I have 2 kids in the Parkview district. I also teach in a neighboring district. I have never really considered open enrolling my kids to the district in which I teach. If Parkview seriously considers this proposal that will change. At least until they are in 7th grade.

simple_but_true Yep, you definitely missed the prior meetings and only heard things after it had swung towards consolidation at any cost. :(
RM_4 is absolutely right! Parkview needs to be brought into the 21st century, but not by adding classrooms to OES elementary.
One of the facility meeting members, I believe it was Mary Kieser, came up with the idea of using the $5 million to build onto the high school in a way that FINALLY separated the middle school students from the high school students, but it was downplayed by those on the board who wanted to just proceed and get the referendum to vote.
I really hope that whomever is on the Parkview board after the April vote finally sees something like that as a better option for consolidating our district and bringing everyone together.

RM_4: Sincere question - Do you really believe we should spend $5 million on an elementary school addition that is not needed. You are correct about the high school needing the work - that's where the money should be spent. Close Newark now at no cost, close Footville in 2 - 4 years, and work on a referendum for a high school project that includes the steps necessary to complete the goal of a centralized campus. If you spend $5 million on an elementary addition, again not needed, the chances of passing a referendum for a high school project are doomed.

Amen! RM_4!

This was from the Beloit Daily News... On this date Feb. 24, 1987:
Four of seven Parkview School District board members say they expect to vote in favor of a resolution that could lead to the closure of the Newark and Footville Elementary Schools; that move would lead to a $1,755,000 bond issue to add onto the elementary school in Orfordville; Sandra Hamilton, Patricia Engen, Steven Cummings and John Kastor are the likely supporters of the consolidation. . . .
This has been going on for far longer than these 25 years since this post was written. Please lets get this done and close both schools, add on to Orfordville and stop this rising price tag. What could have been done 25 years ago for $1.7 million is now up to $5 million. Wait another 20 years and it will be $15 million! Oh by the way, while we're fighting about doing this or not doing this - NOTHING is being done to our high school which is a joke!! Please people vote for change and stop the fighting. Bring Parkview into the 21st century.

4pourmoi - My comments were hardly a personal attack, I was merely pointing out the fact you were spinning the truth. Your recent post is another example of the same. You continue to make statements accusing administration of leading us in a direction they never did. For the record, it was Board member Bell (Newark) who stated in a meeting, "You can't close one without the other." I would also like to point out the three Footville candidates running against the Newark incumbants are all publicly stating Footville needs to close too - just not with a price tag of $5 million and a property tax increase for a building we don't need. Furthermore, even if the roof failed, the windows fell out, and the boiler quit at Footville, at a cost of $500,000 to fix - it is still cheaper than an addition ($5 million) or eight tempory classrooms ($1 million). In addition, if you do spend $500,000 on Footville you have a building with plenty of room for the students (the same cannot be said for keeping Newark open) with a new roof, new windows, and a new boiler - clearly the best option for the least amount of money! Vote W-H-H and do what's best for Parkview!

More choices and experiments mean risks. Best not to take them and leave your children's future to monopolies of the teachers' union and local public schools.

More choice = more risk = loser mentality.

No wonder Wisconsin is last in new business start-ups.

simple_but_true Personal attacks are juvenile and unwarranted.
Maybe you missed that meeting... It was right before the one where Parkview was suddenly switching to building a brand new high school that would miraculously solve all the district's problems! It was the one right before the facilities members were told that FOOTVILLE parents would NEVER let Footville close and not Newark too.
The facilities members were all led around by the administration in an attempt to go the direction the adminstration wanted, not that I disagree with that direction mind you. I just disagree with the waste of time and effort on the parts of those members.
The referendum idea did come from the board. The idea of consolidation came from the facilities members as an overriding unifying goal, but not as it ended up with adding new elementary classrooms to a district with too many elementary classrooms already.
Didn't you get a copy of Mr. Bleicher's extrapolation of cost/benefit analysis that was then advanced by Mr. Vonderhaar? Within a 5 year plan barring any major breakdown of boilers or ceilings Footville makes the most sense, once either of those takes place the potential cost of repair can easily upend any benefit of losing the Newark building.

I am glad to see an alternative proposal to the existing school practice of cut, reduce and eliminate is NOW a hot discussion item. Over the past 20 years, school administrators have been forced to cut, reduce and eliminate to levels that have been detrimental to student service. Over time the cuts, eliminations and reductions that were once unnoticed, but still adversely affecting the service to students, have now reached the level of school closings and direct effect on students, parents and COMMUNITIES.

Charter schools are public schools of CHOICE, accountable to the District contract, charter school laws and student performance. They must provide the same or better educational service as the local public schools. As a school of CHOICE parents are actively involved in the educational process and if they are not satisfied, they do not have to send their son or daughter to the school.

However; charter schools can be more innovative and have the flexibility to be creative in their governance. Which by the way is a local board for both schools?

Many of the questions asked will be addressed in the contract phase of the process (if we get that far) and the District will establish the criteria needed to move forward.

For those of you who may have personal issues with me, there are many for profit charter management companies that the district can choose from. I can certainly recommend other companies, at no charge of course. I personally chose to start a not for profit company (which I believe you will have difficulty finding another) because I have been an educator for 36 years and knew I was not going to line my pockets or get rich in the process. When I heard of the Newark and Footville schools closing, a 5 million dollar referendum and three board members being challenged for their positions, I thought this option may be of assistance. The district can choose any company they wish and if they do choose this option with another company and it helps the district, I will be happy!

However; the plight public education is in all over the country, especially for small districts, needs out of the box thinking.
We must take the words cut, reduce and eliminate out of the local school board vocabulary, as their only options during budget time. With the possibility of 1.2 million dollars being reallocated by the district, wouldn’t REINSTATE, ADD and INCREASE be A BREATH OF FRESH AIR.

I have worked with many school boards and they are all great people with great intentions. Let's give them back the tools necessary to accomplish great things for the students of their COMMUNITIES.

If you would like to discuss this further or need more information you may contact me at mikedangelo44@yahoo.com

4pourmoi - I'm having a hard time stopping myself from laughing. Closing Footville and making Newark a middle school was NEVER a "viable" option. In fact, having attended several meetings, it was never a potential option. The idea to close both Newark and Footville and go to referendum DID come from the Newark members of the school board and passed 4 to 3. The four yes votes were all Newark board members. You mention "spin has altered the public perspective" - you're right and you're the King of Spin. Here are the facts: Everyone of the Parkview administrative team, except one (Newark principal) has stated publicly that closing Newark is the best option educationally and financally - more than once. The plan to go to referendum WAS NOT ADMINISTRATION'S IDEA - not even close. Either you haven't attended any meetings or you're just outright lying. I wouldn't be surprised by either. Get your facts straight 4pourmoi - a.k.a. King of Spin.

Or the "much needed" Act 10 in Wisconsin that sets our schools up for failure, right?

"COMMENT: Plans that are rushed into are seldom successful in my experience."

Tell that to Pelosi and Reid with the very much needed healthcare debacle.....

What success and FAILURE references do you have and can we visit with the staff and parents in those districts?
Will you have local administration that is accountable to the Parkview Board and accessible to the public?
TO THE PARENTS – this is quite a change. Are you comfortable with your child or grandchild being used in this experiment? Are you OK recovering two years primary learning if this does not work out?
TO THE BOARD – is this what you want to do to your district and staff? Is this a good strategy for a long term employer/employee relationship? Does it build trust or is that not important when it comes to a harmonious relationship for those teaching our students? Does it contribute to the long term stability of the district? Or does it effectively end the district?
What accountability will the board have for the success or failure of these students in the long term?
Will this in fact financially gut the core of the Parkview District to the point that you no longer can provide even the basic services to the students that remain in the traditional Parkview Schools?
If this contract is ended after two years......what then? Seems to me that you are back where you started, right? What will the plan be then?

COMMENT: Plans that are rushed into are seldom successful in my experience.

What services and support will you provide for students with physical and learning disabilities? Do you provide transportation other locations to address special needs that cannot be provided locally?
What instruction do you provide for physical education?
What instruction do you provide for the arts (music, art, etc.)?
Who will provide library services and what will they consist of?
Who will provide the school psychologist and counseling services?
If you have a student that you cannot control or is disruptive, do you send that student to the Parkview Schools again and let them deal with that student?
What responsibilities will you have for suspension or expulsions?
You believe that you can get a $250K grant for two years. If you do not have the students required to be profitable in the third year going forward, you will not want to continue at a loss. What kind of a process will there be for transitioning back to the Parkview District control if this should be required?
What level of performance guarantees do you make if those students do come back?
Do you have some insurance and legal agreements about catching students back up to grade level if they fail to get adequate instruction under Pinnacle Charter Schools? Or will this effort and cost be dumped back onto the Parkview Schools and the parents (Sylvan, Kumon, private tutors, etc.) if this is a failure and it reverts back to Parkview in two or three years?
Who gets state aide for the students in Pinnacle Schools? Parkview or Pinnacle?
If the costs per student is reduced by $4,000 per student, will the state aid payments and base also go down accordingly?
If our state aid base is reduced further than what it currently is and the Pinnacle school experiment is a failure for some reason after the grant money runs out, how will we make that back up to even have a somewhat viable school district?

Questions about the Parkview/Pinnacle School proposal
As the Parkview Proposal seems to have come out of the blue and this would be a major decision that affects 100s of kids futures, if I was on the Parkview Board, a parent or even just a community member, I would want to know the following:
Who contacted Mr. D'Angelo regarding this? Was it a parent, board member(s), administration member or did Mr. D'Angelo read the Janesville Gazette down in Florida to get this information and made the trip up here to present unannounced? If it was a board member(s) that contacted Mr. D'Angleo, was this done in a legal manner that met the open meeting laws (no walking quorum, unofficial “committee” meeting with other board members, etc.)
What is Mr. D'Angelo's position with Pinnacle Charter Schools? Are you the owner, a sales rep on quota, a senior executive, etc.
What is Mr. D'Angelo's back ground as his name sounds rather familiar (Parkview Grad, JSD AD, etc.) What did you do when you left the AD position in Janesville? What are your credentials when it comes to elementary education?
How do you recruit teachers to willingly work for so much less than what they get paid in a traditional public school? Or do they take your positions because there are no others open at this time and will likely move on as soon as there is a better opportunity – if they are qualified?
Who will pay for the transportation of the students in your charter school? (Regular ed and special needs)
Who will pay for the hot lunch program?
Who will pay for the property and building custodial services, maintenance and utilities?
Who will pay for insurance on the facilities that you are using? Will the insurance change based on who is using the facilities under these arrangements?
Who will retain ownership of school district assets such as desks, library books, etc. and what will be done to budget for wear, tear and replacement as required?
Who will be responsible for building security?

Changes need to be made in the current educational system in Wisconsin. Charter schools are just another way to attempt to fill districts needs when their expenditures have outpaced their income stream.

This proposal was too little too late in terms of addressing what is fundamentally wrong with the way that Parkview conducts itself as a district.

Noone has talked about how the committee that met for a year to try to figure out how to solve this issue was shot down once it came up with a viable solution that closed Footville and made Newark into a middle school. They were told by the administration that so many calls had come in and that NOONE from Footville would support it unless BOTH schools closed at the same time, but all you read about is how that idea somehow came from the Newark board memebers. Wrong! It came from the superintendant himself.

Once again "spin" has altered the public's perspective on what really has gone on in the district.

Most parents want what is best for their child.This person(D'Angelo) DOES NOT have the same reasons.JMO.Please google Mike D'Angelo,Polk Co. Florida and read for yourself.Think back on why JSD also let him go in the early 90's.Next stop South Wayne ,Wi....the list goes on...and on.Again JMO on D'Angelo

All you have to do is close Newark and problem solved. That would take care of any shortfalls. Keep Footville open and between Footville and Orfordville will be able to handle all the kids and do not have to add on to Orfordville. Won't cost any more for tax payers plus save money by closing Newark/ But since half the school board is from Newark they said if close Newark then have to close Footville. Yeah right!

Sarah & Pool -- So lets get this right, if a teacher wants to make more money and deprives a student of their education to strike or protest -- thats ok --- but if an administrator wants to make more money or owner of a business -- thats bad. OK -- now that we understand your one-sided view we can completely ignore anything else you have to offer, because your bias will never open your eyes to something potentially better.

Teacher salaries would need to be competitive, or parents would pull their kids out, teachers would leave (High turnover rates) and the whole thing would fail. So your arguement is completely baseless and inconsistent with charter school performance overall. However, all I am saying initially is people should listen, unless of course they have a biased view.

If you feel that strongly -- and this is your district -- I would suggest you find other alternatives for education -- vote with your money and feet.

For those that simply want to politicize this as a repub/dem issue, you really need to get alife and move on. All you are doing is polluting the discussion. The community needs to scrutinize whats on the table and make a decision. Whatever decision they make -- they all need to be enagaged to make it work and then it will. Complete buyin. Those that only want to shoot it down and make it fail should move on so that those that want something positive can make it happen.

ebenezer-you must not be real bright. You dont think D'Angelo is going to line his pockets with alot of taxpayer dollars? Mercy Health Systems is also non profit, but the Ceo rakes in millions. The problem with this corporate takeover is that workers get compensated much less and a select few get very rich. Personally, I would rather see the front line teachers make money to teach the children than see some CEO line his pockets with taxpayer money that should have gone to the workers. This is the same thing that is happenning in every industry and workers everywhere need to demand fair compensation. The growing income gap between the very wealthy and the rest of us continues to grow because of short sighted people like yourself.

Sorry, but I am sick of reading the same ignorant hate-filled vile everytime their is an article about teachers/public education.
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To the article...It seems responible that all options are on the table. Given the circumstances no decision will be void of negatives. If Parkview wants the best options it appears they will be happy to open their pocketbooks even more. I find that frustrating but such is our reality.
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This could be a real option but a lower investment is a risk. The reality is salaries of any profession are competitive. If this Charter School offers less compensation I doubt the best and brightest teachers will be running at that opportunity. Not because they don't care but because the reality is they are ALLOWED a life outside of their profession. Often, that life, costs money.
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I strongly support public education and public education teachers. I believe Gov. Walker over-stepped and is wrong. I support the unions and belief teacher are under, not over compensated.
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That said, all options are worth exploring. Honestly, it is disappointing the district didn't have the creative skills to find this option on their own. I believe that should be a focus as well.

"""""vatoloco

Teachers unions are not interested in improving anything but how much they can milk the taxpayer..."""""
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That is a flat out lie. That is an ignorant, hate-filled statement that does nothing to solve the problem.
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All employees are looking to provide the best for their family. Teachers, Dr.'s, Lawyers, Mechanics, politicians, YOU, etc...
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Teachers work very hard to improve the educational opportunities for every child.
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If you honestly believe that "Teachers" don't care about improving education for their students... there is nothing that can be done or said to help you.
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Yes, recently in WI, teachers as a profession said, "H*LL NO", to the attack by Gov. Walker and his employers, the Koch Brothers. Yes, that caused some districts to even cancel school making it easy for ignorant simpletons to cry over and over and over and over, "see they don't care about education just $$$."
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Well, ignorant simpleton, that is not true. See my kids’ teachers will do anything, ANYTHING to help them succeed but they will also do anything ANYTHING to protect their profession and their family.
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I respect and would expect nothing less.

Tiki -- can you read ?? This is a NON-PROFIT...... Duhhhhhh

Tiki man

So public educational expenditures are not investments?

Teachers unions are not interested in improving anything but how much they can milk the taxpayer...

A charter school is not a good investment. It's a business, a company. And what is the bottom line with a company? How much money are they making & how many short cuts can they take & get away with. That's it. Period. End of story. I could care less if my taxes go up for education. Now when they go up because of sports, that's another story. Sports & extra curricular activities are not education. They are hobbies. The fact of the matter is that this falls on Walker. It's a simple case of following the money trail.

Look idiots -- take a freakin math class -- its either close the schools, raise the heck outta taxes or look at charter schools. If you have a better idea - lay it on the table. Those are the ones available at the momment. Dont throw bricks when you live in a broken glass house. I have heard enough from the people that only want to shoot things down and only want to consider the broken system that exists. Dumber and dumber kids are going to college. Not because we didnt spend enough, but because we are not being creative enough to come up with a solution. -- So once again any change is made a dem/repub arguement or a social issue -- opposed to a think - talk - decide - pragamatic analysis.

I love it when people make up stuff in the article. Where does it say they have the best interest of the kids in mind?

Who sets the curriculum? The school district or the company? Cutting the teachers salaries? Are you kidding me? What kind of spin are they going to give for that? The cost of living has gone up substantially since the market crash. Where's the ethics & decency in that? This charter school garbage is nothing more than the same indoctrination garbage that the Repubs always complain about!

I'm not shooting down the potential solution. I'm shooting down the idea of allowing THIS particular individual, who did an extremely poor job as a teacher, from making a profit at the expense of the children in Parkview's school system.

I love these people that immediately shoot down a solution without anything to back it up... Those that want to at least investigate should be applauded. At least they have the best interest of the children in mind. I would have lots of questions as well, but would reserve any positive or negative questions until after looking into the questions I would have.

As for parents input -- parents could vote with their feet and leave if they are not satisfied with the performance.

K-6' I got it....

What grades? I'd like to remove my daughter from public school.....

mamap...LOL Let's not forget the fight at Taco Bell with a student.

When this guy "taught" in the school district I attended, his only interest was sports. He was a horrible, lazy teacher!

Who owns the buildings and who pays for upkeep on the buildings? Do kids get a choice if wantto go to charter school or public school?
Lots of questions.

Don't fret over these liberal comments here Patriots. I've ordered up a new batch of patriotic lies from the Chicago Heartland Institute for you to get back at them with...beautiful

"very high pay scale," I am sure, and what about benefits? I would be interested to see what "top" educators this would attract. So now we are going to drag our once heralded education level to that of the south, awesome! What a standard to set for the once great State of Wisconsin!

What will D'angelo make? Will we be able to attract highly educated and good teachers to these positions in the future? What have the results been in the Florida schools? Do they accept all children in the district regardless of abilities or disabilities? Is the school board (the voters) going to have control over the schools? Are the schools going to be open to parental input? Are we ready to turn our neighborhood schools over to corporate interests and influence? I am not.

McEducation!