News

By Al Stanek
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

The City of Whitewater’s revitalization plan for its two downtown lakes may need to be re-examined due to higher-than-expected dredging bids presented to the Whitewater Common Council on November 16.

Both Cravath and Trippe lakes have experienced excess growth of unwanted plant species over the years along with a reduction in lake depth due primarily to silt infiltration. The 70 acre Cravath Lake east of Whitewater’s City Hall and the east side Trippe Lake (121 acres) were scheduled for dredging as part of a revitalization effort estimated to cost less than $1.5 million. Both lakes, at one time, were deeper and cleaner with a swimming beach on Trippe Lake and rented paddle boats and water ski shows featured at Cravath Lake.

City Parks and Recreation Director Eric Boettcher told the Common Council that the two bids on the dredging project both exceeded the budgeted dollar estimate. One bid was just under $2.5 million and another just over $3.8 million.

The council voted to reject both bids and begin negotiations with a contractor of staff’s choosing for options that could accommodate the project’s budget. Options generated at the Common Council level included just dredging one lake, estimating how much dredging could be done under the proposed budget, doing some dredging in future years, and getting the firms that showed interest in the project to spend more time examining the lakes.

City resident Geoff Hale, who accompanied representatives of proposed bidders and city staff as they reviewed the lakes and the proposed area where the dredged material would go, commented that bidding firm representatives did not even walk any of the lakes area. Parks and Recreation Director Boettcher pointed out that the site review took place right after a 2.5 inch rainfall and an exceptionally wet period which might have indicated more of an obstacle to the project than normal.

The November 16 Common Council meeting also included an initial rejection of a proposed future commitment of $3 million of city funds to a library remodeling and expansion project for the City’s Irvin L. Young Memorial Library. The total project is expected to cost just over $5 million with the Library Board of Trustees committed to providing the remaining over $2 million.

While City staff and members of the Common Council expressed support for the project, they were concerned with the cost estimates. Library Director Stacey Lunsford explained that a fundraising campaign will begin next year and that a firm commitment of funds from the City would make fundraising less difficult. Library Board of Trustees President Anne Hartwick said that they have been working with five similar sized communities who have successfully raised funding for a library project and pointed out that all but one of those projects obtained a commitment of city funds in advance of fundraising. Hartwick also argued that using a standard cost per square foot estimate to compare the project’s cost with other building projects would be deceiving as the project includes only roughly 7,000 square feet of new construction with significant remodeling of the remaining nearly 12,000 square feet of the existing structure which was built in 1993.

In other business the Common Council approved a 2022 city operating budget of just over $10 million and independent Wastewater Utility, Water Utility and Stormwater Utility budgets that totaled over $15 million. This adopted budget included an estimate of city expenses for 2023 which can be amended by future Common Council action.

The City Budget Public Hearing presentation included an analysis that indicated that last year’s city residential property rate was the second lowest among nine area communities and cautioned that changes in how Fire and Emergency Medical Services are funded in the future may require a significant increase in the 2022 city tax levy. There were no public comments offered during the hearing.

Common Council members also heard an announcement by Council President and long-time council member Lynn Binnie that he will not be seeking re-election in April. Binnie represents the city’s 4th District which includes much of the city’s southwest neighborhoods. Binnie was first elected in 2008 and has served as Common Council President since 2020.

By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) on November 16 published school and district “accountability report cards” for the 2020-21 school year. Per DPI, the department is required by federal and state law to annually published accountability reports, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the reports were suspended for the 2019-20 school year. In releasing this year’s reports, DPI stated that it “urges using caution when interpreting scores and ratings” due to the pandemic.

Report cards range from five stars, denoting schools and districts that significantly exceed expectations, to one star for those that fail to meet expectations. Of the 421 school districts that received report cards, 399 (95%) at least met expectations, and Whitewater Unified School District (WUSD) “met expectations.” Lakeview and Washington Elementary Schools “exceeded expectations,” receiving 4 stars, while the Middle School met “few expectations,” receiving 2 stars. Lincoln Elementary and the High School “met expectations.” 87% of the schools in the state that were ranked scored at least as meeting expectations.

Scores are calculated in four priority areas: achievement; growth; target group outcomes; and on-track to graduation. Per DPI, “By law, the larger the percentage of a school or district’s students who are economically disadvantaged, the more the growth measure contributes to its overall score. This allows schools and districts to be rewarded for advancing students’ progress regardless of their starting level.” The report cards shows WUSD as having 50.3% economically disadvantaged students.

Complete report cards for WUSD and its schools may be found here (click on green box and choose “Whitewater Unified” under “District.”)

District Superintendent Dr. Caroline Pate-Hefty provided the Banner with the following statement regarding the report cards, “In line with 95% of Wisconsin ranked schools, Whitewater Unified  School District (WUSD), district report card received an overall accountability rating of ‘Meets Expectations.’ This is due to the exceptionally hard work our students and staff committed to, through a pandemic. From here, we will continue to push upwards and forward to meet the needs of our students. We have increased academic intervention services, are completing a program review of our language programs, have initiated birth-5 ‘Partners In Play’ programming with UWW and have been ranked by US News and World Reports as having the best elementary schools in the state of Wisconsin.” (The Banner article regarding “Best Elementary Schools” may be found here.)

The following measures are shown on the WUSD and individual school report cards.

Measure	WUSD	Lake	Linc	Wash	Middle	High	K-12 state
Overall score	62.8 ***	75.0 ****	61.1 ***	80.1 ****	55.3 **	67.9 ***
Achievement	58.0	81.9	54.6	73.1	52.7	53.9
Eng/Lang Arts	59.7	78.4	53.9	72.0	56.8	55.7	61.4
Math	56.3	85.4	55.3	74.2	48.5	52.0	59.4
Growth	57.5	58.4	51.8	77.4	47.0	68.9
Eng/Lang Arts	52.7	50.8	43.2	66.0	48.9	62.2	66.0
Math	62.2	66.0	60.3	88.8	45.1	75.5	66.0
Target Group Outcomes	50.9	N/A	54.2	N/A	40.2	57.8
Achievement	19.9		22.0		14.4	13.9
Growth	55.6		53.7		44.2	67.0
Chronic Absenteeism	82.3		92.1		82.6	75.8
Graduation	89.8					92.0
Attendance			95.7		94.5
On-Track to Graduation	85.0	92.1	85.5	91.2	84.0	90.8
Chronic absenteeism	90.0	93.8	91.0	95.0	90.4	85.2	87.0
Graduation	94.1						91.5
School wide attendance		95.2	95.5	96.3	96.0		95.0
3rd grade Eng/Lang Arts	67.0	82.4	54.3	73.6			58.9
8th grade Math	47.0				47.3		55.3

DPI describes the four scores as follows:

1. Achievement measures the level of knowledge and skills among students in the school, compared to state and national standards. It includes a composite of reading and mathematics performance by the “all students” group in the Wisconsin Student Assessment System (WSAS) for all tested grades in the school.
2. Growth describes how much student knowledge of reading and mathematics in the school changes from year to year. It uses a point system that gives positive credit for students progressing toward higher performance levels, and negative credit for students declining below proficiency. This area focuses not on attainment, but the pace of improvement in student performance, no matter where students begin. All improvement is treated as a positive. Schools with high performance and little room to grow are not penalized.
3. Target Group Outcomes demonstrates outcomes for students with the lowest test scores in their school – the Target Group. Outcomes are displayed for achievement, growth, chronic absenteeism, and attendance or graduation rate.
4. On-Track to Graduation indicates the success of students in the school in achieving educational milestones that predict postsecondary success. It includes chronic-absenteeism and the graduation rate for schools that graduate students, or the attendance rate for other schools. It also includes measures of third-grade reading and eighth-grade mathematics achievement, as applicable to the school.

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the League of Women Voters – Whitewater Area.

The League of Women Voters-Whitewater Area invites the public to attend a virtual presentation, “Practical Climate Change Solutions for a Better Future,” on Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. with Dr. John Frye, Associate Professor of Geography, Geology, and Environmental Science at the University of ​Wisconsin – Whitewater.

Using a simulation model, Dr. Frye will illustrate how creating changes to our current policies can profoundly shape our world. The goal of this presentation will be to slow the warming of our planet to below 2°C by the end of the century. Discussion will include how these proposed changes may be achieved on both the global and local scales.

This event will be virtual. To attend live, please join the webinar by using the URL: https://bit.ly/lwv-ww_climate Or, join us by telephone: Dial (312) 626-6799, Webinar ID: 851 9285 5916, Passcode: 447960. The event will also be livestreamed on the LWV-WW Facebook page (facebook.com/lwvwhitewater.org), as well as recorded and made available to the public afterwards.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Visit our website at https://my.lwv.org/wisconsin/whitewater-area and like us on Facebook!

The image on the homepage, “global warm” by herae30 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Would you like to send a personalized letter to Santa and receive a letter back??

A Letters To Santa Mailbox is now located in the South Side vestibule at City Hall, located off of Whitewater Street.

Everyone has the fun opportunity to personalize a letter to Santa with a return address on the letter somewhere, drop off the letter in the designated mailbox, and receive a letter back from Santa before the Holidays.

The mailbox will be available Nov 15th- Dec 17th. If you would like a letter back, please be sure your return address is located on the letter; you do not need a self-addressed envelope.

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Another $56,000 has been awarded to vaccinated University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students as part of the ongoing efforts to keep the campus community as safe and healthy as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The latest round of scholarships comes as UW System announced Tuesday that 70 students have been selected through a random drawing to receive a $7,000 scholarship under the System’s Vax Up! “70 for 70” campaign. Eight Warhawks were chosen. 

“I got vaccinated to keep those around me safe. I completely isolated myself during quarantine, and it affected my mental health tremendously,” said Sydnie Holmes of Kenosha County, a women’s and gender studies major and one of UW-Whitewater’s scholarship winners. “Getting vaccinated meant I could see family and friends again without having the anxiety that something bad would happen to them. I was extremely proud of our campus for reaching the 70% goal. It gives me more hope that our society can bounce back from the pandemic and return to ‘normal.’”

Scholarship winner Hannah Mayer of Oak Forest, Illinois, a human resource management major, got vaccinated to protect her family and classmates and was excited to do her part to help UW-Whitewater surpass the vaccination goal.

“Knowing that enough of my fellow classmates took protecting their peers seriously showed me that I chose this school for a reason. I will always be proud to be a Warhawk, and this just adds to my pride!” Hannah said.

In addition to the $7,000 scholarships, earlier this semester UW-Whitewater was able to award $500 each to 40 vaccinated students as part of a weekly drawing. University Housing is also awarding first-assignment rights to two randomly selected vaccinated students, who will get first choice of their residence hall next year.

“All of the vaccination incentives — funded by UW System and generous donors to UW-Whitewater — made it possible for us to have a vibrant university experience this year with in-person classes and events,” said Interim Chancellor Jim Henderson. “It’s a win-win situation for our university community in that we are encouraging safe behaviors to combat the pandemic and also helping our students financially.”

The university’s vaccination rate is currently 77% for students and 91% for employees. Students, faculty and staff who have not yet done so are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated if they are able, and to report it to UW-Whitewater as soon as possible.

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the WHS Players.

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Everybody cut loose as the WHS Players burst onto the stage with the explosive movie musical Footloose! Based on the 1984 film, this Oscar and Tony-nominated Top Forty score will keep audiences rockin’ from start to finish!

When Ren and his mother move from Chicago to a small farming town, he is prepared for the inevitable adjustment period at his new high school. But he’s not prepared for the strict local laws, including a ban on dancing instituted by the local preacher. Reverend Moore is determined to exercise control over the town’s youth, including his rebellious daughter who sets her sights on Ren. The heartfelt story that emerges pins a father longing for the son he lost against a young man aching for the father who walked out on him. Footloose celebrates the wisdom of listening to young people while guiding them with a warm heart and open mind.

Performances of Footloose will be held at the Whitewater high school auditorium on November 18, 19, and 20 at 7:30 p.m. and November 21 at 2 p.m.  Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. All seats are reserved and can be purchased by calling the box office at 262-472-8178.