BURNETT COUNTY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015 VOL. 54 NO. 12 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00
TIME OUT FOR SPORTS: Winter Sports Preview inside this edition.
‘What’s wrong with this picture?’ BY TODD BECKMANN SENTINEL
TODD BECKMANN | SENTINEL
... and so it begins Public works employees were busy clearing snow Tuesday morning as two inches of heavy, wet snow accumulated on village streets.
SIREN—Are there problems with the criminal justice system in Burnett County? Most would answer ‘Yes,’ but help may be on the way in the form of a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC). While the council wasn’t before the Burnett County Board of Supervisors looking for formal approval earlier in November, it did want to inform members of the ‘why’s’ behind the program. “A part of the impetus for us forming this council is because of our drug court funding,” Ken Kutz, Burnett County Circuit Court judge, explained to the members. Up to this point, the drug court has been funded through a Treatment and Diversion (TAD) grant offered through the Wisconsin Department of Justice. “By 2017, a requirement of the TAD grant demands that we have a CJCC in place,” he continued. “We’ve talked about establishing a council before we even started the drug court,” Kutz added. “The council, similar to drug court, is where we gather everyone who is related to the criminal justice system in some way — the DA, a defense attorney, the court, the jail, law enforcement and probation and parole.” The goal of the CJCC is quite simple. “We want to identify problems in the criminal justice system, determine what causes those problems and come up with possible solutions,” Kutz enumerated. As circuit judge, Kutz knows jail overcrowding is one of the problems near the top of the list. SEE JUSTICE, PAGE 6
Building confidence in Webster BY TODD BECKMANN SENTINEL
WEBSTER—Students leading parent-teacher conferences? Truth is stranger than fiction as 22 parents or sets of parents of the 39 fifth graders in the Webster School District took part in student-led parent-teacher conferences earlier this fall. Monica Gunderson and Laura Krenz, the fifth grade teachers who spearheaded the effort, were on hand at last week’s Webster School Board meeting to relay the outcome to board members. “It was the first time we’ve tried student-led conferences,” Jim Erickson, superintendent,
more involvement in the learning process, including taking responsibility for what they are learning, goes hand-in-hand with student expectations.” To that end, the students were able to show their parent or parents on their chromebook what they are doing and where they need to improve. “The teachers gave them a template and told them these are the things you have to talk about with your parents— what classes you’re being successful at, which classes need more effort, reading proficiency, that kind of thing,”
Jim Erickson
explained. “By giving the kids
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Judge Ken Kutz
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