This school district is at a turning point. The upcoming election will have a substantial impact on the future of the Oshkosh Area School District. The citizens of this district need Board members who bring common sense, a willingness to listen, and above all an ability to understand that every decision they make will have an impact on the future of the Oshkosh Area School District and its children.
Some of the other candidates are trying to scare the citizens of this community by suggesting that the only options that exist for the districts fiscal woes are the elimination of programs/services. Who helped get us in this predicament in the first place?
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Teresa Thiel: Final Thoughts
The one thing I think voters should know is that without board members who have the will to do the right thing, rather than the easiest, the district will have to increase class sizes and cut programs. The money will not be there to do anything else, no matter what promises are made by candidates.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Final Thoughts: Karen Bowen
Election 2007 is not so much about a plan, but about the very future of our district and community. The inflammatory rhetoric that has been tossed around has served to confuse the issues that our community faces. The plan has become bound up in personalities: of what use is this to the voters? Every person involved in putting together the current plan wants nothing but the best for the district. It's one thing to disagree with the plan and quite another to make snide remarks and personal attacks on these people. Where will this lead us?
The voters certainly do have a clear choice in this election. The choice really comes down to electing board members who have are willing to work for the future of the school district or board members who are not willing to make tough decisions. Whatever choice you make on Tuesday, please be sure that you have thought through the consequences for the entire district.
The voters certainly do have a clear choice in this election. The choice really comes down to electing board members who have are willing to work for the future of the school district or board members who are not willing to make tough decisions. Whatever choice you make on Tuesday, please be sure that you have thought through the consequences for the entire district.
Michelle Monte:Final Thoughts
At this time, I think our community has had enough of politicking, broken promises, ridiculous accusations, and threats. It is time for our community to come together and the single most important way we can do that is to vote.
Since 1979, certain schools have been threatened with closure. Smith, Green Meadow, and Roosevelt to be exact. Every few years those same three schools, and sporadically others, seem to be on the chopping block. There really seems to be no valid reasoning, just something of a tradition. What that mentality by school boards has done, is create rifts in our community. A school is targeted, called zeros, and the families and neighbors rally around to protect their schools, who wouldn't do the same. The school board then accuses those same people of NIMBY and discredits their concerns, questions, and opinions. At the same time BOEs encourage and contribute to other school communities pointing their fingers accusing the targeted school of getting what they want by being the squeaky wheel. In the end, no one wins and we are a divided community.
We need leaders who will not perpetuate this rift by claiming one school is forgotten or one side of town gets everything and the other is forgotten. We need leaders who will keep an open mind right up to a vote and then act in the best interests of the entire community, not people who have their minds made up before the community even knows what is happening to their schools. We need leaders who will work with the community, the entire community, to set, define, and achieve our goals for our children and our schools. It is one thing to say it, it is entirely different to actually do it.
We need leaders who remember that our community is not made up of people only like themselves. We have people who just cannot afford everything and anything thrown at them. Limited and fixed income families are rising and we need to be conscious of what those community members can afford. They care about education too.
School Boards of the past didn't always make the best decisions. Forethought wasn't always emphasized. We have run out of band aides. While we cannot change the past, we can learn from it and not make the same mistakes. We need change. We need fresh ideas, new perspectives, and open-minded leaders.
The voters have a big decision to make. Do you want more of the same that has gotten us in the position we are in, or do you want leaders? People who will do the research, do the leg-work, go into the schools and work with the families and staffs, go into the community and encourage two-way dialogue, keep an open mind and vote for the entire district. Voting for the same people, and the same mindset will do nothing for moving our district forward.
If you are still undecided or unsure of my position, call me. I can be reached at 233-9878. My email is monte07@new.rr.com. My website is http://www.monteforschoolboard.blogspot.com/. I will answer any question with honesty and will listen with an open-mind to any concerns you may have.
The one thing the voters need to keep in mind is that they have the choice. The voters have all of the control on April 3. The voters can define how they want their children to be educated and what their schools and community will look like by casting a ballot. Please vote April 3. Call and email everyone you know and encourage them to get out and vote.
Please vote Michelle Monte April 3. Leadership with common sense, efficiency, and accountability focused on our community, our schools, and our children.
Since 1979, certain schools have been threatened with closure. Smith, Green Meadow, and Roosevelt to be exact. Every few years those same three schools, and sporadically others, seem to be on the chopping block. There really seems to be no valid reasoning, just something of a tradition. What that mentality by school boards has done, is create rifts in our community. A school is targeted, called zeros, and the families and neighbors rally around to protect their schools, who wouldn't do the same. The school board then accuses those same people of NIMBY and discredits their concerns, questions, and opinions. At the same time BOEs encourage and contribute to other school communities pointing their fingers accusing the targeted school of getting what they want by being the squeaky wheel. In the end, no one wins and we are a divided community.
We need leaders who will not perpetuate this rift by claiming one school is forgotten or one side of town gets everything and the other is forgotten. We need leaders who will keep an open mind right up to a vote and then act in the best interests of the entire community, not people who have their minds made up before the community even knows what is happening to their schools. We need leaders who will work with the community, the entire community, to set, define, and achieve our goals for our children and our schools. It is one thing to say it, it is entirely different to actually do it.
We need leaders who remember that our community is not made up of people only like themselves. We have people who just cannot afford everything and anything thrown at them. Limited and fixed income families are rising and we need to be conscious of what those community members can afford. They care about education too.
School Boards of the past didn't always make the best decisions. Forethought wasn't always emphasized. We have run out of band aides. While we cannot change the past, we can learn from it and not make the same mistakes. We need change. We need fresh ideas, new perspectives, and open-minded leaders.
The voters have a big decision to make. Do you want more of the same that has gotten us in the position we are in, or do you want leaders? People who will do the research, do the leg-work, go into the schools and work with the families and staffs, go into the community and encourage two-way dialogue, keep an open mind and vote for the entire district. Voting for the same people, and the same mindset will do nothing for moving our district forward.
If you are still undecided or unsure of my position, call me. I can be reached at 233-9878. My email is monte07@new.rr.com. My website is http://www.monteforschoolboard.blogspot.com/. I will answer any question with honesty and will listen with an open-mind to any concerns you may have.
The one thing the voters need to keep in mind is that they have the choice. The voters have all of the control on April 3. The voters can define how they want their children to be educated and what their schools and community will look like by casting a ballot. Please vote April 3. Call and email everyone you know and encourage them to get out and vote.
Please vote Michelle Monte April 3. Leadership with common sense, efficiency, and accountability focused on our community, our schools, and our children.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Closing comments on restructuring?
First of all, on behalf of the Oshkosh Community News Network I would like to thank all of the candidates for taking the time to participate in this forum focusing on restructuring. I believe your comments have been very enlightening as the community struggles with this important issue.
Looking back over the posts that have been made, I think it is fair to say that two of the candidates, Karen Bowen and Teresa Thiel, are more supportive of the plan known as Scenario 7 while two other candidates, Dan Becker and Michelle Monte, are more skeptical. (I realize that this is an oversimplification, and I don't mean to suggest that any of the candidates hold identical views on the matter.)
Given that there has been so much attention focused on Scenario 7 leading up to next week's election, it is likely that the restructuring proposal will be a major factor in citizens' minds as they decide how to cast their votes.
Under these circumstances, what is the one thing that you think voters should have uppermost in their minds about school restructuring as they prepare to cast their ballot?
Thank you again for your participation.
Looking back over the posts that have been made, I think it is fair to say that two of the candidates, Karen Bowen and Teresa Thiel, are more supportive of the plan known as Scenario 7 while two other candidates, Dan Becker and Michelle Monte, are more skeptical. (I realize that this is an oversimplification, and I don't mean to suggest that any of the candidates hold identical views on the matter.)
Given that there has been so much attention focused on Scenario 7 leading up to next week's election, it is likely that the restructuring proposal will be a major factor in citizens' minds as they decide how to cast their votes.
Under these circumstances, what is the one thing that you think voters should have uppermost in their minds about school restructuring as they prepare to cast their ballot?
Thank you again for your participation.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Michelle Monte: Financial Considerations
Financial considerations, or lack of, are what put us in the position of needing to restructure. The whole point of the long-range facilities plan is to make our district more efficient and to address the long put-off needs of our buildings. This process should be an opportunity to try to save money wherever we can. We should also be planning for future increases in expenses. Savings are not there to any significant degree and future spending is not being addressed at all.
I look at finances in simple terms like a checkbook. You just don't write checks your account cannot cover. We are looking at $32 million in construction costs with a total referendum of $45.6 million. We are expecting to save $1.5 million in operational savings. We are closing six buildings, and not the six most expensive in repairs and operational expenses, and adding on over 100 classrooms. For perspective consider that Traeger Elementary, just the elementary, has about 25 classrooms for a capacity of 552 students.
What savings are we going to realize by closing buildings and, essentially, building seven new and larger ones between deferred maintenance, ADA, functional issues, additions, and remodels? Enough to pay back the referendum in about 50 to 60 years IF we have no other major expenses in the next 50 to 60 years. That does not make sound financial sense, especially when we could close fewer buildings, repair the remaining buildings, and adjust boundaries for much less and realize a greater savings by minimizing our construction costs and transportation costs, and maximizing the utilization of our buildings.
Ensuring we have equitable resources in every building should be our focus. When every building is well maintained and each student and teacher has what they need, education flourishes and our children flourish. It doesn't matter when a building was built, historical societies all over the country care for active buildings far older than ours. The difference is that they take care of them. Our schools, like our children, are an investment. When taken care of, they will service our children for decades. That is a wise investment. That is the kind of spending that makes sense.
I look at finances in simple terms like a checkbook. You just don't write checks your account cannot cover. We are looking at $32 million in construction costs with a total referendum of $45.6 million. We are expecting to save $1.5 million in operational savings. We are closing six buildings, and not the six most expensive in repairs and operational expenses, and adding on over 100 classrooms. For perspective consider that Traeger Elementary, just the elementary, has about 25 classrooms for a capacity of 552 students.
What savings are we going to realize by closing buildings and, essentially, building seven new and larger ones between deferred maintenance, ADA, functional issues, additions, and remodels? Enough to pay back the referendum in about 50 to 60 years IF we have no other major expenses in the next 50 to 60 years. That does not make sound financial sense, especially when we could close fewer buildings, repair the remaining buildings, and adjust boundaries for much less and realize a greater savings by minimizing our construction costs and transportation costs, and maximizing the utilization of our buildings.
Ensuring we have equitable resources in every building should be our focus. When every building is well maintained and each student and teacher has what they need, education flourishes and our children flourish. It doesn't matter when a building was built, historical societies all over the country care for active buildings far older than ours. The difference is that they take care of them. Our schools, like our children, are an investment. When taken care of, they will service our children for decades. That is a wise investment. That is the kind of spending that makes sense.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Dan Becker:Financial Considerations
I find it a bit ironic that financial considerations seem to have become the sole reason for making decisions that will impact the district, especially since the question of equality seems to be a hot button issue. Financial considerations should be equal to the educational impacts. As a result, we must strive to minimize negative financial impacts on the citizens of Oshkosh, while maximizing the educational benefit.
At first, the current restructuring plan will no doubt result in some initial savings, however, over the long term; Scenario 7 will undoubtedly result in increased expenses, which will only be resolved with a tax increase or additional fees. I do not think the current plan will result in significant long term savings.
It does make sense to spend money on our school system when and only when a measurable, long term benefit can be derived by those that need it without sacrificing services, quality instruction, or community unity.
Dan Becker
At first, the current restructuring plan will no doubt result in some initial savings, however, over the long term; Scenario 7 will undoubtedly result in increased expenses, which will only be resolved with a tax increase or additional fees. I do not think the current plan will result in significant long term savings.
It does make sense to spend money on our school system when and only when a measurable, long term benefit can be derived by those that need it without sacrificing services, quality instruction, or community unity.
Dan Becker
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