Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Ongoing discussions over the best grading scales and practices in Oak Creek schools continued Monday night. A new grading scale could be adopted in December.
The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board appears close to a consensus on a new grading scale for the district's high school and two middle schools, though it may conflict with what parents want. After discussions that started at the beginning of the school year, the board was presented with five grading-scale options at a meeting Monday night. Among them: keeping the status quo, adopting the current high school scale, adopting the current middle school scale and two different blends of the middle and high school scales. Board members favored a blend of the scales that puts equal distance between each grade. Several said they liked that scale because of the equidistance between grades and a higher standard for a passing grade. However, a …
Monday, November 19, 2012
Local administrator salaries are mostly in line with other Milwaukee County districts. Use our interactive database to see which school administrators are the highest and lowest paid throughout the state of Wisconsin.
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Monday, November 19, 2012
School adminstrator salaries in the Oak Creek-Franklin School District are largely in line with nearby communities, according to data compiled by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Superintendent Sara Burmeister made $153,497 last year, the seventh-highest amount out of 19 Milwaukee County superintendents, according to the DPI. The numbers are from salary information released on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's website. The data is from the 2011-12 school year. School districts across the state saw a larger than usual cut in staffing in the 2011-12 school year than in year's past, according to a press release from the DPI, with 2,312 positions eliminated. Sixty percent of those were teacher jobs. "The 2011-13 …
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The tax levy in the 2012-13 Oak Creek-Franklin School District budget, approved by the school board earlier this week, will rise less than 1 percent.
The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board gave final approval to the district's 2012-13 budget, which includes a tax levy increase of less than 1 percent. The tax levy goes up $240,675 — from $32.1 million to $32.3 million — for an increase of 0.75 percent. The tax rate is at $9.44 per $1,000 of equalized value, up from $8.78 a year ago. The district was also able to maintain all of its programs, Business Services Director Cathy Cramer said. Oak Creek was able to keep its tax levy stable in large part due to an increase in state aid.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Teachers, administrators and parents discussed a variety of grading practices in Oak Creek Monday night. Here's a recap of some of the most-discussed issues.
Discussions over grading practices and scales in Oak Creek will continue over the next several months, as disagreement between parents, teachers and school administrators is still evident. Teachers and administrators presented an overview of new grading practices, some of which have been the subject of criticsim within the community, in a meeting Monday night. School officials say the practices are designed to give a true indication of a student's achievement in any given class, as well as provide more consistency throughout Oak Creek High School and the district's two middle schools. Some of the practices have drawn more attention than others. Here's a look at some of the arguments for and against those practices, drawn from information …
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Parents are invited to a meeting to learn about controversial changes to the Oak Creek-Franklin grading policy, and to tell the School Board how they feel about it.
A grading policy that counts strictly academic achievement — not attendance, effort or participation in class — was met with criticism last month, and the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board will get more input from parents before moving forward. The board will hold a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at West Middle School, 8401 S. 13th St., that will include a presentation on the changes and an opportunity for the public to provide comments. A committee spent more than a year researching and discussing best grading practices and unveiled the plan near the start of the school year. Among the proposed changes: The school district has also proposed adjustments in the grading scales at Oak Creek High School and both middle schools. But the school board …
Monday, October 15, 2012
The Oak Creek-Franklin School District property tax levy will stay about the same thanks in part to an increase in state aid. A majority of Wisconsin school districts saw a decrease.
As expected, the Oak Creek-Franklin School District will see a slight rise in state aid this year. Oak Creek will receive $26.3 million in state aid, a 1.5 percent increase from last year ($25.9 million), according to finalized state aid numbers released Monday by the state Department of Public Instruction. The state aid increase will helped keep the district's property tax levy steady. The finalized state aid amount is in line with an estimate released earlier this summer. With that estimate, the school district projected the levy increasing 0.77 percent ($32.1 million to $32.3 million). The tax rate would decrease from $8.78 per $1,000 of equalized property value to $8.68. The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board will finalize the budget …
Monday, October 8, 2012
The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board approved two measures related to teacher pay.
Oak Creek teachers will get 1.29 percent raises through a new contract and a $550 one-time bonus following School Board votes on Monday. Since the contract covers the 2011-12 school year, union leaders and administrators agreed the raises would only apply to teachers still in the district or who retired at the end of last year — not teachers who have resigned, Human Resources Director Troy Hamblin said. The cost to the school district is about $341,000, he said. The Oak Creek Education Association ratified the agreement late last month. Under new state law, teachers can only negotiate for their base salary. But school boards determine supplemental wages, which can include bonuses, stipends or merit pay. Administrators proposed the $550 …
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Teachers could receive a one-time, $550 payment while negotiations between the district and union continue.
Oak Creek teachers, some of whom have not received a raise in two years, could be awarded a one-time, $550 bonus while negotiations between the school district and union continue. The payment would be a way to increase teachers' pay without raising their base salary, Superintendent Sara Burmeister. Under state law, teachers can only negotiate for their base pay. But school boards determine supplemental wages, which can include bonuses, stipends or merit pay. The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board will vote on the proposal Oct. 8, but board members favored the idea in a committee meeting Monday. Teachers would hopefully "see it as us wanting to work with them, recognizing that they are valued associates, and that we have an opportunity and we …
Friday, September 21, 2012
A committee will talk about adjustments to the high school and middle school grading scale and other proposed changes to grading policies.
Proposed changes to grading policies at Oak Creek's high school and middle schools will be discussed in depth at a meeting Oct. 22. A proposal that includes adjustments to the grading scales at Oak Creek High School and the district's two middle schools, as well as a policy that teachers would not deduct points for work turned in late, has come under criticism over the past few weeks. Those were two of several changes proposed by a committee that spent more than a year researching and discussing grading practices. School board members earlier this month postponed a vote so that the proposal could get a closer look. Superintendent Sara Burmeister said the board wanted to devote a whole meeting to this issue, rather than add it to the agenda…
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Oak Creek-Franklin will receive more-than-expected state aid that will allow the property levy to stay about the same compared to last year.
Next year's Oak Creek-Franklin School District property tax levy would stay about the same under projections officials presented Monday. The budget estimates show the levy rising 0.77 percent ($32.1 million to $32.3 million). The tax rate would decrease from $8.78 per $1,000 of equalized property value to $8.68. The district was able to keep the levy steady thanks to more-than-expected state aid. Administrators feared the district's state aid would drop by about $3.8 million, or about 15 percent. But they got good news at the end of June when the state Department of Public Instruction released state aid estimates that showed Oak Creek-Franklin gaining $408,153 in aid payments, a 1.5 percent increase. "We didn't have the worst-case scenario…
vocal local 1
4:19 pm on Tuesday, January 1, 2013
NO NO NO OCHS. Normal grading is 94 or 96 for an A. OC gives A's at 92. Kids here do not have to work as hard. When OC kids get to college their 92 point A's turn into B's. OC will pass a kid with 64 points. Below 70 is the norm for failing. What is this saying about the quality of education in OC? How much is the kid with 64 points retaining and taking into the future? Your kid can in reality … more ›