It is nice to have a chance to communicate again via our district newsletter. The spring schedule tends to get us a little out of routine for our newsletter. You can anticipate one more district newsletter for the 2023-2024 school year, at the start of next month.
I had several different topics in my “ideas notebook” that I could write about this month. I thought it might be difficult to tie them all together. In an effort to hit on a variety of topics, I decided to do what I call a “mailbag”. Maybe that language is outdated and the better term is “inbox”. Below you will see a variety of “Questions/Topics” that I recently received from stakeholders. An attempt to provide a response is under the “Answer” heading.
Question/Topic: Are you planning for another Charlie’s News this upcoming year? What are some other ways that we can hear from the district and schools?
Answer: To answer the first part of the question, the district plans to send Charlie’s News via mail to all households in the district boundaries in August. Charlie’s News is a publication that aims to provide a district-level update. We heard that stakeholders really liked the Facts at a Glance, Monitoring Scorecard, and Alumni in the News segments from the August of 2023 publication.
We try to be intentional in ways that we connect with our stakeholders. Some districts have recently hired a Communications Director. We do not employ that position in our district. We have created a team of different District Office staff members to coordinate our communications efforts. That team has done a great job of continuing to expand our communication, especially our social media presence. Here are some other ways that you can get information from the district: Board of Education Meetings, Weekly/Monthly Newsletters, Website (which we are currently working on revamping), Facebook, Instagram, and Radio.
We know that we do not have a true hometown paper. WiscNews (Daily Citizen) has done a good job of incorporating our information into their paper. Our Communications Team is brainstorming other creative print options in addition to Charlie’s News for 2024-2025. Furthermore, we have found that when we can invite stakeholders into our buildings, for a specific reason, that has an effective outcome. This includes opportunities in addition to co-curricular attendance. This was an area of recovery following the “Covid-years”. It feels like this year we got back to the pre-2020 numbers in this area.
Finally, please keep an eye out for our end of the year surveys. These surveys help provide feedback for progress monitoring and continuous growth and improvement. These surveys will be sent to you electronically in the next couple of weeks!
Question/Topic: What is your take on Act 20?
Answer: This is a big question that is tough to answer in a short segment. I will try my best. I can best describe Act 20 as a state bill that passed regarding Early Literacy Curriculum. On the surface, many describe it as a philosophical shift from “a balanced literacy approach” to “a science of reading approach”. There are many components to being in compliance with this legislation. An appropriate reading curriculum (resources/programs used with students), student screening tools/expectations, professional development requirements, and staffing expectations are a few of these requirements. I am far from being in the camp that claims all of Act 20 is great. I am also not in the camp of taking a stance that it is all bad. Furthermore, there is much more for me to learn and continue to evaluate about this extensive bill. I think the data will help us make better determinations. This mandate comes with costs. This is especially true for the required staff professional development and necessary changes to curriculum and assessment tools. In my role, I am continuing to keep an eye on the funding and grants available for these changes. The funding aspect, especially in the area of implementing a new curriculum and professional development, creates major challenges. In all of the Act 20 work, I want to share how proud I am of our elementary staff and curriculum teams. Those teams have taken the components to this new legislation head-on. The teams have not taken a position of complaining; instead, the teams are working hard to develop solutions.
Question/Topic: Is it accurate that there is still referendum money available?
Answer: It is accurate that there are still referendum funds available. The available funds might best be described as two main, but different, buckets of money.
First, there is a bucket of money for facility improvements. This was the same bucket of funding that was utilized to update the buildings. If you recall, the main part of the projects included the great updates to the elementary and high school. The majority of this funding has been spent on the aforementioned building projects. As of earlier this month, there was about $350,000 remaining in that bucket of money thanks to the project staying on time and within the budget. The remaining funds have been dedicated to building infrastructure updates.
The second bucket of money is for potential land acquisition. As part of the referendum, the vote indicated that $1,000,000 be available for land acquisition in the future. There is a timeframe of the land having to be purchased within 5 years of the 2020 referendum approval. The district continues to be pragmatic in the approach to any pursuit and/or purchase of land. As some of you may know, this was one of the tasks inherited when I started my tenure in July of 2022. Part of my appeal to our district was throughout the interview process, all stakeholders indicated the goal was not to just pursue any land. The feedback that was received was to search for usable and appropriate land. That fits my personality. We continue to explore land options. We have a list of individuals that submitted their name earlier in the year, if a land acquisition committee would be of value. We still have the list of names and contact information of those individuals if an ad-hoc committee would be necessary. We will continue to update as much as possible while still maintaining trust and confidentiality with different land owners.
Question/Topic: As you get close to wrapping up your second year, what do you like about Columbus?
Answer: I love being a Cardinal. We are surrounded by great people. Almost all of our students, staff, parents, and community members are great. Additionally, we have great opportunities. I love working to try my best to help Columbus be an excellent place to learn and work!
