Vol. IV No. 1 - Malcolm Shabazz City High School, Madison WI

People in new placesChanges. In school districts, they most happen in the summer and the MMSD is noexception.To help you know who is where, here’s a list of some of the leadership changes over thelast few months. They include new MMSD staff from outside the district, continuingstaff members in new positions, transfers to different schools, and one permanentappointment in what has been an interim situation.Superintendent of SchoolsDaniel NeradAllis ElementaryPrincipal Julie FrentzLeopold ElementaryPrincipal John BurkholderLindbergh ElementaryPrincipal Mary HydeMidvale ElementaryPrincipal Pam WilsonNuestro Mundo ElementaryPrincipal Javier BolivarOlson ElementaryPrincipal Pam Emmerich

Stephens ElementaryPrincipal Sarah GalanterVan Hise ElementaryPrincipal Peg KeelerWhitehorse MiddlePrincipal Deborah PtakAssistant Superintendentfor Business ServicesErik KassExecutive Director ofEducational ServicesAnn YehleChavez Elementary - Assistant Principal Brett WilfridEast High - Assistant Principal Randi KubekJefferson Middle - Assistant Principal Lee KorpelaKennedy Elementary - Assistant Principal Mary MantheyLa Follette High - Assistant Principal Chad WieseLeopold Elementary - Assistant Principal Laura HuberSennett Middle - Assistant Principal Jim PlinerToki Middle - Assistant Principal Sean StorchWest High - Assistant Principal David WatkinsCoordinator of Bilingual Education - Silvia Romero-JohnsonCoordinator in Educational Services - John HarperCoordinator of Language Arts - Mary Jo ZieglerCoordinator of Science & Environmental Education - Tim PetersonCoordinator of Talented and Gifted - Gretchen WolfeSupervisor of MSCR Adult Fitness and Sports - TJ Rogness

BOE unanimously votes for referendumThe Madison Board of Education voted unanimously toput a question to the voters on November 4 to exceed therevenue limits. The BOE approved a recurringreferendum to exceed revenue limits by $5 million duringthe 2009-10 school year, $4 million for 2010-11 and $4million for 2011-12.Without passage of a referendum, the district estimatesthat in order to comply with state-imposed revenue limits, $8.1 million would have to bereduced from the 2009-10 budget; $4.4 million from the 2010-11 budget; and, $4.3million from the 2011-12 budget.To address the remaining gap of $3 million for the 2009-10 school year, the districtproposes to use $2 million of an estimated $4 million in savings from the 2007-08budget. The district also recommends reducing the unallocated staff positions forelementary schools by ten positions ($600,000) and additional cuts of $400,000 invarious department budgets.While voters are asked for authority to exceed the revenue limits, the district also hasidentified two changes to implement over the next school year that will help to mitigatethe tax impact of the referendum. By using a different depreciation schedule for buildingmaintenance, the district will receive more state aid and thus reduce the impact on thelocal property tax payer, if the referendum is approved by voters.In addition, at the completion of the 2007-08 fiscal year the unaudited balance for theCommunity Services Fund (Fund 80) shows a $2.2 million balance. The districtrecommended, and the BOE embraced, returning $2 million of the balance to thetaxpayers, reducing the projected 2009-10 levy from $12.9 million to $10.9 million.The estimated impact to a $250,000 home in Madison would be $27.50 more for 2009 taxbills.

Olson Elementary School coming to lifeThe start of the school year can be hectic for all schools, but it's especially true for abrand new school. Such is the situation for the new Paul J. Olson Elementary School.Located on the far West side of Madison (southof Mineral Point Rd. and west of County Hwy."M",) Olson School is receiving finishingconstruction touches while teachers and otherstaff are preparing classrooms and the remainderof the building for the arrival of students onTuesday, September 2.Olson families will have had two opportunities tobe inside the building prior to the first day ofclasses. Enrollment day took place on August 21, and tours of the building wereavailable for a two hour period on August 28.Around these times, Principal Pam Emmerich has beencoordinating a myriad of details -- all of them new --necessary for the school day to take place in anorganized fashion. Emmerich has been working withsome members of the 41-person staff to developstudent arrival and dismissal procedures, lunch andplayground guidelines, student behavior expectations,and even traffic flow information.This is in addition to assisting with the coordination offurniture set-up and placement in all the rooms, theordering of other materials, and communicating withfamilies and staff members. Emmerich said, "Yes, it'sa very busy time but it's also exciting and energizing toprepare for educating students in this wonderfulfacility."Installing a leg on a classroom tableOn the building side, Director of BuildingServices Doug Pearson and custodial andtrades staff along with sub-contractors aregoing through "building commissioning"which is basically checking all thebuilding systems and controls for properfunctioning.The Olson School exterior is completeand the grounds are almost there. Sodhas been placed near the building but theremainder of the grounds is being seeded.

And as neighborhood kids have discovered, the playground equipment has been up for acouple of weeks and is working nicely (see photo).The community is invited to attend the Olson School Dedication and Open Housescheduled for Sunday, September 14, 2008 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.Directions to Olson School: from County Hwy. "M"-- south of Mineral Point Rd. andnorth of County Hwy. "PD" -- turn west on Valley View Rd., turn left on Lone Oak Lane,turn right on Ancient Oak Lane, turn left on Redan Dr.

Big dream comes trueThe Elvehjem schoolcommunityhad a bigdream – create the first“boundless”playground inWisconsin by August8, 2008. There was justone catch. Theplayground, designedunder a strict nationalcertification programthat requires its playstructures areaccessible to allchildren, cost over$200,000.Initially, advocates hoped to be selected from a nationwide application process to receivethe sole playground that would be awarded, but their efforts fell short.Undaunted, the group last fall began a series of family-friendly fundraisers, and soughtout grants and contributions from local businesses. With $55,000 from the MadisonCommunity Foundation, $20,000 from the Sara Lee Foundation and $10,000 from theChristopher and Dana Reeves Foundation the dream moved closer to reality.As promised, on 8-8-08 groundbreaking took place adjacent to the current Elvehjemplayground and within a few days the new apparatus was in place. The ribbon-cuttingdedication of the playground will take place on Friday, September 5.Kelli Betsinger, one of the Boundless Playground Committee co-chairs, said it best, “Thisproject serves as a lesson to our children that things don’t always come easy, but withdetermination and a belief in your work, anything is possible.”