Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The School Board accepted a donation of $2,302 from the family of Tom Stevenson, who was the first Oak Creek High School Band director.
The family of the late Tom Stevenson Jr. is donating the money received from his memorial to an appropriate place: the Oak Creek High School band program. Stevenson, who passed Jan. 10 at the age of 85, was the original Oak Creek High School band director and wrote the school song. After he retired from the school district in 1988, he continued his musical involvement with the Wilson Knights Band, the Ray Nueman Band and the Shrine Band. The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board accepted the $2,302 donation in its meeting Monday.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
School Board members and phy ed teachers have hesitated over a proposal that would allow athletes to substitute a phy ed class with a course in one of the core subjects.
The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board is mulling a change that would allow high school athletes to substitute a physical education course for a core-subject class. Under the proposal, a high school student who actively participates for a full season in a WIAA-recognized sport could, one time only, forgo a half-credit phy-ed class and pick up a half-credit class in English, social studies, science, math or health education. The change, which only recently became permissible under state law, was suggested by a parent who said it would give student-athletes flexibility to add more core classes into their schedule and build their college resume. However, Oak Creek High School physical education teachers oppose the change, saying P.E. isn't just …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The Oak Creek-Franklin School District is studying whether to implement a new benefit structure for Oak Creek staff members in light of budget troubles and a possible cut in state funding.
Possible cuts in retirement funding has attracted opposition from many Oak Creek-Franklin teachers, who said the issue is one of loyalty. As part of broader, conceptual discussions about benefits for teachers, Human Resources Director Troy Hamblin told the School Board on Monday the school district wants a fully funded retirement plan. Under the preliminary plan, those closest to retiring would see gradual reductions in retirement benefits over the next three to five years, while the rest of the workforce would be put into a different system altogether — a health retirement account. The district pays about $2 million in retirement costs in its current pay-as-you-go structure, Hamblin said. The new plan would take about eight years to …
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Four candidates are running for two seats on the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board in the April 2 election.
Voters in Oak Creek will head to the polls April 2 to choose two people to serve on the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board. Candidates include two incumbents and two challengers. Incumbents Frank A. Carini and Paul Mason are seeking re-election, facing challengers Rosemarie Annonson and William McIntosh (Click on links for biographical information on each candidate). To provide residents with the most information on where they stand on the issues facing the city, Oak Creek Patch asked the candidates questions about key issues in the race.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The school district spends about $1.2 million on capital projects each year, targeting health and safety, curriculum and instruction and efficiency.
A list of more than 30 capital projects—many of which target security and efficiency upgrades in Oak Creek schools—have been approved by the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board. Among the improvements are new classroom door locks at schools throughout the district, a new fire alarm system at Shepard Hills Elementary School and additional cameras at the high school and East and West middle schools. The school district will also resurface the high school's east and west parking lots. Check out a full list of the projects here. Oak Creek annually allocates $1.2 million for capital projects, which are brought forward by school principals and then prioritized. The district focuses on improvements in health and safety, curriculum and instruction, …
Monday, March 11, 2013
A School Board vote Monday ended months of discussion about grading scales at the high school and middle schools.
After months of discussions, a new grading scale has been put in place for Oak Creek's high school and two middle schools. The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board settled on a grading scale that blends a few options that have been bandied about over the last few months. The following is the scale to be put in place starting in the 2013-14 school year: Board member Mark Verhalen worked with Superintendent Sara Burmeister and proposed the scale adopted in the board's meeting Monday. Verhalen said it was something of a compromise between two other options the board had considered. "I thought it was pretty fair the way things were divided up," Verhalen said. The proposal passed on a 3-2 vote, with board members Kathleen Borchardt and Sheryl …
Friday, March 1, 2013
William McIntosh is one of four people seeking three spots on the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board.
Name: William McIntosh Age: 49 Address: 8435 S. Goldenfields Drive, Oak Creek Family: Married to Kelly, children Kaitlin, 17, Andrew, 15, and Jessica, 13 Occupation: Assembler at Rexnord Education: West Milwaukee High School, two years studying business and finance at MATC Lived in the district: 16 years Related experience: I was on the board of little league for several years and coached little league teams boys and girls. Coached middle school girls basketball for two years. Read more about the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board race.
Incumbent Paul Mason is looking to retain his seat on the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board.
Name: Paul Mason Age: 48 Address: 4036 W. Lakeview Drive, Franklin Family: Married to Monica, sons Zach, 21, Jacob, 20, and daughter, Hannah, 17 Occupation: Senior vice president and chief operating officer at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-All Saints Education: Oak Creek High School, bachelor of science from University of Wisconsin-Madison, master's degree from Marquette University, fellow at American College of Healthcare Executives Lived in the district: 42 years Related experience: I have been on a variety of community boards for the past twenty years dedicated to youth development and health. For the past three years I have served on the Board of Directors for the YMCA in Racine. Elected four times to the School Board (2003, 2004, …
Incumbent Frank A. Carini is looking to retain his seat on the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board.
Name: Frank A. Carini Age: 44 Address: 8620 S. Stone Creek Drive, Oak Creek Family: Married to Michelle Carini, former elementary teacher in the district. Two children, Gianna, 7, and Joey, 5. Occupation: Vice president/market manager at BMO Harris Bank Education: Dominican High School, bachelor's degree in business economincs from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Lived in the district: 14 years Related experience: Read more about the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board race.
Friday, February 15, 2013
About $200,000 worth of improvements will be made in time for the girls swim season in the fall.
About $200,000 worth of improvements to the Oak Creek High School pool have been approved and will be made in time for the fall swim season. The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board earlier this week approved using money from a fund set up for community-based projects on long-needed upgrades to the pool. The project will move drainage filters so the water level can be raised, which will allow OCHS swim teams to finally use starting blocks. The improvements will be made, in part, thanks to Wispark, which agreed to pay $100,000 into the community service fund as part of a land exchange agreement last year. Wispark is the development arm of We Energies and the lead developer of the Drexel Town Square project. By law, money in the community …
OCHS Student
11:46 pm on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
It is not a bad idea. I fully support it. I am a student who contacted the board about it. I am a track athlete, member of the band, and involved in many clubs and officer positions. In order to take all the advanced courses I want, I have had to take gym over the summer. I do love gym, but it gets in the way of other opportunities such as taking college courses over the summer and getting a job … more ›