Janesville elementary schools to remain open
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JANESVILLE — Now that the Janesville School Board voted not to close an elementary school next year, what’s next? How about bigger classes at all the elementary schools?
The board voted 6-3 Tuesday not to close an elementary school.
The vote came after the board listened to another round of passionate pleas from parents and grandparents who argued that closing a school would harm children, neighborhoods, property values and economic development.
But board members warned they’ll have to cut next year’s budget somewhere else.
Cuts could come in the form of larger class sizes districtwide, said board member Peter D. Severson.
Board policy now calls for classes no bigger than 25 in kindergarten through third grade and 30 from fourth grade and up.
Board member DuWayne Severson noted the projected $9 million deficit next year. He said the board would have no choice but to cut the equivalent of a school, if not two schools, to balance the budget.
“We’re going to have to find (savings) somewhere,” DuWayne Severson said. “Some of the teachers in all the schools will be affected. We’re going to lose some of those teachers.”
“It’s going to affect families no matter what we do,” board member Lori Stottler said. “It’s going to be tough.”
Stottler called for a “restructuring” of school buildings’ uses so the district could stop paying rent for its charter schools.
She said the administration should be tasked with coming up with a plan.
Stottler noted the district has lost about 700 students in elementary enrollment over the past 12 years.
Board member Scott Feldt said 40 percent of elementary students don’t attend their neighborhood’s school, adding: “If we do not tackle the issue of enrollment, then the issue of closing a school almost becomes inevitable.”
Peter Severson said he hopes the new hospital and clinics being built in town will boost enrollment. He noted, however, that the fastest-growing part of Janesville is in the Milton School District. He urged parents to contact the city council and ask them to spur growth in parts of town that are inside the school district.
Board member Greg Ardrey, who led the committee that studied the school-closing issue, said the study should have looked at all the district’s schools.
Ardrey said one of the three middle schools is half full, for example. He was obviously referring to the middle school with the smallest enrollment, Franklin. The board should discuss whether that enrollment is acceptable, Ardrey said.
Board President Bill Sodemann said the decision to close a school was made last year at this time, when the board approved a teachers contract, and when it approved contracts for the district’s two other unions early this year.
Those contracts provide raises for hundreds of employees and also protect them from paying into their pension funds or paying more for health insurance.
No decision on raises
In a related move, the board voted 7-2 to postpone action on a proposal to increase pay for 113 non-union workers, a group that includes food service workers, principals and a variety of others.
“Here again, we have the opportunity to save money,” DuWayne Severson said. “I don’t know what the delay is. We don’t have the money.”
But a majority of the board voted to wait to get data on the pay of comparable positions in other school districts that Superintendent Karen Schulte is still gathering.
Board member Kevin Murray joined DuWayne Severson in wanting to freeze salaries right away.
Murray pointed to a 7.4 percent raise these workers got in fall 2008—higher than what the unionized employees got that year. He said the freeze would be only fair.
But Sodemann said the non-union workers are taking what amounts to a 5.8 percent cut in pay starting this fall because they are the only group paying for their pensions.
Nevertheless, Sodemann said, he couldn’t vote for raises because of the budget deficit.
Sodemann did advocate for a “very, very small” increase for administrators who met performance goals.
Stottler said she was for the freeze except for the computer-service workers, who she said have more than once had to carry the load while the district tried to fill the position of information-technology manager.
Schulte has proposed increasing the computer workers’ pay because they have taken on duties that exceed their current job descriptions and pay range.
The decision was postponed until the board’s meeting Tuesday, Oct. 11.
No referendum
The board also took up DuWayne Severson’s idea of an advisory referendum to gauge public sentiment on taxes. Severson said he would not push the issue and bow to board members who suggested a survey.
Sodemann said the survey idea could be revisited at the board’s next meeting.
HOW THEY VOTED
Here’s how the Janesville School Board voted Tuesday on the closing of an elementary school. Those voting “yes” agreed with a committee recommendation not to close a school.
Yes—Greg Ardrey, Karl Dommershausen, Scott Feldt, Kristin Hesselbacher, Kevin Murray, Peter D. Severson.
No—DuWayne Severson, Bill Sodemann, Lori Stottler.
Sep 29, 2011 at 3:58 p.m.
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The district is working with Focus on Energy to look at ways to save on energy costs. Also, Schulte said today that Franklin is not actually "half full," as Ardrey suggested. She said it could take 100 to 150 more students, max.
Sep 29, 2011 at 2:58 p.m.
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Perhaps the school district should consider closing Franklin since it has such a low enrollment. Or perhaps it could share space with central office.
Does the city still want the lot the central offices are in? Moving the offices should not be such a big deal. All classrooms are wired for several computer stations. Many offices are really cubicles. They could be moved anywhere. Book storage could be at Franklin as well or at another school with space. I assume the inventory is computerized. The delivery truck can pick up and deliver from any building.
How about caulking windows? Make sure all windows and doors close with an airtight seal? Have all buildings been checked?
Sep 29, 2011 at 1:47 p.m.
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carlitosway, yes, they are working on Kennedy School's energy use, as I pointed out in Monday's article. They expect dramatic decrease in electric/gas usage. They also are looking at Lincoln School, and in general, districtwide, this is a priority.
Sep 29, 2011 at 1:08 p.m.
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BTW anyone else surprised to see Feldt on the affirmative here? I certainly was. Also surprised to see Stottler in the negative.
Time to start getting ready to raise taxes, and use fund 10 to plug next years "projected" hole. I would implore the board don't go on the same PR drag of getting the teachers to open their contract again, it was really embarrassing and quite obnoxious to be honest
Sep 29, 2011 at 1:05 p.m.
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That is fine Frank, but a 3% raise for all of the administrators is a HECK of a lot more money than the rest of the "non-union" employees COMBINED!! Are we to believe that she is looking out for the less fortunate here? I sincerely doubt that one. Just my opinion.
that means essentially 28 of those positions ARE administrators. Lets add the average salaries then take 3% of that and you will find that the great majority of the money allocated will be given to administrators, not the others. So I am not buying into that number, unless we institute something that was suggested earlier, raises for those making under the median income only.
Sep 29, 2011 at 12:37 p.m.
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I hope they look into the high utility costs at Kennedy as this is a crunch to the budget.
Sep 29, 2011 at 12:10 p.m.
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Interesting comments at today's (Thursday's) listening session on various ways to reconfigure school uses and find savings. I'll have a story on that for Friday's paper. ... Also, Superintendent Schulte wants people to know that 74 percent of the non-union employees are not administrators. I'm now told there are 109.5 non-union employees, not 113.
Sep 29, 2011 at 11:59 a.m.
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As for the raises, how about they only give raises to people earning less than the median income for the city? For instance, if you are making under $50K, you get the 3% raise to help offset the 5.8% cut you just took, if you make over that, then you are better off than most of the people here already, so you can wait until the budget crisis is solved before you get your raise.
Sep 29, 2011 at 9:16 a.m.
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"another round of passionate pleas from parents and grandparents"
**
Such passion is understandable, but it's not a sound foundation for reasoning. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has a strong interest in promoting education in this country, and it has found that the single most important factor in whether or not students succeed is teacher excellence. So if the district keeps buildings open (which is an obvious convenience to folks in each neighborhood) but at a cost of reducing teacher-pupil interactions through increased class size, that's a poor decision that will not promote excellence in education overall.
Sep 29, 2011 at 8:51 a.m.
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I'm not sure they could fit the 500 or so students at Franklin into the other two middle schools. Karl Dommershausen has suggested moving the sixth grade back to the elementary schools. Whether that would work has not been studied. -- Gazette reporter Frank Schultz
Sep 28, 2011 at 9:30 p.m.
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I don't buy what Schulte and Stottler are saying. Are the computer people getting more because it is a male dominated field? There may be females in the jobs, but in comparable positions in other companies these positions are dominated by males. I'm sure the secretaries have had it rough picking up plenty of slack as positions were cut or people were shifted around. They all deserve a raise.
Sep 28, 2011 at 8:22 p.m.
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Since Franklin Middle School is only half full, what if the charter schools were moved into areas/rooms in Franklin? Could that be a way to reduce the district's rent and save money?
Sep 28, 2011 at 4:42 p.m.
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Important-
Tomorrow the Janesville School Board hosts its first morning "Community Conversations In Excellence" listening session. Craig High School is the host location starting at 9:00 AM and lasting until 10:30 AM. This is in response to the requests from stakeholders who wish to attend these sessions, but are unable to attend the evening sessions. They can park in the front (west) lot or along the drive in front of the school. They would need to come through the front door and will escorted by students to the session in the small auditorium. It is casual dress and will be in a two-way dialogue format.
Please join us and share your solutions, ask questions, and meet those that make decisions for you. We will be short board members because many members have jobs that need attention, but those of us that can be with you will be more than willing to discuss anything, except for individual personnel issues.
Thank you,
Karl Dommershausen
Janesville School Board Commissioner
(608) 774-8660
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