[Winona Online Democracy] Greetings,
Thank you for signing up to receive the Winona Area Public Schools - School Board Agendas and Meeting Highlights. Following is Dr. Bartleson's "From my Perspective" summary of last Thursday's school board meeting. Please feel free to email any questions to me, another school board member or Dr. Bartleson. Thanks for your interest, - Steve Kranz, Board Member - Winona Area Public Schools ------------------------------- Board Meeting Highlights 2/6/03 "from my perspective" Eric Bartleson STUDENT/STAFF RECOGNITION The board recognized the following for their achievements: * Brian Sather, WSHS Agriculture teacher and FFA Advisor was named the Region 8 Agriculture Instructor of the Year. He will be considered for Minnesota Agriculture Instructor of the Year. Brian has been teaching and advising for about 20 years. He teaches wildlife at WSHS and has advised an FFA chapter that is considered the top chapter in region 8, 9th in the state and in the top 10 chapters nationwide. * Sarah Merchlewitz, senior, daughter of Luke and Brenda Merchlewitz and Anthony Ford, senior, son of Bill and Marji Ford are the 2002-2003 WSHS Triple A Award Winners. They move on to the region for consideration as regional winners. * Several WSHS students have been informed that their poetry has been selected to be published in Creative Communication's edition of A Celebration of Young Poets. They are: Molly Bambenek, Lindsay Boynton, Andrea Dahl, Andy Gappa, Angela Goedge, Mitch Gordon, Sheena Larson, Amber Mueller, Timesha Mullings, Lindsey Rader, Junior Reed, Rachael Roberts, Corey Sense, Tim Thrune, Jennifer Vaujin, Mallory Hall and Jenna Brinkman. Congratulations students and the WSHS English Department. *32 WSHS students sent portfolios of artwork and photography for consideration in the 2003 Minnesota Scholastic Arts Award Competition. The competition receives over 1000 entries and a nine-member jury works hard to determine those to be displayed in the exhibition at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Of the 1000, 184 entries have been selected. Three students advanced in the competition. Paul Speltz, son of Monica Speltz was awarded a Silver Award for his watercolor landscape. His art will hang in the exhibition and he will be recognized at the February 15 award ceremony and recognition. Rachel Strange, daughter of Larry and Amy Strange; and Shelby Baker, daughter of William and Janet Baker each received merit recognition for their photography. Congratulations to all the students who submitted work: Brittany Aspenson, Kelly estul, Christine Carter, Eric Norman, Ashely Denzer, Aria Snyder, Shaunna Schell, Adam Solbert, Rachel Dau-Schmidt, Ashley Wiczek, Sarah Merchlewitz, Kristin Olson, Holly Levinski, Chelsie Westby, Jennifer Whalen, Nathan Kromrey, Lauren Ropes, Chou Xiong, Ira Ericksen, Ellen Warnke, P.J. Beseler, Tommy Nett, Justin Kotlarz, Aryn Arnold, Stephanie Barnes, Chris Cessna, Adam Kanthack, Katerri O'Brien, Sheila Stellick. Congratulations to our WSHS art department as well: Ann Wistrcill, Barb Walker and Karen Hazelton. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!! PARENT/COMMUNITY COMMENT Mike Bernatz addressed the board regarding the District Athletic Advisory Council and the need for a board member to attend the meetings. He talked about some of the recent discussions at the Council including, regulations related to student participation in activity/athletic programs, cooperative agreements with other districts, and student participation fees. he Council includes students, parents, teachers, coaches, and administrators as members. The board agreed to become more involved. The Council meets the last Tuesday of the month in the Upper Library at WSHS at 7:00 a.m. Marcia Ward addressed the board regarding her concern to the limited physical education programs in the schools. She encouraged the board to create more programs that stress physical fitness through life-long activities. STUDENT MEMBER REPORT Heidi Miller, student member, reported on the following high school activities: - Winter Fest - Pepfest and Coronation (Friday at 2:0o p.m.) - Dance Saturday evening INFORMATION AGENDA Chairperson Steve Kranz discussed the revised format for the board's regular Study Sessions. He pointed out the intent is discuss important topic and issues in a more informal setting. He indicated the in the future the Study Sessions will be scheduled in other locations throughout the district. He also stressed that community members would also be encouraged to address the board during these sessions and to participate in the dialogue. "Key Work of School Boards" Board members and administrators spent time discussing the opening chapter of this book that was obtained from the National School Boards Association. Board member Larry Laber had suggested at an earlier meeting that the board spend some time reading and discussing this book. The first chapter dealt with "Systems Thinking" It was noted that this chapter and the entire book coincide with earlier board discussion on "continuous improvement" . The board agreed to continue discussions on this book at each study session. The board also requested that I contact Randy Schenkat to see if he would agree to facilitate these discussions. Board Goals Board members and administrators reviewed the Four Aims of the school district and supporting goals and activities that had been approved by the board in September. There seemed to be a consensus to revisit these goals and possibly prioritize them in order to provide direction for the board in the budget development process. Sue Roehrich noted that the aims and goals have been an integral part of curriculum and staff development activities. Budget Assumptions Jeff Seeley presented the board with a draft of budget assumptions that will need to be adopted in order to develop a budget for 2003-2004 that is realistic and aligns with board priorities. Winona Area Public Schools 2003-2004 BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS February 4, 2003 - Kindergarten enrollment ?agree on a method to project - Class Size Averages-do we want to maintain present averages? Lower them? Increase them? - Maintain current grade configurations(K-4, 5-8, 9-12) and all day, every day Kindergarten? Note: if any of these were to change the change should be authorized by the board as soon as possible. - K-12 projections-agree on number of years of history to include as well as a weighting factor. - Fund Balance-will there be a systematic plan to achieve the board goal of 1 month's operating expenditures in unreserved funds? If so, how much should be set aside each year? - Foundation Aid Formula amount-what should we project for 03-04? Increase? Decrease? No change? If increase or decrease, what %? - Expenditure Projections? Plan for "hard freeze", "soft freeze" or "no freeze"? As I understand the current terminology, a "soft freeze" allows for steps, lanes, and benefit increases on contracts and a "hard freeze"does not allow for any type of increase. Do we budget only for step and lane increases with all personnel? What % increase should we budget for expenses other expenditures for personnel? Do we budget a contingency in the general fund to allow for increases that may occur if assumptions above are not met? How much? - Grants-what do we know at this time about grant amounts for 03-04? Staff stressed the importance of agreeing on the assumptions as soon as possible in order to determine staffing for 03-04. The board Budget Committee has scheduled a meeting for Monday, February 10 to start this process. March Study Session Topics Board members requested that the following topics be included for discussion on the March 6 Study Session: - Continue discussion on "Key Work of School Boards" - Update on the 5th grade transition to the middle school building. This would include discussion with someone from the fifth grade program at the middle school (Carolyn Lutz?) and one or two of the elementary principals who have experienced the K-4 program in their buildings The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:00 p.m. -------------------- Board Calendar February 10 9:00 a.m.School Board Budget Committee Lincoln Bldg., Special Education Rm February 12 9:00 a.m.School Board Budget Committee Lincoln Bldg., Superintendent's Conference Room February 13 6:30 p.m. Regular Meeting Winona City Hall, Council Chambers _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
