Oregon Observer The
Thursday, October 11, 2018 • Vol. 134, No. 15 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Oregon School District
Northern exposure Rapidly growing Fitchburg targeted for proposed school
OSD referendum During the next five weeks, the Observer will examine the upcoming referendum from a variety of angles: Oct. 4: Referendum seeks to build new K-6 school This week: Why is a new school needed in Fitchburg? Oct. 18: What would it provide; changes to the district Oct. 25: What would happen if it fails? Nov. 1: What is on the ballot
SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Although Fitchburg has been part of the Oregon School District since 1948, not everyone knows it. That’s been apparent during public referendum meetings, where district officials have found themselves answering questions about why a referendum for a Fitchburg school is on a ballot in Oregon – and whether Fitchburgers pay for schools in Oregon. The answer to the second question is yes, if they live in the Oregon district. To prevent impending overcrowding in the elementary and intermediate levels, OSD has identified Fitchburg as a prime location for a new grade K-6 elementary school to handle an expected increase of nearly 2,000 students over the next 12-15 years. That project would be funded by a $47 million referendum on Nov. 6. Coming on the heels of successful referendum drives in 2014 and 2016,
this one is taking a bit more explaining from district officials as to the need to spread resources in a district that stretches from Brooklyn nearly to the Beltline. District officials are now explaining why parts of Fitchburg are in OSD at all, and why that city is the best place to build the district’s eighth school. OSD has been in
Turn to Fitchburg/Page 8
Photo by Amber Levenhagen
Dennis Hilgendorf sends the ball across the court. Hilgendorf was among a small group of people who practiced their pickleball skills in the court near Kaiser Park on Sept. 27. The group was enjoying a break in the rain that had kept some of the other regular participants from attending.
$350K fundraising goal for pickleball courts new courts in Jaycee Park West. The group, led by Oregon residents Mike Barone, Angie Stone and Jerome Klein, has established a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $350,000 in hopes of breaking ground on the complex next spring. BILL LIVICK They’ve just started and have raised Unified Newspaper Group $525 so far. The courts would be located in the A group of dedicated pickleball players has launched a campaign to northeast corner of Jaycee Park West, raise money to build a complex of 12 along North Perry Parkway.
Organizers say complex in Jaycee Park would be ‘state of the art’
Presently, pickleball players in Oregon play Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the tennis courts on Oak Street. During the winter, they play Sunday nights at Oregon High School. A regular pickleball court is smaller than a tennis court, with playing surface of 20-feet by 44-feet. “With the 12 courts and the way
Turn to Pickleball/Page 2
Oregon School District
Random K-9 sniffs now policy after 4-3 board vote SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
In a reversal of past practice, the Oregon School Board on Monday approved making random K-9 drug sweeps at the high school and middle school part of its district policy. For the past two years, the
board has allowed the random drug sniffs on a temporary basis and had resisted making them part of district policy. Previously, the district’s policy was one of “reasonable suspicion” before calling police to search students’ lockers or vehicles. On a 4-3 vote that brought out emotional arguments on both sides of the issue, the board switched from previous years’ votes on the matter. Voting for the measure were members Krista
Flanagan, Courtney Odorico, Troy Pankratz and Tim LeBrun. Voting against were Barb Feeney, Dan Krause and president Steve Zach. Zach said he was “appalled” by the lack of objections to making random law enforcement sweeps, complete with drug-sniffing dogs, part of school district policy. He said seeing one of the random searches in action while jogging past the high school made an impression.
“The sight of over five police cars with uniformed officers taking their drug dogs in to the school to do a random search didn’t sit well with my stomach,” he said. On the issue of student privacy, Pankratz said students would only be contacted by police if drugs were found in their vehicles, and since they have driver’s licenses, they should be prepared to deal with police, anyway. “The (Dane County Youth)
Survey is saying the kids really believe that drugs don’t belong in school, the administrators are feeling that this is a deterrent, so I’m in support of that policy,” he said. Krause said while he was in favor of trying the drug sweeps on a trial basis, he doesn’t believe they have been proven to be effective deterrents or “worth it” for an “invasion of privacy and a serious
Turn to Sweeps/Page 5
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