In charge and not responsible

Doesn't it irk you when important people like your boss, CEO's/ administrators aren't taking their job seriously.  Well why should they, other people in similar positions aren't held responsible?  That ethic of responsibility apparently went away 25 years ago.

Look at the 2008 market collapse and how the bailout worked.   No one important in the banking, wall-street or other stepped down, big business were propped up and able to keep with the same people in charge.

Compare that to how Lee Iacocca turned around Chrysler in the early 1980s. He reduced his own salary to $1 a year, calling it “equality of sacrifice.” Other executive salaries were cut up to 10% as part of approaching Congress for the Loan Guarantee Act that helped enable the company to survive.

And the recent government shutdown of 2013 stemming from two chambers of Congress failing to agree to an appropriations continuing resolution.  Once again, people in important positions (lawmakers) who are not doing their job well, cause a whole slue of negative effects to everyone downstream while they still continue to draw a paycheck and retain their positions afterwards.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, that same mentality has trickled down into the school systems.  As evident by the August 2013 Press Gazette article, titled "School Administrators Raises Outpace Teachers."





It's just plain disgusting.

CFR Carpet Machines

The key selling points from the first meeting seemed to be:

It use a continuous-flow technology. With this system, cleaning solution is recycled and filtered so it can be used repeatedly. This will save time, less time/trips to empty and fill with water. It will also save money as there will be less chemical used, as you will change the water less.

Toted 90 some percent water recovery. This collects as much as 50 percent more moisture than many conventional wands and extractors. The results: more thorough cleaning and rapid drying times.

Real life discoveries:

The toted 500 PSI, is exactly the pressure listed on our older equipment. You need to change the water when it's dirty, so you really don't save any time or trips to change the water.

There is no recovery tank like the conventional extractors, so where do you think the dirty water goes?

The float sticks, and the engage switch tends not to make contact. Nozzles misalign.

Tests performed: Standard room extracted with the CFR, and then done once more with the conventional machine. The water recovered in the second extraction was still very dirty, that what you's see in a first time extraction.

The water sprayed onto the carpet from the CFR at this point was dirty.

Excuses: There is a lot of dirt left in the carpet from the older machines techniques that will take years to rectify.

State prison guards form a new union.

State prison guards plan union vote

Jun. 10, 2013 Green Bay Press Gazette

Prison guards in Wisconsin will vote later this month on whether to reorganize under its former union, a newly-formed group or to continue without representation.

The battle over who will represent Department of Corrections security and public safety employees in workplace and collective bargaining issues has already sparked a contentious lawsuit between the two groups in advance of the vote, which will be conducted by mail between June 28 and July 18.

The Wisconsin State Employees Union, also known as WSEU or AFSCME Council 24, represented prison guards for 80 years up until the state union was decertified as a union in the wake of Act 10’s passage and subsequent legal battles.

In October, though, a group of former WSEU local officers who were unhappy with the organization’s representation created the Wisconsin Association for Correctional Law Enforcement, or WACLE.

The group secured enough signatures to trigger a statewide vote.

In January, WSEU responded by securing enough signatures to also be included on the ballot. The Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission will oversee the vote, which requires either organization to secure 51 percent of the total vote in order to represent the group.

WSEU executive director Marty Beil said he is confident his organization will continue to represent corrections officers, saying WACLE was created by disgruntled former union leaders.

“This is a situation where about half a dozen or a dozen people want to take their ball and go home. They weren’t able to win elections and other stuff, so they decided to split off and start their own organization,” Beil said. “In this day and age with the political climate the way it is, that’s the worst thing for them and for correctional employees. It’s something (Gov.) Scott Walker would want to happen.”

In January, local WSEU groups filed a lawsuit against WACLE organizers in Winnebago County Circuit Court after several of them, anticipating a contentious vote, transferred about $100,000 in member dues into separate accounts, said Timoty Scheffler, one of WACLE’s attorneys.

Scheffler said legal precedent has indicated collected union dues should stay with the organization that represents workers, not with the union that originally collected the money.

“When AFSCME stepped in and said we want the money back, it pretty much went hyper right there,” Scheffler said. “It turned into a spat involving lawyers instead of saying ‘What’s our plan?’ It’s a real game of hardball over the money.”

WACLE questions whether Winnebago County is the proper venue for the case to play out and has stopped responding to the court, earning the ire of Circuit Court Judge John Jorgenson during a Thursday hearing in which he ruled in favor of WSEU.

“If these guys (from WACLE) are portraying themselves to be great leaders, but don’t respond to legal requests, you wonder what their motivation is,” Beil said. “We assume when we go to the portion of the hearing on damages that the court will order these guys return the money to the treasuries for existing members.”

Scheffler said it’s not quite so clear-cut. He said the outcome of the vote later this month will go a long way toward determining future responses to WSEU’s lawsuit and other proceedings.

“It’s an issue that could have been mediated or talked through instead of relying on a lawsuit,” Scheffler said. “If WACLE is successful in becoming the representative of corrections, our position is that the WSCU funds contributed by corrections employees will flow to them.”

5 Million dollar sports complex?

 If you haven't heard there is talk about "building a sports complex" between the High School and Middle School.  Here is the story:

See:

May 20, 2013, De Pere School board agenda, "Middle School Drainage Improvement"  (regrading all open ditches)

A motion was made by Paque and seconded by Meneau to award the phase 1 drainage improvement project at De Pere Middle School to Ed Gersek, Inc for a total contract amount of $74,939.19.. Motion carried on a voice vote. 4/0

June 3rd, 2013, De Pere School board agenda - Fiancee Committee, "Outdoor Facility Plan"


For the Summer of 2013, besides the drainage improvements, the other part is an addition to the existing high school concessions building.

July 15 minutes;

Stadium Concession Gift

A motion was made by Seeman and seconded by Van Straten to approve and accept a gift from the tennis booster club to fund an extension of the stadium concession stand, valued at approximately $50,000. Motion carried on a voice vote; all ayes

Other related projects may include:

Add fencing to diamond by Middle School $18,000
Add fencing to exterior of Baseball diamond to make it a fenced facility $25,000
Put bleachers on the East side of Braisher field $125,000
Add a second baseball diamond $50,000
Install side hill seating areas at the softball diamonds $50,000
Install restrooms and the softball site $50,000

Dec 16 2013 Minutes:

"A motion was made by Paque and seconded by Meneauto waive Board policy regarding competitive bids and engage the services of Rettler Corporation to work on Project Redbird to include design development, permit applications and construction bidding documents for outdoor athletic facilities. Per the agreement filed with these minutes there will be a 8.5% fee based on construction value. Motion carried on a voice vote; all ayes"

School division doesn't add up for some

School division doesn't add up for some
Green Bay Press Gazette - Green Bay, Wis.
Author: Mike Hoeft
Date: Jan 30, 2006
Source: Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance

* Statewide K-12 average expense: $8,734 per pupil. Expenses per pupil exclude transportation, debt service, capital expansion and nonprogram costs.

DE PERE -- With De Pere's two school districts both looking to build new elementary schools to accommodate growth, some residents are again asking why the city remains divided into separate public school systems.

"It's a waste of money," said De Pere resident Paul Wozniak. Consolidating the two districts -- De Pere and West De Pere -- would save taxpayers money because duplicated programs and administrative and supply costs could be reduced, he said.
But others disagree, saying that consolidation usually works best if one district is much smaller or is experiencing decreases -- not gains -- in enrollment.

Voters in the De Pere district in November approved a $21 million expansion plan to add an elementary school near Rockland Road and upgrade the high school and middle school to accommodate growth. Capacity will be reached by the 2007-08 school year with 3,767 students and enrollment is expected to climb to more than 4,000 by 2010-11.

In West De Pere, meanwhile, voters will decide this spring whether to build an elementary school to accommodate growth. Enrollment is expected to climb from 2,200 currently to more than 2,600 by 2010-11.

Opponents of consolidation say it could increase operational costs and threaten community identity and traditions.
Just as the Fox River acts as a divider between the east and west sides of De Pere, Wozniak said parochial attitudes work as a barrier to change.

"Why is this? No one wants to step on another's turf," he said.

"I've got to think it would save money," Alderman Mike Fleck said about consolidation.

Merger efforts failed

The unusual situation resulted in De Pere after the east and west sides of the city merged in 1890, with the school systems staying separate.

Richard Peters of De Pere, who favors consolidation, said school district mergers have been attempted in citywide referendums over the past 50 years, but have failed.

Former De Pere mayor Robert DeGroot, a retired math teacher at West De Pere High School, said that while consolidation referendums were approved by most people in urban De Pere, they were defeated because they lacked approval by all townships that are part of the school districts.

"I don't know if it would be progress to have one school system," DeGroot said. There are also the rivalry and the tax base to consider, he said.

Tax base

Public schools make up 48 percent of a resident's property tax bill. So a resident in west De Pere pays a different tax rate than one in east De Pere. The tax rates generally have been lower on the west side in recent years. Now with both districts looking at school expansion, tax rates are likely to go up in both districts.

The mill rate currently is $18.35 per $1,000 of property value on the west side and $19.33 per $1,000 on the east side, said De Pere Clerk-Treasurer David Minten.

De Pere homeowner Ray Thao, whose children attend West De Pere schools, said he always wondered why there were two districts.

"I'd like to know," Thao said. "But I don't mind the way it is. Cheaper is OK."

Clayton Smits, who taught math for 34 years at De Pere High School, said he doesn't think consolidation would save much money on administration costs.

While a merged district would have just one superintendent, it might require hiring more assistant superintendents, he said.

"I would be opposed to consolidation because it's that much harder to deal with," Smits said. "There are real benefits in smaller districts."

Wouldn't solve crowding

Ben Villarruel, superintendent of De Pere School District, said consolidation might have merit at some point, but it wouldn't be the answer to current crowding because of enrollment growth.

Before the Nov. 8 referendum, some residents asked if merging with the West De Pere School District would help accommodate the new growth. Villarruel said neither school district would be able to absorb the enrollment growth without expanding their facilities.

Both districts strive to share programming and cut costs whenever possible, Villarruel said.

"The districts share an English language learner teacher and are talking about at-risk program sharing," he said. "We also may look at sharing some extracurricular programs."

Lanny Tibaldo, superintendent of the West De Pere School District, said cooperation between the districts is exceptional.

"Any time we can work together for the kids, we do it," Tibaldo said. "The advantage now is that a parent can call and talk to the superintendent. That probably wouldn't happen if the districts combined."

A combined district would be about 5,700 students, he said.

Tibaldo said the question on consolidation is: What would be the educational advantage to the student?

If one district was too small to provide students with Spanish 4, advanced calculus or an athletic team, consolidation would make sense.

"But neither district is in that position. Both are vibrant, growing districts. I don't see a positive impact for children," Tibaldo said.

Cost cutting

Wozniak said consolidation is an option worth considering .

"We need to look at the number of levels of local government. The enormous layers are very costly," he said.
Across Wisconsin, school districts have found creative ways to share costs.

In West Bend, for example, East and West high schools share the same building complex.

Several small school districts share superintendents. Lake Country and Stone Bank school districts in Waukesha County share one superintendent. The Maple Dale-Indian Hill and Glendale-River Hills school districts in Milwaukee County also share a superintendent, as do the Lake Geneva-Genoa City Union High School and Lake Geneva Joint 1 school districts in Walworth County.

But those districts are much smaller than De Pere and West De Pere, a taxpayers group points out.

Dale Knapp, research director for the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, said De Pere and West De Pere districts spend per pupil a little below the statewide average.

Knapp said a study several years ago showed the most efficient size for a school district was between 2,500 and 3,500 students.

"A lot of factors go into whether consolidation makes sense. For districts between 300 and 500 students consolidation certainly would spread out fixed costs," Knapp said.

But in bigger districts that are experiencing growth, "I'm not sure merging is going to have a very big effect," he said.

State sharing

Tony Evers, deputy state superintendent for the Department of Public Instruction, said the state always encourages districts to share costs regardless of tight times.

To that end, the state has a Cooperative Educational Service Agency network that works in partnership with school districts to facilitate change and continuous improvement.

Northeastern Wisconsin is part of CESA 7 district office. The state does not get involved in school boundary or consolidation issues.

"Our goal is to encourage efficiencies and make sure kids get a quality education," Evers said.

Source: League of Women Voters of Greater Green Bay, The De Pere Schools, 1979

History of separation

Schools have existed in De Pere since the early nineteenth century.

In 1847, the town of De Pere (east De Pere) organized its school district and school was held in the courthouse. With statehood in 1848, Wisconsin created a state school fund. The West De Pere School District was organized in that year.

During the industrial boom of the 1870s, both school systems expanded. In 1877 a high school was started in West De Pere, and in 1878 a high school opened in east De Pere.

The tradition of two separate school districts is a long one. In 1890, the city of West De Pere was annexed to the city of De Pere, but the two districts remained separate.

Divided schools

De Pere is not the only city in the state to have separate school systems:
* Fitchburg in Dane County is split into three school districts.
* Parts of the cities of Franklin and Greenfield in southwestern Milwaukee County are in separate school districts.
* Parts of Suamico, Oconto County and Shawano County are in the Pulaski School District.

De Pere schools should unite

De Pere schools should unite
Date: Nov 18, 2004 Green Bay Press Gazette - Green Bay, Wis.
Section: Opinion

Both the De Pere and West De Pere school districts are tentatively looking at referendums in support of new elementary schools in November 2005. De Pere voters defeated a referendum earlier this month and the School Board is back to revising its plans to find ways to ease crowding. 

We urge the two districts to revisit the issue of consolidation. De Pere is the only city in the state with two separate school districts. The Fox River has always been a powerful divider in the communities it runs through, but it's time to cross it and work together in the interest of saving taxpayers' money and continuing to provide excellent curriculum.

Consolidation is a tough argument to make in these districts with their long history of being divided. Right now, both school districts offer the same basic curriculum and educational services, tax residents at almost identical rates and face similar building and space needs. 

With home building booming in both districts, administrators have been able to hold the line on tax rates, but that can't last forever. 

Most school district mergers have been prompted when a smaller district merges with a larger one to improve the educational offerings for students, or a higher-taxed district will merge with a lower-taxed district. The last school mergers in Wisconsin were Arkansaw and Durand in 1992 and Bloomington and West Grant in 1995. In the 1992 merger, a smaller school district with a spacious new high school and high taxes merged with a bigger district facing a space crunch. In the 1995 merger, both districts faced shrinking enrollment and opted to join together rather than see their taxes skyrocket. 

In De Pere, neither of these scenarios is at work. Both have growing enrollments. Figures for De Pere show that the elementary schools will exceed their combined capacities of 1,200 students by about 100 students next year. In West De Pere, elementary enrollment -- including preschoolers -- is at 768, just 32 shy of Westwood's capacity of 800. Both districts are looking at buying property for new elementary schools before they bring the matter to voters next year.

As the districts grapple with the problems of crowding, we urge them to discuss consolidation as they seek a solution.

De Pere Schools computer network compromised

I believe it was Tuesday (April 30th) that the school network was taken down, for what at the time was presumed a normal/ regular network maintenance issue.

Wednesday May 1st, there were building meetings and a memo from the superintendent read about that the network and it's security were compromised, and that an investigation with law enforcements help was underway. 

It was unclear if any personal information was at risk, but was suggested that all employees be on guard, just in case.

Three technology firms (403 Labs of Milwaukee, Net Assist of Green Bay, and Skyward) where brought in to assist in restoration, and to help authorities. 

Tuesday,  May 7th the network was back up.  However there was significant data loss;  Network folders only have files though Sept 2012.   E-mail though Apr 2013, etc.

Back in 2011 it became apparent that virtualization could save the district money, by slowing down the need to upgrade 100's of desktop workstations.

Instead the those would act more as dumb terminals, with the processor intensive stuff being handled on a network server:

http://onlyhardwareblog.com/2011/11/de-pere-school-district-saves-money-with-computer-network-concept

Using the Windows infrastructure for any kind of virtualization is just flat stupid. It multiplies the malware issues for which  it's famous by serving up desktops to thin clients. Not smart at all. Obviously, instead of one desktop being down for the count, you get the whole school district dead in the water.

Virtualized desktops can be a great thing in the right circumstances. I remember when a city down south did that. However, they were smart and used Linux (Red Hat, I believe). I read a story on how they were coping with it a few years afterward, and they had no problems of any great consequence

It's funny, Microsoft is now getting to a point where it is signing its own death warrant. They screwed up on phones, got very late to the game on tablets, then they were stupid enough to take away the Start button on Windows 8 and generally frustrated users to the point where they started to look for something else.

Microsoft is becoming irrelevant, and that's something that was inconceivable 10 years ago. And they did it by their own hand. Not surprising, the only way they had any leverage was through the brute force of a monopoly. The funny thing about large monopolies is that they have a lot of inertia and groupthink that keep them from being responsive to change. Very often, they die by their own hand.

If they screw up the next Xbox, then they're really in trouble.

Lately all the buzz has been "the cloud". Running applications in it, storing large amounts of data in it and even storing back-ups in. And this is what happens when you do that. It really *is* analagous to a mainframe and dumb terminals, but it's also a unreliable mainframe run by dumbasses

I've recently read a few stories of "the cloud" being unavailable due to a failure and companies have been really screwed by this. And here we have one more.

As to them learning a lesson is concerned, I really doubt it. They will go to their vendor, who is entrenched in Microsoft, and they will be sold another "IT Solution" which will be costly and may work for a while. Then it will happen again, and they will go out and buy another "IT Solution". When that dies, it will be time for a major upgrade with a new version of Windows and its componentry. It's the "Microsoft Merry-Go-Round".


[UPDATE]

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20130822/GPG0101/308220448/DA-Ex-school-employee-mad-district-deleted-records

More importantly : Read the criminal complaint

I tend to agree with the comment someone left on the news page:

Jared "walked though a door that was effectively left wide open.  He might not be excused for walking in, but the person that left the door hanging wide open needs to be dealt with too. "

There was ongoing (since at least March 2012,) cause for alarm, based on his administrative leave and other events.  Knowing that he had prior inappropriate computer conduct, and that he setup the De Pere network, and had many passwords....

The question is what was being done proactively by the technology director (Michael O'Callaghan) to secure the network from an employee that was about to be terminated?

.... At that time, O'Callaghan made Detective Sergeant Schrank aware that there was a former IT staff member who had been released from his employment within the past year. That person was identified as Jared R. Carlson, dob: 11/24/82, the defendant. The release of the defendant from his employment had not been pleasant.

.... The defendant described that he was involved in the entire creation of the school network. He also indicated that he created all of the district's usernames and came up with a bank of passwords. The defendant said he later put all the usernames and passwords onto a spreadsheet. The defendant indicated that once he got into the network, he realized the school had not changed any of the administrative passwords from the time that he previously worked there.

About this far in ones reading of the criminal complaint one should be asking who is this technology director Michael O'Callaghan, and what are his job duties?

Area school districts to share administrator - De Pere next?

From: http://www.fox11online.com 4/5/13

Area school districts to share administrator
Time to be split 60-40

GOODMAN - Two Northeast Wisconsin school districts have found a unique way to save money: share an administrator.

The Florence County School District and the Goodman-Armstrong Creek School District will share Ben Niehaus as their administrator. Niehaus is currently Goodman-Armstrong Creek's superintendent and principal.

Last week, both districts approved a measure to hire Niehaus as the next administrator for both districts. The Florence County School District's current administrator is leaving.

This isn't the first time the Florence County School District has tried to find ways to deal with a tight budget. Eight years ago, the district considered closing its doors for good.

The move will save both districts tens of thousands of dollars, according to school board members.

The districts are adjacent to each other, but the central offices are about 30 miles apart.
"I have a philosophy: if we have to make these tough decisions, lets make them as far from the classroom as possible," explained Niehaus. "In public education, we're being asked to do a lot more, as we have to find creative and unique ways to meet the demands that are placed upon us and I think this is one way."

Starting in July, Niehaus will spend three days a week running the Florence District and two days a week at the smaller Goodman-Armstrong Creek School District.
Florence will pay 65 percent of the salary, while Goodman-Armstrong Creek will cover the rest.

It's estimated the Goodman-Armstrong Creek School District will save around $39,000 a year and the Florence County School District is expected to see a $30,000 a year savings.

"Do you think this could be too much of a workload for one person? Do you think performance will suffer? I doubt it," answered Florence County School Board President Jim Churchill. "(Of) course he's dealing with two different school boards, and two different communities, two different sets of staff, but I think he'll be able to handle that."

Churchill says he thinks the arraignment will work, especially since Niehaus already wears two hats. He says other area districts have seen success with this method as well.

"White Lake/Elcho has been doing this for five years," Churchill said. "So we realized this can work. And I know it's working in other places in the state I believe."

The current agreement is for one year. Both sides say if all goes well, it may be a permanent move.

Niehaus says Goodman-Armstrong Creek has found someone to fill the principal position.

The city of De Pere, Wisconsin's population is 23,800. Yet they have two separate school districts.

De Pere Unified School District:
Altmayer Elementary School Grades PK-4
Dickinson Elementary School Grades PK-4
Heritage School Grades PK-4
Foxview Intermediate School Grades 5-6
De Pere Middle School Grades 7-8
De Pere High School Grades 9-12

West De Pere School District:
Hemlock Creek Elementary Grades K-5
Westwood Elementary Grades K-5
West De Pere Middle School Grades 6-8
West De Pere High School Grades 9-12



The natural thing to do would be consolidate the two districts. The process is spelled out in the Wisconsin State Statutes, 117.08: http://sms.dpi.wi.gov/sms_rgconsld

Will you?

I laugh and puke in my mouth a little every time I hear the NEA "Bully Free: It Starts with Me!" commercial.

Anyway;
Due to the union turmoil, perhaps it's time to re-think our local, and propose some bylaw modifications?  I think would be a good idea to keep things flexible.

For the last 20 + years the De Pere Educational Support Personnel union has been exclusively tied to WEAC and the NEA.

In these time of union turmoil and uncertainty, I am not sure that the most logical thing to continue.
This union (DPESPA) exists to serve the interests of it's members (you).

Periodically we as individuals, search around for the best deal on things.  Take health insurance for example.  We shop around for who can give use the best rate, for the coverage we seek.  I have no idea why (we the members  - DESPA) don't apply that same logic to union protection.  After all, we have heard many times, "think of it as an insurance."

Further more, making our bylaws more generic (as proposed here), does send the message to the existing WEAC binding, that we are exploring other possible options or at least are open to them in the future.  This should bring about the best possible service from the existing relationship if they don't want to loose it.

What we are saying is;
If we are unhappy (decided as a whole -obviously) with what we are paying for, we may at our option, shop around.  This is just good logic and business sense.

---

A constitution and by-laws are written to guide an organization in its operations and activities.
The constitution; 
1.) Establishes the broad structure and fundamental principles of an organization 
2.) Should be straightforward and comprehensive
3.) Should be difficult to amend 
The Bylaws;
1.) Outline the rules of procedures for an organization
2.) Should be consistent with the constitution
3.) Tend to be easier to amend than the constitution

---

Needed:
Listed constitution affiliations shall not be exclusive.  (Leave the door open)
Generalize other affiliation references (to make transition or dual affiliation easier in the future if desired by the membership)
Other existing operation tweaks.