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Do you have any additional comments on the Communication and Fiscal Agendas.
#Response DateResponse Text
1.2/5/2008 3:30:00 PMI appreciate you providing us with an outlet to share our views from the teaching perspective.
2.2/5/2008 6:25:00 PMI think that we're doing well. I hope that district teachers will get more involved in promoting the next referendum. Perhaps the district office can provide some guidance on this. Thanks
3.2/5/2008 8:46:00 PM1. See Stoughton school district for at-risk obesity PE class. If teachers who are coaches are leaving early due games, have their day start earlier and offer programming to help students (PE, math? reading?)
4.2/5/2008 9:59:00 PMno
5.2/6/2008 3:15:00 AMTeachers need to help educate the community when looking ahead to the future budget issues. We need to talk to parents and community members to make them aware of the needs that we confront daily in our classrooms, and how they impact our jobs as well as the learning that happens in our classrooms! Thanks for asking for our feedback. It's nice to feel that our opinions are valued! :)
6.2/7/2008 5:42:00 PMThank you for taking the time to ask our opinions and hopefully take them into account. I have been in many situations where my opinion was asked and never considered. I have the feeling that our opinions really do matter on this and I hope not to be disappointed. Just an idea, it may be helpful to meet with us before the items on the strategic plan were created. It could possibly a little less work for all the people involved - just my thoughts.
7.2/11/2008 6:16:00 PMNo
8.2/14/2008 9:53:00 PMIt would be beneficial for teachers to offer opinions and contributions before the agendas are created. It is easy to feel that your voice is unimportant after major decisions have already been made.
9.3/4/2008 3:00:00 PMSeveral years ago there was staff insentive to write grants . This incentive was discontinued. There should be some consideration to reinstituting staff recognition and incentives for writing competitive grants for their schools. I believe the fiscal cost of the incentives was 5 to 10 % of the grant. This is a small price for a large reward. Please think about this idea.
10.3/4/2008 8:13:00 PMElementary class sizes really need to be lower at the K-2 end. This is our whole educational building block. We need to start small in order to build big!
11.3/5/2008 7:42:00 PMThank you for giving us the opportunity to offer our input.
12.3/6/2008 4:56:00 PMI think I gave you enough of my opinions.
13.3/6/2008 10:40:00 PMI feel like we as teachers are so busy testing and retesting and testing again. When do we then have the time to use this data? WE HAVE TO KEEP MOVING ON. THE PACE JUST KEEPS GOING. Great! Lots of data! For who?
14.3/9/2008 10:48:00 PMMaking the playgrounds accessible to all children throughout all seasons
15.3/18/2008 12:14:00 PMSlow down - I feel very overwhelmed and stressed out by all that is happening each year. We never have time to reflect on what we have done and how can we make it better. We need to move on to a new goal so no time to reflect.
16.3/18/2008 2:10:00 PMPlease take the time to carefully review what has been done and worked in the past, and eliminate those that are not.
17.3/18/2008 4:23:00 PMCould the need for a new elementary building be resolved by converting all of Luther back to classrooms and housing the adminsitration in a separate office environment? If our elementary population is increasing to the point of needing a new elementary building, will that population increase eventually reach the middle school? How will FAMS accommodate such an increase?
18.3/19/2008 5:00:00 PMOur district does not have enough teachers to cover what needs to be done at our schools. We need to prioritize our money and hire new teachers!
19.3/19/2008 6:58:00 PMI would rather have fewer goals and do them well than have large numbers of goals and perfect none of them. I would also like some training, inservice, related to counseling. I feel we often do more counseling in our classrooms than teaching and I have no training in it, especially with the ever increasing number of students with mental health issues. I feel we are inadequately prepared for handling those students and still meeting the curriculum goals and the needs of all the other students. It appears to boil down to 2 main issues--class sizes that are too large and prep time which is too small.
20.3/19/2008 7:22:00 PMI believe that rank and file staff should have had input on development of the strategic plan all along, not just be asked for our feedback on goals after they've already been established by the board. I'm very disappointed that our district has decided to use this top-down model for straegic plan development.
21.3/20/2008 3:26:00 AMGive us time to learn one or two things at a time before adding something new. Stress levels are high. Perhaps part of the problem of overweight children can be linked to the stress level of their teachers and the added stress that is put on them to be advanced or proficient. I also wonder if the rise in behavior problems is also coming from this pressure. Lets keep in mind they are children and prescious. They are our future. Do we want a world full of angry, proficient adults or is it O.K. to be a good person and not proficient at something?
22.4/7/2008 9:24:00 PMProvide additional support to the staff through aides to free up teachers from supervision duties. This additional time should be planning time. The best teachers utilize planning and team work to best serve our students.
23.4/8/2008 12:08:00 PMI know it is a difficult job and I appreciate the efforts of everyone to try and remain creative and open.
24.4/8/2008 12:26:00 PMLand for a future elementary???? Is our enrollment really growing that much? Also, get some feedback on creative ways to reduce spending. I think staff has some ideas. I think it is interesting that we are going into the Badger Conference at a time when we need to reduce spending and going into this conference is going to increase travel expenses. I don't see the price of gas going down any time soon.
25.4/8/2008 2:25:00 PMAvoid being &quot;ignorantly cocky&quot; when it comes to the 2010-2011 operations referendum.
26.4/8/2008 2:27:00 PMWind power. 4-day school week (see aove)
27.4/8/2008 4:22:00 PMlet's work together to find better ways to do things.
28.4/8/2008 5:13:00 PMI believe there is a need to take some core classes and have them listed as ability level versus grade level. Change the passing grade from 60% to somwhere from 65% to 70%. If we don't require students to learn more than 60% of the information, most students will not push themselves to learn more than the bottom line. By changing the failure % we are showing students that we do want them to know more and by doing this we are showing them that we care. The &quot;extra&quot; learning options will only support their learning.
29.4/8/2008 5:26:00 PMStrengthen communications with families/parents/guardians that we have been missing whether it is parents who work 2nd shift and cannont come to school functions after school, parents for whom English is not their first language, parents who did not have a positive educational experience and tend to avoid school, thus having an impact on their children and the children's education (...)
30.4/8/2008 8:54:00 PMI think it would be refreshing to admit that this is our main priority, that we have beefed up the academic to dress up the referendum.
31.4/8/2008 10:04:00 PMThe Board must prioritize what it wants to accomplish with the limited human and technology resources that are available. Having a biotechnology class of 8 was fine when staff and budget was adequate to cover these low-enrollment classes. Capping woodworkig class at 12 students was possible 10 years ago, but not today when you are putting 32 students in Science 9. Allocating the same amount of money for supplies and equipment as 15 years ago no longer covers all the necessary materials to deliver the curicullum. The Board must decide what its educational priorities are; it must decide what elective classes it is going to cut.
32.4/8/2008 9:07:00 PM#7 It should be clearly communicated that this item does nothing to improve our staffing situation or capital situation or programming situation. It keeps the status quo. That isn't the best way to maintain excellence.
33.4/9/2008 4:16:00 PMWith regard to effectively communicating, I think we took a step in the right direction with Edline but there are much better programs out there that would make communication between students, parents, administrators and staff more efficient. On program that comes to mind is WebGrader, an internet based program. I would also like to see the district provide Blackboard access. This is a powerful class management/organization tool, which can also be used by the district for communicating and gathering information. Blackboard and programs similar to Blackboard are used by most postsecondary institutions making the knowledge a plus for students when they leave high school.
34.4/9/2008 5:22:00 PM-What can teacher do to help pave the way for the next referendum? -Look even farther in the alternative energy options. Solar water heating is great, but what about electrical generation from wind and solar. I know other schools have gotten grants for these. Make sure the technology is accesable to students and teachers so we can incorporate it into curriculm so we use it as a great learning tool in social studies and science.
35.4/9/2008 8:11:00 PMIt's important in the long run that HS teachers don't have overloads of over 5 classes. It's a short term fix that will erode the quality of education in the long run.
36.4/10/2008 1:28:00 PMSorry, I think I wrote a book. I know little about communication and fiscal agendas, so I'll save you time of reading it.
37.4/10/2008 5:16:00 PMNone
38.4/10/2008 6:23:00 PMThe goals are great, and I realize you don't necessarily want to hear that they will take money and training, but they will, and that has to be part of the reality of it.