2010-1011 Budget Reconciliation Public Forum Oshkosh West High School

January 5, 2010

Name Comments Joyce Frohn Has first grade daughter attending Merrill. Is concerned about

transportation if she has to attend Webster. Currently walks and will no longer be able to do so. Daughter has 23 kids in class, how does that compare to high school numbers. How much will it cost to move? What impact will this have on the Merrill charter? Possible loss of revenue? What costs will be associated with transportation?

Stephen Dedow Speaking on behalf of LGM PTO. Shared WKCE proficiency scores. 62% of honor roll students at S. Park are from LGM. Should Webster and Merrill become K-8 buildings with single administration. Have employees been asked where waste can be eliminated? What are the costs associated with closing GM? What was spent on PMP report? Why are we going back to the report if referendum failed? When will a decision on cuts be made public? Business Week-Oshkosh best place to raise a child. Indicators-data performance and number of schools. Why close elementary schools when enrollment is projected to increase? How is 4-5 move to Tipler working? What are the long term plans for South side of Oshkosh? Where will GM children go? Why split Lakeside? Where is financing to repurpose middle school? What projection is there for students who may leave the district-22 families have indicated that they may leave. 4 families left last year. How much of a tax increase would it take to maintain status quo?

Julie Benesh LGM PTO questions? When will families be notified? What are the guidelines for boundary changes? Why are only a few areas being looked at for boundary changes? When was the last time we looked at boundary changes? Do we have other options to repurpose buildings? Have salary/benefit/insurance changes been looked at. Oaklawn-why do we keep coming back to fixing it-why not close it. More shared principals to save costs? K-3/4-8 model? If GM students go to CT, how long will this last-capacity concerns. Looking for long term solution. Shapiro-will charter continue if they combine with other schools? Training for new staff. 92.8% of survey respondents want to keep Lakeside open. 17% want to stay together. 70% want to stay at Lakeside.

Heidi Supple 3rd grader at Lakeside. Where will she go next year? Looking for a solution is not a band-aid. Concerned about kids and impact on their school community. Kids are being asked to move more than they should. 10 years ago mil rate was lower than current level. It would cost a taxpayer $6 per month to bring mil rate up to level that it was 10 years ago. Education is an investment in our future. Need to look at increasing revenue.

2010-1011 Budget Reconciliation Public Forum Oshkosh West High School

January 5, 2010 Terry Kleinschmidt Teacher at Merrill El-urge school board to be mindful of what

impacts student learning-high quality staff, class size, number of changes students have had to make, Education is an investment in our community’s future.

Cheryl Pagel Speaking on behalf of OEA, lifelong resident of Oshkosh. EBD teacher in alternative HS (Second Chance). We need to keep alternative high schools operating. Half of kids who don’t graduate will become incarcerated-$30K/year.

June Anderson We have not taxed to the levy limit-loss of $3.1 million over the last five years. Concerned about Merrill as middle and Webster as El. Three elementary schools in a row near the lake. Only other elementary available would be Read and possibly Oaklawn. Seems unbalanced.

Jeff Nickel Daughter 6th grader at Tipler. Lives in Fondy-taxes went up 10% last year. Paying an extra $73/year is small price to pay. Fondy has 3 middle schools and they are overcrowed. Single high school is overcrowed-high class sizes. None of the schools in Oshkosh should close-raise the levy. Kids need athletics in middle school and high school. Look at fundraising options. Keep class sizes down.

Kathryn Hauck Some kids have already had a lot of changes. Son in 4th grade with autism. 2 years at Read, 2 years at Traeger, moved to Lincoln, moved to Merrill El when Lincoln closed. If Merrill closes he will need to move again. At middle school he will have been in six schools. Concerned about facility issues under Webster/Merrill plan. Concerned about current Merrill attendance area students getting to Webster. Need more cross categorical staff at middle school so kids can attend neighborhood school with their peers.

Jean Erdman 3 kids went through district. Was on committee six a few years ago. UWO professor in education department. Willing to pay more in taxes. Concerned that we will lose students to other districts if we make cuts. Tipler-if funding is not available to reconfigure space it should not be done. Webster K-5/Merrll Middle-concerned about walk for elementary students. Keep common planning time in middle school-keeps kids from falling through the cracks, facilitates parent involvement. HS teacher rations-don’t raise English class sizes. 7/8 grade athletics-don’t cut-motivator to keep kids in school. Data about East may not be accurate if kids end up incarcerated if programs are not available. Tax to the revenue caps-don’t throw away all the good work that has been done.

Christine Weitz How many CSS staff are there? How much are they paid? How important are these staff to student learning? Shapiro repurpose-

2010-1011 Budget Reconciliation Public Forum Oshkosh West High School

January 5, 2010

what other alternative programs are being considered? How many students will be there? Is Shapiro an expensive school to operate-would this be cost effective? Tipler-safety concerns with retention pond.

Kevin Crawford 2 kids at Smith-have early retirement incentives been considered? Bring in new teachers at lower salary. Lived in SC-Charleston for 9 years. Elementary school had 1500 students and was full. Had to use 50 trailers. Started building new school slated to hold 800 students, was full before completed, changed plans to hold 1200. Appreciates our small neighborhood schools. While taxes are higher in Wisconsin, you get what you pay for.

Charles Williams Son in 6th grade at Webster. Attended E. Cook, Webster, and West HS. Raising taxes may be difficult in today’s economy, but we need to take care of our kids. Need careful planning before decision is made. 80% for salaries and benefits is a large amount-can this be reduced? Health insurance options. Doesn’t want to lose quality teachers. Son wants to stay in neighborhood at Webster.

Julie Kiefer Has 3 kids-EC to GT, very different needs. Services to GT students are just as important as services to students with cognitive disabilities. Hopes for inclusive classrooms, preschools, ability to attend neighborhood schools, follow their peers from elementary, middle, high. Support staff are critical to meeting varying needs.

Bill Steinert Parent, taxpayer, teacher. Concerned about mil rate decline. Sees small class sizes, buildings, activities as an asset not a deficit. This is an opportunity to capitalize on what we have. Look at initiatives that may be costly. Kids who may struggle with academics are served by activities and course options that keep them in school.

Duey Unbehaun Dean at Tipler-has kids who went through district. Debt levy decreases in 2011-12. When debt is retired it would offer budget relief. Whatever middle schools remain if we close schools will have numbers that are very high-something we tried to get away from several years ago. If we close middle schools and keep sports, opportunities are reduced. Does not support eliminating sports. Keeps kids motivated, establishes positive habits that are maintained in future years. Concerned about impact of high enrollments at middle schools. More space eliminates behavior issues.

James Sawicki Graduated last year from West. Moved from UCS to public schools for opportunities. Earned 45 college credits in HS. In a favorable position in college. Compared physics and chemistry facilities-one very modern, other outdated. Physical condition of

2010-1011 Budget Reconciliation Public Forum Oshkosh West High School

January 5, 2010

learning environment did not matter. Quality and dedicated teaching staff made the difference. Need to maintain quality programs, excellent staff. We cannot afford to let the quality of education suffer.

Ann Freid Agrees with increasing taxes. Do not cut middle school sports. Daughter is involved and sports are her passion and motivates her to keep grades up. Supports increasing athletic fees and ticket prices. Sell Lincoln, rec dept to highest bidder. Budget situation could be a good thing-progress never happens if we always do things the same way we always have. Please consider ALL students. Has daughter with Down’s Syndrome at E. Cook. Concerned that current feeder pattern will not have her follow her peers. Current feeder pattern would not have her follow peers to high school. Would like to see this changed. Closing schools could provide opportunities-need to look at location. Supports closing Shapiro because of open concept. Supports cross categorical CD programs. Currently impacts 1-2% of students. Don’t we want to do what is best for all students? Sped law states placement should be as close as possible to student’s home, educated in same school if non-disabled if possible. Doesn’t believe current configuration allows this. Cross cat CD program would provide many opportunities to regular and special ed students. End cluster sped programs.

Thatcher Peterson See submitted statement Craig VanCamp We are living up to district vision. We will fail our mission if we

cut programs and staff. We need to invest in excellence and our children. Student to teacher ratio and programs drive student achievement. Cuts will result in failures which will cost society. For every dollar we invest locally, $2 comes from the state. Not sure there is any fat left to cut.

Len Herricks Teacher at North for 36 wonderful years. Has two kids who went through the system, UW Madison grads and are now in grad school. Appreciates the opportunities his kids had-contributed to their success. Concerned about flight to parochial schools. Need to commit to quality education. What kind of reputation do we want Oshkosh to have? What perception do we want people to have about our schools? Class sizes-the bigger the class gets, the less learning takes place. Less expensive to educate than incarcerate. How will alternative ed be provided if East HS closes? Is there any child that is not worth $70 or $80?

Michael Stromberg Airline pilot-lives in Oshkosh, works out of Philadelphia. Stays here because of our schools. Need to pay for what we want through taxes or fees. Wants to keep good schools here.

Barb Nelson Has a high school senior. Does not support AD cuts. AD knows

2010-1011 Budget Reconciliation Public Forum Oshkosh West High School

January 5, 2010

all athletes and parents. In Illinois paid $150 in registration fees-did not include athletics. Raise fees.

Paul Ellefson Middle school sports should be maintained, sympathetic to Lakeside parents, make long-term decisions-do not raise taxes if it is not for long-term.

Karl Loewenstein Running for school board, has 2 kids at Washington. Believes school board has made decisions that are penny wise and pound foolish. Need to invest and focus on our children.

Teresa Thiel Is glad her kids are almost finished. Concerned about middle school changes. In 1993 taxes were considerably higher and revenue controls have protected the taxpayer. Need to look at dollar amount, not just percentages. Need to consolidate elementary schools-3-4 tracks per school. Smaller is not efficient. Supports athletics. Advocates levying to the limit. Need to fight for kids.

Kristian Weber Moved here 10 years ago, 4 kids pre-K to high school. Does school district need to pay for rec department. Concerned about high school class size-if it increases where will kids go? Salary, benefits, energy etc, increase annually and state revenue goes down. If we tax to the max is this sustainable? No- we still need to make cuts. We still don’t have a long range plan. We need to disrupt the status quo-possibly raising taxes and making cuts.