October, 2011
Volume 20, Issue 2
EYES ON THE BOARD
THE LATEST
Regular School Board Meeting, October 11 and 24, 2011--Briefing Meeting--detailed discussion at first board meeting of the month and approval at the last meeting of the month.
New Assistant Principal for Brown Middle School--Richard Tamez (from DeLeon). 6-0
New Assistant Principal for Morris--Mark Zamora. 6-0
District Reports
College Readiness Activities--October 12, 2011--many related activities--freshmen will be doing a benchmark test.
Pay System Review--cost $24,000--done by TASB (Texas Association of School Boards)--scope of review will include all employee pay structures and pay for extracurricular activies.
Report regarding taxes collected for August 2011--Taxes Outstanding--$7,775,615.88.
Other Major Items
The Board reviewed the PCI Clinic. Approved on October 24, 2011 plus renewal for 2 more years possible. We were on the District Insurance Committee for many years, but now there seems to be no input or meetings to give employees the ability to express their concerns--this is not good.
Science Technical Labs and installation services for Bonham and Navarro Elementaries was discussed. Approved on October 24, 2011.
Paul Slasor Science supplemental materials were discussed. Approved on October 24, 2011.
Engineering services for resurfacing tracks at McHi, Memorial, and Rowe were discussed. At other schools Garza (resurface parking lots), McAuliffe (resurface parking lots), Memorial (resurface staff and student parking lots), McHi (resurface Bulldog Drive), may be a few I missed. Sam Saldivar (MISD Board President) pushed to make sure drainage problems were fixed before resurfacing of any locations. Final approval on October 24, 2011.
PUBLIC HEARING, October 24, 2011
Presented by McAllen AFT
The public hearing regarding approval of resolution to tax tangible personal property in transit which would otherwise be exempt pursuant to Texas Tax code section 11.253 is something we should think about carefully.
During the two (2) weeks since this information was presented on October 10, 2011 we have not seen anything on the McAllen ISD Web Site. In fact, the public seems to not be aware at all of this public hearing and other recent ones.
If transparency is your goal, you need to rethink your presentations. Many recent public hearings were quickly presented, difficult to see in the format shown, and needed better explanations.
As a suggestion, we would like to compare the McAllen ISD Website and the City of McAllen Website.
The McAllen ISD Website is updated rarely; some data is still from 2010. It is difficult to find information that should be readily available.
The information provided at the board meeting (i.e. Power Points shown in the meeting by the district) should be available to download. The website has a very plain appearance.
The City of McAllen web site is easy to use, interactive, all information (documents, forms, contact information) is easy to find, updated regularly, and the overall appearance of the website is inviting.
Thank you.
Public Comment on October 24, 2011
Good evening. My name is Ruth Skow, and I represent the McAllen AFT members in McAllen ISD.
I would like to talk to you about a matter relating to the professional staff at our high schools and several other campuses. Recently, our office received many phone calls about a three hour talk by the McAllen ISD HR Department that seems to serve no purpose other than to intimidate and make employees feel uncomfortable by emphasizing that the school district reserves the right to terminate any teacher for provocation for just about anything it deems to be “good cause.” The staff was subjected to a reading of all provisions, about 34 in all, both state and local, outlining every reason for which their employment could be terminated.
Teachers reported that it was a very stressful and tension filled session that they found to be more threatening than helpful or informative. Many veterans reported that in their 20+ years as educators, they had never experienced such a negative and uncomfortable presentation from the McAllen ISD central office. As a matter of fact, in my many years as a teacher in this district, I was never subjected to such a lecture, and no one had to remind us that our jobs depended on obeying the law or being conscientious employees.
At the conclusion of the HR meeting, the employees were told that if none of the 33 reasons given for justifying termination of employment were sufficient, the school board could still decide to terminate anyone anytime for whatever it deems to be “good cause.” Truly, if the session was intended to be helpful or instructional, it only served to foster, fear, suspicion, and negative feelings about the school district and the board.
Rather than focus on scare tactics, the McAllen AFT believes it would be more constructive and productive to provide useful information to educators on how they can be more effective and successful in the classroom. We do not believe a campaign of fear is the best way to motivate employees to do better. You might get some short term gains, but in the long run you will only demoralize the teachers. Simply stated, why make teachers’ jobs more difficult than they already are by issuing veiled threats? Some teachers believe the meeting was actually intended to head off any resistance to the imposed Saturdays they are being pressured into working and for the extraordinary time being added to an already extended workday.
If the administration disagrees with our position and believes giving educators a multitude of reasons on how they can be terminated is a sound a productive approach to motivating them to perform better, then I suggest they extend this unique training style to central office staff since the same laws and policies apply to them as well.
The HR department should share the same information with central office administrators, including high ranking administrators, and remind them that they, too, can lose their jobs on any given day. While they are at it, they may as well remind administrators that they should not park in handicapped spaces if they are not handicapped and that they shouldn’t smoke in the buildings or steal their co-workers lunch from the refrigerator. As long as they are pointing out the obvious, they may as well be thorough.
The point I am making is that emphasizing offenses for which an employee can be let go is counterproductive and downright insulting. Unless there is a rampant problem throughout the school district of employees breaking the law or violating board policy, it serves no purpose to focus on the negative and the obvious unless the intention is to intimidate employees by sending an underlying message that they should be afraid because the administration and school board can get you for just about anything if they wish.
I thought the Human Resources Department’s role was to be supportive and helpful, not inhumane and demoralizing.
McAllen ISD’s goal was to be the premiere school district in the Rio Grande Valley, better than the surrounding school districts, but it seems we are taking the low road. I know we’re better than that.
Thank you.