[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 or if you would like me to email you a copy of any document listed as an "attachment" within the Highlights. -Steve Kranz, Board Member -Winona Area Public Schools -------------------------- Board Meeting Highlights 11.06.03 from my perspective.... Eric Bartleson The board met in closed session at 5:30 p.m. to discuss negotiations strategy. The Study Session was called to order at 6:05 p.m. Sue Brown introduced a motion to remove the Response to Minority Report - Lincoln Relocation Committee Chair from the agenda indicating that the board had received a copy of the report in the board materials and that by allowing this report the board was opening itself to allowing Jennifer Brietlow, author of the Minority Report, another opportunity to address the board in response. This motion was seconded by Todd Rasmussen. Following discussion the motion failed on a 3-3 tie (Fred Petersen was absent). A motion and second to approve the agenda as presented also failed on a 3-3 tie. Chair Steve Kranz called for a recess. The board reconvened after a compromise had been reached that would allow Margaret Schild to present the response to the Minority Report and that Jennifer Brietlow would be offered time at the November 20 board meeting to address the board if she so desired. Board approved t the agenda and agreed to move the Budget Reduction presentation and the Lincoln Relocation Preliminary Plans and Cost Estimates presentation to the first part of the agenda to accommodate visitors. Stephanie Fix, student member, reported on recent activities at WSHS October 24 and 25 Musical Variety Show October 25 National Honor Society Halloween Party Start of new term Tri-State Science Symposium and success of WSHS students Budget Reduction Presentation- Mr. Jim Sheehan, retired business administrator for Rochester School District, currently a consultant and owner of Schoolfinances.com, presented financial information on Winona Area Public Schools. Mr. Sheehan is the creator of the Financial Planning Model and the Enrollment Projection Model that is used by our district. Highlights of Mr. Sheehan's report: � District will continue to see declining enrollment for the next 5 years used in the projection model � The district has good retention of students during the school year � Three enrollment projections were presented. The lowest projection showed an enrollment of 3382 in 2008-09 and the highest showed an enrollment of 3592. Mr. Sheehan recommended using the middle projection of 3438 students. � Non-public enrollments in the district showed similar declines in students. � The district experiences a net loss of students to open enrollment in other districts. LaCrescent-Hokah and Lewiston-Altura are the districts that benefit most from this net loss. � The district spends about 73% of its budget on direct instruction. � Our licensed personnel are very well-trained with approximately 80% with master's degrees and above � We have a very mature licensed staff with the average age of 46 � Comparisons to other Big 9 districts and some districts of comparable size show that Winona has a lower professional staff to student ratio. The average for the comparison districts was one licensed staff member for every 16 students. In Winona we have one licensed staff member for every 14 students. Mr. Sheehan reported that if we were using this same staffing ratio as the average of the comparison districts we would have approximately 33 fewer professional staff members. � Referendum-The district currently raises an additional $80/per pupil unit under referendum authority approved by voters in 2001. The authority runs through the 2006-2007 school year. The maximum referendum authority allowed by law is $837 per pupil unit. If the district were to pass a referendum with authority up to the maximum this would raise an additional $1.12 million dollars annually. � Mr. Sheehan concluded his presentation with a staffing projection model with staffing ratios from 1:14 up to 1:16 To sum up his presentation Mr. Sheehan commented. "I suggest to you that you are staffing at a rate that you simply cannot sustain," NOTE: WE WILL BE POSTING MR. SHEEHAN'S PRESENTATION ON THE DISTRICT WEBSITE Board members had numerous questions for Mr. Sheehan related to the presentation. The board discussed the presentation and the need to start the budget reduction process as soon as possible. The board requested administration to start researching the differences between Winona and the comparison districts in staffing patterns. The board also requested that "budget listening sessions" be scheduled in each of the district buildings to allow board members to take input from district staff related to budget and other matters. These will be scheduled in the near future. Plans for "Community Listening Sessions" will also be developed A timetable will be developed with a goal of reaching budget reduction decisions by early April. WSHS Band Trip to Florida- The board heard a presentation from Randy Blaser, WSHS band director, regarding the bands planned Bi-Annual Marching Band Trip scheduled for November 22nd - November 29th. .They will be performing at Disney World for a national audience. Students will also have the opportunity to see other parts of the country that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to see. The request was approved. Lincoln Relocation Preliminary Plans and Cost Estimates Bill O'Laughlin presented preliminary floor plan options and cost estimates for relocating district administration in the High School and in Jefferson Elementary and for relocated the ECFE/ECSE programs at Goodview Elementary School. The preliminary plans and cost estimates were developed by district staff and the board's architect, Owen Warneke. The board was concerned that additional staff input had not been obtained regarding these preliminary plans. I assured the board that the initial staff input had been incorporated and that once a decision was made as to which preliminary option to pursue that staff input would be actively sought and incorporated into the final plans. A decision on the relocation will be made following the bid deadline on the purchase of Lincoln. Snow Removal Quotes- The board approved the quote from Winona Excavating Company for snow removal, 2003-04 school year. They were the only company to supply a quote All prices on are $5 higher for equipment per hour than last year's quote and the quote for removal of snow is $28 per inch more than last year's quote. It was noted that it has been difficult to obtain more than one quote for this service. Bill O'Laughlin responded that we have some very large parking lots that require large machinery that many smaller operators do not have. Dates to Meet with Bluffview and Ridgeway Charter Schools-The board agreed to meet with the Ridgeway board following the Ridgeway board meeting scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on November 18th. A meeting date and time has not been scheduled with Bluffview. Response to Minority Report - Lincoln Relocation Committee Chair Margaret Schild presented a report that had been developed as a response to the Minority Report presented by Jennifer Brietlow at the last board meeting. A PDF file of the report is attached. Policies-First readings of the following policies were discussed with the board Staff Admission to Events Staff Notification of Violent Behavior by Students Term Limits and Eligibility for School District Committees It should be noted that the Staff Admission to Events and Staff Notification of Violent Behavior by Students were presented and discussed at the last Meet and Confer meeting with the WEA The Staff Admission to Events Policy and the Term Limits Policy will be brought back to the board on November 20 for final approval. The Staff Notification of Violent Behavior by Students policy will undergo further review prior to final approval. November 20 Preliminary Board Agenda- I presented the major business items that were scheduled for the agenda. These are: Policies Staff Admission to Events Term Limits and Eligibility for School District Committees Employment of and addition a4.5 FTE Educational Assistants for Special Ed Contracts with St. Mary's University 2003-2004 Budget Update District Wide Staff Development Committee 2003-2004 Membership 2003-2004 Goals We also discused adding an agenda item to discuss a budget reduction timetable and previous work that had been done related to budget reductions in the past few years including the Budget Design Team work in 2000. Board Retreat Board members were reminded that the Board Retreat will be held on November 17, 2003 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the HVED Office building on Bundy Blvd. The meeting adjourned about 10:00 p.m. _______________________________________________ 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 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
