Comments on It's About Oshkosh Students: The Northwestern's Endorsement got it Exactly RIGH...

we won! - we got our candidates on the board. we h...

2008-04-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

we won! - we got our candidates on the board. we have a mandate! the voters will support anything we do. lets go for it all. lets not hide behind Mcdermott's last minute gimmick for votes. we don't have to anymore. we are in charge- we have 5 votes now! lets go for the full 75 million now! lets bring back K-3 and SAGE for all!

I voted Schneider/Monte and I am very disappointed...

2008-04-01T23:30:00.000-05:00

I voted Schneider/Monte and I am very disappointed to see the results tonight. I really felt that they were the best option to move this district in a positive direction. I thought they could work to develop a long-range facilities plan that could pass a referendum. I sincerely hope that this new board can develop a plan that will pass a referendum and move the district forward. It will have to be based more so on needs and less on wants. It will have to change.

Congratulations to Mr. McDermott and Mr. Lemberger.

So very happy with the election returns tonight. O...

2008-04-01T23:07:00.000-05:00

So very happy with the election returns tonight. One message we can take away from this is that for all the chest-puffing and chest-thumping from a supposed so many on local blogs who claim they represent the majority of voters, clearly that is not the case. Kudos to T. McDermott and J. Lemberger. Now maybe some things can get accomplished within the district.

No, Anon. 9:18am... I do not think two section sch...

2008-04-01T19:23:00.000-05:00

No, Anon. 9:18am... I do not think two section schools are most efficient, that is why I supported the K-3 configuration, it would have made most schools at least 3 section schools so no I did not waffle on that. I still think striving for efficiencies in staffing should be a major goal. That is why I would close Lakeside and Green Meadow. We do not need another school of 275 students with 2 sections of each grade. I wouldn't support building a new North side school unless it has at least 3 sections per grade.

BTW, just got back from voting. Was proud to cast ...

2008-04-01T12:35:00.000-05:00

BTW, just got back from voting. Was proud to cast my vote for Schneider and Monte!

If the capacities of Merrill and E. Cook are corre...

2008-04-01T09:18:00.000-05:00

If the capacities of Merrill and E. Cook are correct, they are both 2 section schools. Is that efficient by Mrs Theils' current standards? If it is, I think she and the majority of the BOE may have changed their once firm position on the matter. Is that considered waffling?

But if you keep changing and amending the plan, yo...

2008-04-01T07:45:00.000-05:00

But if you keep changing and amending the plan, you're no further ahead than we've been for the last 2 years.

BTW, just got back from voting. Was proud to cast my vote for McDermott and Lemberger. I just can't believe the people who are so gullible as to be taken in by comments from Monte or willing to put up with more childishness from Schneider.

Fellow posters,A plan has been agreed upon but it ...

2008-04-01T06:38:00.000-05:00

Fellow posters,

A plan has been agreed upon but it can be amended and is pliable to some degree.

There is no doubt that Oaklawn is not in need of repair, it needs replacement. There are 214 kids there. Nope, there is not room to absorb that population into Merrill 252/276 or ECook 234/276. One poster is correct, Oaklawn could be replaced by adding onto Merrill and ECook, if there is space. I'm not sure if that would save any money.

I used to be on the bandwagon that thought we were silly to consider replacing an entire school before addressing other problems. Now I think that we need to replace Oaklawn and do the most necessarry repairs, updates, and additions, and hurry up about it. But, keep it to needs and keep it reasonable.

One could also argue that raising the capacity at ...

2008-04-01T03:32:00.000-05:00

One could also argue that raising the capacity at existing schools would create more sections and therefore, greater operational efficencies.

Teresa:I think there is more capacity at Merrill a...

2008-04-01T03:30:00.000-05:00

Teresa:

I think there is more capacity at Merrill and E. Cook. I'm not sure that your numbers are correct, but even if they are I would say that 300/20=15 new clasrooms and those 15 classrooms would most definately be less money than an entirely new school with offices, gym, cafeteria, library, etc.

Anon 6:34pm Oaklawn was going to go to E. Cook......

2008-03-31T20:38:00.000-05:00

Anon 6:34pm Oaklawn was going to go to E. Cook... Since Sunset has been moved into Read, there is very little, if any "extra" seats in North side elementary schools. If you close Oaklawn and Lincoln you would need to build enough classrooms for approx. 300 students. I guess I wouldn't call that minor additions to any schools...

Anon. 6:33am --- If you look at all the posts from...

2008-03-31T19:47:00.000-05:00

Anon. 6:33am --- If you look at all the posts from Monte, it is not that her thoughts have changed, it is that she always uses that $30M figure but the components are different each time. If you combine all the posts, how much will it really cost to: expand Green Meadow, rebuild or replace Oaklawn (if on that site you must include the cost to raise the playground above street level so the building no longer floods), remodel Oakwood into a K-8, add rooms for Special Education programs and take care of all the deferred maintenance, HVAC, ADA etc.?

You said "BTW, the new northside school was NEVER a priority until McDermotts "plan". It was always there." I don't know what that means... yes, replacing Oaklawn with a new North side school was in the plans after the subject was raised by parents, developers, and realtors, before that, Oaklawn students were slated to go to E. Cook... Anyone who has toured all the schools in the district and has any common sense would tell you that Oaklawn is the school with the highest priorty given its condition. Replacing Oaklawn with a new north side school also gives the "Sunset" attendance area a school closer to their home. Those families were "promised" when Sunset was closed due to mold that they would have a "new" school. The 2001 referendum that would have built a new Sunset failed (and by the way contrary to what Monte says the Oaklawn plans she writes about were part of the 2001 referendum NOT the Jefferson or Traeger referenda --- check out the January 28, 2001 Northwestern ---it is all there, including a picture of Oaklawn two options A & B...

I wonder if we should consider a new Southwest hig...

2008-03-31T16:44:00.000-05:00

I wonder if we should consider a new Southwest high school. Wouldn't that solve many of the issues we face with the socio-econimic disparity in our high schools?

A plan has finally been decided on. Why are people...

2008-03-31T16:38:00.000-05:00

A plan has finally been decided on. Why are people still trying to develop something else?

Does anyone remember where the Oaklawn students we...

2008-03-31T15:41:00.000-05:00

Does anyone remember where the Oaklawn students were moved to before the new north school was proposed and they were closing Oaklawn? I wonder if it's not possible to close both Oaklawn and Lincoln and find room for those students in existing schools with minor additions. Has that been given critical consideration?

Oh but said candidate and board member are oh so t...

2008-03-31T14:59:00.000-05:00

Oh but said candidate and board member are oh so tolerant of the majority PLEASE... I hope the community has enough sense to vote for the only candidate who is both reasonable and willing to compromise.

Tell me the HUGE differences between Monte's plan and McDermott's...

Her's would be $30M and take care of deferred maintenance and either rebuild or replace Oaklawn OR build a bigger Green Meadow OR renovate Oakwood into a K-8 -- can't do all of them so if she plans on doing all of the above, it will be in stages or it will be much more than $30M.
Monte says she will close 2 schools but the only one she consistently mentions is Lincoln... she has mentioned Lakeside, Oaklawn, Washington, South Park or Tipler... you don't know what in the end her plan would be or how much it would cost.

At least McDermott is up front that this will be in stages.

Sad how intolerant people are with a board member ...

2008-03-31T14:29:00.000-05:00

Sad how intolerant people are with a board member and candidate (top vote getter) that don't agree with the majority. I predict MM will be top vote getter with TM or BS being two. Referendum will fail in fall or whenever it is and the intolerant people will find someone to blame.

Um, for at least one (maybe 2) of those 10 years M...

2008-03-31T11:18:00.000-05:00

Um, for at least one (maybe 2) of those 10 years McHugh was president...

The comments from 9:06 have to be some of the most...

2008-03-31T10:54:00.000-05:00

The comments from 9:06 have to be some of the most desperate sounding remarks we've seen in some time.

As for the proposal, a propposal is better than no proposal -- or just voting no on a proposal too, for that matter. Also, McDermott's proposal was not really much different from that which had been proposed earlier, so don't make it sound like this was something hatched in the 11th hour.

As for leadership, you can blame board presidents all you want but that dog doesn't hunt on any day. Board presidents are but one vote. Look at the collective votes for answers as to why things did or didn't pass. At least past board presidents have offered suggestions. Unlike Benjamin Schneider.

BS has headed up the facilities and finance committee but never once offered any suggestions about anything. All this man is good for is voting no on other people's ideas, pandering, and putting down those people he doesn't like. That's not someone I want representing me.

I always thought if you offer proposals you were a...

2008-03-31T10:43:00.000-05:00

I always thought if you offer proposals you were a micro manager. Now, it is expected. I guess with such poor board and super. leadership, contridictory positions are acceptable by those without a conscience.

I guess leadership is so strong that we now take a...

2008-03-31T09:06:00.000-05:00

I guess leadership is so strong that we now take an 11th hour proposal from a member of the BOE?

We should also blame those in the minority that didn't create the problems for the problems. Who has been the Board President(s) for the past 10 years?

The Board is divisive because of whom? Watch last Board meeting!

I could pick apart a few things that are wrong wit...

2008-03-31T07:23:00.000-05:00

I could pick apart a few things that are wrong with what 6:33 AM said, but what's the point? They would just refute it and say we misunderstood probably or were putting words in their mouth. So let's just look at the most obvious and that is their very last comment where they referenced a dollar amount for a referendum project, then say the ONW got that part wrong about McDermott. Oops, 'fraid not, 6:33. go back and read the ONW's editorial. You'll see not one mention of a dollar amount at all. Not a single reference to it. Just goes to show how you Monte supporters can't get it right. Just like your candidate.

Mrs Thiel,I only have a question for you.With as m...

2008-03-31T06:33:00.000-05:00

Mrs Thiel,
I only have a question for you.

With as much as this plan has changed in the last couple of months, are you saying that your ideas have not shifted one bit since this process started?

If that is true, that means you still support the split high school concept AND the K-3 4-8 even though those are both off of the table.

It can hardly be called waffling if a candidate is trying to keep up with the administrations continued change.

BTW, the new northside school was NEVER a priority until McDermotts "plan". It was always there. If you wouldn't cherry pick statements, it becomes clearer as you read her post.

And also, McDermotts "plan" is still $70+ million! He just broke it up into pieces to make it look smaller. You and the ONW have that part wrong.

Mrs. Thiel, Thank you for posting these examples o...

2008-03-31T00:08:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Thiel,

Thank you for posting these examples of Mrs. Monte's waffling. I guess I hadn't really seen so much of it before. But when it's pointed out like this it is alarming to think that I might have voted for her. And I agree completely with the ONW's assessment of Ben Schneider the Second. He has shown no leadership whatsoever except to the naysayers and the doom and gloom crew. He's a panderer and he only responds to those in the community he chooses. If you don't do what is necessary to have his ear, you won't get a response. That's not my idea of a decent elected official, much less a leader.

Let's give the votes where they are most deserved. McDermott for sure and I still think Lemberger is a much better choice than the others.