As Elmbrook Considers a Task Force and Referendum Debt Payments, We Review Prior Task Forces
The DEI and School Reopening Task Force both created waves in the community.
On 12/5/22, a meeting occurred at Pilgrim Park attended by the full Board and all members of senior leadership.
Referendum debt payments are expected to roll off for taxpayers in 2028 (see page 59), and instead of returning those savings to the taxpayers, senior leadership may want another referendum to continue spending.
Senior leadership talked about investing in Pilgrim Park, but when questioned about what exactly is needed, they had few specifics and simply spoke of addressing gaps in facility standards across the district.
Elmbrook recently spent ~$500k in summer 2022 for a library refresh at Brookfield Elementary for things like better sight lines and rolling bookshelves. This initial spend opened the door for senior leadership to say all elementary libraries need remodeling. On 11/17/22, the next library remodel at Burleigh was discussed by Finance & Operations Committee members Jian Sun, Jen Roskopf and Jean Lambert. The price tag for Burleigh's library refresh? $896k.
At the meeting on 12/5/22, Elmbrook senior leadership (Mark Hansen $213k salary, Chris Thompson $149k salary in 21-22, Tanya Fredrich $147k salary in 21-22) talked about creating a task force to generate ideas. Recent task forces have a less than pleasant history.
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Workgroup in the fall of 2020 caused an uproar in the community when it tried to put equity, not equality in the District Strategic Map. This added to work already done by ICS for Equity and materials discovered in classrooms (see previous updates). Note the Critical Race Theory (CRT) themes of labeling identities clearly shown here and here, yet Chris Thompson told the Journal Sentinel on 5/28/21 via email, "We do not teach Critical Race Theory to our students nor train our staff on its tenets." In the 5/25/21 Listening Session (at 31:55), the Board heard that CRT was directly referenced on 11/23/20 DEI Workgroup notes (which have now been made private). Board members Scott Wheeler and Mushir Hassan were a part of the DEI workgroup.
The School Reopening Task Force in the summer of 2020 showcased non-inclusive and double standards of senior leadership when criticism from one member got her booted from the group. She used the word pussy to criticize some in her same profession. Mark Hansen said "It was a violation of community values" and "I also notified her that we would be removing her from the Task Force for violating our code of conduct expectations."
Pussy is used 15 times in "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" a book available in print to 14 year olds in Elmbrook. That book also contains 79 fucks, 51 shits and 11 dicks. Here's a video of a Dad discussing this book in another district.
We recently learned that "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" has been in libraries since 2013 (note: Mark Hansen became Superintendent in 2012), with an additional copy being ordered in the 21-22 school year. It appears Elmbrook finds language suitable for 14 year olds to read unacceptable for adults.