UWFox Scholars Series Hosts 'Local Foods, Local Choices'

City of Menasha, WI - On March 12, the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley is hosting a highly informative presentation titled, "Local Foods, Local Choices," as part of the campus' spring semester Scholars Series.  A three-person panel will discuss local food systems in the UWFox Baehman Theatre, within the Communication Arts Center, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Panelists include Joy Perry, UWFox senior lecturer in biology; Jeremy Solin, co-founder of Central Rivers Farmshed in Stevens Point; and Erin Schneider, co-owner of Hilltop Community Farm, La Valle, WI.

The panelists, and the audience, will explore the opportunities and challenges of growing local food economies in Wisconsin.  The panel will discuss the prospect for local food systems to meet local food demands and social needs, address, the opportunities for food sovereignty, share excitement and struggles of community food system organizations, and talk about the collective responsibility as eaters and community members to bring about sustainable food systems.

This Scholars Series presentation is designed to be a dialogue between the panel members and the audience with initial comments provided by the panelists and will expand to include the interests and experiences of the audience.  The panelists will share their experiences and backgrounds as farmers, local food advocates and organizers, ecologists, and seekers of delicious food.

This Scholars Series presentation is free and open to the public with unreserved seating. For more information, contact the UWFox Office of University Relations, 920-832-2611 or email david.hager@uwc.edu.

Here is a link to directions to campus.  http://www.uwfox.uwc.edu/aboutfox/map.html  I hope to see you there.

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Equality is Elementary

"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child."

A great quote from Forest E. Witcraft opens my attempt to convince those local citizens who are, as of this writing, undecided on the upcoming April 3rd referendum to build a new north side elementary school in Oshkosh.

The first point that comes to my mind is the issue of educational equality. According to the Wisconsin Constitution under Section 3 of District Schools, “The legislature shall provide by law for the establishment of district schools, which shall be nearly as uniform as practicable.” We currently seem to be at odds with our Constitutional responsibilities in regards to the students of Oaklawn Elementary. This local educational facility has some problems. To name a few: leaking roofs, sagging beams, supplies stored in the hallways, copy paper stored in the teacher’s restroom, security inadequacies, and a 450 square foot “Media Center” that serves 230students (or 1.95 square foot per kid when the Department of Public Instruction recommends 6.5 square feet per student). Certainly other facilities within our district have issues but not to this extreme level. I will vote yes on this first point because the quality of education in our community should not depend on your address, and currently it does.

The second point which resonates to me as a citizen of this community – is the cost. Roughly $4.00 A YEAR!! That doesn't sound right does it? Well it is.

An average home in Oshkosh is valued at $117,000 (reference Bray Architectural). The increase in taxes over what the average homeowner is currently paying would be $51.48 spread out over 11 years, or $0.39 a month to build this school, a pretty good deal in any economic scenario. But the District has a projected $17,000,000 dollar deficit you say? This is true, that is the current projection. It is also true that building this new facility will have NO affect on our projected deficit, as the funds are separate.

Look at it this way: You have a $150.00 a month credit card bill, you buy a new car which adds $286.00 a month to what you owe but then you get a part time job which pays $286.00 dollars a month. This referendum equates to that part time job. The net effect on your operational budget is zero. I ask myself this: Should we shrink our way out of this dilemma or should we grow our way out of it?

At every budget meeting for the District, cuts to our educational system are proposed and voted upon. With every cut to education we ultimately lose students to alternative options such as neighboring districts, private schools, virtual schools or home schooling. With every student we lose, we also lose state aid dollars. With every state aid dollar lost, we have to cut more from education or raise more revenue at the local level in property taxes to balance the budget. This is a cycle which has been with us for a decade and which will continue within our community, unless we begin to approach the problem with a very different strategy, a strategy which attracts new students.

A representative of the City of Oshkosh Planning Department stated at a recent Board of Education meeting (December 7th, 2011) that the city “anticipates significant growth within the immediate area of the current Oaklawn boundaries”. In my opinion, if we eliminate the school within this geographic area, we significantly reduce the growth opportunities for our community. In addition to the above, this District has a very low debt obligation, one of the lowest within the 424 school districts that represent our State. But don’t take my word for it-look up the information provided by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. Consideration must also be given to the current extremely low interest rates and historically lower than normal construction bids, all of which would indicate that the fiscal timing is right. Is it worth the investment? Ask yourself if you were worth the investment that your parents, grandparents and the people of this community have made to education, on your behalf, in the past? I will vote yes on this second point because advancing education in this community, in my opinion, is worth way more than the $0.39 a month this new school building will cost.

The third leg of the equation that comes to my mind is strategic planning, how does a new north side school fit into the, as yet undeveloped, Oshkosh Area School District’s Strategic Plan circa 2012?

Think back. The Oshkosh Area School District has had many plans in the past such as the 2006 “Public Management Partners” facilities report which recommended “closure of the current Oaklawn Elementary School and the construction of a new north side elementary school”, or the 2008 “Long Range Facility Plan” which defined the pathway for a long term solution to our educational facilities.

The problem, as I see it, is that years ago the process was started but it has never been fully implemented and I quote from the Long Range Facility Plan: ”North-Side Replacement Elementary School (2009-2014), provides a replacement elementary school for students from the Oaklawn Elementary School and former Sunset School, three sections per grade level school permits better staffing efficiencies while maintaining current District class sizes, this project also provides space at Read Elementary for displaced Lincoln students as part of the plan to operate fewer schools”.

But WAIT A MINUTE! Lincoln Elementary was closed as part of the original plan right? Well why hasn’t this new North-Side elementary school been built yet to accommodate the students from Lincoln and provide relief for Read Elementary as per the “Plan”?

The problem with creating a vision is that at some point it needs be realized. I am not saying that we do not need a comprehensive approach, what I am saying is that in the past we have hired consultants, created a vision and produced a plan(s). When are we going to follow the advice that we have already paid for?

But doesn’t the District have a planning outline of what is to be done when new facility construction is being considered? Yes they do! Policy 791 states that “Each school community shall have an advisory role in designing its school facilities” and also “the District shall strive not for the cheapest but for the most economical construction which adequately meets requirements for quality education”. I believe the District and the current Board of Education have accomplished this prerequisite. Therefore, once again I must vote in favor of point number 3 to build a new North-Side Elementary School.

In conclusion, I will vote yes on this referendum primarily because I love this city. But pragmatically it is more than that, as indicated above. The Oshkosh I grew up in, valued education. I believe we still do, but it seems sometimes that we have lost our focus on what is important in life; our kids, our responsibilities to each other, this community, our dignity and our character.
Vote Yes on April 3rd!

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What's Wrong With Oshkosh?

WHAT’S WRONG WITH OSHKOSH?

Another OASD Superintendent is leaving our community. Why?

I have been on the OASD School Board for less than two years. In that relatively short period of time, I have seen our educational system’s foundation weakened again and again by the high turnover rate in quality administration personnel, in particular, two Superintendents in less than two years. Is this an anomaly which only plagues our community? The answer would seem to be yes.

According to the National School Board Association’s website the average tenure of a school district Superintendent in a city over 100,000 people is five years. Other viewpoints indicate that the tenure range for a district the size of ours lay between four and seven years. In Oshkosh the average is ten months, a year, two years? We’re not talking term limits here, we are talking about why that the people we hire don’t even stick around long enough for us to consider firing them. A search for another Superintendent will commence shortly, great.

According to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, out of the 424 school districts in Wisconsin, our district which is the tenth largest in the State has the least amount of Administrators given the size of our district. So, in other words, we have fewer people doing more work. I guess as a community we are alright with that. But is more work the only reason that they leave? I mean after all, we are a German community, a little more work – no big deal right? In my opinion it is not the work load that is causing the problem.

Now let me try and place this within the context of the private sector. There are quite a few people out there who firmly believe that the public sector should embrace the mantra of the private sector. If we just did that we could save all kinds of money and still deliver a competitive product, correct?

I have a few very minor questions:

Let’s just suppose that the place that you work at has a new CEO every other year. With every new CEO comes a new idea on how “we can be more efficient and save the shareholders more money etc.” You as a general grunt on the line just start to get the new protocol down when, yup you guessed it, in comes the new guy and all the stuff you have just learned is now irrelevant. Is this the path to high efficiency for your company? Is the morale good at where you work? I am not saying that the public sector cannot become more efficient, certainly it can. What I am saying is that private corporations dread high turnover in their administrative teams. But why is the CEO turnover rate so high here?

Sticking with the private sector for just a moment, say that you have a former employee who sends hundreds of emails a month to your customer service department essentially saying nothing of substance but demanding a prompt reply. How would you respond? Politely explain that you no longer carry that product or hang up the telephone?

Or say that you had a disgruntled current employee who created their own local media show which endlessly expounded on all the reasons they think that a customer should never buy your product. How would the private sector respond? Fire him? Promote him?

What about a “union” of area businesses who liked to continually criticize your company and use their political muscle to make sure that all of the good things that you had to offer as a member of this community went unnoticed even as they held out their hand to you and said “Let’s be a partner”. How would you react? Shake their hand, find some different partners or go it alone?

Say you had spent a great deal of capital (as a customer) on advertising only to have the firm, which you chose to advertise with, turn around and continually go out of their way to inform your consumer base on what they think is the best way to run your business. What would you do? Would you do your advertising through in house publications, find a different firm, or seek another connective medium?

Upon reflection I think that the questions above could have been easily answered if the school district would have only grasped the private sector concept with both hands years ago; we would have hung up the telephone, fired the malcontent, developed relationships with different partners, and hired a new advertising firm a long time ago. Then perhaps today we would have a solid foundation on which to retain high quality talent and to build a dynamic organization in the future.

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But what have you done for me lately OASD?

During the day to day responsibilities that are inherent within the public education arena, sometimes the “big picture” can be lost, and with it all of the positive contributions that have been made.

It is with an eye on reflection, that a sampling of some of the many positive things that have been accomplished for our children by the Oshkosh Area School District’s Board of Education, Administration and Staff since May 2010 are presented here:

EDUCATION

•Implementation of online hybrid High School English course for summer school.

•3 credits of high school math required for graduation versus the previous 2 credits.

•Established The Riverside Program to address the closing of East High School now a role model for other technical college/district partnerships - provides an OASD high school diploma to all students enrolled who achieve the credits required.

•Creation of the "teaching principal" position for small elementary schools

•Analysis and implementation of the Common Core State Standards K-12.

•High WKCE test results in both Literacy and Math compared to the state and local districts.

•The Schools of Recognition Grant - Roosevelt, Jefferson, Washington, and Merrill El schools were awarded over $300,000 to implement technology to improve engagement and student learning. These principals have been working with the technology and teaching & learning departments to implement LCDs, Smart Boards, ELMO document readers and approximately 200 iPads in the four schools. School eligible for the grant are those who are recognized for their academic achievement even with their high poverty rate.

•The Oshkosh Area School District’s new universal access pre-kindergarten program, Ready-4-Learning, has become a statewide model for its collaborative public-private approach to provide pre-school opportunities for more children in the area.

•Have begun the process of establishing either a Fine Arts or STEM Charter school within the District(input needed from community).

•Spotlight Schools Grant for Washington Elementary - Erin Kohl and the staff at Washington wrote this grant by themselves. They received the grant for being a "culture of literacy." The grant money goes, in part, to pay for schools from around the state to come to Washington to learn about how to create a culture of literacy for their own school.

•Have maintained programming at consistent levels to achieve academic excellence and offer educational opportunity to the children of our community.

•Established "Back on Track" mentoring program in both high schools as partnership with UWO Success Center.


TECHNOLOGY

•Budget dollars injected into long overdue technology needs including:

Complete evaluation of IT infrastructure and detailed, multi-year strategic plan, upgrade of IT Power systems including conditioned power, battery backup, and new generator installation, complete replacement of entire switch infrastructure in all sites, complete server replacements and upgrades (reducing operational costs), 1,600 new computer workstations, with all systems upgraded to Windows 7(no systems are older than 4 years in OASD at present time vs. previous 8+ years old systems),classroom technology upgrades including the addition of over 50 Smart boards and 350 iPads for student use K-12, transition of district to Google Apps for Education and Gmail saving over $47,000 per year including full access for over 10,000 students and 1,200staff, replacement of email archiving system for significant improvement in service, upgrade of internet information for community including upgraded website (in progress), Facebook, and Twitter pages,upgrade and replacement of central office phone systems (reducing operational costs) with IP based phone systems, installation of WiFi access in all buildings with complete coverage at ONHS, OWHS, Merrill MS and ES, Roosevelt, Washington, and Jefferson, installation of a video streaming system for all staff, and improved professional development for administrative team including instructional leadership and technology training.

•Awarded a $150,000 grant from the Wisconsin Technology Initiative to fund the upgrade of ALL classroom technology at Carl Traeger Elementary School (this would not have been possible without the previously mentioned upgrades and the strategic plan for OASD technology and support). The resources provided by this grant will be used to provide students and staff at Carl Traeger Elementary School with state of the art classroom technology throughout the school. Each classroom will be equipped with a Smart board, Document Camera, Speakers, and Student Response Systems. Most importantly the staff at Traeger Elementary will receive comprehensive staff development to grow their skills allowing them to leverage these tools to improve student learning. Dr. David Gundlach, Deputy Superintendent for the Oshkosh Area School District praised the Oshkosh Board of Education for their vision and foresight in allocating resources to begin replacing an aging technology infrastructure a year ago.

FACILITIES

•Major push on facility needs with over 4 million in maintenance and capital improvement projects including new boilers at South Park and Emmeline Cook, District wide asphalt/concrete repair/replacement, District wide flooring replacement, District wide asbestos abatement, replaced roof and EIFS at Traeger, replaced roof at Webster, roof maintenance at Jefferson, replaced driveway and receiving area asphalt at West, replaced circulating pump at West, replaced entrance #2 & #4 at Franklin, repaired sound boards in North Field House, installed new hot water boiler at Merrill, install condensate tank at Merrill, repaved Roosevelt parking lot, replaced roof area #7 at North, replace Door #15 at North, bathroom/locker room plumbing upgrades at North, modified storage area in West locker room, tuck pointing at Merrill, tuck pointing at South Park, replaced intercom at South Park, replaced blinds in windows at Webster, replaced playground asphalt at Washington, and District wide lighting improvements.

•Five year Capital Improvement Plan Developed and implemented.

•Additional 1.3 million dollar taxing authority for deferred maintenance utilized in 2011. This originated in 2009 with the successful passage of a referendum addressing the maintenance issue.

•Energy Committee formed and “Energy Usage Guidelines” policy adopted and in place.



FINANCIAL•

General Fund reserve balance (rainy day fund) up to 10.3% of operating budget from the previous 6.5% in 2009 (we are now in compliance with District policy).

•Facilitated $3.7 million in healthcare premium savings over a two-year period through insurance sealed proposal process implemented through an employee insurance advisory committee.

•Secured $50,000 for wellness program through insurance negotiations.

•Budget reductions of $1,700,018 for the 2010-2011 school year.

•Achieved almost $1 million savings through implementation of a high-deductible HRA plan as a result of negotiations with all employee associations.

•Achieved substantial employee concessions in insurance, sick day allotment, retirement, calendar, co-curricular & summer school pay, and management rights through one-year extensions of collective bargaining agreements in March, 2011.

•Energy (electricity) savings of $89,877.21 recorded for the last 14 months.

•$486,000.00 in utility savings and $201,000.00 in deferred maintenance savings(due to lower than expected costs during bidding process).


COMMUNITY

•The creation of numerous rich partnerships with the community of Oshkosh of which three currently stand out: The Community Foundation, The Grand, and The Northwestern. The Community Foundation will be supporting a consultant to guide the work of strategic planning. They are putting forth $80,000 because they believe that the schools are important and they make a difference to the Oshkosh community. The Grand and The Northwestern are both working with us on curricular partnerships to broaden the scope of the offerings to our students in OASD by exposing them to the expertise within our midst. This is a true educational innovation.

•Promoted internal/external public relations through HR Connection Newsletter, coordination of local newspaper submissions (School Updates, Classroom Clicks, Gold Star Staff Member), and established “good news” items for superintendent’s report .

•Partnering with the Northwestern to conduct on-line surveys to gauge the direction the community wishes to go on local educational issues.



PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Professional Development provided over the past year to staff to enhance student achievement:

•Standards-based Learning K-12
•Literacy Training
•Comprehensive Literacy Model (K-5)
•Workshop Model (6-12)
•Phonics (K-2)
•Developmental Spelling (2-8)
•Mathematics Training
•Everyday Mathematics (Elementary)
•Connected Mathematics (Middle School)
•College Preparatory Mathematics (High School)
•Add-Vantage MR (AVMR) Course-1 (K-5) and Course-2 (2-5)
•Science Training
•Inquiry-based (K-6)
•Integrated Service Delivery
•Co-Teaching (ELL and Special Education) Phase I
•Conscious Discipline (4K-K)
•Provided New Teacher Center training to all instructional administrators to develop supervision skills and address the growth of instructional capacity.

Professional Development provided over the past year to administrators to increase leadership effectiveness:

•Established Project Manager positions in Administrator Professional Growth, Online Learning, Community Partnerships and Website development to provide additional leadership support to the district
•Developed first and second annual Administrator Summer Academies for professional growth.
•Increased effectiveness of administrative team through Gallup Strengths-Based Leadership training.
•Identified staff talent and fostered opportunities to develop leadership in staff through an “aspiring administrator” program.

So What have you done for me lately OASD?

Well, as indicated by this partial list, the Administration, Board of Education, Educators, Volunteers, and Community members have increased their commitment to resolve many longstanding issues. To quote from the Oshkosh Northwestern; “the district needs to do a better job of communicating the things it does well to parents and the community. There is a persistent perception that Oshkosh schools are inferior to those in other nearby communities, a perception belied by test scores”. (12/02/11)

While the future challenges that we face are certainly daunting, the men and women who are directly involved within our local public education system have not been sitting idly by. We hope this message finds you well, and that you will take a few moments with us to reflect on these recent positive accomplishments.

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2011-12 Oshkosh Winter Forecast Based On Lezak's Recurring Cycle Theory

I first heard about Lezak's Recurring Cycle in early October of 2010 from WISN12's Jeremy Nelson. My initial thoughts were that it was too good to be true. Then it happened, I was convinced after one in-depth analysis that it indeed existed. I will admit it didn't take long for me to buy in and afterwards I wondered why I hadn't heard about it before. A little over a year later and an extreme amount of hours dedicated to research and analysis, following the theory has grown into a passion. To this day I endorse the theory to my fullest capacity.

Caught up in all the hype and excitement of learning more about the LRC last winter I attempted a backyard snowfall forecast. Little did I realize that this endeavor would be the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Following the LRC for the past year has led me down a path of constant learning about the upper atmosphere and how it affects the weather on the surface. The benefits of following the theory and thus knowing the likely weather and climate scenarios weeks and months ahead of time are boundless.

In 2011 the OSNW3 backyard snowfall forecast has evolved into a Oshkosh Winter Forecast pin pointing specific weather events and surface weather trends for the area. An exciting project only truly conceivable because of the LRC.

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Again, What Is The LRC?
The ’LRC’ which stands for Lezak’s Recurring Cycle is a weather pattern theory based on the following:

* A unique weather pattern sets up every year between October and November
* The weather pattern cycles, repeats, and continues through winter, spring and into summer.
* Long term long-wave troughs and ridges become established and also repeat at regular times within the cycle. These dominant repeating features are a clue to where storm systems will reach peak strength, and where they will be their weakest.
* The LRC isn’t just one long-wave trough, storm system, or ridge. It is a sequence of troughs and ridges that are cycling across the Northern Hemisphere.

To put this in very simple terms, the weather pattern that occurs in October and November repeats thru the winter, spring, and into summer. The cycle length will vary each year.

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The Forecast
No reason to reiterate any more words of Jeremy Nelson of WISN12 or Gary Lezak of LRC Weather. With the cycle duration in clear sites, the cycling weather patterns will now do what they do. Please visit Jeremy's and Gary's winter forecast, linked below, as they dissect the long term long wave troughs and ridges that will be our weather until summer!

Weather Watch 12
LRC Weather

To create the 2011-12 Oshkosh winter forecast I am leaning on all of my rookie year experiences following the LRC. The main focus being the affect the atmospheric flow 18,000 feet above the earth has on the OSNW3 recorded surface data throughout the seasons and each cycle of the LRC. The predictions below are based on a 46-48 day cycle duration. Shrinking and expanding of the duration will take place as the seasons move along.

Disclaimer: It is understood that the weather can change instantly and despite my best attempts to understand the weather patterns my weather predictions might be incorrect.

Notable Weather Events
Cycle 1 (now thru Jan-2)
-Early Dec Cold
-Late Dec Snowstorm/Cold
-New Year Warm-up
Cycle 2 (Jan-3 thru Feb-19)
-Mid Jan Warm-up
-Late Jan/Early Feb Cold
-Mid Feb Snowstorm/Cold
-Mid Feb Warm-up
Cycle 3 (Feb-20 thru Apr-7)
-Early Mar Warm-up
-Late Mar/Early Apr Snowstorm/Cold
-Early Apr Warm-up (spring clean-up)
Cycle 4 (Apr-8 thru May-25)
-Early May Flakes (chilly start to golf leagues)

Events are open to deeper daily analysis queries if desired. This leads into the main focus of any winter forecast. Snowfall!

Days with Measurable Snow
C1 = 13 (now thru Jan-2)
C2 = 12 (Jan-3 thru Feb-19)
C3 = 4 (Feb-20 thru Apr-7)
C4 = 2 (Apr-8 thru May-25)
Season = 31 (including the Nov-9 snowfall)
*9 days above average (1981-2010)

Total Snow Accumulation
C1 = 16" (now thru Jan-2)
C2 = 17" (Jan-3 thru Feb-19)
C3 = 9" (Feb-20 thru Apr-7)
C4 = 1" (Apr-8 thru May-25)
Season = 45" (includes 2.1 from early Nov-9)
*11 inches above average (1981-2010)

Temperatures
The data trend leads me to believe that there will be enough warm spells to compensate for the majority of cold air events within each cycle leading to Above Average temperatures for the winter. The numbers tell me 1 to 3 degrees above average each cycle. Don't get me wrong, there will be some cold stretches this winter, there is no doubt about it, but with warm-ups scattered about may make the overall winter not seem so harsh temperature wise.

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On Going Analysis and LRC Based Products
I am determined and focused on providing a different way of seeing the cycle. I have plans that include time-lapse and graphical grids. Besides that, I will keep up to date the forecast trends, calendar, and activity in the AccuWeather LRC Forum. The AccuWeather LRC Forum is a great place to exchange ideas and to continue learning the theory. I recommend it. The 2011-12 Forecast Trends are located below and are permanently located on the lower right hand side of the OSNW3|LRC blog. The 2011-12 LRC Calendar can be found here and in the LRC Analysis Tools section on the upper right hand side of the OSNW3|LRC blog. The trends are based on a 48 day cycle duration. The trending duration may be retracted or extended later on in the year as the cycle breathes if required to keep continuity.

(500mb Forecast Trend For Green Bay)


(Maximum Temperature Forecast Trend For Oshkosh)


If there are any questions or thoughts on my research and analysis of the LRC or how I presented the material just let me know in the comments section of the blog. Thanks for reading!

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Sponsor An Extremely Low Income Family for the Holidays

The 19th annual “Gifts From the Heart” holiday assistance program is in progress - this effort is a partnership of the Oshkosh Police Department, UW Oshkosh Head Start and the community. It provides gifts to low-income children who are participating in the UW Oshkosh Head Start program and their siblings. They are referred to “Gifts From the Heart” by Head Start staff. The families must fall within the Federal Poverty guidelines in order to be eligible for the Head Start program:

2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines

2 household members:  $14,710

3 household members:  $18,530
4 household members:  $22,350
5 household members:  $26,170
6 household members:  $29,990
7 household members:  $33,810
8 household members:  $37,630
For each additional person, add $3,820


The families are extremely grateful for the assistance that they receive. Here is some additional information about the program in case any of you might be interested in becoming involved this year:


The effort is anticipating providing holiday gifts to over 400 children and youth from more than 150 families this year. Head Start is a federal pre-school program that provides school readiness, family support and services to children with special needs. All families who enroll children in Head Start meet strict income eligibility guidelines. Head Start operates 8 learning centers and has served the Fox Valley region for more than 30 years. The children served by the Gifts from the Heart program are Oshkosh-area residents.
In October, Head Start parents will create wish lists for each child in their family. The Police Department then invites community members to call Santa’s Hotline to sponsor one or more children by purchasing the wish list items as holiday gifts. The Santa’s Hotline number will be published closer to the date it begins operation. Wish List items included clothing, shoes and boots, outerwear, bedding, personal hygiene items, toys, hobby items, electronic games, bicycles and sporting goods. Businesses, schools, organizations and individuals and families are invited to purchase the gifts for specific children. Other individuals may choose to donate undesignated items like board games, books, clothing and toys. Nearly 100 volunteers including the Police Auxiliary and many community and student groups are expected to help wrap and deliver the gifts of Saturday, December 10.
“Each person who calls to sponsor a child expresses great concern about purchasing just the right things and are careful to get as many details as possible about the needs of each child. It is clear that each gift is purchased with care,” reports Dorry Wilner, Community

Programs Coordinator for the Police Department. “But beyond the gifts and wrapping paper are a myriad of wonderful stories from families, co-workers and students who find creative ways to participate in this project. All of these stories demonstrate a meaningful sense of community that goes far beyond shopping.” The Police Department thanks the community for helping to make this event a success for the past 18 years and extends wishes to all for a wonderful holiday season.

For more information or to make a donation contact Dorry Wilner, Community Programs Coordinator, at 920 236-5714 or dwilner@ci.oshkosh.wi.us

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State of Oaklawn Elementary

Email received from Liz Lynch a parent from Oaklawn Elementary:

I'm emailing to ask you to please read the list below. After reading it ask yourselves if it would be okay if it was your child who went to that school. My son (and possibly next year, my daughter) attend Oaklawn Elementary. As with most schools in Oshkosh the teachers and families are amazing. Totally different than most schools in Oshkosh is that structurally half the school is falling apart, it is overcrowded and our children are not given the resources that other children in Oshkosh take for granted.

If you would be willing to vote to pass a referendum to rebuild/remodel Oaklawn on the current site please email our school board and let them know that. The majority of our parents want a school that fits our kids and fixes our inequities to be built right where Oaklawn is today. If you support this please tell our school board that. And, if you don't support that feel free to also share your opinions. In fact, please let me know why you don't support it so I can better understand those against it.

boardofeducation@oshkosh.k12.wi.us

Issues and Inequities at Oaklawn Elementary

• Classroom size in 1951 section is 20% smaller than most classrooms in district, but still houses the same amount of students as a regular size classroom.
• Hallway size in 1951 section is too small and dimly lit. Inadequate space for children and adults before and after school and between recess and lunch
• Capacity is currently at 92% using district numbers, not taking into consideration our smaller classrooms. We were told that all but one of our smaller classrooms would have 20 students or less, however, two of those classrooms have 23 students. We had to send one kindergarden class to Merrill last year because we had too many students and the same thing is due to happen next year.
• Square feet per student: the district average for an elementary school is 211. Oaklawn’s students have half of what other schools do. Our students have an average of 104 square feet per student. Carl Traeger has 373 square feet per student…that is over 3 times what our children have at Oaklawn.
• “Media Center” (really just 6 shelves of books) should be 1560 square feet (according to the WI DPI) is only 450 square feet, 4000 books too few, no reading space, no tables, in a shared space with computer lab
• Siding: visible holes and some of it is over 20 years old, new siding put on 11/1/11! This new siding was simply put on top of old, rotten siding that already had holes. This is an area that had leaks this year. New siding was simply nailed onto the old. Is there mold underneath the old? Has the leak been fixed?
• Roof: Has not been replaced in over 25 years. Over $25,000 has been spent since 2006 on patching the old roof. In the past it has leaked into classrooms, through windows and through light fixtures.
• Windows: the windows in the old are not functional and leak
• Computer lab: shares space with library causing difficulty with instruction when one class is using library and one class is using computer lab
• Art and Music share a classroom: better than using the gym and a cart, but still not on the level of other schools in the district
• Office space too small
• Storage: currently using gym space to store non-gym related items, books for classrooms are stored in closets in the hallway (not necessarily close to the room that uses them), there are no closets or cabinets in the classrooms in the old section
• 1 faculty stall for approximately 25 staff which is also the storage area for our paper
• Specialty services are provided in repurposed closets
• Entrance to school not safe. Anyone can walk in to the school without having to walk past the office
• Bathrooms in old section are deteriorating – some kids will not use them and walk to the other bathrooms
• Through ARRA funds and parent raised donations (almost $10,000) we purchased a lot of technology…it sits still not hooked up. We have had a Smartboard sitting in a box in a classroom for 8 months.

Thank you for taking the time to help make my children's education worthwhile!

Liz

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