By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
With candidates drawing lots for the Burlington Area School District School Board election Monday night, it might have been fitting that a hot-button topic jam-packed the room at the district office.
With news that opposition planned to use the residents’ speaking time at the beginning of the monthly general board meeting to speak against 4-year-old kindergarten (also known as 4K), a Facebook post went out Sunday afternoon in response on the “Support our Schools Burlington” page.
As a result, about 50 people showed up to the meeting, packing the School Board chambers.
For a change, though, no one seemed committed to speaking. No one in opposition to 4K spoke, and only after an uncomfortable silence dragged on did supporters stand up to speak.
“I’m very interested in getting 4K programming going for students in our district,” said Karen Tolle. “I think it’s important for us to get caught up with the rest of the state.
With Tolle adding information that she felt showed the area private preschools would not be adversely affected, and Jessica Lahner in attendance to tout the importance of a quality 4K program made available to students in the district, it was the next round in what promises to be a battleground in this spring’s election.
The BASD School Board Curriculum Committee took up the topic for discussion purposes only last month, taking a look at the costs involved and the benefits.
While BASD would be required to fund the first year on its own – due to no state aid being provided from the year before – the district is projecting it will get enough students to not only erase that payout, but get ahead in funding over the next few years.
Opponents to the proposal – in particular, School Board members Phil Ketterhagen and Roger Koldeway – have concerns about spending money to get state aid, and also on whether or not 4K is an effective method of improving student achievement.
For all the arguments for and against the idea of implementing it in Burlington, it is clear that the district is one of the few remaining in the state without 4K programming. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction issued a report Monday showing that 386 districts in the state (93 percent of public schools) are offering 4K – to a total of 48,590 students.
According to the release, more than 100 of those programs use the model BASD is considering – an amalgam of school district property, private child care centers and the Head Start program.
With kindergarten becoming, in essence, the new first grade, the appeal of a 4K program – and hopefully, an improvement in student achievement testing scores – has become popular. In the 2002-03 school year, the Wisconsin DPI estimated 180 district had 4K with 16,051 students enrolled.
Those numbers have more than doubled in 12 years’ time.
And one of the other selling points for supporters of the programing for Burlington is that most of the surrounding schools districts offer the program. Among those in the area that have 4K are Lake Geneva, Bristol, Dover, Delavan-Darien, Elkhorn, East Troy, Norway, Salem, Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated and Wheatland.
BASD Assistant Superintendent Connie Zinnen said at the December meeting that as a result, five of the six area districts that offer it have higher student achievement on a kindergarten-testing program called PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening).
“The research we found was all positive,” she said.
Koldeway has argued, though, that the researched has focused on DPI data, which is in favor of the 4K program.
“How can we make a reasonable decision if all the data is pointing the same direction?” he asked.
There is also a question how to fund that first year. The district has battled opposition in recent years for the small tax raises it has instituted, and has seen turnover on the School Board at least in part due to the budget process.
But while the residents’ speaking time on Monday may have addressed the issue, it was not on the agenda for the evening – which Board President David Thompson reminded the audience.
The issue is set to be discussed at the Curriculum Committee meeting Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. It is the only item on the agenda that evening.
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Roger Koldeway asks; “How can we make a reasonable decision if all the data is pointing the same direction?”
Hmmmmm, How can we decide about gravity if we always fall downward?
93 percent of public schools in Wisconsin, including all the surrounding districts are offering 4K a total of 48,590 students, up from 180 district 16,051 students in 2002-03. That’s a pretty compelling record of success, especially with the evidence of all those parents making that choice to give their children a leg up in preparedness.
Rejecting 4K would be penny-wise-pound-foolish, a turning away from the evidence and an expression of indifference to the children of Burlington, those less advantaged.
Rejecting 4K is not just penny wise and pound foolish, it is simply irresponsible to property tax payers. If you can break even in the first two years and then pocket $500,000 to $700,000 per year it is a no brainer. If Koldeway and Ketterhagen raise your taxes by voting down 4K all of the tax watchdogs will have made the most hilarious mistake of their lives. Look into Burlington, the math is very simple. Stop sending your money to every other District that is already running 4K.
Thank you Koldeway for serving the tax payers and not just the status quoe on our school board.
In My Opinion…the true definition of status quo (note correct spelling) according to my dictionary is: “existing condition or state of affairs.” Overcoming the status quo of not having a 4K is what the majority of the school board wants to listen to. Being progressive and keeping up with current trends is extremely important for both businesses and schools. To fall behind can prove more costly in the end.
I am a tax payer and Koldeway and Ketterhagen are definitely not serving me or my children. With these two on the board we are definitely going two steps forward and three steps back. Please remember that the 4K group is providing overwhelming amount of information and facts. This is often difficult for Tea Party members to process and understand.
I too am a taxpayer. I support 4K. Why? Because all the data and research shows that it is a good thing and well worth the money! I find it funny (sad) that two members of the school board dispute any facts or research that point a different direction than their views.
Geez, have you naysayers read the 4K budget projection? It basically says that by the end of the second year the increased state aid will have paid for both the first and second year of the program. In the third year and every year after that it will net the District an additional $500,000 to $700,000 in state aid. That is $500,000 to $700,000 per year that Burlington home owners pay less in property taxes. If you want to reduce your property taxes support 4K and let BASD get all of that money it is currently sending to support 4K programs in other Districts back in Burlington. Koldeway and Ketterhagen are just bad at numbers and budgeting if they vote this down. Every tax watchdog should be all over this if they took the time to understand it.
Derrr….state aid is taxpayer money!
Yes, and therefore the share we pay should come back to us here and work for our community’s children too, rather than just go to support other communities.
Think harder D. Mankel and use a growth mindset. You can do it! Sean is correct. Certainly D. Mankel doesn’t think that BASD property owners should keep paying to support 4K programs in other Districts? And if he studied equalization aid he would better appreciate how adding 4K enrollment to BASD really is a “cash cow”. Now, if he just doesn’t want the state to fund 4K that is fine, but he’s a decade late in that argument since over 90% of the District’s are already receiving it. “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face” seems appropriate here.
Perhaps Mr. Koldeway should recuse himself from this discussion/decision about 4K in order to follow board policy 165.1 Conflict of Interest. Julie Koldeway was described in an October 12, 2011 Journal Times article as being day care provider.
According to the school board policy, “Board members shall not:
Take any official action that substantially affects a matter in which the Board member, a member of his or her immediate family, or an organization with which the Board member is associated has a substantial financial interest.
Use his or her office or position in a way that produces or assists in the production of a substantial benefit direct or indirect, for the Board member, members of his/her immediate family or an organization with which the Board member is associated.
I would call this decision about 4K a conflict of interest. If Julie Koldeway is still providing day care services, the decision to implement a 4K program could result in a direct financial impact on her and her family’s income. Roger Koldeway could be misusing his position of authority to keep the children of the BASD from receiving great education benefit so that his wife’s employment is not affected. Could this be the motivation behind their involvement in the school board in the first place?