| ITEM | Change to budgetary recommendation | Revenue to offset budgetary loss | Source of revenue to offset budget loss | Rationale | Additional notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eliminate proposal to close Lindbergh | no impact | no impact | The proposal to close Lindbergh is tied to the availability of space in Gompers rather than underenrollment, cost savings, etc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Modify item C-19 to restructure school operations and facility use for Marquette and Lapham Schools in lieu of consolidation or closing | no impact | 119,122 | One principal for both schools | The two schools are in very close proximity and are accessible via phone, transportation, and the internet. Even under 1 principal per school building, no principal is in the building 100% of the time, nor is any principal available to parents and/or staff 100% of the time. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| add back 1.0 clerical staff | 61,580 | staff reducting in office of Director of Teaching and Learning | Teaching and Learning Services currently has 7.5 clerical/technical permanent staff serving a very small unit. It is appropriate to reallocate staff in order to keep schools open with appropriate staffing levels. | QUESTION: why is the clerical staff estimate higher than the cost of a librarian? (per Superintendent's March 9 document) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| add back 1 librarian | 56,615 | cost savings from not having to increase busing by moving even more Marquette students to the other side of the isthmus | also, modest cost savings from not having to move Marquette to the other side of the isthmus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Modify item C-19 to remove consolidation of Shabazz with other alternatives | add back 1 administrator and .5 clerical position | 150,000 | 30,790 for clerical staff by reallocating resources from Teaching and Learning; 100,000 from establishing Marquette and Lapham as walk-in neighborhood schools per below; 10,000 from costs that would have been associated with moving and transitions associated with consolidating Shabazz and other alternative programs. | Teaching and Learning Services currently has 7.5 clerical/technical permanent staff serving a very small unit. It is appropriate to reallocate staff in order to keep schools open with appropriate staffing levels. | Shabazz and the other alternative programs are very different in structure, organization, and style. It makes no sense to consolidate them under one roof - at least from programmatic and curricular perspectives. This should be avoided at all costs, and my proposals are intended to show financial alternatives to the cost savings strategies enumerated in the original discussion document. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Additional modification to C-19: unpair Lapham and Marquette to create K-5 schools in each neighborhood | additional revenue | 100,000 | establish Marquette and Lapham as walk-in neighborhood schools | would support health and fitness goals and result in cost savings. Would require cooperation with City of Madison to help with traffic safety issues crossing East Washington. Small school size could be accommodated by mixed-grade classrooms (e.g. K/1, 1/2) as enhancements to traditional 1-grade classes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NOTE: my proposals related to C-19 assume that plans to consolidate middle schools (preferably the original plan to split Sherman) and plans to move alternative programs will proceed. I will vote to support these elements of C-19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Modify proposal C-16 to maintain two TAG resource teachers | no impact | even trade | Reduce 2 Teaching and Learning FTE from among the Reading, Mathematics, and Science Resource teachers | It is not clear why the TAG specialists are located under Teaching and Learning, since the bulk of their services are more aligned with those provided by Student Services rather than the T&L curricular specialists. If you ask parents in the district, the small staff allocations for this area are felt in everything from the length of time it takes to get a student tested to the length of time it takes to develop and implement IN-STEP processes. Despite their low numbers, the existing staff perform many key services; to reduce their numbers further erodes the types of services that must be provided if we are to remain strong as a district. | Although the district has enjoyed the benefits of a resource-rich Teaching and Learning department, the current budget shortfall calls into question whether we can afford to continue the level of resource commitment to this endeavor. The imbalance is particularly clear when the number of math and reading specialists and growing number of science specialists are compared to other areas of curricular concern and to practices of comparably-sized districts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Modify C-9 to maintain cross-categorical services to students with identified speech and language disabilities | add back $625,000 | $625,000 | 181,000 by reallocating Teaching and Learning Staff to new Virtual Campus needs rather than $181,000 in new spending; $195,000 from reallocating 3 positions from Teaching and Learning math, reading, or science programs; additional $250,000 from reductions to budget for hiring consultants, including moratorium on rehiring 'retired' staff to head task forces and study groups, moratorium on expenditures for legal counsel when in-house staff could or should be able to provide the analytical tasks | I believe that the current proposal is overly optimistic about the fate of students who rely on cross-categorical staff for their academic success. Many students with diagnosed speech and language disabilities, particularly those related to language comprehension and proficiency, continue to need services after they have completed therapy with speech and language clinicians. Those servicesw allow students to succeed; without such services many students, particularly economically disadvantaged students, are at high risk of failure. Examples of those services include, but are not limited to: help with appropriate classroom placements, assistance with modification of class assignments, reading materials, and other academic resources, and strategizing for tests and other academic requirements. As students grow older, cross-categorical staff play key roles in advocating for students and teaching students how to advocate for themselves. At all stages, cross-categorical staff are the key link between students, parents, and classroom teachers. It is wishful thinking to imagine that all classroom teachers will know, or remember, that these students have need for accommodation AND the legal rights to accommodation. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| add back 1,032,000 | I support Ms. Silveira's recommendation that "we look first at these cuts should the $1,032,000 recommended in the governor's budget come through. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||