The Good News (Thank goodness for the parents and teachers)!
Congratulations to Darlene Bullock, the Physical Education Teacher at the Area Elementary school. In March, Ms. Bullock will receive the Elementary School Outstanding Service Award from the National Intramural Sports Council. The Council noted the quality of the after school programs (PeeWee Basketball and Gymnastic Gems) that she developed. Ms. Bullock is also being inducted into SRU’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Ms. Bullock is my child’s teacher as well as her coach in both PeeWee and Gems. These awards are well deserved!
Sigma Tau Gamma, a local fraternity, presented a check for $300 to the Area Elementary School in appreciation for the huge number of books donated to the fraternity’s annual book drive (Last year a $200 check was given to Moraine, and a $500 check was given to Har-Mer the year before that).
Principal Cokain informed the Board that the Home and School Association at Har-Mer has arranged for a visit by 2 players from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team’s manager, and two broadcast announcers. Originally, all they asked for was the Parrot, but it turns out the team is in between mascots. A player and announcer were scheduled to come on Dec. 12, but the snow delay caused the event to be canceled. Sounds like things worked out for the best, though.
And Student Representative Ismail had a spirited suggestion. The student council has recommended changing the address of the HS from 201 Kiester to 201 Rocket Drive. Good idea, but no action was taken.
The Pretty Good News
You know, Superintendent Beaton seems to be trying to do the right thing. Last meeting, the Board directed her to develop a school calendar for next year that has school starting after Labor Day, and a calendar that has school starting before Labor Day. So she did, never suspecting the ambush Adams and Christmann had planned.
Well, Adams began beating that old drum once again. If Adams is correct, working families can only take vacations around Labor Day, so school needs to begin after that (um hm, chorused Christmann). Adams reminded the Board that they voted in March 2000 to begin the 2001-2002 academic year after Labor Day. Beaton, though, (not being aware of the March vote) understood from last week’s meeting that this was done in order to provide more time for construction. And since that wasn’t happening at this point in time….
Anyway, Beaton had already directed the principals to survey the staff, support personnel and PTA groups to see which schedule they prefer (Gee that seems logical. Thank you Dr. Beaton!!). Adams was concerned that these groups really weren’t speaking for the mass of parents (and, of course, he is!), but President Watson was willing to wait for feedback before a decision was made. Christmann, though, said the Board had already voted on starting after Labor Day ( hmmm, wonder why he didn’t tell her last week about the March vote), so…Attorney King reminded him that motions could be amended.
Dr. Beaton noted that there are drawbacks to starting after Labor Day, with the last day of school on June 13. Athletics begin before Labor Day. Graduating seniors aren’t able to take college classes. Military enlistments may be affected. Adams, though, is always thinking. Teens who work on Labor Day make time and a half. Needy folks need that money. Dr. Beaton quipped, that defeats your whole purpose. If they’re working, they aren’t on vacation with their families. I like this woman’s style!
Seems that Adams and Christmann are the only ones really pushing for this schedule. Wonder why?
Beaton also presented the Board with the “modified 180 day” calendar (translation – year round schooling) that Brad Smith had requested. The audience wasn’t given a copy, but is sounded like she said it was 9 weeks on, 2 weeks off. 8 weeks on, 2 weeks off. 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off, with the entire month of July off. This schedule would help with the unpaid leave problem, she stated.
The As Expected News
Value engineers looked at the Middle School renovation plan. A Building and Grounds meeting will be scheduled to discuss the details. But wait. It seems to me that parents and teachers were asked for their input regarding renovations at the Middle School. Surely in this election year, Board members wouldn’t ignore the suggestions of their employees and constituents, would they?
Politics, Politics, Politics
A January 29th court date has been set to review the District’s petition to alter the method of election of school directors (1:00, courtroom 3, Judge O’Brien presiding). The proposed reapportionment of the three regions will be presented. Mr. Cessar will testify. Board member Giesler has volunteered to attend, and Board member Youngman might be there, too. Citizens wishing to speak will be heard should just give solicitor King a call.
Smith and Adams, though, were surprised to find out that they could have tried for 9 regions, or even a combination of regions and at large. And they’re the ones making recommendations for how school directors are elected? Geez…
This Ain’t Political, This is Legal!
The Board voted to send a letter of support to the Seneca Valley School District regarding their challenge to the PSSA Writing test. The legislature got rid of the test, and the Dept. of Education is still making districts give it. Several of Mr. King’s districts have sent similar letters and are taking the State to court. King assured the Board that this is a legal, not a philosophical, challenge, and went on to explain the weakness of the test, with the less than objective test questions and the less than qualified assessors. None the less, it was good to have Mr. King himself back in the solicitor’s seat.
And So It Goes
The Board didn’t actually adjourn (they forgot to in haste to get to the Ex. Session), but the meeting was over and an executive session was held for legal matters, personnel, and litigation not yet filed. That doesn’t sound too good, does it?
The Board apparently was meeting in private prior to the meeting. However, they didn’t announce that they had been in executive session! If they did meet and didn’t announce it, they are in violation of the Open Meeting law. Business as usual…..
In a final note. I asked last week when the Board approved the “integration” of Core Knowledge. Watson directed that they would look into it. No mention was made about their findings………
LINKS PHONE NUMBERS PRIVACY VIOLATIONS SAFETY UPDATE BOARD SCHEDULE
THIS JUST IN! MESSAGE BOARD
The More Things Change…
You may remember that last week the illustrious Dr. Christmann informed each candidate for Duryea’s seat that the District had adopted Core Knowledge. So last night I asked if the Board could clear up the confusion swirling around the Core Knowledge curriculum. Some in the community are concerned, I continued, that this Board’s interest in Core Knowledge could be motivated by some members’ right wing political agendas.
I explained that groups such as the Heritage Foundation, the Rutherford Institute, and Citizens for Excellence in Education, The Get-equipped website, discuss such agendas, as does The Investor’s Business Daily (Remember when the Board (or Bill Adams??) paid for every Board member to have a subscription to Investor’s Business Daily?) I know that’s where I get all my information about education!!) Right wing Christian groups, too, have agendas, and talk about public education in terms of reconstructionism and deinstitutionalization (rhetoric that has found a home in this District.).
As my time drew to a close, I asked what I thought were two simple questions: When did the district adopt the Core Knowledge curriculum? And what exactly did Dr. Christmann understand the term “curriculum” to mean in the context of Core Knowledge?
Simple questions, or so I thought. The palpable silence was broken, first by the sound of Christmann’s sitting up straight and leaning over the table, then by the sound of the raised voice of an obviously irate public official. “Are you saying we didn’t adopt Core Knowledge?” Christmann blustered (Remember the Board passed a motion to integrate Core Knowledge content into the existing curriculum, then tabled the integration, pending further staff development). Christmann’s other insightful comments went something like, You tell me, you’ve been at all the meetings, you have the camera, what, did you miss a vote, what do you mean we motivated by political views? nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah….
Ok Christmann. Go read this article on Reading, Writing and Reconstructionism: The Christian Right and the Politics of Public Education. It spells out exactly what I was saying about the conservertive agendas that this board is following! Beaton, Nogay- this is must reading for you too.
Whose records are they? I’m not on the Board! I always thought elected officials were accountable to the public, not the other way around. Things sure are confusing here in the Slippery Rock School District.
Bottom line? Did they adopt the curriculum? “I think we have,” Christmann continued, saying that the district was going to move forward with Core Knowledge. (Remember, all you teachers who wrote our existing curriculum, you’re just amateurs…Oh and middle school teachers, get ready. Christmann’s now pushing for K-8 Core Knowledge). After a short discussion with Superintendent Beaton, Watson said he understood that a vote had been taken to integrate Core Knowledge into K-5, but integration and adopting a curriculum are different things. That’s true. But what is ignored is the fact that the motion was tabled. Click here for background on the vote and the denegration of our teachers-8-16-99 Update.
Core Knowledge fan Christmann never did answer what he understand the term “curriculum” to mean in the context of Core Knowledge. I guess not. Cause that brings us to the crux of the matter. Is this District going to adopt Core Knowledge hook, line and sinker? If so, that means that all the content must be taught in the sequence established by the Core Knowledge Foundation. If we want the same results that other schools get, then we have to implement Core Knowledge according the Foundation’s guidelines.
But maybe what this District would be just as happy with is a do-it-yourself version of Core Knowledge. That way they could leave out all that Buddhist stuff, the sex education and evolution (Creationism, here we come!!!). Of course, you wouldn’t really be doing Core Knowledge in any official way (it ain’t about the test scores anyway), but at least the good ol’ boys could brag to their conservative buddies that they got Core Knowledge into the schools. Just a little is enough for bragging rights. Plus it might just be a good punishment for all of those uppity teachers who just got that big ol’ raise….
Superintendent Beaton also addressed Core Knowledge. She has spoken with all of the elementary teachers and discovered that the teachers just don’t have enough information about Core Knowledge. In fact, they’ve received misinformation. A significant number of the teachers want to know more about it, and want to get solid information. But it has to be a grass roots movement and teachers have to want to do it for Core Knowledge to be successful.
Teachers do have to support Core Knowledge for it to be successful, but do they have enough information to make a professional decision about the curriculum? Several Core Knowledge speakers (was it three or four different groups?) have addressed the faculty. Teachers have taken trips to Core Knowledge schools and attended the Core Knowledge conference. They’ve been given copies of the Core Knowledge Sequence and a book called Becoming a Core Knowledge School. Hm… I guess that they just aren’t professional enough to make up their own minds!
And saga continues…..
Reapportionment and Voting Regions
A motion was made to authorize the solicitor to prepare a petition to modify the current voting regions in the district prior to February 13, 2001 (the date that candidates for the School Board begin circulating their petitions). A written proposal, describing the changes in the regions, was circulated. Mr. Giesler was extremely knowledgeable about the issue, using terms like “inequitable” and “what the school code requires”. Attorney Hnath referred to their earlier discussions about creating a two region plan, but he found out the school code won’t permit this.
Earlier discussions? When? Who was involved? Surely not more than 2 Board members – then it becomes official deliberations. I thought the Board always had to meet in public, except for issues that require an executive session (personnel, pending litigation, etc.). I didn’t know that changing how citizens vote was a private issue. Silly me. I guess I thought the citizens should be part of this.
Citizens will have a chance to be heard at the Court’s hearing. You have to wonder why the Board doesn’t want at-large voting – couldn’t be political, especially in this election year -–Could it???
Committee Membership
A new policy was introduced that collapses the 6 sub-committees of the Board into 4 sub-committees (Operations, Educational Programming, Personnel, and Athletic). The President would appoint members, and everyone would serve on two committees. Gielser and Christmann took exception to the policy that said that only members on the committee could vote; any other Board members who attended the meetings were only observers. Why couldn’t you just vote in committees and make decisions there, Giesler suggested. Beaton had to explain that the full Board has to make the final votes and final decisions, not a committee.
President Watson, in a conciliatory tone, said he hoped the Board as a whole could look at the possibility of getting away in some type of retreat format in order to set goals, develop action steps and plan assessments for the District (kind of like the Strategic Planning mandated by Chapter 4).
Gee guys, what is this? The Slippery Rock Social Club? Hell no. It’s a school board!!!! You can’t have private meetings for strategic planning and exclude the public. You can’t have discussions about reapportionment behind closed doors. Subcommittees cannot act in place of the full board. You can’t table a motion and then put it into effect. Obviously, this Board is in desperate need of training. It’s available free of charge from the PA State School Board Association. Of course the Board doesn’t want training because then they would discover that local control doesn’t mean doing whatever they want. It means upholding the constitution and the laws of the Pennsylvania and the United States. It means involving parents and teachers.
Sweet Jesus!!!
Year Long School
It’s coming. I can feel it in the air. After looking at a draft of next year’s school calendar, Superintendent Beaton said she would circulate it among teachers to get their input. Brad Smith, though, asked Dr. Beaton to look into a school calendar for year round school. Dr. Beaton described how much teachers and children loved year round school (where are the parents in this equation?). And the teachers’ contract doesn’t prohibit it. York City Schools are currently dealing with this issue. Click here for more information about how this district is shoving this down parents throats! You will have to go to "search archives" and type in: "year round schooling"