At Wednesday's board meeting we received a report from several Maywood staff members who detailed the implementation, management and results of the RtI programming in the school. I thought the presentation was an excellent illustration of how leadership, support services, professional development and science of education all need to come together to deliver a quality education.
Other items of note:
The board approved final notices of layoff for 11 teachers; 5 of the notices are only reductions in hours, and 2 of those eliminated were part time- the total reduction is 6.44FTE.
Some of these reductions are not related to budget cuts, but are the usual changes we see each spring due to things like leave of absence returns and adjustments for changing numbers of students.
We also spent some time discussing committee responsibilities. I have proposed that the board take some action to either expand committee roles or create special committees to address specific issues. I think we have a lot of public interest in helping the district this year and I don't think the traditional committee structures will be able to take full advantage of that support. The areas that I am concerned about are the budget and performance. We have very difficult budget problems before us, and we are really in need of innovative ideas if we are to avoid a death by a thousand cuts in the coming years. I also believe the board should create or adapt a structure to formalize its attention to issues of performance in the district. The idea is to institutionalize a focus on educational performance at the board level so that these issues get the recognition and attention that they need.
The board also discussed the location of the Alt. High School. Currently we are leasing space in a separate building, the idea is to bring the program into a district owned building to both provide more space (needed for expansion and enhanced programming) and save a bit of money. We had been considering moving the program into Nichols, but last night we also considered utilizing space in Winnequah School. The board needs to make this decision by the end of the month. In the end the board asked for the administration to provide additional information associated with the costs and issues of both options.
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15 comments:
Peter-
Good stuff. What is the deal with the teachers "working the contract". My kids (MGHS and GDS) have both have teachers say that they won't be doing some of the projects at the end of the year because the teachers cannot grade them within the "work the contract" hours. What is the deal?
As a former teacher, when I here stuff like that...it really annoys me. If you have problems with administration...take it out on administration not the kids.
MM3,
If you have kids that old, then you have been through this before unless you are new to the district, although the last time was probably 4 or 6 years ago and it mostly impacts the HS kids. The teachers in MG do this whenever they are not getting their way in contract negotiations and they have been doing it for more than 25 years.
They use the kids as weapons. They manipulate them to go home and tell their parents this stuff. They tell them the Big Bad School District is being unfair and most of the kids and some of the parents buy into it. In the past they have done stuff like picket the dedication of the new high school (tacky beyond belief) or hand out literature to parents as they are going to a concert.
Now of course, we can never really know The Truth because it's all a Big Secret about what is going on with the negotiations. But consider this. Who has the most to gain by letting this drag on and who has the most to lose? Guess who is more likely to get what they want by this tactic? Hints: 1. Once the contract is settled the teachers get any back pay they are entitled to. 2. There is a reason why the teachers have been using these tactics for more than two decades.
Don't like it? Want to save our younger kids from the impact of this in future years? Then ask the board not to cave into the temper tantrums.
I do not hate teachers. I think they are wonderful, but the leadership of their union is out to lunch and out of touch with reality. There is no hidden cache of money to pay them what they are really worth. Many of us have suffered under this recession. Some of their own members are being laid off this year. I am amazed they are not working with the district in this budget climate to soften the impact. Nobody expects the teachers to absorb the entire budget shortfall, but they should at least be part of the picture!
Anyone know where Ms. Fox fits into this puzzle? She is a retired MG teacher. Does she have to stay out of these contract issues altogether?
The deal is that the union and the board are still in negotiations on the contract for the current year.
Apparently teachers, at least in the high school, have started “working to the contract”. I can’t speak for the union, but generally this means that teachers won’t participate in activities outside the scope of work described in the contract.
The deal is that the union and the board are still in negotiations on the contract for the current year.
Apparently teachers, at least in the high school, have started “working to the contract”. I can’t speak for the union, but generally this means that teachers won’t participate in activities outside the scope of work described in the contract.
Susan Fox is not a member of the bargaining unit so there is no conflict with her participating in the negotiations.
Ms. Fox is not entitled to any benefits covered under the contract?
Parents,
It is very important to contact your child's principal if they come home and tell you their teacher said something would not be happening because of the contract issues. Teachers are not required to work outside the contact, but they are required to perform their duties. Further, talk of the contact problems is inappropriate in most, if not all, classroom seettings. Often the building principal is the last to find out what is going on - make sure they know.
-er, sorry, I meant "contract" not "contact"
what is the deal with the chinese proverb?
"Adding links that point to the spammer's web site artificially increases the site's search engine ranking. An increased ranking often results in the spammer's commercial site being listed ahead of other sites for certain searches, increasing the number of potential visitors and paying customers."
So Peter are we kinda in deep water with our Business Services person leaving? She always has struck me as serious, knowledgeable and honest. I think we should all take note of your most recent comments be it you be a board member or a citizen. .
http://www.herald-independent.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=21&ArticleID=1755
This is a fine kettle of fish. We hardly need to read between the lines on this article. The dysfunction of this board and its leadership has now cost this district one of its most important employees. What really stands out is the board president's hubris and arrogance. There is no recognition on her part of the very serious problems with how this board treats its employees. A "young board" is the excuse? Wouldn't you think that if a board is inexperienced, they might actually give great weight to the recommendations and advice of their very experienced adminsitrators? Even worse is her confidence (a fine line between confidence and arrogance) that a good replacement will be found. Surely she is not so naive as to believe that school district finance managers, superintendents and principals do not have formal and informal networks. Ms. Van Valin is well known and highly respected. Do we really think that any qualified applicant isn't going to pick up the phone, call Ms. Van Valin or any other administrator at MG and get the scoop on what is happening here?
This should be a wake up call to this school board. Time to suck it up, get humble, and figure out what they are going to do to function effectively or the loss of good people will continue.
I totally agree with the above poster. I do not know Ms Van Valin, but I know she is very effective at her job. The article in the Herald is so telling- You simply cannot feel good about being in a job that you work hard at when you are consistently treated badly, demanded to work harder, and micromanaged by the board. The relationship between this board and the administration is the worst it has ever been, and we are going to continue to lose very talented people. At the very least, adults should be polite to each other. So infuriating.
Why do you think certain families feel that they can stop their vehicle on Maywood Road-hold up traffic while the drop their kids off in the middle of the road?
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