Turnout for my forum was a little more than expected!

I had more people attend my forum than family members who attended, so I think that can go into the plus column as campaigns go in this town. The topic was one that seems to inspire a lot of drama (open enrollment) and apparently not a small concern for retribution and other foolish rebound on those simply choosing to do what they think is best for their kids. I sarcastically suggested on my facebook page that I take the data from the six children represented by the citizens who attended and extrapolate to the 85 who enrolled out. Of course I would not do that in the effort to understand the full extent of the problem. But it would be fun to go to the board with this ridiculous data chart and make my conclusions.

Last year, that's what the district did when they surveyed outgoing families and used the data from 17 families representing an unknown percentage of the students. Presuming a one to one ratio, that is a 20% response rate. It's true that that is how all public policy data is collected, but this very complicated issue seems to have associated with it a big component of fear and desire for complete anonymity, limiting the participation of the ones who have bad things to say about your programs. I have begged, pleaded and otherwise groveled with my friends going out of the district to succinctly tell the board president AND the administrator the straight poop on why they are leaving. Because, you see, the stories I hear are from frustrated and angry people who often feel they wasted years of their kid's achievement gains trying to work within the system. That is never highlighted in a board meeting, never mentioned, never given creedance to. Disillusioned parents are not dealt with in a constructive manner, according to the stories of those who would share their pain with me. I have asked on facebook and will ask here as well: If you or any of your friends have enrolled in or out of the district, please email me with the reasons why! I promise complete confidentiality and representation only as a piece in a pie chart and a contribution in a "why I left" summary or "why we came here." Comments can be made to this blog or you can email me directly at mhammann@charter.net. I really do want data for this. I have never heard somebody come to me and say: We enroll our kid out because it's easier and closer to where we live, or it's near our parents, or it's where I went. I'm sure there are those that fall into that category and my goal is to try to establish the pie chart to begin the conversation about how to reverse the trends. I'd love a signal boost if to those folks if you know more who could help! Thanks blog folk!

Meet the Candidate March 2 at Eager Free Public Library

Melissa M. Hammann, 2013 Candidate for Evansville Community School District Board of Education, invites you to attend a “Meet the Candidate” forum at Eager Free Public Library.

Topic: Open Enrollment

Come explore the topic of Open Enrollment with me! I want to gain a full understanding of this issue with the goal of helping the board reverse the mounting revenue losses attributed to it. Those who have enrolled their children in and out of the district are encouraged to share their stories. Together let’s use your data to transform open enrollment from a district liability into an asset and ultimately position our schools to meet every child’s educational needs.



Date:        Saturday March 2
Time:       10 AM – NOON
Location: Eager Free Public Library Lower Level
                39 W. Main St.
                Evansville, WI 53536 Lower Level

Our first kid graduates from EHS: That brilliant smile was worth all the hard work helping her get to this day.

Media Need to Know Superintendent Applicants a Mystery to Me

Last year Evansville had the same issue as Madison found themselves in this week in which only one candidate ending up passing the board review to the final community meeting. It baffles me why the media wants to publish the names of the ones who don't pass the board's final criteria. Do they want to embarrass the ones who don't make the cut? Do they think they are more qualified to vet the candidates than the board and the search firm that they hired? Or are they just interested in causing drama? The case of the Madison School Board not having a well-vetted candidate is something they need to take up with the search firm and arguably becomes subject to open records because a lot of taxpayer funds were spent for this firm to present viable candidates. However, the names of those that didn't make it to the final cut are not anybody's business and could be problematic for their longevity in their current jobs. I will never see how this becomes an issue of open records.

Thank you blog friends!

I want to take the time to thank my blog friends Chasinthenews and Evansville Observer for generously covering my school board campaign. You guys rock. I don't have the Observer linked on my blog anymore because every time I try to link it, some Indonesian blog gets posted instead. Don't know why and keep forgetting to mention this to my friend. I don't want to post much about my board views on this blog because I don't want to see the fiasco happen that unfolded last year when a candidate opened a FB page and it ended up very controversial. So, check out Chasin's blog and Observer's blog (Evansvilleobserver.blogspot.com) to see some of my views. Kelly Gildner is featuring two questions for each candidate in The Review this week as well! My plea is for all voters to inform themselves regarding the issues facing the district and the candidates' platforms to help face those issues. I do believe that once folks are informed of these things, they will choose me as one of their two choices in April, otherwise I wouldn't be running for the office. Arm yourself with data and then go vote on April 2! This has been a public service message brought to you by Melissa Hammann for Evansville Community School District Board of Education!

The Secret's Out!

Well, after a few months of agonizing about whether or not to run for school board, Nancy Hurley announced she wasn't going to run for re-election and suddenly I felt compelled to make another run for it. I don't pretend to have the skills to fill Nancy's shoes, but I have her ability to delve into critical issues and get the the bottom of an issue. I won't be able to cover the board for The Review at least until the election. Well, I could but the credibility would be stretched to the limit. So, I'll stick to the human interest stories and the programs if the chance comes up and if I win, it will remain that way for the next 3 years.

I look forward to another campaign and hope to emerge victorious in April. Four of us are running for two seats, so at least we don't have to duke it out in a primary. I'm banking on an early spring to aid in my campaign for such activities as erecting signs and greeting citizens door to door. Please consider supporting me for Evansville Community School District Board of Education!

Spooky School Board Meeting on Monday October 29 at 6:30 PM

The ECSD will hold its monthly meetings of the whole on Monday October 29 at 6:30 PM. Click on the link below to view the agenda. Of most importance is the approval of the levy for this school year. Things to know about the budget this year is that the State Aid is down a bit compared to what was predicted in July. This is because the district underspent last year's budget. So, you get less money from the state if you save them money. It kind of makes a perverted sense, but I wouldn't want my employer giving me a pay cut if he found out that I was being (GASP!) fiscally responsible. It does give you insight into why school officials have such convoluted thinking compared to the average Joe on the street about budgeting. The district still qualifies for the 50+50 per kid funding, accounting for about $180K increase. Once I get a chance to sit down with the district business manager, I will understand a lot more about the budget for this year. There are a lot more discussion items like employee handbooks and other joyful topics. Come join in the fun!

http://www.ecsdnet.org/documents/Board%20Meetings/2012-2013/October/October%2029%20agenda.pdf

ECSD School Report Cards: District makes the grade.

I hope everyone has had the chance to follow my series of articles about the School Report Cards and increasing achievement expectations in the Review. The beauty about the new accountability system is how much information is contained in the score. It immediately pinpoints areas of strength and areas that need to be improved. This will be key to continuing to improve to the increasing standards each year.

One area that shows a need for improvement in the district is "closing the gap" for JC McKenna. That same category led to the High School getting the highest score in the Rock Valley North Conference, where they managed to significantly outperform McFarland in this important Priority Area and finally exceed a measure of academic achievement against the historically high performing district.

So much more information will continue to be gleaned from this data. Director of instructor Paula Landers is one of the most competent individuals I've had the privilege of working with. She will use this data to tweak current initiatives and inform future improvements.

Kudos to the district. I know they won't rest on their laurels as they must continue to improve. The only downside to the Report Cards is that as Agenda 2017 progresses into full swing, lots of things will change. The test will be switched over to Smarter Balanced in 2015 when NAEP cut scores will be in full swing. Parents and officials need to be ready to be patient while the new system settles in. Folks need to expect more than usual fluctuations in data because all the targets, tests and benchmarks will be changing pretty much constantly in the next three years. In a small district like ECSD, these data swings get exaggerated even more. So, my recommendation is to stay calm and be happy for now.