Practically Speaking

I'm not sure who dropped off this referendum brochure; it is a copy of Elmbrook Schools April 1, 2008 High Schools Facilities info sheets.

There was no disclaimer on it stating where it came from or who paid for the printing.

When I opened it, it was obvious it was not just run off on someone's laser printer. The paper size was very unusual: 11 1/4 x 11 inches.

If it was from Elmbrook Schools, they should have known it is illegal to place any flier in or on a mailbox.

If it was from the Vote Yes group, then that should have been noted?

No matter. I was concerned that voters would not know there even was a referendum to be voted on come April 1st. I think this will let residents know. How was yours delivered?

FYI, affixing any kind of mail or flier to a mailbox, inside or out is not allowed. I checked with my favorite Postmistress today, and she said this type of delivery was not OK with the U.S.Postal Service. In fact, if any fliers survived the weekend and rain, if the mailman sees them on his route, he is to bring them back to the post office and the listed responsible party can be charged postage due. 

The picture is not from my home, by the way. I grabbed mine on my way out to do an errand on Saturday and then noticed that all of the mailboxes on my street had them stuck under the flags. This was true of other streets in other neighborhoods.

My flier had a personalized note on it. It read: "The referendum contains significant improvements to academic areas :)" 

I thought the word significant is a bit strong since by the flier's own statistics $22,694,288 goes for mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing for 275,707 square feet at Central and 243,675 square feet at East.

Add to the flier's $22.7mil (rounded) for mechanicals, and the $14, $15.8, $18.2, how much? million dollars for new gyms and we are well over 1/2 of the cost for non-academics. 

Today I found out that the referendum includes air conditioning the gyms: 2 acres of gyms at least 2 stories tall. That utility bill money is not going for academics!

As usual, the more information I get, the more questions I have. This $22.7mil struck me as not being consistent with some recent information I received on the HVAC replacement alone being $26 million. Glen Allgier was good enough to explain: The higher number reflects those "soft" costs that were included elsewhere.

Brookfield Academy's $12.5 mil high school, we can too

Correction: C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS AND AIR CONDITIONING--did you know they plan on air conditioning even the gyms?

Tomorrow is the big day, Millions of Dollars Tuesday! Be sure to vote.

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

Frequently Asked Questions  Not to be missed!

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Tax Calculator  

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

People constantly ask me if I think the referendum will pass. I just answer, I don't know. Truly, I just don't know.

You would think that amid the sub-prime jitters, falling stock market, rising food prices, rising energy prices, and the probability that our state and federal taxes will go up, the public would not be too eager to take on more debt for the next 20 years. But then again, think, may be the key word here.

You would think people would know they cannot keep purchasing things with a credit card until they have thousands of dollars in carried balances. You would think people would know they cannot buy a home on an a.r.m. and not expect to pay more per month at some point.

You would think people would know that air conditioning 2 entire schools--including 2 acres of gymnasium space--in an era of rising energy costs, would raise a red flag with voters.

I gave up trying to predict what people will think or do a long time ago. By day's end tomorrow, we will find out what Elmbrook voters thought.

A reader sent me this link, urging that voters take a look at the Job Market, 2009 before they vote. It made me think. 

Brookfield Academy's $12.5 mil high school, we can too

Correction: C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS AND AIR CONDITIONING--did you know they are air conditioning even the gyms?

Tomorrow is the big day, Millions of Dollars Tuesday!

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

Frequently Asked Questions  Not to be missed!

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Key Academic Benefits: click on that subject heading.

Tax Calculator  

Elmbrook asks for smaller expansion--JSOnline (Also includes links to past articles)

Still no link to the 2008 Election Edition of the Link. Hope you got your copy.

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

I still believe that we could manage our facilities needs without a referendum. Adding an unbonded $1 to $2 million a year, just for the high schools, to our capital improvement budget, could go a long way in improving our schools. (This would require referendum approval.) 

(Remember, we defeased $2.5 mil in 2006--did not require referendum approval--so that amount has been added to our tax bills before.)

When we finish paying on Dixon and Brookfield El, we could do even more without a tax increase.

In years we have surpluses at year end, this year we had $3.5 million, "most in 10 years",  we could make noticeable improvements.

But, for those of you who want NEW, quicker, consider how much Brookfield Academy is getting for their $12.5 million. We could do something like their high school as an addition. Be sure to take a look.

I have posted their plans and information on how much they are getting for their money, plus an idea on how Elmbrook could have come up with a total referendum with more new square footage for $31 million.

Think a little outside the box. 

Brookfield Academy's $12.5 mil high school

Correction: C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS AND AIR CONDITIONING--did you know they are air conditioning even the gyms?

Tomorrow is the big day, Millions of Dollars Tuesday!

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

Frequently Asked Questions  Not to be missed!

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Key Academic Benefits: click on that subject heading.

Tax Calculator  

Elmbrook asks for smaller expansion--JSOnline (Also includes links to past articles)

Still no link to the 2008 Election Edition of the Link. Hope you got your copy.

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

It is nearing the big day for the 2008 spring election on Tuesday, April 1st. True, it is April Fools Day, but this election is no joke. There is a lot riding on the ballot this day, for one thing, a $62.2 million dollar school referendum.

Add an important State Supreme Court race and half of Brookfield's Common Council too, throw in a Constitutional Amendment and a few other races and I hope it adds up to a good turnout.

I will start with the biggest ticket item first. My picks are in bold and marked with an X. I live in the 7th district, but I will also include my picks for other districts as well. As always, familiarize yourself with the candidates and issues and make an intelligent choice.

My policy is to only vote for those I support. Unless I am reasonably familiar with a candidate's stance, I do not vote for them. If a candidate is unopposed and I don't support them, I don't vote for them. I may vote for a write-in instead as a protest vote. (My comments are in parenthesis.)

HERE IS TUESDAY'S BALLOT  (Thanks Fairly Conservative for the tip on looking up your area's ballot.)

AUTHORIZING GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS (A.K.A. Elmbrook's $62.2 Million dollar referendum )

_ YES

X NO!!!

QUESTION 1: Partial Veto (A.K.A. Frankenstein veto)

X YES

   NO
 

Non-Partisan Races: 

JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT 

X MIKE GABLEMAN (Endorsed by Cong.Sensenbrenner, Ryan, Wisconsin Right to Life, and more info)

   LOUIS BUTLER (Endorsed by Sen. Feingold, Kohl, AFT & WEAC, Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender Center Advocates)

COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE, DISTRICT 2

X WILLIAM GLEISNER (Endorsed by Paul Bucher, who's ads state Gleisner is pro-life, gun rights, and voter ID)

   LISA S. NEUBAUER (Gov. Doyle appointee, more liberal than Gleisner)

 

COUNTY BOARD SUPERVISOR

THOMAS SCHELLINGER (Tom will make it for this one without my vote, remember 2006?)  

Former alderman JIM HEINRICH is also on the ballot for another area.

ALDERMEN, City of Brookfield  My picks if I could vote in every district. My district 7.

DISTRICT 1

X DAN SUTTON*  (Hands down my favorite here. Dan has great instincts. I hope to see him as council pres.)

DICK BRUNNER (My impression: Voted with mayor's agenda for every development and against neighborhoods.)

DISTRICT 2

X TERRY HALMSTAD (Seems to be everything I would look for in a candidate, he would be an asset on the council.)

RICK OWEN (Seems he votes with mayor's agenda for every development and against neighborhoods--including ours. Will the real Rick Owen please stand up?)

DISTRICT 3

X RON BALZER* (Ron often votes independently of mayor's agenda.  I would vote for him if I lived in 3.)

JACK SHAW  

DISTRICT 4

STEVE PONTO (I can't remember a vote of his that wasn't the mayor's agenda. Drives a cute red VW convertible though.)

DISTRICT 5 

SCOTT BERG* (His votes sometimes surprise you--not always with the mayor's agenda--he also is surprising.)

DISTRICT 6 

X CHRISTOPHER BLACKBURN* (I am so glad he is running again and has no opponent. He is very pro resident.)

DISTRICT 7 

X RENEE' LOWERR (Very energetic, hard worker, and I think will be sensitive to neighborhoods regarding development since she had her own NIMBY experience.)

TOM SCHELLINGER*, AGAIN. (Nice enough guy, but a neighbor refers to him as Mr. Roll-a-dex, because when he called Tom about an issue, Tom got the neighbor a phone number to call to solve for himself. Position never known on an issue until vote.) 

*The star denotes the aldermen who voted with our neighborhood to preserve our little Kinsey Park woods from an unwanted, paved, bike road. We barely squeaked a victory and would not have won had Gary Mahkorn not been on vacation.

Oh, I almost forgot...

SCHOOL BOARD: all unopposed 

X TOM GEHL (Tom and I don't see eye to eye on everything, like the referendum, but he made the hard decision to vote NO to 4K because it did not show academic merit. He is very prompt and polite in his response time to email questions.) 

DAVID MARCELLO (David is also pro referendum and will probably get in unless enough people write in CINDY KILKENNY as I will do. Then maybe we can start maintaining our schools.)

GARY JONES (He will get in, but this is another chance to choose your ideal candidate with a write-in. Gary seemed nice enough at the forum, but again, he is pro referendum.) 

Correction: C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS AND AIR CONDITIONING!  

Tomorrow is MILLIONS OF DOLLARS Tuesday!

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna 

Sometimes you just cannot see the forest for the trees. I know I didn't see the HVAC/mechanicals costs for the Athletics costs. I wish I had more answers for you right now, but the following musings are just some of my observations. Take them for what they are worth.

If we had more time before election day, I would wait until I had those answers nailed down. But seeing as the referendum is 2 days away, I believe you need to at least think about this huge dollar amount for yourself. If I receive any updates, I will post them as soon as possible. (Internet connection permitting)

I really didn't notice those HVAC/mechanicals costs until that YES vote resident's phone call to me on Friday. That person forwarded me an email from John Foster of CGSchmidt, informing that Athletics/Phy.Ed. related costs were not $21million as the document seemingly indicated but $15.8 million. This was because $5.2 million of the original $21 million was for HVAC replacements in the existing gym areas.

John wrote, "The $5.2 million renovation costs are associated with the HVAC ("mechanicals") upgrade being done at both schools and corresponds to the "square footage share" of the existing physical education spaces (gyms, pools, locker rooms, etc.) much of which are converted into academic space."

Wow. $5.2 million just to do the HVAC/mechanical upgrades to the existing gym space? Stunning. Especially when you consider that the pool areas will not be air conditioned. (At least that is what Facility Manager Shawn said on the Central tour. That also concurs with the opinion of an HVAC person I consulted.)

I thought, if it costs $5.2 million dollars to do the HVAC or "mechanicals" as Foster refers to it, how much is it to replace the entire HVAC system which will allow us to air conditioning the whole school? It must be astronomical.

I emailed Andy Smith, Tom Gehl, and Glen Allgaier that question. If the referendum fails, regarding HVAC improvements or replacements, "what will be done and what are the costs associated with those upgrades?"  An article in Brookfieldnow hinted that some things would be done with or without the referendum.

Tom and Glen answered promptly. Glen gave me a dollar amount: $26 million.  "In terms of the overall HVAC system replacement as proposed, however, it is difficult for me to envision any possible way that a $26 million total expenditure on HVAC could be absorbed within...budget..."

Oh, my goodness. $26 million? Just for HVAC replacement?

Look at the Summary of major drivers from CGSchmidt. This document shows Mechanical & Electrical Upgrades: $25.6 million. (I believe this would include the old gym space as well because the New Gymnasium Additions are listed at $15.8mil.)

The dollar amount attributed to replacing mechanical systems in Elmbrook clarifies athletic costs stated, "Of the $62.2 million project, the largest percentage of money will go to replacing mechanical systems: about $22.7 million." (Emphasis added.)

As happens so often, the article also gave a differing figure than the one John Foster gave for the total being spent on athletics and phy. ed., which just adds to the confusion. The article stated $18.2 million for the new gym related buildings rather than John's email of $15.8 million. I am to the point of frustration of not quibbling over a few million! (That is saying a lot.)

But something is just not sitting right with me about these numbers, beyond the seemingly $3.3million difference between the lowest HVAC replacement/upgrade number of $22.7 million and highest of $26 million, when you calculate out the per square foot costs for those replacements.

Stay with me now. I know this is long, but this is important and $20-something million is a LOT of money--more than the gyms--and most of it is not for academics!

If you use John Foster's $5.2 million exclusion from athletic costs for the "HVAC ("mechanicals") upgrade of the existing gyms, pools, locker rooms, etc" i.e.existing gym space, and divide that by the total square feet of existing gym space at both schools, you should some sort of average for HVAC upgrades/square foot cost.  

Dr. Gibson's square footage for existing PE/Athletics was 68,413 square feet, but that was for just gym areas. To calculate the existing gym, pools, locker rooms, etc. space, I measured the plans. I came up with about 120,000 total square feet of existing PE/Athletic space at both schools. $5.2 million divided by 120,000 = $43.33/sq. ft. for the HVAC ("mechanicals") upgrade. That ratio is without taking the converted space out. 

(I do think it should be taken out because if you are looking at how much per square foot it is to re purpose an area, the HVAC/mechanicals should be included for an honest assessment. With the re-purposed old gym at East and Aux gym at Central removed, the total PE/Athletic space at both schools is 94,660 sq. ft. Now take the $5.2 million divided by 94,660 sq. ft. = $54.93/sq. ft. for HVAC/mechanical upgrades. That gives a rather different perspective on the claim that repurposing former gym space is cheaper than building new classrooms?)

But either way, we are looking at around $43 to $55/square foot. Remember though, the pools are not air conditioned, so this number is a little lower than for the remaining portion of the schools.

Well as usual, I am long here and I think you need some time to digest this.

I am going to stop now and let you chew on this while I work on something else.  But be thinking of what else could be done with that $22.7 to $26million for HVAC/mechanicals upgrades for the entire old portion of the school. Seems to me we should be getting more academic bang for our buck.

Correction: C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS AND AIR CONDITIONING!  

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

Frequently Asked Questions  Not to be missed!

HSST Meeting Minutes 

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Key Academic Benefits: click on that subject heading.

Tax Calculator  

Elmbrook asks for smaller expansion--JSOnline (Also includes links to past articles)

Still no link to the 2008 Election Edition of the Link. Hope you got your copy.

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

The countdown continues: Just 2 days until MILLIONS OF DOLLARS Tuesday!

Email me your thoughts on the $62.2 million dollar referendum.

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna 

Have you noticed how compared to last year's referendum, where we were inundated with details, facts, and figures, that this year's specifics are rather late in coming or hard to come by?

While I did not agree with all the mailings and new kiosks full of papers last year (because it was expensive), having some of that information online was very helpful. Clear, concise information makes it easier for voters to discern if the plan had merit. This year, I find details, facts, and figures hard to come by.

There is a lot of controversy over how much is being spent on athletics. What even constitutes new athletic space? It is not the new gyms and related areas according to Dr. Gibson

Yesterday I had a pro referendum resident call me (first call so far) about my stating, "nearly $21 million dollars, over 1/3 of the total cost" was for Athletic/Physical Education portion of the referendum. The caller sent me the following information via email.

(To be fair, I have not received verification of its authenticity yet with CGSchmidt. I did send them an email with many HVAC questions, but have not had a reply--it was just sent yesterday. Foster's email was forwarded to the resident by Glen Allgaier though, and so I am confident it is accurate. FYI, I would have posted a correction yesterday but our internet/phone has been out. I am only able to be online now because my techno-child fixed me up with a cell phone connection today.) 

From Glen: 

I spoke with John Foster at CGSchmidt and the following is the explanation

"The summary of physical education costs ($20,983,755) on 17 December included both new construction ($15,799,267 million) and renovation ($5.2 million) of existing physical education spaces at the two high schools. The  $5.2 million renovation costs are associated with the HVAC ("mechanicals") upgrade being done at both schools and corresponds to the "square footage share" of the existing physical education spaces (gyms, pools, locker rooms, etc.) much of which are converted into academic space.  There are no other significant changes being made to the existing physical education spaces.  Note that the 17 December information also includes the separate breakout of mechanicals without allocating them to existing physical education space separately."

So, according to John Foster at CGSchmidt, the real cost assigned to the new physical education facilities for the referendum are $15.8 million dollars. Still over 1/4th of the total referendum costs I told the resident. I posted this in a correction on Brookfield7 yesterday and then did some errands, intending to post something like this piece later. Alas, no internet and techno-child not home either :( 

Then last night a friend called me (cell) and said there was a news brief on Brookfieldnow. Did I see it? No, no internet, I said. This is the explanation from the Community Watch:

On Friday, CG Schmidt said the $21 million figure ($20,983,755) for athletics and physical education includes that department's share of the total building's new mechanicals and other costs, such as insurance and fees for the architect, construction manager and owner's representative ($2,816,730).

CG Schmidt said if mechanicals and the other costs are removed, the total amount of money being spent on athletics and physical education is $18,167,025.

About $14 million of the $18 million will be to build new gyms... (I think this is the Dr. Gibson gym only figure.)

Note that the email from Foster states the HVAC removed from athletics adds up to $5.2mil. and new construction was nearly $15.8 mil.

"The summary of physical education costs ($20,983,755) on 17 December included both new construction ($15,799,267 million) and renovation ($5.2 million) of existing physical education spaces at the two high schools. The  $5.2 million renovation costs are associated with the HVAC ("mechanicals") upgrade being done at both schools and corresponds to the "square footage share" of the existing physical education spaces (gyms, pools, locker rooms, etc.) much of which are converted into academic space.

Is it any wonder we are all confused?

To me, there seems to be so many unknowns with this referendum*. I think we have some idea of the athletics expenses--somewhere between 1/4th and 1/3rd of the cost, depending how you look at it.

What was more startling to me was the HVAC portion of the existing gym related areas. $5.2 million? WOW, that is a lot of loot.

If the gym areas are $5.2 million, how much to replace the whole system and air condition both schools? I emailed Andy Smith, Tom Gehl, and Glen Allgier that question.

Stay tuned for: Double, Double Toil and Trouble; $26mil's a lot to make boilers chill & bubble

Maybe the slogan for this referendum should be: ACADEMICS, NOT AIR CONDITIONING AND ATHLETICS!

*Normally, I would have sat on this until I received confirmation, but in light of the April 1st election, I thought you should know. If I hear otherwise, I will post correction.
 

Correction: C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

Frequently Asked Questions  Not to be missed!

HSST Meeting Minutes 

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Key Academic Benefits: click on that subject heading.

Tour Schedule  

Tax Calculator  

Elmbrook asks for smaller expansion--JSOnline (Also includes links to past articles)

Still no link to the 2008 Election Edition of the Link. Hope you got your copy.

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

The countdown continues: Just 3 days until MILLIONS OF DOLLARS Tuesday!

Email me your thoughts on the $62.2 million dollar referendum.

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna 

WELL, WE DO! 

A fleet of 28 new Apple iMac computers and they are Elmbrook's.

This is the print shop (I think it is called) in Central's Applied Technology wing.

The students use these new  iMacs to work on the yearbook and to learn about graphic arts.

The principal proudly showed us this room on the Central tour, and rightly so.

How did Elmbrook afford 28 new iMacs?

I believe it was a combination of the Elmbrook Foundation, a grant, and district funding. This shows that Elmbrook can come up with creative ways to improve the schools without resorting to a referendum.

Often our schools are presented as being so far behind the times. you would think our students are still using slates and chalk to do their lessons. But if you look at the 2nd photo, you can see there is a LCD projector in this room too (cords are hanging from it).

If memory serves me correctly, the Elmbrook Foundation also purchased some SMART boards for the schools in past years.

This was a fun project. The class photo shopped the Social Studies teachers for their own version of Washington crossing the Delaware.

They did a pretty good job!

 ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS: VOTE NO.

C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

Frequently Asked Questions  Not to be missed!

HSST Meeting Minutes 

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Key Academic Benefits: click on that subject heading.

Tour Schedule  

Tax Calculator  

Elmbrook asks for smaller expansion--JSOnline (Also includes links to past articles)

Still no link to the 2008 Election Edition of the Link. Hope you got your copy.

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

The countdown continues: Just 5 days until MILLIONS OF DOLLARS Tuesday!

Email me your thoughts on the $62.2 million dollar referendum.

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna 

UPDATE: Student busted for selling pot at school, Community Watch, Monday, April 14, 2008 (emphasis added)

"Brookfield police responded to the high school, 16900 W. Gebhardt Road, at 9:14 a.m. April 9 after school officials received an anonymous tip that the boy, a 16-year-old from Milwaukee, was selling marijuana to students. When police arrived, school officials had already found seven bags of marijuana totaling 4.85 grams in his possession."

 2nd UPDATE: Two arrests in two weeks for student, Community Watch, Monday, April 21, 2008 (my emphasis)

"A Brookfield Central student who was arrested two weeks ago for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver was arrested at the school again last week after a dispute over another student's digital music player.

According to police, a student was attempting to sell his digital music player when the suspect, a 16-year-old Milwaukee boy, [same person as in first incident] took possession of it and wouldn't give it back..." 

We already looked at the potential for trouble if Elmbrook starts increasing the publics' access to our gyms, but were you as surprised as I was by the amount of crime in our schools as reported at the end of Safe & Secure? 

Now I shouldn't have been all that surprised by those crime statistics. I had touched on crime in our schools last year when I wrote,  The Cameras are coming WITH or WITHOUT 2007 referendum:

Time to dispel another fallacy: These cameras are not to protect against Stranger Danger or terrorist intrusion. I think when most people hear the words security system or closed circuit security cameras they immediately conjure up the image of the security checkpoint at the Pentagon!

THIS is NOT what these cameras are for. These cameras are primarily to monitor STUDENT activity, not STRANGER activity.

...Remember that most high school violence is caused by students, not strangers. The cameras record motion in the hallways or wherever they are mounted, and that information is stored for future use. As a rule, it is not monitored continually during the day as we would think of a closed circuit television system. It is only there if there is an incident; they can see who was involved.

While on the mechanical tour of Central, the guide told us that one of the stairways in the 3 story addition was seldom used. I asked why, since I had heard the other stairways were so crowded. He hesitated, then said, they were too isolated and things happened in the stairwells.

Whether we are talking hanky-panky or bullying or drug deals, I don’t know. I do know going back to the concept of a hall monitor might help. In any event, this is not a STRANGER problem; it is a STUDENT problem.

Here are the Police Call statistics cited in the article from the past 3 years.

                                      Central                       East

Assault:                               1                             - 

Battery:                               4                              5

Burglary:                              1                             1

Drugs/controlled substance: 13                            23

Fights:                                13                            10

Harassment:                         6                             4

Indecent exposure:                -                              1 

Theft:                                  38                           96

Threats:                                2                            3

Sexual assault:                      -                            3 

Underage drinking:                 6                           11

Both schools have their fair share of crimes, but it is a little hard to ignore the fact that East seems to have more.

What could account for that higher incidence of theft or drug use for example? East has a slightly smaller student population, so that does not explain it. All of Elm Grove attends East. Are those students rowdier?

East has a little higher population of non-resident students: Open enrollment - 71, Chapter 220 - 47, for a total of 8.67% of student population, while Central has about 6.17% this year: Open enrollment - 64, Chapter 220 - "about 2 doz.". Does that enter into the picture? 

For that matter, what percentage of these incidents are caused by resident students vs. non-resident students? We probably could get the nuclear launch codes for the Minute Man Missile System easier than obtaining that information, but I am curious just the same.  Parents, your high school students probably have a good idea of who commits these offenses.

By the way, the article stated Elmbrook is proposing they add more security measures again this time, with or without the 2008 referendum .

When the 2007 referendum failed, security cameras were funded separately. ...each school also was outfitted with about 25 security cameras this school year... If the 2008 referendum fails, the district might take some short-term measures to secure the front, Gibson said.

The interior and exterior cameras, which are not monitored live, serve primarily as preventive and investigative tools, and the camera system would be added to if the April 1 referendum passes.

Besides the $225,926 in additional measures, two "School Resource Officers" are proposed at a salary/benefit total of $225,000. That figure seems high to me since I am guessing they are only for the 9 month school year? 

Anyway, I don't know how many of these safety and security issues will be helped by putting alarms on the doors and adding more cameras, etc. Seems like much of the crime is an inside job and it is primarily dealt with after the fact.

UPDATE: Student busted for selling pot at school, Community Watch, Monday, April 14, 2008 (emphasis added)

"Brookfield police responded to the high school, 16900 W. Gebhardt Road, at 9:14 a.m. April 9 after school officials received an anonymous tip that the boy, a 16-year-old from Milwaukee, was selling marijuana to students. When police arrived, school officials had already found seven bags of marijuana totaling 4.85 grams in his possession."

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS: VOTE NO.

C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

Frequently Asked Questions  

HSST Meeting Minutes 

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Key Academic Benefits: click on that subject heading.

Tour Schedule  

Tax Calculator  

Elmbrook asks for smaller expansion--JSOnline (Also includes links to past articles)

Still no link to the 2008 Election Edition of the Link. Hope you got your copy.

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

The countdown continues: Just 6 days until MILLIONS OF DOLLARS Tuesday!

Email me your thoughts on the $62.2 million dollar referendum.

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna 

STRANGER DANGER, we have all heard the phrase. We've taught it to our preschoolers; they teach it in our schools from kindergarten on up. We all want to protect our children from predators and those who would cause harm.

How do you keep your kids safe while they are at school? It is difficult.

Schools these days have enough trouble screening the people who belong in the schools like: Teachers, Coaches, Administrators, Custodians, and Support Staff.

Now it seems we are about to embark on an expanded plan to invite strangers into our schools? 

That HSST member justified building this referendum's huge gyms (they total over 2 acres in size) by encouraging community use stating, "Further the gym space will be used by our entire community (Park and Rec -- seniors will have a walking track instead of the mall which have kicked them out -- and we will be able to gain revenue by renting out the space)."

There was a line in the Vote Yes ad too, "Increased gym space to accommodate modern day demands including girls athletics and community usage."  

Contrast that HSST member's and Vote Yes group's desire to open our schools up to the community with the alarm sounded in Safe & Secure?, the article on Elmbrook's lack of security measures in the high schools.

That article opened with "An 8-by-11 piece of paper is Brookfield East's front line of defense. ' Visitors must register in the front office,'  as an attempt to control building guests." It also brought up the what ifs of school shootings.

Other school districts have opened their facilities to the community.

This is Shorewood's Community Fitness Center. It shares the building with the Industrial Arts Dept. I wonder if they opened the Fitness Center to the public in order to make it an easier sell to the community? (The Fitness Center took over the vacated space from the drafting/mechanical drawing department.)

But whatever the reason for including the public, I visited this building with a few Shorewood friends last fall. We walked right in during school time. There was a mix of adults and students in there.

Do you like that idea? 

Shorewood High School had no security that we could see. We toured all 5 buildings during school time. I don't even think there was a 8x11 sheet of paper on the doors directing us to the Administration building!

Now one little known fact from last year was that security measures would be implemented at Elmbrook high schools regardless of the 2007 referendum's passage. The article affirmed this,  "As a result of the principals' pleading, each school also was outfitted with about 25 security cameras this school year." (More about this in the next posting: Safety & Security: Threat from within or without?) 

So with all these security concerns, does it make sense to invite the public into the schools before, during, and after school?  Do you want your daughter at PomPoms or Cheer leading practice at night with non-school related adults hanging around? Even if they sign in, will there be anyone to do a Watchdog search?

Should we be inviting every Peeping Tom, Dick and Harry (or Harriet) to come use our gyms or tracks?

One reader already answered that question,  

This proposal for renting out the gym space had me confused as well.  One of the major referendum drivers (used to threaten people into lending support) is that our schools aren't "safe" enough?  Well then why would we want to invite non-students in during the day?  Are they really naive enough to assume that possessing an AARP card immediately absolves someone from potentially harming a child? 

 

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS: VOTE NO

C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

HSST Meeting Minutes 

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Key Academic Benefits: click on that subject heading.

Tour Schedule  

Tax Calculator  

Frequently Asked Questions

Elmbrook asks for smaller expansion--JSOnline (Also includes links to past articles)

Still no link to the 2008 Election Edition of the Link. Hope you got your copy.

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

The countdown continues: Just 6 days until MILLIONS OF DOLLARS Tuesday!

Email me your thoughts on the $62.2 million dollar referendum.

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna 

Like to play pinball and arcade games? How about vintage computer games? Well, the Midwest Gaming Classic it just the place for you.

The Midwest Gaming Classic is once again at the Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc this Saturday, March 29th, from 10am to 8pm, and Sunday, from 10am to 5pm. Cost: Teens & Adults: $10/day Children, 12 and under accompanied by adult, FREE!

Pay your admission and play all day for free. Private collectors and those in the biz bring their own machines for you to play; some games are for sale. There are also special events, tournaments, and speakers plus you can shop the vendors.

Plus, this year you have a chance to win a Nintendo Wii or family pack of Six Flags tickets.

My guys go every year and have a great time. One year my son won a vintage AJAX arcade game. Another time, Billy Mitchell played the Donkey Kong game my son brought. (Too bad we did not have a Sharpie handy for Billy to autograph that game!)

Have Fun! 

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna 

We've heard the term: Frankenstein Veto, and we have seen what it can do: Doyle's raiding the transportation fund to give to the general fund, comes to mind. But before any Republicans start acting smugly, Tommy Thompson created Frankenstein monsters too. But do you know what it really is?

Mark Belling explained this monster the other day. The Frankenstein Veto uses the trick of the veto pen, altering legislative language, to create something totally unintended. It allows the Governor to eliminate numbers, words, phrases, or sentences from legislation that crosses his desk, and those eliminated parts allow him to alter the intent of that legislation.

Fictitious Example: All monkeys must be licensed by April 15th. The license fee of $10.00 is payable to the City of Brookfield to offset costs incurred by the police department and Elmbrook Humane Society. 

On April 1st, voters will have the power to end the Frankenstein Veto through a Constitutional Amendment. If you want to end this practice, vote YES. You are saying, Yes, we want to alter the state constitution. Of course they don't call it the Frankenstein Veto, they call it the Partial Veto. (Thanks FairlyConservative.)

Both sides of the isle are generally in favor of ending this practice, Belling said. Doyle probably would not want it to end, however, since it gives him the power to create something uninteneded out of legislative language.

Eliminating this type of Partial Veto would still allow a governor to veto certain parts of a law, just not transform the intent of a law.

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna 

OK, I have had enough of number crunching for the day with Part 1 and Part 2 of my 4th installment of Questioning "sadly mistaken when it comes to the facts..." regarding "...current gym space is being repurposed. It is more cost effective to build gym additions vs. classroom additions."

So now for a little lighter challenge to the remaining part of that statement about the gyms,"...Further the gym space will be used by our entire community (Park and Rec -- seniors will have a walking track instead of the mall which have kicked them out -- and we will be able to gain revenue by renting out the space)."

When the HSST member posted her original comment on March 10th, I did not respond to it because I trusted what she said: the mall must have "kicked...out" the walkers.

But then my husband went to Brookfield Square a few days later and came back with 2 brochures on their Mall Walking Program! 

This brochure from the mall's Stroller Walkers program is for moms on the 2nd Tuesday of each month during the school year. How fun.

Brookfield Square also has the Brookfield Square Mall Walking Program for Seniors. Why, Seniors can even get their blood pressure checked on the 3rd Wednesday of every month from 8:30 - 10am.

The Senior brochure states, "Brookfield Square Mall offers you all the amenities you need to walk comfortably every day. The mall opens at 7:30am every morning for mall walkers and offers you a secure environment with a controlled climate. Bring a family member, friend or join up with fellow walkers at the Mall."

Well, the Seniors aren't "kicked out", are they.

Someone told me the mall might have discontinued their Mall Walking program during the construction period.

But this proved not to be the case either. The only construction period restriction is to delay the opening by 30 minutes.

So the mall did not kick out the Senior citizens as our HSST and Vote Yes member stated.

Guess that means Elmbrook does not need to build that 4 station indoor track gym at East that measures 1.4 acres?

Oh wait, we should build this new huge gym at East and new gym at Central because "... we will be able to gain revenue by renting out the space"

If this gym space is so necessary, so that students don't have to practice until 9 pm, and there is not enough gym space at present or in the future that the PomPom girls must practice in the cafeterias, when would there be that idle time to rent out the gyms to the public? 

My past experience with Elmbrook and trying to use the school property for a homeschool event was not favorable. We were told we could not use the school because we did not have liability insurance. But now Elmbrook is opening the school to Senior citizens for a mild work out on the track or for renting out gyms for private use? Often the publics' presence in the buildings interferes with the evening custodial duties too. 

Plus, do we really want to be inviting the public into our buildings before, during, or after school? But, I will save that question for another posting.

Guest posting: Referendum: a blank check to build or add athletic facilities? 

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS: VOTE NO.

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

HSST Meeting Minutes 

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Key Academic Benefits: click on that subject heading.

Tour Schedule  

Tax Calculator  

Frequently Asked Questions

Elmbrook asks for smaller expansion--JSOnline (Also includes links to past articles)

Still no link to the 2008 Election Edition of the Link. Hope you got your copy.

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

The countdown continues: Just 7 days until MILLIONS OF DOLLARS Tuesday!

Email me your thoughts on the $62.2 million dollar referendum.

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna 

Please note, for some reason this reposted itself to March 25th. It should be dated and placed March 24th.

This makes the 3rd posting in my series on Questioning "sadly mistaken when it comes to the facts..." This time we are discussing the science labs, "Science labs will be expanded and made safe for today's academics."

The Vote Yes ad in March 20th BrookfieldNOW follows much the same train of thought. (The same person who made the comment is the treasurer for the Vote Yes group and member of HSST.)

Photos are from Central High School's chemistry room from this year's tour.

I believe the chemistry rooms are currently set up for 24 students using the lab stations, at least that is what I wrote down last year in my tour notes from East.

Principal LaBonte said they had 28 student lab stations at Central this year. Should the referendum pass, they would be adding 2 more.

Regardless of the actual number, the administration thinks adding 2 is necessary. 

When I figured out how many students were in the average class in my last school post, I came up with 25. Out of that 25 student number, at Central, 1.5 were non-resident. At East, 2 out of 25 were non-resident.

Can you see why limiting our non-resident students becomes very important?

I can appreciate that certain improvements could be made to the science rooms. I just don't think we need a referendum to do it.

Photo 2 shows the chemical closet and emergency shower (yellow object on wall between doors).

Last year, after the referendum failed, I had requested a cost estimate for improving the chemistry rooms twice. Here is one of my email questions: "After the referendum, I had requested price information on how much replacing the chemistry labs would be. This would include new cabinets and counter tops, plumbing, gas supply, chemical storage lockers,  proper ventilation exhaust fans in the ceiling as well as vent hoods for chemical mixing.  I have not heard back from you."

My point being, how do you know you cannot afford to improvewhat you have, if you don't know how much the improvements would be? I have not received an answer. I think mainly because they really do not know.

If you look at  Facilities Fact Sheet 20: Science Classrooms Limit Instruction it states that there are a number of problems in the chem. labs: A lack of science-specific ventilation, lack of chemical storage so teachers would not need to transport chemicals via carts down the halls during busy class break times, corroded faucets, etc., and as mentioned on tour, cabinetry and drawers that do not work.

I think any one of these could be addressed without too much trouble. Ventilation? There was a new (2 years old) vent hood at Central for mixing chemicals (3rd picture).

These science rooms are on the top floor, so a ceiling vent exhaust fan could be installed to improve room air quality without too much difficulty.

Lack of chemical storage at East? Yes, that is a problem. But couldn't the teacher transport the needed items for the day to class and keep in a locked cabinet before school started? This would eliminate the cart transportation during class change times.

Corroded faucets and metal surfaces from caustic chemicals? Ever hear of replacing a faucet or surface as needed? We have done ours at our house. Haven't you? 

Actually, chemistry has become rather tame these days because there is so much concern about volatile chemicals and safety. My college student laments they don't use the fun stuff anymore at school in electronics and physics: its too dangerous.

Cabinetry that has doors and drawers that don't work? Well, if the maintenance staff was directed to stop responding to repair orders over 5 years ago in anticipation of the referendum, I guess that is a problem now. But they could have been repaired before they became such a problem. One solution now would be to install a new lab station or two and use the removed one for parts to repair the remainders?

Another issue raised in that fact sheet were AP classes. AP classes are often very small, yet command a classroom for an entire school period. If AP classes are driving the space issue, perhaps we should consider running them at a different time of day? Maybe extend the school day for AP so they can use labs longer? Maybe combine them at one school? Most students have their own cars (very few upper class men use the school bus system). It is a whole other topic that needs looking into. 

Please note that there is a LCD projector in the classroom in the 3rd photo. 

Next, I'll be working on the BIG issue for this referendum, and that of course is the amount of money being spent on sports. (Think 1.4 acres of new gym related facilities at east.) Stay tuned!

Guest posting: Referendum: a blank check to build or add athletic facilities? 

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS: VOTE NO.

Elmbrook School District Referendum Links:

HSST Meeting Minutes 

Cost Breakdowns of Type of Work (cost per square footage)

Wording of the April 1, 2008 $62.190.000 referendum 

Architect's Conceptual High School Floorplans--East and Central

Facility "Needs" comparison of failed 2007 and present 2008 referendums

Key Academic Benefits: click on that subject heading.

Tour Schedule  

Tax Calculator  

Frequently Asked Questions

Elmbrook asks for smaller expansion--JSOnline (Also includes links to past articles)

Still no link to the 2008 Election Edition of the Link. Hope you got your copy.

Former 2007 Referendum Facilities Facts Sheets (Still a good read)

The countdown continues: Just 8 days until MILLIONS OF DOLLARS Tuesday!

Email me your thoughts on the $62.2 million dollar referendum.

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna