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Larry and all,
Thanks for tossing an idea out
there, Larry, and getting some discussion going.
There are a couple separate
issues I'd like to address here.
First, clarifying a motion is
always a good thing. What is the confusion about the motion's
intent? When I put the motion on the floor, we voted on a
general direction: that the Lincoln building should be closed, that
neighborhood schools would remain open, that leased programs be brought back
into district buildings and that the impacts on programming be assessed.
Eric and the admin team would then come up with a plan which charts a
course in that direction out for the next SB meeting. It is not
a 'done deal' in terms of accepting the admin scenario point-blank on Feb
7. We'd certainly have considerable discussion on it. But the 'Close
Lincoln-Keep Neighborhoods Schools Open-Bring in Leased Programs' motion was
passed by a majority as the general direction of choice. Can someone
explain what the motion confusion is about?
I believe we've always said all
along that re-districting will be a part of the solution. Ed even proposed
a very family-friendly and sensible staged re-districting
plan.
Larry, your sentence "I am in
support of keeping neighborhood schools open but being reassigned a different
task" begs clarification, too. By 'different task', do you mean that
elementaries will look different because they may have Community Partners like
WSU College of Education in the buildings, shared space with Community Ed, move
from 3-4 section schools to 2 sections, etc? I could go along with
that.
Or, are you re-defining the
entire concept of 'neighborhood schools' to mean any district building which
houses WAPS programs? In that case, Lincoln would fit your description of
a neighborhood school, and converting Rollingstone Community School to 861's ALC
would also fit your definition of a neighborhood school. Within the
context of all of our SB and community discussions, neighborhood
schools have always meant elementary schools primarily serving
the adjacent neighborhoods and other open-enrolled students. If I
misunderstood you, I will be greatly relieved. If your definition has
changed, I could not go along with that.
Thanks for helping to clear things
up,
Sharon
----- Original Message
-----
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2002 10:18
AM
Subject: Re: [School Board] Winona Area
Learning Center
I think we are going to find that closing Lincoln
and moving Community Ed is going to be much more costly than we can afford,
which isn't much in the first place. I am in support of keeping
neighborhood schools open but being reassigned a different task. I want
to use this listserve to make sure everyone is in agreement on what the motion
intended last week. There is at least two board members who voted yes
that are questioning that motion. I would rather we try to cover some of
this ground before next Thursday so we don't spend valuable time reassessing
what we intended. Redistricting is part of this motion as we make room
for Community Ed in other buildings. I picture many more kids than the
population in Rollingstone Elementary being affected. Soooo, we keep
neighborhood schools open but by the way, you aren't in this neighborhood any
more. We should be careful what we wish for. We just may get
it.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2002 9:14
AM
Subject: Re: [School Board] Winona Area
Learning Center
1. Is this part of the 'Close
Lincoln-Keep Neighborhoods Schools Open-Bring Leased Programs In" plan which
we directed admin to detail last Thursday?
2. If yes, what happens to the
Rollingstone elementary kids?
3. If yes, what happens to
Community Ed programs?
Thanks,
Sharon
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2002 8:11
PM
Subject: [School Board] Winona Area
Learning Center
The past week or so Brant and I have been looking into the Area
Learning Center independently as well as jointly. You are aware of some of
the concerns, the buildings are overflowing, community relations problems,
law enforcement problems etc etc.
I sat in on a meeting with Dr. Hannon, Deb Moe, Chief Pomeroy and other
law enforcement people last week concerning the student’s behavior outside
of the building itself. A closed campus appears to be the best way to
address this. Because of the cramped quarters, this would be difficult if
not impossible. There have been numerous suggestions on where to move this
program. One thought was to move it to the Senior High School in the
industrial arts wing. Brant and I talked to Senior High administrators
about that today. They were able to show us that this space would not be
available. The physical space and bringing some of the behavior problems
back into overcrowded class sizes is not the answer. The discussion went
on about discipline being key to changing the behavior pattern of a number
of these students. Discipline at a higher level than is administered now
is impossible without a closed campus and an administrator on site to deal
with these problems as they occur.
With that in mind, perhaps we could use the school board list serve
over the next several days to see where each board member wants to go with
this. I would start out the discussion with a recommendation that the ALC
program be moved to Rollingstone. It would be a closed campus and a large
percentage of the students would be bused to the site, keeping them there
for the full school day. We have a few that are not adapting to the Big O
atmosphere and could very well be less accepting to Rollingstone. I
maintain we have too many kids that want to learn to be spending precious
resources on individuals that go out of their way to defeat any attempt on
teachers trying to teach them.
We have started the process for moving the administration out of
Lincoln School. Whereever admin lands, it needs to be for an extended
period of time. In my mind, any of the elementary schools, Middle School
or the Senior High School is not a good fit. The school district owns the
Big O cheap. It would be the easiest of all the buildings we have broached
to retrofit for offices. Consider moving Eric and company here. Parking is
adequate. Public visibility is good. What do the rest of you
think???
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