Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Village Hall was packed Monday night, mostly with people concerned about the spraying of pesticides at Cahill Park Sunday morning.
More than 100 people flooded into Whitefish Bay Village Board chambers Monday night, most of whom were there to talk about something that wasn't even on the meeting agenda: pesticides. The village sent out an email notification stating Dukes Landscaping would spray pesticides at Cahill Park at 4 p.m. Sunday, so some residents planned a picnic at that time to protest the use of pesticides.That picnic never happened, because the landscaping company decided to beat the Sunday afternoon rain and spray earlier in the morning. Karen Sands, who previously served on the village's Environmental Advisory Commission, said she was there when the landscaping crews sprayed pesticides. She said she was alarmed to hear the crews accelerated their …
Monday, May 7, 2012
After five years as Whitefish Bay High School's associate principal, Levek has been selected to replace Dr. Lisa Gies, who is taking a faculty position at Cardinal Stritch University.
Whitefish Bay School District Superintendent Mary Gavigan announced today that Amy Levek will be the next principal at Whitefish Bay Middle School. Levek, the current Associate Principal at Whitefish Bay High School, will assume responsibilities at the Middle School on July 1. Levek will replace Dr. Lisa Gies who announced her resignation earlier in this year to take a faculty position at Cardinal Stritch University. Levek earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UW-Madison. Prior to serving as the Associate Principal at Whitefish Bay High School, she taught biology for four years at Oak Creek High School. “After a thorough review process, which included numerous listening sessions, screening of over 100 applicants, and multiple …
Friday, April 27, 2012
The School Board saw a summary of health insurance bids Wednesday night but will not choose a plan until hearing input from school district employees.
With a tight budget to meet this year, the Whitefish Bay School Board is aiming to hold the line on health insurance costs and cut the double-digit rate increases proposed by insurance carriers. The School Board discussed three health insurance bids at a Wednesday meeting, but the board will not adopt a plan or provider until it receives survey input from district employees. Shawn Yde, the district's business manager, is working with Hays Companies to achieve a zero percent increase in health insurance costs. "When we looked at moving forward with the budget this year, early on we made the assumption ... that it was likely we would have to implement salary freezes and keep insurance costs at zero just to balance the budget," Yde said. Of …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Kathy Rogers was also elected to her second term as School Board President at Wednesday night's meeting.
After being elected to the School Board on April 3, attorney Anne Berleman Kearney assumed her seat on the board for the first time Wednesday night. The board on Wednesday night certified the results of the election, in which three candidates ran for three seats. Former School Board member Gerry Steele did not seek re-election, and Kearney ran unopposed. Rogers received 1,588 votes, Kearney 1,633 and Pamela Woodard 1,722. At a special organizational School Board meeting Wednesday night, the board also elected its officers and adopted its organizational policies. The board unanimously re-elected board member Kathy Rogers as president. Jim Phillips, the former treasurer of the board, was elected as the board's vice president and clerk and …
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Come to Cahill Park on May 5 to donate bikes, shred documents, recycle electronics and learn about environmentally friendly initiatives under way in your community.
Whether you have electronics to recycle, a bike to donate or a thirst for learning about environmentally sustainable projects under way in the village, Green Day in the Bay has something for everyone. The event, held on May 5 in Cahill Park, starts out with an early morning workout, then a trash pickup effort around the village and then an eco-fair, where the public is invited to learn more about environmental groups in the community. Kids are also invited to interact with nature through a natural play area made of logs and branches. Whitefish Bay's natural conservation efforts and green spaces will be recognized at 10 a.m. that day, when a representative from Bird City Wisconsin officially names the village as a Bird City, presenting …
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Emma Fallone is one of about 550 students vying for 141 finalist positions in the U.S. Presidential Scholars program.
Whitefish Bay High School senior Emma Fallone is one of about 550 American students being considered for the final round of the U.S. Presidential Scholars program. In January, Fallone was one of about 40 Wisconsin high school students and more than 3,000 students across the country to be nominated for the 2012 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. Now, she has been named one of about 550 semi-finalists vying for 141 finalist positions. In May, the Commission on Presidential Scholars will select up to 121 academic scholars and up to 20 arts scholars as the final award recipients. They will select one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. students living abroad; 15 students at-large; and …
Monday, April 9, 2012
District officials say the current costs are unsustainable, so the board will discuss changes, including eliminating health benefits for new hires, capping the district's health contributions and modifying eligibility requirements.
Whitefish Bay School District officials are mapping out reductions in retirement benefits, which they say are unsustainable due to state revenue cuts. Actuarial analysts have calculated the district needs to set aside $3.1 million per year to fund severance packages and health insurance costs included in the district's retirement benefits. Last year, the district's budget only set aside $970,000. Shawn Yde, the district's business manager, said these post-employment benefits were negotiated decades ago, and health insurance costs, in particular, have quadrupled over the past 15 years. Those increases, coupled with decreasing aid from the state, mean that continuing to fund retirement benefits would come at the expense of staff cuts, salary…
Monday, March 19, 2012
Whitefish Bay school officials say they feel "vindicated" by news of Stifel Nicolaus' large legal settlement, and thank the community for its patience over the last four years.
The Whitefish Bay School District has recouped nearly all of its $1.2 million investment and been relieved from repaying $9.7 million in notes from a failed 2006 investment under a legal settlement reached with its former financial advisor. Whitefish Bay was one of five Wisconsin school districts that filed suit against Stifel Nicolaus and the Royal Bank of Canada in September 2008 as a result of a failed investment. Those districts purchased $200 million in synthetic CDOs manufactured by the Royal Bank of Canada and purchased by the districts' trusts when Stifel served as their investment banker. The districts believed it was a safe AA-rated investment, but within 18 months, the CDOs became worthless. The settlement announced today …
Friday, March 9, 2012
The overall school district takes second place among 33 K-12 school districts.
Whitefish Bay has received a lot of great press in the last year, with Money Magazine and Business Journals listing the village as among the top communities to live. This week, Whitefish Bay High School was splashed across the front page of Milwaukee magazine, with a photo of the students decked out in their Blue Dukes spirit gear. The magazine has already been mailed to subscribers and will hit newsstands March 19. The cover story declared Whitefish Bay as the top-scoring high school in the five-county Milwaukee area. The rankings were based on ACT, WKCE and Advanced Placement test results. The school's average ACT score of 26.6, the highest score among Wisconsin public schools last year, didn't hurt. Nor did the innovative engineering …
Thursday, March 8, 2012
In addition to the Bay Ball proceeds, the Whitefish Bay Education Foundation has also allocated $36,000 in grants for innovative classroom tools.
On Wednesday night, the Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation awarded the school district with $20,000 in proceeds from the Bay Ball fundraising event held in November. The Bay Ball, which was held at the Discovery Center this year, is the major fundraiser for the Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation. Since the first Bay Ball held in 1996, the event has raised more than $1.2 million. The foundation had hoped to raise $75,000 this year. The Bay Ball raised $21,000 this year for the district's 21st Century Teaching and Learning Initiative to put new technology in classrooms. In the past, the money has been divided evenly among the four public schools and the education foundation, but because of the low fundraising this year, the …
M Ulander
2:15 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
I am interpreting your comment about anti-pesticiders stuffing the box to mean that you believe that people who are pro-pesticide are good people, they wouldn't stuff the box. Since anti-pesticiders would stuff the box, they must be bad people. Is this what you believe? more ›