Eyes on the Board - December, 2007

Volume 16, Issue 4

December, 2007

McAllen AFT  MAKING A DIFFERENCE

EYES ON THE BOARD

REDESIGN—GOOD FOR STUDENTS?

On December 10th, the MISD Board met at 2 p.m. to discuss High School Redesign.

The Redesign meeting was a sales presentation from the Sylvia Hatton Group leading Redesign in the Valley.  The group held the floor for 3 hours and 15 minutes.  Ms. Levine made the presentation and Dave Lecher (not sure of spelling) showed the class scheduling.   We were deeply concerned that board members did not have time to ask their questions.  We tried to talk, but it was a challenge.  We did ask Ms. Levine if she had taught—she said 1 year--English.  Dave Lecher taught 38 years in Pennsylvania—social studies.  We were able to say that teachers would have class loads of 180 (six classes) plus 20 students to advise.   A workload of 200 is NOT GOOD FOR KIDS.

The 5:30 December 10th meeting included the paying of many bills for the 2005 Bond Project.  The board approved a $33,500 offset press for the district print shop.

A new charter school called T-STEM Early College High School Academy Between South Texas College and MISD was approved.  There will be 100 students the first year, 100 more the second, and 100 more the third or a total of 400 students.  STC will house the charter school.  Next year McAllen will have to find a place for the charter school as STC facilities will be full.  A principal and other employees will be hired.  The application for the charter school is due December 15th.  The money generated by attendance belongs to MISD.  Six or seven teachers will be needed the first year.  Entrance will depend on economically disadvantaged, attendance, discipline record, and overall GPA. 

Dr. Richardo Chapa (not related to the superintendent) MISD Board member discussed the fee for Special Service Projects through Region One Education Service Center.  This fee was for the Curriculum Collabrative—$27,779.69—was approved.    The Collabrative will be updated during the summer of 2008.  Mrs. Montes admitted that lessons were poorly written.  Central Office staff created the resource documents.  The Collabrative furnished six weeks scope and sequence.   Tests were not included.   It was not clear who wrote the tests—Region 1 or MISD Central Office Staff.

Dr. Matt Webber gave a positive evaluation of the Early Literacy Intervention

Special information and decisions

The interest earned on the 2005 Bond is now $9,165,575 (according to the Jacobs Project Manager).  According to Kevin Hitchcock, Jacobs man on the ground, Memorial renovations are going well.  The new Lincoln Gym has a new wood floor, wet walls are being addressed. Fossum Middle School should be finished by June 2008.  Five plumbing jobs for elementaries are out to bid for $1,200,000.  Roof projects are almost completed.  The new fifth elementary building permit has been issued.  Goldcrest—south of the 5th elementary was to be a drive way, but now a street—city and district will share cost.  Central kitchen bids will open on January 17th—possible $22 million.

Open forum presentation

DECEMBER 10, 2007

Good evening.  We are here again to discuss the many instructional initiatives that have been started this school year.

When I was senior at John H. Reagan High School in Houston, my Dad had a serious heart attack.  I thought that it was a good thing my Mom and Dad had suggested that I take typing, shorthand, and accounting as insurance against not having the money to attend college.  After my Dad recovered, his boss welcomed him back and said, “I want to help your daughter attend college”.  I remember well the first day Mom drove me to the University of Houston to make sure I knew the buses to take and the schedule I was to follow.  I was the first in my family to attend college and graduate.  I have a proud heritage of English, Irish, Scottish, and Cherokee Indian blood.

In McAllen we have many ethic backgrounds.  The first year I taught I was 20 and was extremely proud to be on the staff of McAllen High School.  I was invited to many family homes and had my first experience in a Hispanic household.   The many students I taught over the years are now loving parents and grandparents.  They want their children to be prepared for both university and the world of work. 

The many new initiatives and buzz words in the public schools of McAllen--a new type of Advisory Period in middle school, Curriculum Collaborative, SI OP, Skyward, Computer Technology, Drop-Out Prevention, Rigorous Curriculum, Parental Involvement, School Fusion, IB, RIPP, and High School Redesign—are very real to us.

What both Administration and Staff want is the opportunity to develop students into the best they can be.  The federal government’s No Child Left Behind and testing mandates have taken the joy from the administrative and instructional side of learning.  The following is the our consensus of what has happened:  An advisory period (or 7th period) for middle school teachers for TAKS tutoring at two (2) middle school campuses have grades, walk thru’s and lesson plans—therefore, those teachers are owed back pay for teaching an additional class. 

Curriculum Collaborative is flawed and should be used as supplementary instructional materials and not termed non-negotiable for teaching staff.  Region I, one of 10-region service centers responsible for creating this material--says that the Curriculum Collaborative is supplementary and is negotiable.  Pieces of the Collaborative are good for beginning teachers. 

SI OP for all students to improve bilingual skills is a good thing.  When principals recruited teachers to participate last summer; however, few of the teaching staff understood there was a 2-year commitment that included some Saturdays during the school year.  

Skyward a software program for grading can be used from home and is a good tool, but even the trainers did not know how to use the program nor could they train the teaching staff adequately.   You need to reorganize your computer repair department and not have highly paid librarians setup, install computer software, and repair computers.  You need at least two (2) computers techs at your high school and middle school campuses and one (1) tech at each elementary.

School Fusion though announced has not been implemented other than email.  We are still concerned that parents’ ability to view grades will result in legal complications. 

The IB Program is awesome, but some middle schools enrolled in the program have had adequate training and others have not had enough. 

RIPP a program used to teach respect for others is good, but just another thing to take up precious class time. 

High School Redesign, another new initiative, has good intentions but seems rushed.  We have done our homework in this area.  Most successful programs take two (2) to three (3) years to plan before being implemented.  We have talked to teachers in Weslaco and PSJA and have a consensus from them that they rushed into redesign and are very concerned with the issues they have to deal with besides planning, teaching, grading, and working together.  We feel that parents in McAllen have not been given an adequate opportunity to participate in discussions to consider redesign—95% of those we called did not know what we were talking about nor had the students brought home information. 

In addition, students are concerned that they cannot move from one learning community to another.  Even ninth grade students are expected to choose the small learning community they will be in all four years of high school.  If a student is forced to stay in a learning community he/she does not like, he/she is more likely to drop out. 

In order to prevent dropouts, you need to invigorate your Parental Involvement Program.  The ideal plan would be to have Parental Involvement individuals at each campus go out to the parents and bring them up to speed.  These individuals should be meeting with the parents in their homes, backyards, and neighborhood parks—do simple hot dog lunches and what a good feeling you would create.  We need our parents on board to get students in class and committed to learning.  Your Parental Involvement person should not be doing morning duty, lunch duty, and the yearbook. 

You also need to review the PI salary schedule, as you have not been giving them equal pay to the teaching staff.  Why not form a team of individuals including the Superintendent, Asst. Superintendents, and all Administrative personnel and have them lead the charge to get our students much more prepared for college and/or the work force and our parents more involved?  We are also asking that this team work diligently to stop so many initiatives occurring at once.

Thank you.