Problems of small-town planning are not from lack of plans, they’re from lack of judgment and foresight. Even the smallest towns have plans, regulations, task forces, etc. Problems come from planners (both professionals and residents on committees) who lack the judgment to distinguish between big and small matters (and so waste time on the small).…
School District
Coronavirus, Education, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 12.21.20: 5 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
Monday night’s school board open session saw, among other items, a unanimous decision to maintain the existing close contacts and quarantine guidance, goals presentations from four administrators, a district administrator report predominantly on the results of parents’ and students’ survey preferences and class selection for the next semester, and discussion whether to have school board…
Coronavirus, Education, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 11.23.20: 6 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
Monday night’s school board meeting saw a majority of the board adopt a mostly virtual instructional model, to run through 1.17.21 (with exceptions for students 4K, early childhood, and perhaps other vulnerable populations). The full agenda for the meeting is available. (Items 9A, 12A, and 15F were omitted from the agenda by consent.) Updated afternoon of…
America, City, Culture, Ethics, Never Trump, Politics, School District, Trump
They’ve Become What They Once Despised
by JOHN ADAMS •
The greatest tragedies are injuries inflicted on the innocent. There are, however, other sad moments of our time, among them the collapse of responsibile conservatism into Trumpian irresponsibility & dishonesty. So many conservatives have become what they once despised. A local example would be proud conservatives who now insist, nationally or locally, that government is…
Coronavirus, School District
A Fair, Thorough Assessment of Whitewater’s Schools and the Pandemic Awaits (at the End of the School Year)
by JOHN ADAMS •
The pandemic, having gripped Wisconsin beginning late last winter, seems likely to last well into the coming spring. There have been numerous district meetings, declarations, assessments, positions, and revisions of policy over the last several months; there are likely to be more before next June. Through it all, one sound truth: it is not on…
Coronavirus, Education, Laws/Regulations, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 9.28.20: 6 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
Monday night saw something close to a conventional school board meeting for Whitewater – the routine oversight of a small school district, even during a pandemic. We will one day have meetings that are even closer to routine (yet with the challenges of poverty and malaise to be addressed). The full agenda for the meeting…
Coronavirus, Education, Laws/Regulations, Public Health, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 9.23.20: 5 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
The particular path of the pandemic – involving in Whitewater countless thousands of daily interactions between people – is understandably difficult to predict. Nine days after deciding unanimously to resume face-to-face instruction beginning 9.28.20, Whitewater’s school board decided to begin face-to-face instruction on 9.28.20 only for elementary school students, with a hybrid model of instruction…
City, Coronavirus, Local Government, Public Health, School District, University
September Arrives: Consequences Will Settle Claims
by JOHN ADAMS •
Posted originally on 9.1.20 — A reminder that, for a thousand discussions, predictions, warnings, or assurances — “what has been predicted about the pandemic & economy will prove true or false as against daily events and their consequences.” Original post follows — September arrives. Small-town Whitewater, like all America, wrestles with a pandemic and a…
Coronavirus, Education, Laws/Regulations, Public Health, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 9.14.20: 5 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
Updated 9.16.20 with meeting video. At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board voted unanimously to offer a choice of either face-to-face or virtual instruction beginning September 28th and continuing through the semester (absent any alterations in the event of significant COVID-19 infections). Parents received, last night, an email requesting…
Coronavirus, Local Government, School District
Local Politician Tells District Administrator How to Read District’s Own Approved Documents
by JOHN ADAMS •
In Whitewater, a local charity, the Whitewater Community Foundation, publishes a website in which the city council president poses as something like a reporter. It’s an obvious conflict of interest, from a man who shows no understanding of either proper journalism or conflicts of interest. Where Whitewater departs from the conventional in natural beauty, she…
Coronavirus, Education, Justice, Law, Laws/Regulations, Public Health, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 8.24.20: 5 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board heard, among other items, a report on summer school, a report on the district’s use of seclusion and restraint, approved unanimously a new metric the district will use to determine its next instructional plan beginning September 28th, and held a budget hearing.…
Coronavirus, Education, Public Health, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 8.17.20: 5 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board heard (and approved on a 6-0 vote) the online platform for students choosing the virtual instruction and required staffing. (Video, 43:50.) Some students have chosen a purely virtual format, and much of the board discussion was about an all-virtual provider. The district…
Coronavirus, Education, Public Health, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 8.10.20: 9 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board heard presentations from a consulting epidemiologist and also a former Jefferson County school administrator who now works with Jefferson County. After comment & discussion, the board voted 6-1 to extend the September 1-11 teaching format through 9.25, with the present expectation of…
City, Coronavirus, Education, Open Government, Public Health, School District
Whitewater School Board Meeting, 8.3.20: 6 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Unified School District’s board, the board heard a presentation from the district about fall instruction for the first two weeks of school, and the metrics the district is considering when deciding schools’ status after those initial weeks. The meeting was informational only, so the board took no action.…