District Administrator Weekly Column

On Wednesday, October 26, Senate Bill 22 and the matching Assembly Bill 51 made their way through the legislature’s joint finance committee.  If you care about our local public schools you should stay tuned to the legislative debate. I am shaking my head in disbelief as I watch what looks like a strategic assault on public education in Wisconsin. 

The lead school finance story this year has definitely been the state budget and changes to collective bargaining. The 2011-13 state budget and the companion adjustment bill significantly changed Wisconsin school finance and the budget patterns we had grown to depend on. It was a game changer.

Most of the time that a student spends in school is focused on academics such as math or science. However, there is also room for developmentally appropriate social and cultural events. The first K-5 classroom “parties” of the year are right around the corner. Halloween decorations are everywhere and children are busy planning their costumes.

Students spend three fourths of their waking hours somewhere other than school. For some that means they play outside, go to lessons, or spend time with their friends and family in engaging activities. For others, going home is less fun.

Many of our families struggle to provide the basics and have no money left over for lessons, cable television, entertainment, or a vacation. A growing number of our children have parents who work more than one job. That usually results in one or both parents being gone in the evening.

We had a gentleman stop in at the Administrative Service Center inquiring about the early history of our yearbook. Unfortunately, he did not leave his name, but he did indicate his father graduated in the class of 1915 and wondered when the yearbook became known as the Menomin.

During Monday night’s board meeting our elementary principal team presented a collective elementary school success plan for the 2011-2012 school year. They reviewed new and continuing initiatives, which included RtI, PBIS, Daily 5 and Literacy CAFE, and PLC work. Education is full of acronyms, so let me explain.

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a set of research-based strategies being implemented across the country. The purpose is to provide interventions and enrichments for students to ensure learning and, per student, a year or more of academic growth in each grade.