation, this is the list I came up with. In my opinion, we could eliminate the fee, keep Journeys and VIP, and add the CIP amongst other things with a combination of these ideas.

1. Plan on moving East High into one of the other existing OASD properties with the restructuring and Long-Range Facilities plan.
Savings = $40,000 per year.

2. Drop driver's ed from the schools and privatize it. Sell the cars. After all most districts have already gone this route.
Savings = $50-100,000 in the first year with sales of cars and apx $20,000 or more after that.

***I found out at last night's school board meeting that we do not own the driver's ed cars. Someone on Oshkonversation stated that we lease them. This would reduce my estimated savings, but I feel there is still significant savings here. There is also a savings of classroom space and money can be saved and made by selling the simulators and equipment. Students would also have another slot of time for the increased credit requirements.

3. If we are going to follow the lead of other districts, have only one Deputy Superintendent. Other districts of our size only have one. We had no problem cutting an Administrative Reading Coordinator position. Mr. Pouba is retiring, don't fill the position.
Savings = $100,000+ per year.

***Dr. Heilmann informed me last night that the district was not planning to fill Mr. Pouba's position.

4. Fire Sodexo. Let our manitenance and custodial staff do the job we hired them for and are capable of doing.
Savings = $250,000 per year.

5. We are hiring two new principals for next year. Presumably the new hires will not be making as much as the current North Principal and former West principal.
Savings = apx $20,000+ per year.

And to generate revenue:
1. Sell local advertising on high school ball fields.

2. Start a OASD foundation like Sheboygan Area School District.

3. Solicit donations from community groups to fund their areas of interest. Example would be to approach those interested in forwarding fine arts to donate to the art programs. Those interested in Athletics could help refurbish our fields so we do not have to rent UWO facilities for everything.

These are rough drafts, so to speak.

I realize some will attack everything on the list with a "We can't" attitude. All I have to say is "Can't" means "Won't." If you want it, you can achieve it. All we have to do is try. It costs nothing to brainstorm and research the possibilities.

CRT Update

Socioeconomics was discussed again. I asked for a definition to work with so we know how we are supposed to address the supposed disparity. Dr. Heilmann stated that they would be usingthe number of families that qualify for free and reduced lunch. Phil Eichstaedt discussed some studies and how they would be looking at any gaps that may exist in the test scores between students and free/reduced lunch students. Studies showed that moving "rich" kids into "poor" schools does nothing for the scores of the "poor" kids. Moving "poor" kids into "middle class" schools does make a positive difference for "poor" kids with no negative impact on "middle class kids." OASD may not be as out of balance as has been thought.

CRT was given a list of assumptions to consider and asked which of the list would we be willing to consider. Here is the list and I put the ones chosen by us in bold face.

Split elementary schools to feed different middle schools
Split middle schools to feed different high schools
Have students travel past one school to attend another
Add new bus routes
Extend student time on buses
Close one HS and build a new larger HS like West Bend's and have 2 large MS and 4-7 large ES
Add on to buildings that would require purchasing property
Add on to newly built schools (Traeger, Jefferson)
Different grade configurations other than split HS and GreenMeadow/Lakeside model
Lengthen instructional day: currently 6 to 6.5 hours for students, 7.5 for teachers

These are just considerations. CRT is asking that we see plans that may or may not include these ideas

Let me know if you have any questions.

LWV Forum

Candidate Statement. All candidate Statements for City Council and School Board can be seen on the Oshkosh News website.

Split High School Not An Option

According to an article in the Oshkosh West Index, an interview with Dr. Heilmann on WOSH, and comments made at the most recent ASC meeting, it does not look like a 9/10, 11/12 split high school configuration is right for Oshkosh.

Here is the link to the Oshkosh West Index article by Robin Karlin.

These are some of the comments I was able to write down during Thursday's ASC meeting from those who went to Illinois to see 9/10, 11/12 high schools.

• In Lyons Township the 9/10 school is more like a junior high school and the 11/12 school is more like a junior college. 10th graders tended to act like freshman when they moved on to 11th grade.
• Transportation would be a huge expense with buses and shuttle vans for classes and sports activities. Activities are mostly after school because of shuttle situation.
• 9th and 10th grade does not participate in newspaper or yearbook. In Gurnee, 9/10 are reporters only.
• Mr. Hoffmann was not able to find any one thing that stood out and made him think this was right for Oshkosh.
• Il able to spend $14-15,000 per student.
• 9th and 10th grade are for transition from middle school to high school and to get kids on same level.
• Difficult to do joint functions between schools. Have to hire buses to transport one entire school to the other for joint functions.
• Il school said they wished they were 9-12.
• No cohesiveness between schools. No unity.
• Serious special ed students served in a separate building, not integrated. Only mildly are integrated.
• Lake Park "outsourced" a lot of special ed services.
• Advanced and gifted were "outsourced" to a local college, not part of HS.
• Il state standards and benchmarks totally different than WI.
• Got a greater appreciation for what we do in WI and in Oshkosh.
• Did not see efficiencies.
• A lot of duplication academically
• More expensive than efficient
• No compelling educational or cost savings value
• Had two varsity athletic programs
• They thought we could not successfully pare down to one athletic program or run two programs in split configuration.

No one has said that this is definitely off the table. However, if I am reading and hearing things correctly, we are not going to pursue the split HS option.

Locks For Love

A couple of years ago, my oldest child came home and told me about a girl at her school who had Leukemia. Katie had learned about Locks For Love and decided to donate her long hair. Before her haircut was done, she decided to grow it out again to donate. I told her that if she wanted to do that, I would grow my hair long enough to donate with her. It has been about two years and we finally made our donation.

I am so proud of my daughter, so I decided to do a little bragging. Together we donated over 20 inches on Saturday. My sister-in-law took the pictures. Isn't Katie cute???

[Yeah, not very campaign-ish or political. Too bad, I am proud of my daughter.]