Sun Prairie schools to revamp special ed screening | Education – Channel3000.com

 

I remember having this discussion with Theresa Daane years ago.   Before Theresa Daane worked in Evansville she worked for the Sun Prairie School District.

Theresa felt Evansville did the same thing and before she left she was working hard to change just how it was determined who got special ed and who did not.

Special Ed. services is not the way to fix achievement gaps.    How ever there are services you can offer students with out it being a special ed service.

It would be very easy for schools to stick all under achieving students into special ed.  But some times they just need a supported reading or math class.  It is at times as easy as starting a reading or math club.    Just to get kids to practice basic skills more can make a huge difference.

It’s good to see they are going to make some changes.

 

 

 

Sun Prairie schools to revamp special ed screening | Education – Channel3000.com.

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Evansville house part of sheriff’s investigation | News – Channel3000.com

Evansville house part of sheriff’s investigation | News – Channel3000.com.

 

Madison West’s Music Department and Mr. Cao

Our son is taking Chorus this year.  I was not at all excited about the thought of him doing this and yes I will admit tried to talk him out of taking Chorus.

Why would I try to talk him out of taking Chorus?  Because I can not stand the concerts the kids are required to go to.  They are always at night, and always run late, way past my bed time.   The other issue is the one down fall Madison West has is the parking available.   There really is none.

So as the first concert date approached I dreaded the thought of it.    Then the night came and we made our way to the auditorium  at Madison West.  First I have to say the auditorium is just incredible.   Just the architecture and history is enough to make people be amazed.  As we sat there waiting for this concert to start you could just feel the excitement from the students and the parents.   I sat there thinking  ” What am I missing? “

I soon found out.   The concert started and just the energy and enthusiasm shown by this teacher and these students was incredible.   After my son’s class had finished their first song and Mr. Cao started to speak the auditorium just erupted in applause for Mr. Cao and this group of kids.   It became very clear , very quickly that Mr. Cao is very , very loved.  By the end of the evening we knew why.

He is just incredibly talented , and he has such enthusiasm and energy it was just amazing.  The kids truly love him, and they love music.   He has every one of those students engaged and loving what they are doing.

 

I am very glad my son is in his class.

I left that night wondering when the next concert is and looking forward to it.

 

 

 

The Evansville School district FAILS to keep the really good teachers. Ms. Ellie Habrel is gone. A huge loss.

The Evansville school district has lost quite a few teachers over the last two years.   Most left for greener pastures.

BUT  to lose a teacher like  Ms. Ellie Haberl is just truly sad.   She was the best , one of the few really good teachers Evansville had left.    How did I find out about this?

Her mom teaches at Madison West.    I was saddened and shocked to learn Ms. Haberl had left the Evansville school district, not that one can blame her.

We now know where Ms. Haberl got so much of her talent and love of teaching..  Her parents.    Her mom is just awesome.

Her mom subs at Madison West.   I wish she taught full time there.   She is just a wonderful lady and a great teacher.

Evansville schools just continue to go down hill..  growing open enrollment number, loss of the really good teachers.

Evansville residents are paying attention as is shown by the open enrollment numbers.  NO one is ‘ stuck’ anymore in a district that is not working.

Evansville just does not seem to be able to understand that, as is shown by their lack of investigation into this.

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School Board Meeting Tonight. Check Out The Packet.

I am sorry Mr. CzerWonka.   Your work on this ” Survey” is a joke.   I am sure your not at your fault.  I question who came up with these questions?   I do not seem to see where it asks about how people feel/felt about the school district/high school/ Junior high administration, over all the administration.   Was it not asked because you were afraid to?  They really are not digging very hard to see why people are leaving the district.   Keep in mind Evansville tax payers the district will lost almost a million dollars this year do to open enrollment.   They are a failing district.

So once again the district only asks questions when you are not concerned about the answers.

ALSO take a look at how LOW the numbers are for people leaving the district because of lack of 4k

http://www.ecsdnet.org/documents/Board%20Meetings/2013-2014/October/October%2030%20Board%20Packet.pdf

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Just like 4K is not going to save the Evansville school district, Parkview should not be building.

Your views: Scorecard shows Parkview should not be building

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October 16, 2013

A excellent , well written opinion by a ParkView resident. 

“Here’s the Beef”! Parkview is not Garrison Keeler’s Lake Woebegone, “where all the kids are above average.” The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s report card shows Parkview High’s score at (65.9/100) and the district’s at (66.9/100). Both, a “spectacular” D+. The “Meets Expectations” is a nice, face-saving “smoke and mirrors” description. If the numbers were a few points lower, the Department of Public Instruction would be seriously knocking at the district’s door.

Yep, at 66.9, a great big D+, makes Parkview the second-lowest among the 13 school districts in Rock County. In the county, only Clinton’s score is worse than Parkview’s, and Clinton built a new school recently. Nearby Albany is at 74.1, and Evansville, at 74.2, both “Exceed Expectations” of the state.

“Choice” students avoid the district. The athletics director bemoans publicly that the district’s athletes can’t compete. Declining district population, marginal local jobs prospects and reduced property values add to the dilemma. No one seriously moves into the district for the education! New money is neither available nor expected in the district, and the current product deserves none.

Consolidation with another district is almost inevitable and in fact has already started with Newark and Footville, where years of improvements were/will be all but given away. Parkview schools have no business building new buildings to soon follow suit. A report card that “Significantly Exceeds Expectations” of the state is Parkview’s only cost-effective path to salvation.

BILL REDMER

Orfordville

– See more at: http://gazettextra.com/article/20131016/ARTICLES/131019769/1034#sthash.Jm1Mq2GI.dpuf

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Janesville school enrollments up for second year in a row- Janesville Gazette

Can you imagine the Evansville School districts enrollment numbers ever going up?   Either do I.   NOT with the administration they have in place and the lack of academic achievement.

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By Frank Schultz

September 30, 2013

Yolanda Cargile

Related information

Janesville School District fall enrollments
Year  Enrollment*
2009 10,420
2010  10,291
2011  10,288
2012  10,306
2013  10,351
*Includes part-time Early Childhood and 4-year-old kindergarten numbers.
Source: Janesville School District.

JANESVILLE—Janesville School District enrollment might have turned a corner.

After years of slow decline or treading water, the fall enrollment counts have now increased two years in a row.

Enrollment, including the part-time pre-kindergarten programs, edged up by 18 last year, and it’s up by 45 this year.

District administrators sought to connect the gains to their efforts to improve academic achievement.

The district’s news release noted that the district received a grade of “exceeds expectations” on the new state report card system and that the state recently cited seven of the district’s schools as “schools of recognition” for success with large numbers of low-income students.

The administration is optimistic that such recognition will attract more families to send students to Janesville schools, the release states.

“It’s my hope and belief we are attracting more students because of the strides we are making academically and how our students are achieving,” said Yolanda Cargile, director of student services.

“Not that that’s the whole reason for why we have 45 more students, but hopefully it is an attraction,” Cargile said.

The biggest gain in the district was in charter-school enrollments. Rock River Charter School, which serves at-risk high school students, particularly saw a big increase.

Cargile noted that Rock River Charter expanded this fall to a third floor at 31 W. Milwaukee St., so that it could accommodate new students.

Rock River Charter made a big push to bring in more students who had dropped out, Cargile said. It also added a staff member.

Other charter schools increasing enrollment were TAGOS Leadership Academy, up by five, and the Janesville Virtual Academy, eight.

The increased enrollment won’t mean a significant increase in district revenues, said Chief Financial Officer Keith Pennington. That’s because of how the state calculates aid amounts, which are based in part on a three-year enrollment average, Pennington said.

“It’s good news, but it doesn’t translate into immediate dollars from aid,” Pennington said.

Sustained gains in enrollment in years to come eventually could mean more state aid, Pennington said.

Other items from the enrollment numbers released Monday:

— If only enrollments in 5-year-old kindergarten through 12th grade are considered, the district also shows increases over the past two years. The K-12 increase this year is 50.

— Numbers show no change in the combined enrollments of Craig and Par

– See more at: http://gazettextra.com/article/20130930/ARTICLES/130939977#sthash.6jfFQUd0.dpuf

http://gazettextra.com/article/20130930/ARTICLES/130939977

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GazetteXtra | Milton schools taxpayers give nod to surplus budget

GazetteXtra | Milton schools taxpayers give nod to surplus budget.

IMAGINE THAT..  a surplus!!!   Evansville should take a few lessons.

NO I did not pay to read this, found a away around having to pay.  I will not pay for any thing from this paper.

 

What I found most amazing is normally they get 200-250 people to these budget meetings.  WOW…  That is a lot for a town that size.

IT is true Evansville residents have shown very little interest in the budget meetings compared to Milton.  THEN again the school district needs to do a better job of advertising this meeting.

PUTTING it in the Evansville Review is not good enough,  more people DO NOT subscribe to that thing, than do.  

***** If this link does not allow you to read the full article, we have shared it to our Facebook page.

 

 

 

 

The turnout for the annual budget meeting, which normally numbers 200 to 250 residents, was far more modest this year. Thirty residents turned out this year, with 28 voting to approve the tentative budget – See more at: http://www.gazettextra.com/article/20131001/ARTICLES/130939973/1059#sthash.gzEYLAhq.nHMoRx05.dpuf

Milton schools taxpayers give nod to surplus budget

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By Neil Johnson

October 1, 2013

Tim Schigur

Related information

Proposed Milton School District 2013-2014 budget:

Highlights: The Milton School District is eyeing a potential budget surplus of $213,000 in the 2013-2014 school year. For now, that takes the pressure of a district that’s grappled with major budget deficits and cuts in the past three years. The district started the current school year by restoring most of about a dozen staffing cuts that came earlier this year when the district believed the state planned not to increase per-student equalization aid, a major source of school funding. But the state did increase student aid payouts, and that brightened the district’s budget outlook significantly. Although the district is still waiting for student headcount, taxpayers should expect to see about a 2.7 percent increase in the tax rate.

What’s next?: The Milton School Board will vote on the final budget October 28 after the district recieves three more pieces of information it needs to finalize the budget: the Sept. 20 district wide student headcount; the state Department of Revenue’s certified valuation of properties in the district; and the state’s certification of general equalized aid.

Total budget

This year…………….. $34,216,652

Last year……………. $32,538,680

Increase………………. 4.11 percent

Tax levy

This year…………….. $13,606,085

Last year.…………….. $13,177,532

Increase……………….. 3.3 percent

Tax rate

(Per $1,000 of assessed valuation)

This year……………………….. $8.86

Last year……………………….. $8.63

Increase……………… 2.66 percent

Note: Percent changes calculated on whole numbers.

MILTON—At the Milton School District’s annual budget meeting Monday, Superintendent Tim Schigur referred to this year in the district as “The Big Year of The Awesome.”

It may be easy to have that kind of spirit when your school district’s finances appear to have stabilized.

On Monday, district taxpayers gave the nod to a tentative 2013-14 budget that includes a 3.3-percent tax levy increase. The district, for the first time in the last several school years, is boasting a tentative budget surplus of $213,000.

After learning this summer that the state would kick in $150 extra per student for equalization aid rather than freezing aid, the district’s budget picture brightened to the tune of more than $800,000. That has allowed the district to add back almost all of the dozen staff cuts it imposed earlier this year, when officials feared a large budget gap.

The district’s improving finances also has allowed it to sock away $1.1 million extra in the general fund balance, business services Director Mary Ellen Van Valin said Monday.

Schigur said it’s nice to cruise into a school year without the painful specter of a money shortfall—an issue that’s plagued many districts for the past two school years because of massive school funding cuts in the last state biennial budget.

“When you can go in at a budget plus, there isn’t that pressure. We know we’re probably not going to be in money-loss mode,” Schigur said. “So, we’re not saying, ‘OK, what’s the program that’s going to have to be cut or reduced?’ On this side of the ledger, it’s, ‘OK, how do we now grow or evolve.’ That’s awesome. It changes our demeanor.”

The board is set to vote on the final budget Oct. 28.

Schigur said that, for now, the district will hold onto its extra cash and waits for those figures to come in. However, he said the district plans to look into jumping ahead on capital improvements, and moving on further upgrades to district technology.

Schigur also said the district will review staffing through the year to decide if it needs more assistance to meet federal and state mandates and district guidelines for learning and achievement.

“We’re holding cash back right now, but maybe there are some spot interventions at some of the grade levels we can improve upon,” he said. “We’ll figure out how to best assist kids as we go.”

At Monday’s meeting, resident Tom Neuenschwander asked about staff turnover in the district. That turnover this summer included 48 teacher retirements as staff opted out while the last year of their contracts expired. Meanwhile, 20 other teachers resigned or left for other districts.

Neuenschwander asked why the district went from spending 47 percent of its overall budget on staff to 45 percent.

Schigur explained that the decrease comes mostly from new staff hires coming in at a lower cost than outgoing staff.

The district held its annual meeting about a month later than usual this year, which some district administrators said allowed finance staff to get a better handle on its numbers.

The board asked residents for the option of holding the meeting until later in the fall next year, with board member Bob Cullen saying it would offer the district more flexibility to crunch budget numbers. That would give people more meaningful information to chew on, he said.

The turnout for the annual budget meeting, which normally numbers 200 to 250 residents, was far more modest this year. Thirty residents turned out this year, with 28 voting to approve the tentative budget.

That’s likely attributable to a modest budget surplus for once—but based on the number of field combines rolling up dust and soybeans in crop fields around Milton, it’s possible some district taxpayers had other matters to attend to.

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– See more at: http://www.gazettextra.com/article/20131001/ARTICLES/130939973/1059#sthash.gzEYLAhq.dpuf

School Scoop: Vision, Not Universal 4-Year-Old Kindergarten, Creates Positive Enrollment and Achievement for All

School Scoop: Vision, Not Universal 4-Year-Old Kindergarten, Creates Positive Enrollment and Achievement for All.

 

 

People are not enrolling their students in the Evansville School district for many reasons.   4K comes some where in the middle to the end of the list.

Because Evansville has been losing enrollment across the board for years, not just at the elementary level.    It’s because of the administration at the school people are leaving including the teachers.

Evansville schools are not good schools in fact they struggle to be average.    There are so many parents who drive to Madison every day that taking their kids to schools in Madison where they receive much better educations, and many more choices,   the drive is nothing as they work in Madison.   It makes switching districts very easy. So far our kids have counted 6 different kids at Madison West that used to go to Evansville, and that is just Madison West it would be interesting to know how many former Evansville school district students are at the surrounding Madison Schools.

PEOPLE are not moving to Evansville because taxes are sky-high and Evansville offers NOTHING.   To get decent prices on grocery’s one must go to Janesville or Madison.   Janesville is just a short drive down the road from Evansville .   But why move to Evansville ?  Poor schools,  High taxes,  No jobs, expensive stores.

 

Melissa spent a lot of time researching this article and it is excellent.  It’s very interesting to see how 4k really did  not do much for any of the districts except of course, Verona.

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Madison West Is A AWE SOME SCHOOL.

 

 

AS all of you who follow this blog know I find the Evansville school district less than impressive, troubling, and just a general pain in the asx.   They fight parents on every turn trying to think they known more than the parents.   They fail to listen,  they fail to make changes when its proven their plan is not working.  They allow bullying .   They put sports before academics.   They just flat-out do not want parent involvement especially at the high school.

After years of fighting with them to get decent programming for our daughter we pulled her from the Evansville school district and she worked online and with a tutor.  Evansville high school administration had given up on her.     Example:   Algebra.   They could not get her to understand and do algebra.    The tutor we hired had her doing algebra within two months of working with her.  He did not give up.  She blossomed with his help and has much more confidence with math now.    After the many discussions and fights with the administration and after pulling her from the school we had to think long and hard .   Do we want our son going to that high school, where incompetence flows through the halls by one to many staff and administration?

 

Our son does really well in school.   He needs to be challenged.   Some thing Evansville does not do.    The last straw really was when we went to register him for classes at the Evansville High school and there was very little for him to choose from, that interested him.   IF HE had his way he would have taken three gym classes this year because there was so little to choose from.  The curriculum at that high school has changed very little in the last five years .( when our oldest graduated.)   In fact they have less to offer than they did five years ago.

 

My daughter and I had already checked out several Madison Schools.   WE had a long talk with our kids.    With our daughter being a senior this year, and our son a freshman we asked them how they would feel about changing schools.    YOU would have thought  our son would be very upset about leaving his friends and the only school he has ever known.   HE WAS NOT.    HE was very excited about the change.     I was shocked.    But then , and only then did he started telling me about some things that went on at school.    He is not a complainer or whiner or tattle tail and after hearing about the things that went on,  I wish he was.

 

SO in early JULY we registered our kids at Madison West.     I am so super impressed.    THE  Curriculum rocks!!    IT’S  a damn book of classes to choose from.   They have honor classes which they placed my son in several of those, and they have advanced classes as well.   The number of honors and advanced classes in just incredible.   I am so excited for both of our kids the opportunities are endless at that school.

They also need more math and science to graduate,  why would you not in this day and age require 4 years of science and math and English.

The teacher’s we have met our just up beat, creative, and positive.    UNLIKE some teacher’s in Evansville who you would swear had just come from the dentist, who always have a negative feel to them.

Each student is assigned a counselor and associate principal.   For a school of around 2000 , each student counts and they keep a close eye on all.

 

ONE of the best parts????     THE class sizes!!!    They are between 20-23 per class.    THE SAME as Evansville.    IN  fact in Evansville some classes are bigger than that.    That is just so impressive.

LETS NOT forget the academic clubs after school.   They have more  clubs than sports programs imagine that!!!!

They also have tutoring offered.   Why does Evansville not do some thing like that?   Because teacher’s want to be gone at 3:15, that is why.   They do not want to have to be responsible for organizing youth tutoring programs,  or teacher tutoring programs.

 

 

I am just so excited for our kids.   It is such a big, pleasant change from the failings of the Evansville school district.

 

After seeing what West, and Middleton and Memorial have to offer  Evansville just can not compete.

 

Madison is a short drive away,  I know of several families who drive their kids to Madison daily for school.

I wish we had done this sooner.

They most certainly will get a better education at WEST  than anything we could have hoped for in Evansville.

 

Our kids are so excited and so are we.    Just a good , positive  change.

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