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VIEWER
Mounds View
2011-2012
http://mvviewer.org Friday, March 2, 2012
INSIDE
Volume 59
Find out what students favorite toys are
A look back at MV winter sports
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Say YEA to a new Council by Peter Olson staff reporter
Anoka-Hennepin ends its neutrality policy
Issue 8
The Youth Encouraging Awareness club (YEA) has promoted diversity in Mounds View High School for several years by planning events such as the Cultural Explosion, the Somalia Benefit Gala and Black History Month. It may soon hand over responsibility for planning and organizing these activities to another group. This week, YEA members approved the formation of the Diversity Council, a group that would be in charge of planning events previously sponsored by YEA. All that remains to officially create the group is for the Mounds View administration to approve the plan. The hope is that the Diversity Council will make planning for events more efficient. The Diversity Council plan won’t put YEA out of the picture. Rather, YEA and the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) will both be subordinate to the Diversity Council. Each club will function as usual, but they will work together to organize big events. The Diversity Council will further elevate GSA’s stature. Currently, GSA is a subsidiary of YEA, which is a schoolsponsored activity. When the first GSA was proposed in 2005, there was a strong push back from the student body. The current GSA was formed last year with little resistance. “I think there was a lot of misunderstanding among some that it [GSA] was an attempt to influence students to leave one lifestyle and adopt another lifestyle,” said Principal Julie Wikelius, who was also the principal when the first GSA was proposed. “I don’t think there’s any concern
about that now.” The proposed Diversity Council plan will consist of eight officers and two to four representatives from each club and each grade. The position of officer is open to anyone, including those who aren’t in YEA. “We hope to get more diverse backgrounds in the Diversity Council,” said YEA President Kami Choi, 11. The process of running for officer will require completing an application. Once the application is approved, Mounds View’s entire student body will vote for who they
photo by Joy Xie
Cultural Explosion, shown above, is one of the many events that Diversity Council may organize if approved.
District offers retirement incentive by Nathaniel Nikoi and Sasha Safonov staff reporters The district has offered teachers nearing retirement an incentive plan to encourage them to retire this year. Only three Mounds View teachers are taking advantage of this plan, although more are qualified. The teachers may cash in their sick days up to a value of $25,000. “I have been pondering retirement, and would have gone parttime this year, so the district proposal was an encouragement,” said math teacher Charlotte Osborn. The other two Mounds View teachers chose not to reveal their names. Teachers who qualify are at least 55 with a minimum of 20 years teaching. John Ward, director of Human Resources and School Operations, said 15 teachers districtwide are using the incentive to retire. This proposal came about because of a shortage of money in the district. “We haven’t had money. The district was scraping by,” said John Ward, Director of Human Resources
want to be officers. “The student body will be more represented in the Diversity Council,” said Choi. “Their opinions will be heard.” GSA President John Voskresensky, 12, supports this plan. “It gives students the awesome opportunity to experience and interact with many cultures.” If the Diversity Council plan is approved, then it will start either at the end of this year or the beginning of the 2012-2013 year.
and School Operations. He said new teachers, who will be hired to replace the retiring teachers, cost less in wages and benefits. Next year, the $25,000 sum plus the cost of a new teacher could equal what the retired teacher would have cost, but in future years there will be savings. “We are spending money to save money,” said Ward. For example, he said, a teacher who has been here for at least 20 years may earn around $70,000 with $15,600 in benefits for family health insurance, a total of $85,600. A new hire would make around $37,000 and have a cheaper benefit package worth $12,900 for family health insurance, a total of $49,900. For participating teachers, this was great news. But this comes at the loss of beloved teachers, like Osborn. “School is going to be like a lightbulb without the light - Ms. Osborn is the best,” said Sola Olateju, 10. Students’ reactions to the incentive plan were mixed. Some were glad to open more opportunities to new teachers. “For most teachers this incentive
plan would be a good thing, because some teachers can adapt to changing times and others cannot,” Olateju said. “It might be harder for students in terms of how the new teachers would be teaching their classes, due to... [their] different teaching styles,” said Noble Koshy, 11. English teacher David Weinberg is retiring, although not under the incentive plan. He said, “It’s good to have new teacher bring all the latest technology and latest teaching techniques,but they lack experience, and you can’t teach experience.” Ward said in addition to the economic benefit, the district saw it as a benefit to teachers. “We were doing it because we thought we were in a financial position to do it,” said Ward, “and really it’s a way of saying thanks for their service.”
Layoff Plan Proposed by Maximillian Wang news editor A recent bill passed by the Minnesota House would modify the current seniority system established for teachers in Minnesota, where teachers that have been teaching for the fewest number of years are laid off first. The new system would rate teachers as “effective” or “ineffective,” so that if layoffs were to occur in a school district, “ineffective” teachers with the least seniority would lose their jobs first. The Mounds View Education Association (MVEA), Mounds View’s teacher union, is strongly opposed to this bill. Barb Kettering, the MVEA president, said, “I strongly believe that students benefit from more experienced teachers in ways that they do not benefit from inexperienced teachers.”
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