The Oshkosh West Index - Board decision ushers in winter of discontent

Volume 106, Issue 5

Online Features

Board decision ushers in winter of discontent

By Index staff
posted February 23, 2010

State and local budget woes have placed a sharp edge at the throat of the Oshkosh Area School District. At an OASD school board meeting on February 10, board members voted 7-0 to raise the student to teacher ratio to 25:1 beginning in the fall of 2010, effectively eliminating some 35 teaching positions in order to shave approximately $2 million from the budget deficit. Although the board was scheduled to meet on February 24 (which was too late for publication in this issue of the Index) regarding specifics of implementation, the impact of these cuts could be dire, according to Assistant Principal Jay Jones.

"My biggest fear is that we could potentially lose some upper level electives that students have had some interest in," he said. "One of the suggestions from Superintendent Bette Lang is that some of these elective classes will have to run every other year. But at the same time it could mean that an awful lot of classes simply do not run."

Jone's fears are based on his calculations regarding courses that would have to be eliminated under the new ratio. Lang supported the decision to increase the ratio in order to prepare for the unknown future, playing a fiscal game without rules.

"The scary part of this is that the legislature can make a change anytime between now and October, so we are kind of working without knowing all of the rules; that's what makes this so challenging," she said. "After I'm gone and the new superintendent is here in August, there could be changes to how much we need to cut like last year. For the board to raise the ratio, they need something to look at, even if it's simplistic or hypothetical."

Board of Education President Ben Schneider II recognizes the complexity of the issue, but believes raising the ratio is inevitable and certain consequences will be unavoidable. However, he believes the viability of certain courses depends on the students themselves.

"A total class of under an average of 25 students may not be offered, so there will definitely be less opportunities based on student interest," he said. "We know it's tough, we're in a tough economy, we have to balance our budget. Some people say we need to raise our taxes higher, but unemployment is very high, and we cannot raise taxes high enough to balance our budget, so we do have to make some cuts."

While school board members find the cuts necessary, students conveyed three hours worth of their displeasure during the public forum of the February 10 meeting. In an appeal to the school board, Student Government President Derek Mathers voiced ideas on behalf of the student body on how to fix the budget issues. Mathers hopes to continue to lobby to change the school board's plans to cut staffing.

"My recommendation or solution is really simple, raise taxes a little bit so schools can continue to function," he said. "Since we're already the second most frugal school in terms of per student expenditure in the state, if this recommendation is overlooked and you continue on the path of which you are headed, the dominoes will fall."

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Shelly Muza explains that the poor economy played a significant role in the board's decision to support the cuts.

"The school board has some decisions to make, and one is what they choose to tax the community at. The school board could choose to tax to the level would increase the tax rate to families who own homes to a little over 9%," she explained. "Given this tough economic time, the school board is not really interested in taxing to their full potential. So,in doing that, that creates a budget deficit, so we're looking at a 3 million dollar budget deficit for them to be comfortable at a tax rate."

Although some course offerings appear to be on the chopping block, Jones admires the students for rising to the occasion to defend their academic integrity and principles.

"I can't tell you how impressed administration was with all of our student body," he said. "They did a terrific job of organizing and relaying their feeling to the school board. I was very impressed and I know West administration was very impressed with how student handled themselves."

Some students took initiative one step further. Tech-savvy juniors Steven Cramer and Colin Vandenheuvel created a site that allowed students to voice their concerns to all board members via e-mail with one simple click.

"We used php, and it has a function in it that will allow you to send an e-mail to whomever you want to send it to with a subject and it does that for you," said Cramer.

Lang was glad to see the student determination to defend their education. Despite negativity following the board's unanimous vote, she hopes students see past the evening's results and realize that they are, in fact, heard and valued by the board.

"Typically, superintendents are expected to make recommendations. This Board of Education has always asked me for options; their minds are not made up," said Lang. "In my interactions with board members, the student voices were heard."

Despite Lang's confirmation that all voices were heard, some students felt the short deliberation time figuratively spoke otherwise.

"After the vote was taken, most of the student government people got up and left. Their deliberation was not much of a deliberation, from my perspective," said Cramer. "It really just consisted of them telling us that things won't be as bad as we think that they will be."

Although some students received the board's decision as unjust, Muza believes that the board has the entire community and student body in mind when making their decisions.

"I don't think anyone wants kids to suffer. I don't think anyone wants kids to not get into good colleges or to not be prepared for their future," she said. "So I think that there is still a lot of discussion that needs to be had and I don't think the worse case scenario is what will be in place next year."

Lang acknowledges the plight of students, but realizes that these are tough economic times. She assures them that it is necessary to take a realistic view on changes that need to be made and communicate them to the community.

"I hate to be so ‘gloom and doom,' but these are the facts and we would do a disservice to everyone if we didn't come clean," said Lang. "My best advice would be to take a deep breath and be patient about this process because as soon as information is solidified, we will get it out. It's a process every year, and this year there is more angst involved with it."

However, many students feel their aspirations for higher education may be torn in two, exemplified by sophomore Lars Maxfield at the open forum.

"I drew the word ‘hope' on a piece of paper and my intention was to show that my hope, in terms of reaching my potential in succeeding in life, has basically been gone. I proceeded to raise up the hope sign, and I said ‘I want to take Physics 2, but seeing that I won't be able to take it, that's just a small piece of hope that's destroyed. Then I have AP modern literature scheduled, but on that sheet, it says that it would be dropped, and I ripped [the sign] in half," said Maxfield. "Then I said, ‘This is my hope to succeed, and now it's lost, I only have a small bit of hope left. Reflecting upon my speech now, I really wish I could have held up a small piece and said ‘but there's still hope left, there's still hope that you will not decide to manipulate our future."

The final ramifications and impact of the new ratio and any other changes will be clarified as a result of the February 24 and subsequent meetings as the district finalizes scheduling for the 2010-2011 school year in the coming weeks.

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photo by Marcus Amato

School Board President Ben Schneider II weighs the options on the budget crisis.

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