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 …
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
While the threat is not considered credible, police will have an increased presence at the school this week.
Threats of violence Friday at Oak Creek High School have resulted in an increased police presence at the school this week. In a letter to parents, Superintendent Sara Burmeister said the threat is not considered credible, but the Oak Creek Police Department is taking it seriously and investigating. "This rumor has raised considerable anxiety among parents, coming as it does right after the unfathomable horror of the tragic shootings in Connecticut and while the shooting at the Sikh Temple is still fresh in our minds," Burmeister said. "Please know that our administrative staff and our police department have all been responding to and investigating all information regarding the threat, which appears to be circulating primarily through …
Friday, December 14, 2012
Oak Creek knows from experience that mass shootings can happen anywhere, 'even in the quietest and gentlest of communities,' Superintendent Sara Burmeister said.
Unfathomable. Details continue to surface about the horrific events Friday in Newtown, Ct., where a gunman entered an elementary school and took the lives of a reported 26 people, including 20 children. In Oak Creek, the site of a mass shooting just four months ago, School Superintendent Sara Burmeister said she cried as she heard the news. "It's a tragedy beyond words to describe," Burmeister said. "You can't help but think that this could have been your child, your grandchild, your students, your teachers, your schools, your community. "We always think, 'It can’t happen here,' and we pray fervently that it won't. But as we know from our experience this summer, it can happen anywhere, even in the quietest and gentlest of communities. My …
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The Pittsburgh-based company, which has a plant in Oak Creek, has awarded grant money to Oak Creek High School and Deerfield and Shepard Hills elementary schools.
PPG Industries has awarded three $1,000 grants supporting programs in the Oak Creek-Franklin School District. The grants are going to Oak Creek High School's Project Lead the Way program, which provides a rigorous hands-on curriculum in science, engineering, technology and math; a Deerfield Elementary field trip to Cave of the Mounds; and a science program at Shepard Hills that educates students about light and electricity. The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board accepted the grants in its meeting Monday. PPG has awarded grants benefiting Oak Creek schools often in the past and more could be on the way, Superintendent Sara Burmeister said. "They've been extremely generous to the district," she said. The Oak Creek PPG plant, 10800 S. 13th St., …
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 …
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 …
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…
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Part of project near Edgewood Elementary is related to drainage for the field, which officials say will be ready in time for the 2012 season.
Wondering what those big piles of dirt near Edgewood Elementary are about? It's all part of the installation of an artificial playing surface at the Oak Creek High School football field. Work began earlier this summer on the field, which school officials have said should be ready in time for the 2012 football season. The turf, commonly referred to by the brand name FieldTurf, will look like real grass but is actually a synthetic surface. The work next to Edgewood is related to drainage for the new field, Oak Creek-Franklin Superintendent Sara Burmeister said.
Monday, March 12, 2012
School Board approves proposal Monday.
If all goes according to plan, the Oak Creek High School football field will be an artificial playing surface by the start of the 2012 season. The Oak Creek-Franklin School Board approved financing for the turf, commonly referred to by the brand name FieldTurf, in its meeting Monday on a 4-1 vote. Board member Mark Verhalen cast the only vote against the proposal. He said he wanted to hold off on a vote so issues, specifically with stormwater retention, could be worked out. Superintendent Sara Burmeister said the vote Monday was for financing and that the district will have time to address those details. No other board member spoke before the vote but they have previously said the turf, which looks like real grass but is actually a …
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 ›