Street Talk

Submitted by
Name: Not Rick’s van
From: Madison

Comments:
Rick Grote owns Riverwest Antique Mall, not Lumber Mill.

Added: November 19, 2024 08:22:32 AM

Submitted by
Name: Hadenough
From: Madisin
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Mr rogers; well said!
They have good teachers. They have a horrible Administration who has no clue what they're doing. Mainstreaming the special needs students was a horrible mistake. Within a week there was trouble coming out of those classrooms. It wasn't all of the students. Some of those students actually have special needs. The rest of them are just brats that cause trouble. We have lost good teachers and good subs and good staff. Not because of those students but because of the administration who won't back the teachers and the staff. When these students attack they go on the defensive against the teachers. I stood back and watched while lawhead shoved out our best substitute teacher after they were attacked. He was friends with the parents of the dangerous student. We were defenseless stop him. The student was allowed to stay even though this was his fourth attack in a semester. Another teacher was constantly being threatened by a student. The student threatened to bring a gun in and shoot the teacher. The teacher quit on the spot. Neither principal Grill nor the administration would back her at all. These are just two of many many horror stories going on in our schools. When you have people like Brown, Lawhead and Upchurch running the school it will never stand a chance! They put the "L" in loser. They are the key reason that many of our good teachers have left. Without proper discipline and good leaders it's never going to get any better.

Added: November 19, 2024 12:42:39 AM

Submitted by
Name: Mr. Rogers
From: The neighborhood

Comments:
Regarding the early childhood daycare center being proposed by Dr. Brown. How about you take care of the programs you already have in place? Spending $67,000 for a feasibility study? You have a special education department that is understaffed and overworked. Your solution has been to mainstream these kids into the general education classroom with little to no support. Teachers are not to blame! Madison does not have enough qualified staff to provide the students with the education they deserve.
MCS expects the regular education teacher to modify the curriculum, control behaviors and then teach the rest of the class.
Some will say how hard can that be? The general population has no idea what teachers go through every single day. More and more is added to their plates. Before you throw stones try subbing for a day or talk to a teacher.
Maybe a childcare center is feasible in the future, but take care of what you have now.
Spend our tax dollars WISELY. If something works you don't need to spend money on the next new thing that comes along.
Look at your special education department.. Give them the opportunity to succeed. Don't just dump them in a classroom without support. Figure out a way to hire more qualified staff, reduce class size and encourage parental involvement.
Make sure every child has a path to success!
This is Madison. We need to do what is right for our children and our community.

Added: November 18, 2024 07:20:29 PM

Submitted by
Name: Jack

Comments:
Is the van on Main street that directs to the Lumber Mill Antique place. Does it even run and tagged. Does Rick Grote own this Van?
It looks awful!

Miss Madison racing team, sell it who cares it has not been a true sport for many years. A true dying breed.

Is the City still building Apartments behind Hobby Lobby?
:!cry:

Added: November 18, 2024 03:04:14 PM

Submitted by
Name: admin

Comments:
The Miss Madison Racing Team appears to have been sold/ or is in the process of being sold.
This includes the entire two boat team.
While we’re pretty sure of the potential buyer, we have no confirmation, and will not name who the person/ company is.
This story is obviously developing and we’re still gathering facts and information.
But, as we said, we’re pretty confident this news has legs and something is in the works.
And that’s why we felt our readers needed to know that something is going on.
What does this potentially mean for the city of Madison, the Madison Regatta and H1 Unlimited?
Lots of questions still to be answered.
Time will tell what impact it could have on the sport.

Added: November 18, 2024 11:31:03 AM

Submitted by
Name: Future of our schools.
From: Madison

Comments:
I agree children in an environment of structured education and social interaction more than likely have better outcomes. I’m not sure what statistics/sources are being cited, but do those translate to our community or situation.

Regardless, there are debatable issues regarding the early child development center being proposed and questions that need answering regarding the overall impact to MCS short term and long term.

First. Is early child care the primary mission of MCS? Should MCS be allocating resources for toddlers and Infants or expanding opportunities for existing students? This fall a decision was made and eventually reversed to merge 2 classes at Rykers Ridge. Yet three rooms (not full) were staffed at the Jr High (paying educators wages) for infants and toddlers. What is a better use of resources? Would our elementary students benefit from smaller class size? What is the focus of this administration?

Second. Scope of project. Does this need to be a $20,000,000 plus project to provide an early learning option for our community? The administration says this is tax neutral project because of bonds maturing. Will a project at this price inhibit the ability for the system to address current and future building and maintenance needs by issuing long term bonds? Are there other more pressing building and maintenance needs? (Windows that don’t leak at Rykers Ridge, HVAC revamps always seem to be an issue, plumbing at the JR High seemed to be a problem a few years ago, parking lot resurfacing).

Third. Can the school afford it? The construction of the center will be paid for by a bond (debt repaid by tax dollars). Can the school system afford to operate and staff the facility without adding to the yearly deficit? In short will it be able to support itself.
Will the revenue from the education center be able to pay teachers, ISP, director, SRO, janitors, food service, office staff, utilities, etc?
A former board member says the school has run a significant deficit (over a million dollars a year for the past 2 years). Is this accurate?
It didn’t appear from the newspaper article that much is even known regarding financial impact outside of binding/construction.
If the need is as touted, who gets priority admissIon? MCS Staff? Corporate partners? Economically disadvantaged?
Will this be affordable ? Is it $100 a week , $250 a week, $500 a week for care?

If this project continues to add to the yearly deficit, how can teachers pay be increased?

Our teachers have been given stipends the last 2 years (a raise this year). If you have ever worked for a company that gives stipends instead of raises, you understand that is done to avoid increasing reoccurring costs.

Is this a project driven by the patrons of MCS or by the administration? Reach out to board members and administrators give them your thoughts and ask questions. Information provided by Dr Brown and her administration will more than likely be supporting this project.
You can contact board members and Dr. Brown through the school website or show up at a public meeting to show support, oppose or ask for more information about this project.

The future of our school and more importantly our children will greatly be influenced by this project.

The direction and future of our school system should be determined by the patrons of MCS.

Added: November 18, 2024 10:31:42 AM

Submitted by
Name: *** Illiteracy
From: Madison
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
"***" said all we need to know about the quality of our educational system. Typographical errors, failure to construct proper sentences, subject verb issues...YIKES. You are a teacher from Indiana? If so, these kids need to start reading reading on their own at age two to overcome what you would do to them in their school years.

Added: November 18, 2024 08:12:10 AM

Submitted by
Name: MCHS teacher
From: Madison
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
TO ***

You say you are a former teacher in Northern indiana. That means you've never worked here. That means you really don't know what it's like here. Our Administration stinks! As long as it stinks it's not going to get any better. You can decorate it up with all of the daycare centers that you want, but it's not going to do any good. I guarantee you somewhere down the line this will fail and we will be paying for it. Perhaps you'd like to be the one to write out the check.

Added: November 18, 2024 12:58:26 AM

Submitted by
Name: * * *
From: Madison

Comments:
Get all the facts before you put the idea down.
Did you read full article in Courier?
As a former teacher in northern Indiana, I know those statics are real.
If child goes to licensed early child care, they are more likely to graduate.
More likely to get further education. Yes, even trade school.
My opinion, but it has to help their self esteem because they don’t start school behind and struggle thru school.
The things children need to know to enter kindergarten are much more than when we went to school. They learn them in preschool and PreK.
Socialization is also important.
Many in Madison complain about our schools.
If our children get a good foundation, they are for sure more successful!
We would end up with more successful students! And I imagine less criticism of our schools.
Something to consider.
Look for and act for facts.

Added: November 17, 2024 07:51:46 PM

Submitted by
Name: MchsTeacher
From: Madison
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
So the school is going through with a daycare center that they don't need. I guess that will be the new Administration office. At least we know that Lawhead will be there. After all, he is the biggest whiny baby there is.

Added: November 17, 2024 04:12:13 PM