Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Whitefish Bay School Board has appointed the district's director of curriculum and instruction to temporarily fill the role currently held by Mary Gavigan.
Laura Myrah, the director of curriculum and instruction for the Whitefish Bay School District, has been appointed to serve as the interim superintendent of the school district. Current Superintendent Mary Gavigan announced earlier this month that she intends to resign, as she has accepted the position of executive director of CESA #1. Myrah will temporarily fill the position on July 1. Myrah has served as the district's director of curriculum and instruction for four years. She previously served as an elementary school principal in the Elmbrook School District and West Bend Joint School District and a coordinator for gifted and talented education and an elementary and middle school teacher in the Port Washington–Saukville School District. …
Monday, May 13, 2013
Dr. Mary Gavigan intends to accept a new position as the executive director of CESA #1.
Whitefish Bay Superintendent Mary Gavigan will leave the school district to pursue a new position with a statewide education agency. Whitefish Bay School District staff and families were notified Friday that Gavigan, who is in her third year with the district, intends to accept the position of executive director of CESA #1. Gavigan notified board members last week. In a letter to staff and families, Whitefish Bay School Board President Pam Woodard wished Gavigan well in her new role. "The School Board would like to thank Dr. Gavigan for her leadership and steady guidance in challenging and dynamic times in education over the past three years," Woodard said. "During her tenure she worked with all stakeholders to develop a new Whitefish Bay…
Friday, May 10, 2013
The annual 5k run/walk benefiting the Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation will kick off at 9 a.m. on May 18.
The seventh annual Run the Bay event is just a week away on May 18. The 5k run/walk will kick off at 9 a.m. at Whitefish Bay High School, and the kids run will follow at 10:15 a.m. All proceeds go to support the Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation, which donates funds to the Whitefish Bay School District. Online registration closes at 10 p.m. Tuesday. You can also register the day of the race from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at Whitefish Bay High School. This year, each of the four Whitefish Bay schools will compete against each other to see who can recruit the highest number of Run the Bay participants. The school that has the greatest number of team members in proportion to its school enrollment will win a traveling trophy and special …
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Lower-paid teachers will get $1,000, but most teachers will get $480 as a pike hike that's retroactive to the current school year.
Since Act 10 was passed into law, Whitefish Bay teachers' salaries have remained frozen while their benefits have been cut. So it was good news for the teachers union when the School Board approved a small salary increase that would retroactively apply to the current school year. The salary increase results in a $480 pay bump for most teachers, and a $1,000 increase for teachers at the very bottom of the pay scale. The modest salary increases were made possible through attrition: experienced teachers leaving or retiring from the district and being replaced by new teachers at a lower salary. Through attrition and retirements, the district was left with a $130,000 pot of money to redistribute to teachers. In agreement with the teachers union…
Monday, April 29, 2013
Despite changes in benchmarks for Wisconsin statewide reading and math tests, Whitefish Bay students continue to perform significantly higher than the statewide norms.
Use Patch's interactive database to see the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations scores in Whitefish Bay and other area districts for the last three years. Students in the Whitefish Bay School District saw lower scores in statewide math and reading tests this year, but those changes are almost entirely due to tough new standards that kicked in this year. In Whitefish Bay, 59.8 percent of the students who took the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations (WKCE) in November 2012 scored at proficient or advanced in reading. That's compared to 93.4 percent who hit that mark in 2011. The 2012-13 results were released last week. In math, 71.2 percent of the Whitefish Bay students were proficient or better this year, compared to 91.…
Saturday, April 13, 2013
See how the number of students per staff member in the Whitefish Bay School District stacks up against nearby districts and the state.
One thing that always comes up when districts talk about laying off staff, is the student-staff ratio. In general, according to the non-profit group Class Size Matters, a lower ratio is considered good, providing for smaller class sizes and giving students more opportunity for attention from teachers. There were 870,470 students enrolled in Wisconsin public and charter schools in the 2011-12 school year. Those schools employed 3,497 administrators, 31,532 aides and support staff, and 65,446 licensed staff members. (All employment numbers are full-time equivalents, meaning two half-time staff members would count as one.) Average staff-student ratios are as follows: 249 students per administrator, 28 students per aide/support staff, and 13 …
Monday, April 8, 2013
"La Vita Bay Ball - A Night in Little Italy" will take place from 6:30 p.m. to midnight on April 20 in the Whitefish Bay High School Field House.
This year's Bay Ball will bring a taste of Italy to the Whitefish Bay High School Field House. This year's Bay Ball – titled "La Vita Bay Ball - A Night in Little Italy" – will be held in the Palazzo Della Whitefish Bay High School Field House from 6:30 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, April 20. The night will feature Italian food in a family-style setting, a piazza marketplace featuring auction items, a fishing village, a chef’s table, live music and dancing. A gallery featuring students’ original art work will complement this year’s theme and Mediterranean atmosphere. The Bay Ball is a fundraiser organized by the Whitefish Bay Public Education, which has given more than $1 million to Whitefish Bay public schools over the past 18 years. …
Monday, March 25, 2013
Some say the changes Act 10 brought about for teacher compensation could lead to resignations—and possibly a decline in the quality of education offered in Whitefish Bay. Others think it's much ado about nothing.
When veteran Whitefish Bay High School math teacher Christine Keifer tearfully resigned at a February board meeting, she said changes brought about by Act 10 were behind her departure. “When I started I had all these incentives to improve, and now I’m completely stuck," Kiefer said at the time. "I have no master's degree, I have no way to increase my salary, and I have no incentives in place to improve my practice." Reduced benefits, limited salary increases and requirements that teachers meet more stringent testing and evaluation standards with larger class sizes just added to the problem, she said. Board member Cheryl Maranto said at that meeting that resignations will continue if teachers have no hope for better compensation—like …
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Whitefish Bay officials are optimistic that state legislators will increase state aid and revenue limits to prevent budget cuts.
Friday, March 15, 2013
A fundraising committee has formed to reconstruct the tennis courts, although a cost estimate has not been determined.
After a successful Cumberland tennis court fundraiser, an effort is now underway to restore the tennis courts on the north end of the village at Richards School. Carol Fairborn, the chairperson of the Richards fundraising committee, went before the Whitefish Bay School Board Wednesday night requesting permission to proceed with a fundraising effort that would restore the four-court tennis area on the southeast end of the school's property. The committee has not yet asked for public funds, but intends to pursue a public-private partnership with the school district. No design specifics or cost estimates have been presented at this time. Those details will be known after the snow melts and soil tests are conducted, according to Shawn Yde, the…
Amy
6:26 am on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
And if WFB School District is smart this time around, they'll think twice before offering their next superintendent the exorbitant salary received by Gavigan for running a four school district. more ›