MCPASD 2020/2021 school year to start online-only
When the 2020/2021 school year starts for the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD), its school buildings will remain largely empty. On Monday, July 20, the Board of Education (BOE) unanimously approved a proposal by the District administration to start the year completely online, and reevaluate the situation after 30 days with an eye on maybe moving to a mix of online and in-person learning after the first quarter ('blended approach' in school administratese, the inimitable jargon of the education bureaucracy).
The traditional August return-to-school days and the week before actual teaching starts ('content instruction' in, well, see above) on September 8 will be devoted to getting everybody set up with the right equipment for online learning ('device deployment'), and making sure that teachers, students and parents are all on the same page on how online-learning works, and how instruction will take place.
Meanwhile, the District is working out the innumerable details in the virtual learning process, including building relationships with the students, defining expectations, conducting face-to-face interactions, designing curriculum materials, assessing student work, and creating schedules for teachers and students - to name but these.
When and how to return to physical classrooms will be decided based on the first-quarter experiences, and on the covid-19 situation as evaluated by Dane County.
More than 1,100 people followed Monday's BOE meeting on Facebook Live (most of them for this issue; about 400 also remained online for the SRO discussion - see below; photo is a screenshot of the virtual meeting), and more than 220 district residents had sent in comments. About 38% favored online-only classes, 29% favored in-person teaching, 14% wanted a mix of both, and 19% had other suggestions.
Besides Middleton-Cross Plains, the school districts of Madison and Sun Prairie have so far also decided to start the school year online-only.
BOE rubber-stamps slightly amended SRO agreement
The BOE also sort of discussed, and unanimously approved, an amended agreement with the City of Middleton for stationing an armed police officer (euphemistically called 'school resource officer' - SRO) at Kromrey Middle School (KMS) and one at Middleton High School (MHS).
The SRO program has been in place at MHS since the mid-1980s, and at KMS since 2002, and rests on an agreement between the MCPASD and the City of Middleton through which two officers from the Middleton Police Department are embedded in the schools, and the MCPASD reimburses the City for half the cost. The District has a similar arrangement with the Village of Cross Plains for Glacier Creek Middle School.
For most of the time, the SRO program has been uncontroversial, and its renewal by all concerned parties was essentially a formality. This year's racial unrest, however, has also called the SROs into question nation-wide. Opponents see them as symbols of white oppression, as targeting mainly black students, as part of the so-called school-to-prison pipeline, and of questionable, if any, usefulness when it comes to making schools safer or creating a better environment for students. Supporters see them as a direct conduit between the schools and emergency personnel, a cornerstone of school safety, and essential in building relationships with students.
On July 7, the Middleton Common Council had rejected the original SRO agreement with the tightest of votes (the mayor broke the 4 to 4 tie in favor of rejection), and sent the issue back to the School District.
At its Monday meeting, the BOE heard presentations about the SRO program from District staff and from Middleton police officers, including the current and former chiefs, Troy Hellenbrand and Chuck Foulke, who both started their careers as SROs. They and current SROs described their experiences as mostly building relationships with student, including at-risk students, and preventing problems from occurring. They also stressed that because of their presence on-site, they are able to react fast in case of a serious threat to school safety.
The BOE did not want to hear from opponents however, and president Annette 'Stonewall' Ashley refused to read their emails "in the interest of time". She recently received that nickname, by the way, because of the way she stonewalled during the July 7 Common Council meeting, refusing to commit to a date when the merits of the SRO program would be evaluated in detail. Her inflexibility contributed significantly to the Council's rejection of the agreement.
The new SRO agreement approved by the BOE includes a new paragraph stating that the District and the City agree to an annual evaluation of the program. It is so vaguely phrased, however, that it is almost an insult to anyone hoping to have a serious debate about the topic. Whether it is enough to satisfy the Common Council remains to be seen.
Common Council restores and tables old SRO agreement
The Middleton Common Council is more open to live public input and opposing viewpoints than the BOE, and for more than an hour during the July 21 Council meeting, supporters and opponents of the SRO program presented their opinions, with the latter outnumbering the former by almost five to one.
A recurring complaint by the SRO opponents was how the MCPASD administration and the BOE have been riding roughshod over their concerns, excluding them from any meaningful discussion about the topic.
The Council also received two presentations about the SRO program. The first one, by supporters from the Middleton Police Department and the District administration, was identical to the one given to the BOE on Monday. Percy Brown, the MCPASD Director of Equity and Student Achievement, while part of the pro-SRO presentation, clearly felt uncomfortable in his role, and he left little doubt that he had grave misgivings about the District's uncompromising line.
The Council is not afraid of dissenting voices, and also received a presentation opposing the SRO program by members of the MCPASD School-Community Partnership Team, and the MHS Alumni Network. Among other things, they pointed out that "the initial decision to renew the SRO contract was made with little to no engagement with community, staff, or students". In fact it seems that many District professionals, including its social workers, were not informed of the decision until after the fact, which led the School District Social Work Team and the West Middleton Elementary Equity Team to write letters opposing the program. They also noted that while the District is willing to spend almost $130,000 on police officers (the City of Middleton and the Village of Cross Plains pay the other half, at a total cost of more than a quarter of a million dollars to the taxpayers), it has cut funding for various student-support programs, including a full-time social worker position, and a restorative-justice program at Kromrey Middle School, for which the relevant staff have already received their training.
Over the years it has been a consistent complaint by many police departments, including Middleton's, that police officers often have to take on functions, and deal with situations that normally should not be the role of law enforcement, but would be better dealt with by social workers, counsellors and mental health professionals, not least in order to prevent a situation from escalating to the point where law enforcement has to become involved.
But by having police officers fill the roles of social workers, counsellors and mental health professionals, the first response also becomes the last resort, and the last resort is the first response. The line between prevention and repression is very fine at best. Whether this is a recipe for success or for failure is a debate that needs to take place, but that the MCPASD administration, the BOE and, oddly, the Middleton Police Department seem anxious to avoid.
After voting to restore the SRO agreement to the agenda, the Council voted unanimously to table it until the District officially presents a new agreement to the City. If the Districts persists in its unwillingness to have an open debate, it might be in for another disappointment.
Madison's City Council, meanwhile, voted on the same day to terminate its SRO agreement.
Common Council defers committee appointments
The Middleton Common Council voted unanimously to defer mayor Gurdip Brar's committee appointments to the next meeting, in order to give Council members the time to consider the nominations.
Finance Committee wants to explore alternatives to Madison Metro
During the Finance Committee's discussion on July 21 about Madison Metro's proposed increase of Middleton's share of the cost for bus service (up to 60% more by 2022, from $500,000 a year now to $800,000 - see Middleton e-View 4 for details), district 8 alderman and Finance Committee chairman Mark Sullivan said he was "outraged". Since the future of public transportation in Middleton under Madison Metro's yoke seems to be 'less service for more money', the Finance Committee urged City staff to start exploring the possibility of creating a mass transit partnership with the other suburbs, like Fitchburg, Sun Prairie, Verona and Monona, thus bypassing Madison Metro.
Middleton coffee shop fined for anti-mask policy
Helbachs Coffee Roasters + Kitchen in Middleton has been fined the standard outside-of-Madison amount ($263.50) by Public Health Madison and Dane County for violating Emergency Order 8, which mandates, among others, that masks must be worn inside all businesses. The coffee shop had drawn attention to itself by apparently posting a note on the entrance door saying that it was a mask-free zone. A Facebook post with photo provoked predictable outrage among the civic-minded, as well as an investigation by Public Health officials (at some point, Helbachs called the police on the inspectors, but Middleton Police allowed the inspectors to continue in their work). A small but colorful and occasionally loud band of protesters gathered in front of the coffee shop last Saturday, providing it with more free publicity.
Online petition wants BLM art work at plaza
An online petition is calling for politicizing the site of the downtown plaza. The petition, circulated via the website 'change.org', is the initiative of local resident Amy Kortbein, who wants to convince the Middleton Common Council "to allow its citizens to commission and participate in creating a street art installation in support of Black Lives Matter in the center of the city". It had collected just over 300 signatures by noon today (July 22).
BLM seems commonsensical enough to not need a billboard. It has become a very political message with undertones of promoting crime and violence. Would the street art be strewn with the ever present F*** the Police msg? Until BLM denounces the ugliness of their movement, their msg not appropriate in any city. Police are people too, people who risk their lives to save lives, and individuals matter.
Downtownmiddleton doesn't need street art
It needs more customers and covid 19 to go away
BLM won't matter if we don't wear masks and follow health laws
Ron Boyer