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Thursday, August 30, 2018 • Vol. 134, No. 9 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Oregon School District: Back to school
Oregon School District
Getting results Progress report positive on teacher compensation referendum SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
File photo by Anthony Iozzo
Tyler Brellenthin attempts to get an out in the second inning Saturday as the 11U Panthers take on Oconomowoc at Kiser Field 2 in July. Recommendations from a Youth Sports and Athletics Task Force are expected to be taken up by the Oregon School Board this fall.
Staying active and healthy
Task force, green initiatives among things to watch in 2018-19 Unified Newspaper Group
While there are changes in academics every year, the Oregon School District will take a big-picture view of its sports and athletics programs for all its students in 201819. The Youth Sports and Athletics Task Force, established earlier this year, has been examining potential changes to programming from pre-K to grade 12 to provide more equity and opportunities for students. The district is looking for other ways to create a more equitable environment for students as the 2018-19 school year starts Tuesday. It’s providing anti-bias and equity training to staff and it’s also continuing efforts to make the schools more “green and healthy.” For the first time, all schools will have raised garden beds for students to help grow everything from flowers to vegetables destined for cafeteria buffets. There will also be a focus on the future, as the district prepares to go to referendum this fall on funding a new elementary school in Fitchburg, a rapidly growing section of the district. Administrators and school board members are already out,
Inside
Five things to watch 1. Youth Sports and Athletics Task Force 2. Focus on equity 3. Green and Healthy initiatives continue 4. School referendum outreach 5. New playground at Brooklyn Elementary meeting with community members about the need for a new school, and the unprecedented growth that will grow the district’s student population from around 4,000 currently to around 6,000 by 2030. And for the kids of Brooklyn, they’ll get to enjoy playing on new equipment for the first time in decades, as the playground got an extreme makeover during the summer, with parents and volunteers pitching in to remove outdated equipment and install new ones. Here is more detail on the Observer’s choices for five things to watch this year in OSD:
“For family purposes, I felt like I needed to go, even though I was very excited about my opportunity in Brooklyn,” she said. But, like a typical teacher, Zweig said she “needed numbers to help drive the decision, and the compensation plan – funded by voters two years ago – was an obvious place to start.” In the end, she said the plan helped her decide. “(The) starting salary at the highest I have seen in other districts,” she said. “With Oregon’s compensation plan, my salary would always be greater than the other, but the longer I stay in Oregon the greater that discrepancy is and that is where I see the greatest return.” That’s not an uncommon situation, district officials said when asked about the
If not for the new teacher compensation package, new Brooklyn Elementary School second-grade teacher Kristy Zweig would likely be preparing her classroom for the year in an entirely different district. She had just accepted an offer from the Oregon School District when she received another from a nearby school district she “had (her) heart set on,” she wrote the Observer in an email. A new mom to a 10-month-old daughter, she also noted her commute Turn to Referendum/Page 10 would be shorter there.
Village of Oregon
See photos of the new teachers at every Oregon School District school for the 2018-19 school year Page 2 1. Youth Sports and Athletics Task Force Making sports and athletics in the district more equitable and more accessible will be a major push this year. By the end of next month, the district is expected to review and possibly adopt the recommendations of the Youth Sports and Athletics Task Force, which began studying the purposes, shared values and expectations for youth sports (pre-K through grade 6) and athletic programs (grades 7-12) in early 2017, as well as desired outcomes, cooperative opportunities and equity for all
Turn to Things to watch/Page 12
Consultant: Library fundraising is ‘philanthropy’ He predicts success before doing $20k feasibility study BILL LIVICK Unified Newspaper Group
A consultant hired to conduct a fundraising-feasibility study for the construction of a new public library told the Oregon Village Board on Monday it should consider the effort “a philanthropy endeavor.” Jim Radford, president of Baker Street Consulting Group, said his company’s part in the project – planning a capital campaign and establishing a fundraising goal – would be a
three-month process. “ We ’l l r e c o m m e n d a timetable and a budget,” he said. H e s a i d t h e s t u d y ’s $19,800 cost would be an investment that would pay off over time, but added that “not all studies result in a recommendation to move forward.” Radford predicted that such an effort in Oregon would be successful, based on what he’s learned about the village’s planning process. During a joint meeting of the Village Board and O r eg o n P u b l i c L i b r a r y Board of Directors, Radford talked about successful
Turn to Library/Page 3
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