After reading over the school board meeting hilights from Dr. Bartleson I have to comment about the "minority report" regarding relocation of Lincoln programs.
I can't understand why anyone would want to separate ECFE, ECSE, and Lincoln pre-school from each other. The district staff can go wherever I suppose, but these three programs all serve little people and share rooms, equipment, and some support staff. The indoor playground at Lincoln gym serves all three groups- how much will it cost to provide an indoor playground at more than one location? ECSE has dozens of big wheels, scooters etc. that they use for their children. Many of these bikes were purchased by ECFE family donated money. On open gym nights and at other times ECFE uses these bikes and scooters as well. Does it make sense to purchase more for two or more sites? Is there room at these sites to store this equipment? A few years back parents from all three programs got together and raised funds for the outdoor playground which I believe is pre-school sized and possibly even handicapped accessible. Which of the new sites will get this playground? Will the school district reimburse the parents of the program that doesn't get the playground equipment so that they can also have one for their children? These same questions need to be asked about the toys and books in the library many of which were donated by parents- where will they go? How about the furniture that was purchased by parent donation money?
Isn't support staff shared by some of these programs now? Will more staff have to be hired if programs are split? What else is shared by these programs that will have to be duplicated if they are moved to separate locations?
Cherisa Templeton
From: "Steve Kranz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Winona] 10-14-03 School Board Meeting Highlights Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 13:15:24 -0500
[Winona Online Democracy]
Greetings,
Below is Dr. Bartleson's "From my Perspective" summary of last night's school board meeting. Please let me know if you have any questions.
-Steve Kranz, Board Member -Winona Area Public Schools --------------------------
Board Meeting Highlights Board Meeting 10.14.03
from my perspective.... Eric Bartleson
HEADLINES Significant Board Action:
Rejects WSU Offer Approves Teacher Contract Hires Superintendent Search Firm Approves One-Day Bond Sale November Study Session to be Held at City Hall
5:30 p.m. The board met in closed session to discuss negotiations strategy.
The regular meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Items Deleted: Hot Spots-This will be on the November agenda to address some
areas of concern in Special Education.
Items Added: Revision to co-curricular transportation rates Approval of agreement with superintendent search firm
STUDENT RECOGNITION The following students were recognized by the board for recent honors:
National Merit Scholars Peter Compton, Commended Scholar Anne Grossardt, Commended Scholar Nick Lowery, Semi-finalist Sharon Grawe, Semi-finalist Semi-finalists advance to the next round of scholarship competition.
All-State Band, Orchestra and Choir Band: Sara Wenzel, Pam Chapman Jazz Band: Blake Jessen Choir: Anne Grossardt, Matt Krage (alternate) Orchestra: Sharon Grawe, Chris MacDonald, Michael Van Ryn
Jostens Prep Photo Contest Winners: WSHS took 6 of the 10 winning spots out of 300 submitted photos.
Amy Kauffman: 1st Place Color Photography Division. $400 and photo supplies Emily Baker: 2nd Place Color Photography Division $300 and photo supplies Shelby Baker: 3rd Place Color Photography Division $200 and photo supplies Trisha Kaehler: 3rd place Black & White Photography Division $200 and photo supplies Justin Sorem: Honorable mention. $100 and photo supplies Angela Johnson: Honorable mention $100 and photo supplies
CONGRATULATIONS STUDENTS!!!!
STUDENT MEMBER REPORT Student member Stephanie Fix reported on the Minnesota Supreme Court justices visit to WSHS. Highlights included the hearing conducted in the auditorium and the question and answer session with the judges.
PUBLIC COMMENT The following spoke in support of district ECFE/ECSE programs: Debra Rackow, Jodie Mahan, Andrew Ferstl, Julie Thornton, and Missy Quadry.
Jennifer Brietlow spoke and requested time on the board agenda to present her "Minority Report" to the report given by the Lincoln Relocation Committee at the October 2 Study Session
INFORMATION Update on Lincoln Relocation and Sale-Jeff Seeley reported that the architect has not finished with the preliminary plans and cost estimates to relocate Lincoln personnel and programs to other school sites in the district.
Minority Report-Jennifer Brietlow presented her written Minority Report to the Lincoln Relocation Committee Report. In her report she provided her opinion on the four options presented by the committee. She doesn't believe that three of these options meet the committee charge set by the school board. She provided an alternative option that would separate the ECFE and ECSE programs and provide space in more than one building for these programs. She noted that Goodview and W-K could each provide space for one of the programs.
October 1 Enrollment and "Wonderful Wednesday" Report
I reported that the October 1 enrollment report showed that the district
continues to show a decline in enrollment. Our current enrollment Pre-K to
12 is 4071. The bright spot, however, is that the decline is not a large as
projected, and that we are seeing some significant gains in our grade 5-12
program. The following chart compares our K-12 enrollment to last year's
October count and to the projection we made in April. Note that this is K-12
not PK-12 numbers. The 46 student in PK are not included. October 1 Report
October 1 Report April 2003 Projection
Grade 2003-04 2002-03 Diff +/-- Diff +/--
KA 239 272 -33 270 -31 1 251 225 26 259 -8 2 212 290 -78 227 -15 3 286 247 39 292 -6 4 244 280 -36 244 0 5 281 278 3 276 5 6 301 324 -23 281 20 7 331 352 -21 327 4 8 369 326 43 350 19 9 360 362 -2 347 13 10 372 359 13 354 18 11 363 404 -41 355 8 12 416 405 11 393 23 TOTAL 4025 4124 -99 3975 50
Wonderful Wednesday Report-I reported that we have 165 of our 239 Kindergarten students enrolled in the Wonderful Wednesday program that provides a tuition based supplemental program for Kindergarten students on Wednesday. Of the 165 students enrolled 76 pay no tuition due to qualifying for free/reduced lunch. 76 pay full tuition for which brings in $19,247.50 in revenue and another 8 students receive partial tuition scholarships and pay the additional amount. This brings in an additional $1,260 for total revenue for first semester of $20,447.50. This is below expectations that about 80% of the students would participate and more would be paying full tuition.
CONSENT AGENDA-The following items were approved with a single motion:
Personnel The following licensed persons are recommended for employment in the Winona Area Public Schools:
Carol Harbinson is recommended for employment as a Speech/Language Pathologist at Winona Senior High, Central, and Rollingstone Schools. The beginning date of this 151 day assignment will be October 20, 2003. Her placement on the salary schedule will be V MA+15, which amounts to $31,974.25.
The following teachers are recommended for employment as Part-time Smart Program Teachers. These teachers will be employed 2 hours after school on Tuesday and Thursday from October 7, 2003, through April 29, 2003:
Eric Hanson - Goodview Lisa Kent - Dakota
Approval of these positions is subject to Minnesota Statute 125.12, Subdivision 2, which requires a unanimous vote of the full board if the teacher is related by blood or marriage, within the fourth degree, computed by the civil law, to a Board member.
The following non-licensed persons are recommended for employment in the Winona Area Public Schools: EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANTS:
Kathie Erdmann is recommended for employment as a Special Ed Educational
Assistant at Winona Senior High School. She will be employed 6-1/4 hours per
school day. The beginning date for this assignment was September 24, 2003,
and the hourly rate of pay is $9.69.
Jason Flanders is recommended for employment as a Special Ed Educational Assistant at the Winona Area Learning Center. He will be employed 6-3/4 hours per school day. The beginning date for this assignment was September 29, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $9.69.
FOOD SERVICE:
Virgil Albrecht is recommended for employment as a Cook Helper I at Jefferson School. She will be employed 2 hours per school day every other day. The beginning date for this job-share assignment was September 22, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $8.11.
Jan Baumann is recommended for employment as a Cook Helper I at Winona Middle School. She will be employed 2-1/2 hours per school day. The beginning date for this assignment was September 22, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $7.27.
Kim Jaskola is recommended for employment as a Cook Helper I at Winona Middle School. She will be employed 2-1/2 hours per school day. The beginning date for this assignment was September 22, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $7.27.
Marcy Karsten is recommended for employment as a Cook Helper for the Breakfast Program at Winona Middle School. She will be employed 1 hour per school day. The beginning date for this assignment was September 2, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $11.74. This is in addition to her assignment in the Lunch Program at Winona Middle School.
Kara Schmelzer is recommended for employment as a Cook Helper I at Winona Middle School. She will be employed 2-1/2 hours per school day. The beginning date for this assignment was September 2, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $7.27.
Marlene Walther is recommended for employment as a Cook Helper I at Jefferson School. She will be employed 2 hours per school day every other day. The beginning date for this job-share assignment was September 22, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $8.11.
NON-GROUP:
Megan Allen is recommended for employment as a Math Tutor at Winona Middle School. She will be employed 1 hour per school day 3 days per week. The beginning date for this assignment was September 8, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $8.00.
Maria Barrientos is recommended for employment as a Hispanic Interpreter at Jefferson School. She will be employed 7-1/2 hours per school day. The beginning date for this assignment was September 16, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $10.99. Kay Crampton is recommended for employment as a Hispanic Interpreter at Winona Senior High School. She will be employed 7-1/2 hours per school day. The beginning date for this assignment was September 22, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is $10.99.
Sheng Yang is recommended for employment as a Hmong Interpreter at Jefferson
School. She will be employed 6 hours per school day. The beginning date for
this assignment was September 10, 2003, and the hourly rate of pay is
$10.99.
Graciela Amundson is recommended for employment as a Hispanic Interpreter at
Winona Middle School. She will be employed 5 hours per school day. The
beginning date for this assignment was September 9, 2003, and the hourly
rate of pay is $10.99.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION:
Request approval of the Community Education Staff/Instructors for October 2003.
The following licensed person is recommended for an assignment Increase in the district:
Kimberly Grote, General Music and Band Teacher for the district, will move from .75 to .8 due to an increase in her teaching assignment for the 2003-2004 school year.
The following person is recommended for a coaching assignment by Mark Winter, Athletic Director: Yrs. Exp. Total Name Activity Units Exp. Units Units Increment
Jeremiah Jackson WSHS Asst. Girls 33 1 0 33 $1,320.00 Swim/Dive Coach - .5
The following persons have resigned from their assignments in the district:
Lorie Abnet, Special Ed Educational Assistant at Goodview School, has resigned effective October 3, 2003.
Caroline Gort, Program Coordinator of Strides To Success has resigned effective August 28, 2003.
Payroll, Bills
September Payroll (gross $1,787,249.25) (net) $1,185,667.75 September Bills 1,062,768.31 September 15 MN State Withholding Tax 31,416.17 September 30 MN State Withholding Tax 34,298.24 September 15 WI State Withholding Tax 3,523.66 September 30 WI State Withholding Tax 3,732.34 September 15 Fed/FICA/Med Withholding Tax 202,029.38 September 30 Fed/ FICA/Med Withholding Tax 218,704.07 Blue Cross Blue Shield Payment 278,939.84
Total $3,021,079.76
BUSINESS
Save Our Fine Arts (SOFA) Request
Carol "Mickey" Barr of the SOFA Committee presented a proposal to the board
to engage in a fund-raising effort to rennovate the theater at WSHS. The
proposal is for a complete rennovation of the theater including new seats,
flooring, lighting, sound system and ceiling treatment. The board will also
be requested to budget funds for a portion of the rennovation. The first
step will be to replace the roof . The SOFA committee will provide the board
with more details in the future.
The board authorized the SOFA committee to move forward with their planning.
Information regarding this proposal was not available when the agenda was
printed. It may be enclosed in your packet or mailed/distributed separately.
Retirement
The board approved the retirement request for Alice Hackbarth, Cook Helper
at Winona Middle School. Alice submitted her formal request for retirement
effective December 31, 2003. Alice has served the district for 25 years. We
extend our appreciation and best wishes for a happy retirement.
Resolution for Structural Balance Prior to a school board approving a labor contract it must demonstrate to the public that it can afford the terms of the agreement.
Jeff Seeley reviewed the details of the report that show that the board will
need to make reductions, or increase revenue, in the 2004-05 budget of $1.4
million to achieve structural balance, and an additional $3.9 million for
the 2005-06 school year.
These reductions would not achieve a balanced budget for those years. In
order to achieve a balanced budget the amount to be reduced or raised in
each of the above years is approximately $3 million and $ million
respectively.
RESOLUTION FOR STRUCTURAL BALANCE
WHEREAS, School District 861 has a tentative agreement with the Winona
Education Association, on a contract covering July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2005;
and,
WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes, 179A.20, subd.2b requires a Board of Education to determine that any collective bargaining agreement does not cause structural imbalance; and,
WHEREAS, the School Board has reviewed the budget impact of this agreement taking into account current state aid formulas and reasonable and comprehensive projections of ongoing revenues and expenditures for the period of agreement, a summary of which is included;
WHEREAS, the attached calculations fulfill the disclosure and reporting requirements of said statute;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the School Board of ISD 861 determines
that the tentative agreement with the Winona Education Association does not
cause structural imbalance of the School District's budget during the period
of the agreement.
ACTION: Board adopt Resolution of Structural Balance and ratify labor agreement with Winona Education Association. The calculations will be provided and reviewed at the meeting.
Winona Education Association Agreement
The board approved the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 Master Agreement with the Winona Education Association. The following summary of the proposed agreement was provided by Pat Blaisdell, Human Resources Director.
This labor contract covers approximately 311 employees, with a full time equivalency of 304.32. The settlement represents a $1,000 adjustment for each cell of the wage schedule for the 2003-2004 school year and step increases for eligible employees. The schedule for the 2004-2005 school years has been adjusted by 1%, step increases will be granted for eligible employees. Additionally, the number of contract days has been reduced by two.
The cost of this contract is as follows:
2003-2004 2004-2005
Salary Cost: 552,522.50 337,848.54 Benefit Cost: 101,158.34 192,487.75 Total Cost: 623,680.83 530,336.29
Total Package Cost - Percentage 3.42 % 2.81 % 6.23%
In addition, several language changes where made to the contract, a summary of those changes are as follows:
� Retirement incentives will now be placed into a post-retirement healthcare
account under the supervision of the Minnesota State Retirement System. A
cash option is no longer available.
� The separate Title I seniority list was eliminated.
� Co-curricular units were increased from $40.00 to $41.00 per unit.
� One additional personal leave day was added for teachers with over 15 years of full time service. The accumulated leave days were eliminated.
� Clarification was made that substitute teachers do not qualify for
benefits under the master agreement.
� The time lines for a level three grievance were extended by a total of ten
days.
� Clarification was made that the normal teaching load is 300 minutes of pupil classroom/instructional contact per day, exclusive of supervision.
� All severance payments will now be made to a 403(B).
� A policy will be adopted which will allow teachers to be admitted to sporting events by presenting a WAPS ID badge. The full board negotiations committee, including the alternate, was present at the last negotiations sessions when a tentative agreement was reached. All committee members supported the agreement.
One Day Bond Issue
During the October 2 Study Session, Gary Olsen, our financial advisor from
Ehlers, reviewed a financial option for board consideration The option is to
issue a one day bond, with excess debt service fund balance used to pay off
this bond within 24 hours. The bond is issued under the authority granted
during the 1997 referendum.
MDE has already made the appropriate adjustments to our preliminary tax levy
certification.
Gary was present at the meeting last night and reviewed the one day bond
sale.
Minnesota Statute 475.56 allows districts to increase the principal amount
of any bond issue by the amount of the discount, not to exceed two percent
of the amount authorized by voters. Winona School District issued bonds in
1998 authorized by a 1997 referendum to build a middle school and address
various other capital needs. The ballot amount was $24,500,000. We had a
minimum price of $24,108,000, leaving a discount amount of $392,000.
The school board approved issuing a one day bond in the amount of $392,000
under the above mentioned authority. We will place the $392,000 bond
proceeds into a construction fund to be used for capital projects that would
match the authority granted in the referendum ballot language. The bond
would be paid back the next day from excess funds in the district's debt
redemption fund.
The fund from this one day sale would need to be spent on the projects
approved by the 1997 bond referendum in the following approximate
allocations:
Construct and Equip Middle School $319,680
MS Auditorium $34,240
MS Swimming Pool $15,200
Buildings other than MS $22,880
These amounts will be placed in a "sinking fund" in the construction fund
and can be utilized over a number of years for projects and equipment in the
above amounts.
Lincoln Building Sale Consideration The board reviewed WSU's initial offer of $700,000 for the Lincoln School property during the Study Session on October 2. At that time the board instructed our attorney to present WSU with a counter offer closer to the appraised value of the property. We recently received a letter from the university's consultant that informed us that WSU is "disinclined to change our offer for the Lincoln School site of $700,000.
The board voted to reject WSU's offer of $700,000 and authorized a public solicitation for bids. Bids will be received up to 2:00 p.m. on December 17 with a public opening at that time. The board will consider these bids on December 18. The board reserved the right to reject any and all bids.
Approval of Lincoln Relocation Plan-This was table
Change in February Meeting Date-We were informed that the date we set for our second meeting in February (Tuesday the 17th) will not work due to a conflict with the City Council meeting. The council meeting was changed to the 17th due to the 16th being President's Day. Our meeting was scheduled on the Tuesday instead of Thursday due to a conflict with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) conference that I will be attending.
The board set the date for the second meeting in February for February 26h at City Hall.
Revision to co-curricular transportation rates-The board approved a revision
in the rates for co-curricular transportation with bus contractor. These
rates are lower than previously bid.
Approval of agreement with superintendent search firm-The board approved to hire ADM Consultants to assist in the superintendent search for a base cost of $7,500 and expenses not to exceed $2500. This is the same firm the board utilized for the last superintendent search.
Location for November Study Session-The board decided to hold the November 6
Study Session in the council chambers at City Hall with a more informal
seating arrangement.
The meeting adjourned at 9:10 a.m.
November Meetings November 6 6:00 p.m. Study Session-City Hall November 20 6:00 p.m. Regular Board Meeting-City Hall
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