Talk Sup’t. October 22, 2010

MARK YOUR CALENDARS – THIS WEEKEND!!

Football:

Don’t miss - Friday night’s RED OUT Football game against Pontiac High School, in conjunction with the American Heart Association promoting Heart Health Awareness. The game is tonight, October 22, 2010 at 7:00 pm at West Bloomfield High School. It’s also Seniors' Parents Night where all seniors' parents will be recognized from the Football Team, the Pom & Dance Team, the Cheer Team and the Marching Band. You’ll have the opportunity to purchase RED OUT   
T-Shirts which will be for sale  during the game to benefit the American Heart Association. Laker Pride!!

Marching Band:

Our annual Marching Band Invitational will take place beginning at 2:00 pm on Saturday, October 23 at West Bloomfield High School. This is a very exciting day for our district as we host over 23 bands from all over Michigan that will compete in this all day event. There is much activity all day long until approximately 10 pm. Come and see what a show these talented musicians and color guards can put on!

PRISM CONCERT

I attended the Prism concert on Wednesday evening and I was so moved by the enthusiasm not only from the audience, but also from the students. It is the only time that all of the bands have the opportunity to perform together, and the energy in the auditorium was electric!

It is always my favorite concert of the year because of the variety of music and the large number of students involved.  It’s always such a pleasure to witness the pride in the faces of the students and their parents.  Thanks to Art Ebert, Linda Trotter, Sheryl Hauk, Melissa Lane and Jeremy Figlewicz for all of the efforts they put into coordinating this fabulous concert.

DISTRICT WIDE PCN

The District Wide Parent Communication Network (PCN) took place on Tuesday, October 19 at Doherty Elementary. Tom Goulding, Deputy Superintendent for Business and Operations updated us on our budget audit report. PCN representatives from all schools shared information on what is happening in their individual buildings, from food drives to Movie Nights, to Spooktacular Fridays to Fun Runs which have raised thousands of dollars for our schools. Our parents are to be commended for their incredible involvement and dedication to our schools as they work tirelessly to help support us in a myriad of ways.

Lisa Berkey reported from the Community Coalition that the 2 day presesntation “Stay Out of My Room” was very successful, and was aired later on Channel 19. On November 30, there will be a new presentation “Keep Kids Safe From Technology” at the West Bloomfield Library at 7:00 pm. There will be more to come on that event.

TEXT THE PLEDGE

Text the Pledge is a program where peers are motivating each other to get involved with their high schools to become a better student and a better person, for a better future. It is ongoing and growing, so please encourage students to go to www.textthepledge.org to pledge to excel academically and join extracurricular activities.

Students must pledge to meet the following criteria for the 2010-2011 school year:

• I will improve my grades on each report card (A's, B's and C's only).
• I will have no more than 1 (one) unexcused absence in any class, unless I have a medical emergency.
• I will not be suspended for any reason.
• I will take part in at least two activities at my school (including athletics, clubs and volunteer experiences).
• I will not be a bully.
• I will remain drug and alcohol free.

JOIN NOW!

NEGOTIATIONS

The second and final Fact Finding meeting occurred on Tuesday, October 19^th with the State of Michigan appointed Fact Finder.  During this meeting, the District and the West Bloomfield Education Association (WBEA) representatives presented and finalized their positions on each of the open issues for the Fact Finder’s review. 

The next step in the process will be for each side to present to the Fact Finder a written brief of their position and the facts supporting their position.  The Fact Finder will then review those final briefs and also review the information that was presented during the two days of hearings to create what is called a Fact Finder’s “opinion”.  This opinion will be presented to both parties sometime near the end of November 2010. 

The written “opinion” from the Fact Finder is non-binding and does not require either side to accept all or any of the recommendations presented in his opinion report.  The spirit of this process is for an outside, independent, and qualified individual to review the positions of both parties and give an opinion as to what they believe would represent a fair settlement given the facts presented by both sides.

Once the Fact Finder’s report is received the parties are required by law to continue to bargain for a period of no less than 60 days.  At the conclusion of this required 60-day bargaining period, two options exist:

1.       The first is that both parties can continue to bargain and work to reach a mutual settlement; or

2.       The second option is the employer can impose a contract upon the bargaining unit that may not exceed any previously offered settlements.  

   

I would direct you to our website to review the financial reality of our school district at http://www.westbloomfield.k12.mi.us/files/filesystem/WB%20Questions%20and%20Answers10-11-2010.pdf . 

Have a great weekend!

Talk Sup't. October 15, 2010

BUDGET AND NEGOTIATIONS

Since we are in ongoing negotiations we are limited in the comments that we can share with you at this time. However, our goal is the same as the teachers and the union, and that is to settle this contract.
A State Appointed Mediator never renders an opinion on either party’s position. His role is to work independently with both parties to work closer towards a resolution. We will be in our second and final Fact Finding Hearing on Tuesday, October 19. We will rate the results of the Fact Finder who listens to both sides before rendering his opinion (which is NOT binding) but gives suggestions for direction to both parties with the intention of working toward a resolution. After the Fact Finder has concluded his findings, he will recommend that both parties continue to negotiate for an additional 60 days prior to any implementation of a contract.  

Audit Report: Our auditors from Plante Moran reported at our board meeting on Monday night that we had a ‘clean report’, meaning that our financial statements had no material weaknesses identified, and no significant deficiencies identified that were not considered to be material weaknesses. West Bloomfield School District was commended for “good estimating abilities” in our comparison budget to actual. Unfortunately, the loss of 20J funding resulted in a $1.9 million loss which impacts our deficit greatly. In addition to the $1.7 million deficit we ended the 2009-2010 year with, our projection to end the 2010-2011 school year, based on current expenditures and revenues will add an additional $1.4 million, resulting in an ending deficit of $3.1 million.

Since the Governor vetoed the per pupil funding this week (see below) we need to dig deep and work with what we have in hand, and cannot operate on “if comes”.

LEGISLATURE

Governor vetoes $154 per pupil in Federal Education Jobs Fund billThe Governor signed HB 5872 – the bill appropriating the Federal Education Jobs Fund bill – but line item vetoed the subsection appropriating $154 per pupil.
Based on a letter from the U.S. Department of Education (http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Granholm_letter_334909_7.pdf <http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Granholm_letter_334909_7.pdf>), the federal statute does not permit a state to use these funds to “restore prior cuts to education”.
The line item veto leaves $246 of the $316 million on the table for the Legislature to appropriate.  The $65.8 million, appropriated through the 2x formula, has been enacted and will be distributed.  This will result in approximately $158,000 for West Bloomfield School District.
The Governor’s press release is listed below.
 Governor Granholm Signs Final Pieces of Fiscal Year 2011 BudgetAction taken to prevent forfeiture of $316M in federal fundsLANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm has signed the remaining legislation required to implement the fiscal year 2011 budget including the appropriation for the state’s 15 public universities and two supplemental spending bills for the state’s K-12 schools.  The governor used her veto authority to prevent the potential loss of more than $316 million in federal funding, due to a violation of federal law.

TEXT THE PLEDGE CONCERT

The “Text The Pledge” concert that was held on Tuesday afternoon at West Bloomfield High School was a huge success!  Over 1700 high school students attended and pledged themselves to better grades, good attendance and participation in school activities.  95.5 WKQI morning show host and West Bloomfield parent, Mojo, emceed the event and former Detroit Pistons star, Vinnie Johnson and current Pistons' player, Ben Wallace also made appearances to support Text The Pledge. In addition, approximately 200 adults (parents, school personnel) were in attendance.  

Recording artist and pop sensation Jesse McCartney was the headline event with additional performances by Brilliance, a local rap singer and Novi High School grad, and Infinity Hour, who provided dance music.  Our own talented WBHS Junior Emily Vrbensky accompanied Brilliance on the violin, and had only rehearsed with him for one hour and needed to memorize two original songs. She was very impressive!

Jesse McCartney gave a strong message to students and encouraged them to work hard in school and keep up their GPA as he did when he was in high school. Football Coach Ron Bellamy presented Jesse with a Laker’s jersey which he immediately put on proving to the audience how proud they should be to be a Laker!

Fox 2 News was on hand and aired a segment during their 6 o'clock edition and again the following morning.  Mojo hosted Jesse McCartney on his show Tuesday morning http://mojo.channel955.com/pages/show_archive.html?feed=184218&article=7703752 and "Text the Pledge" information was on the Channel 955 website.

The event was well organized and the high school students behavior was exemplary! The Vinnie Johnson Foundation is the lead sponsor of the event and our parents Jeff Sakwa and Kevin Goldman deserve a huge thank you for this incredible feat. Channel 955 also helped sponsor the event and Mojo, our own parent Tom Carballo did a fantastic job of emceeing and entertaining.

Lawrence Technological University is producing a documentary film on "Text the Pledge" and are tracking four students through their school year as they monitor their progress toward achieving their goal.  Lawrence Tech plans to award seven full undergraduate scholarships in conjunction with the campaign.

Students can still be a part of this campaign by visiting the www.textthepledge.org website.  Please continue to promote this to your students and urge them to "text the pledge".  This orientation concert will be followed by several more events, concerts, sport events and celebrity appearances, and is planned to be a statewide campaign. A larger concert is slated for spring with a bigger celebrity at a major venue, and even greater participation as additional students sign on. This is a non-profit campaign.

If you would like more information, contact West Bloomfield Educational Foundation and Vinnie Johnson Foundation board member, Jeff Sakwa or Kevin Goldman by email at info@textthepledge.org.

An important thank you goes out to all of the West Bloomfield Police, Great Lakes Protection Security, the West Bloomfield Fire Department, the WBSD administration and the West Bloomfield High School staff who all worked together to make this a secure and successful event!

CONGRATULATIONS!

I have to boast because our students are making us proud again! A special congratulations to all of the fall sports coaches and activities teams for the great work you’re doing in bringing positive recognition to our school district. This is just a sample of some of the GREAT THINGS that are happening in our schools!

Swim:

• Tricia Grant broke the WB girls varsity Diving record by 5 points – a record that has not been broken since 1981! Tricia Grant won the Oakland County Diving Championship. She also set a new pool record for high diving score at Farmington High School.
• Claire Forhan – Diving, pre-qualified for Regionals
• Relay Swim Team qualified for States
1. Liz Piontkowski
2. Krysia Chesire
3. Mallory Moore
4. Maison Moore
• Bob Crosby, Swim Coach, marked his 200th victory with the WB Girls' Swim Team last night with a win over Farmington High School.  Bob's been coaching at West Bloomfield High School for over 25 years, and it's a triumph that most coaches don't achieve.  He has 197 victories with the Boys' Swim Team; we fully expect that we will celebrate that milestone this season, as well!

Tennis:

• Varsity Boys Tennis Team qualified for States
• Andrew Cahn was league champ, and regional finalist, and finished with a record of 21-3, and is the 3rd overall seed in Flight 1 at States.

Cross Country:

• Erin Finn is the Oakland County Cross Country Individual Champion
1. Set course record at Berkley, Farmington, and Warren De LaSalle
2. Only female to finish under 18 minutes at the Oakland County Meet

Girls Golf:

• Katherine Chang qualified for Regionals

Marching Band:

• West Bloomfield Marching Band finished third in Bands of America Regionals, the BEST in school history!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Marching Band Invitational will take place beginning at 2:00 pm on Saturday October 23 at West Bloomfield High School. Over 23 bands from all over Michigan will compete in this all day event.

District Wide PCN

Please try to attend the District Wide Parent Communication Network (PCN) meeting on Tuesday October 19 at 7:00 pm at Doherty Elementary. Tom Goulding, Deputy Superintendent for Business and Operations will be the keynote speaker, and will update us on our budget audit report.

I wish all of our students the best in all of their playoffs and opportunities – we appreciate all that you’ve accomplished!

Have a great weekend!