Not surprisingly, there are little new ideas. Let’s cut close one school, cut PE\Art\Music\Library and various forms of salary reduction and layoffs. The only new items we see are a 4 day work week and 1 day of virtual school (what does this mean?). Of course there are no dollars assigned to these ideas so there appears to be little substance to them. So for the past year all that the leadership and we assume the governing board could BRAINSTORM are TWO new ideas. Ms Rodriguez reiterates this idea yesterday in her newspaper guest editorial. Ms. Rodriguez writes that the district is moving on despite not investigating other options for budget cutting. We also pointed out that community input is not needed or welcome in Cave Creek Unified.
We have called repeatedly for the governing board to form an IDEPENDENT committee reporting to them to investigate the budget but they (Ms. Clancy excepted) steadfastly refuse. Ms. Clancy even formally asked for a governing board improvement committee be formed only to be shot down by Ms. Clancy who said that a governing board committee is circumventing the administrative process. That’s right, the dreaded fear of micromanaging. The governing board couldn’t even agree on whether a suggestion box would be ok.
Along those line we also fail to see any suggestions for budgeting cutting or improving the district from any of the district advocacy groups. It is disappointing that they don’t put their efforts into generating solutions instead of stumping for dollars. They could do a great deal of good instead they are putting all of their efforts into becoming a political action committee.
So we thought we would revisit many of our budget and improvement ideas so we have them all in one nice place.
- Open a charter school (an extra $750 per student in revenue and operational flexibility)
- Close schools to become a two node district K-8 in North and K-8 in the South. Allocate students and space as necessary.
- Ability grouping to mitigate class size increases
- Fund a fulltime volunteer coordinator to support teachers
- Use existing district vehicles to travel between schools eliminating car allowances
- Evaluate district health insurance costs
We do know that opening a charter school was quickly dismissed by the governing board. We will have more on this decision in the coming days.
It strikes me as funny that some people are upset that the district doesn't want (according to them) community input. I, on the other hand, think this district asks for too much community input. We have a school board (that we voted in) to represent us. My kids were in the PV school district before we moved here and I don't remember that district constantly forming committees with community members on them and very rarely did they ask for community input. Maybe, just maybe, the people the board hired (superintendant etc.) & the people we elected to represent us have spent more time on this & have access to more information than the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteVote the board out if your not happy with their leadership. But, from what I can tell, after living in this district for 10 years, some people have never been happy with the board and probably never will be.
It strikes me as funny that considering what's at stake more parents aren't concerned with the decisions currently being made by this board and administration. Last time I checked this was PUBLIC education. Find yourself a nice private school if you want to just drop your child and walk away leaving their education to others. My problem with this administration is that they ask our community for involvement and ignore us if they don't like what we say. You can say whatever you want but when a district refuses to follow guidlines for school closure set forth by the state and then turns around and encourages the school that should have been closed to make a configuration change without a funding source in place(save me from the it doesn't cost anything discussion because believe me it does) I have to wonder about their motivation. Please don't ask me to stop having an opinion about what happens in my children's schools.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that you can make the assumption that I just drop my children off & walk away just from reading my post. You don't know anything about me, I have been very involved with this district for the past 10 years. I agree with you I think in some instances this district has asked for our opinions and then ignored us, my point was that other districts do the same thing. This is public education and when dealing with the public you are never going to satisfy everyone. I never asked anyone to stop having an opinion, I just stated mine. I guess you didn't want to hear it.
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs to stop making excuses for the Adminstration and the Board. They have their own agenda and are not worried about our opinion. They also are just trying to further their agenda by not moving the school closure vote by one day to see what happens with the 1% vote. I keep asking Why won't they come clean? But they all seem to think they do not have to answer our questions. I guess they don't have to answer, but stop asking why the parents are not voting yes or even showing up to vote on their overrides, etc....you don't answer our questions, we will not show up and support you. Not brain surgery.
ReplyDeleteIt is shocking to me how much every year they hit (or try to hit) Elementary schools. Look at the list, it is crazy. Make it "equitable", that is the key phrase that Dr. Burdick said last year. Where is the cut to the Administrative staff. Why do we need Dr. Miller? How many staff members do we need for cirriculum? Does she need an assistant to? Can't she make her own appointments? There has been no breakdown of how many staff members a District office needs? We only have 8 schools, how many adminstrators does it take to manage only 8 schools?
ReplyDeleteAgree!
ReplyDeleteSo let me get this straight…the administration’s solution to tough economic times is to start unraveling the district one school at a time. They would prefer to throw DAMS students out of their school building, a school built with our tax dollars, so that the building can be rented by some other private, charter or parochial educational entity like Our Lady of Joy? All so the administration can follow some private sector business model of chasing the almighty dollar on the backs of the DAMS students? When did public education go into the business of making money? Pardon me but I thought public education was a service funded by the taxpayers. Is this what education has become in this country? Way to go Frison and Burdick! You make a great team. Too bad you’re not on the same team as your students.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t the governing board read their job description before they took office? Yoo Hoo board are you listening? The Superintendent works for you! You as elected officials are answerable to the public…not to Debi Burdick and Kent Frison. Stop jumping all over yourselves to be Debi’s favorite and start asking her to show the justification for all of these Powerpoints she and Frison keep peddling. To accept the information that she is giving you as factual is negligence unless you have seen the data that she extrapolated it from. These are not small decisions being made in the next few months and you should feel some sense of responsibility to this community to comb through the information (no matter how tedious) to form your own conclusions. Like it or not the decision to close DAMS will be in your hands not Debi’s and it will forever travel with you for the rest of your lives. I know this community will never let you forget.
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that there are message posts on CCUSD Watch forums against DAMS closing. Haven't any of you read what CCUSD Watch suggests happen to the district. Aren't any of you more shocked by how radical a suggestion that is?
ReplyDeleteBottom line---it has been abuntantly clear from the start that the community's opinion was not wanted. I hate to just give up, but frankly we are wasting our breath and our energy to fight this administration/board. DAMS is going to close - right or wrong. Since no one is listening to us, the ONLY thing we can do is to look out for own children's education. My middle schooler --along with many others I hear --is not staying in CCUSD for his middle school experience. While we have lost faith in CCUSD for now, we hope that two years from now as our child enters high school, that the district will earn back our support. It is all just a shame --really.
ReplyDeleteIf Perkins, Schaefer and Warren won't ask the tough questions then we as parents have to. Then not give in until the real answers are given. Is our only choice to recall the three of them. Burdick, Miller, Frison and Tussey should be out of jobs for the horrible work they have done for us. It is time to clean house and get a group is less worried about covering their co-workers backs!
ReplyDeleteI sat at the Board meeting this evening, and the thought I walked away with...why is the Board and the Adminstration trying to pit the North and South against each other...It seems to be a conquer and divide mentality the Adminstration loves. They teach and mentor that to their Principals and they have done that now. It is not North and South, it is about the kids. Would STMS feel the same way if it was their school? Would Julia S feel the same way if she was fighting for her job this year as Assistant to Dr. Jana Miller? Move that job cut to the top of the list and let's see.
ReplyDeleteThe damage has been done. There is going to be major fallout from the chaos the board and administration have created. They have made their bed. We'll see if they like laying in it..
ReplyDeleteI don't think the fallout will be as bad as you think. Remember, many people in this district are perfectly happy. I'm surprised that many people seem to think that there is some kind of conspiracy going on. Someone posted that The Administration & the board members have their own agenda. What does that mean? Why would they want to see this district fail? How would that benefit them? I can see being upset about your school closing, but to insinuate that there is some underlying motive just doesn't make sense to me.
ReplyDeleteIf the district wants to have different "menu" options for students to choose from (prep academy, core knowledge etc.. ) they have to find the money to fund these changes.
ReplyDeleteI personally am not upset about the school closing and my kid goes there. My personal experience --unresponsive principal, teachers who give 100% on homework just for doing it regardless of the accuracy of the answers (is this to inflate the grading curve so the teacher/ school look better?), teachers who don't set student expectations by giving project deadlines when assigning projects, taking months (yes months) to grade projects..... Has anyone wondered why only a couple yrs ago the student population there was a couple hundred more? I realize that everyone's experience is different, but I assure you I am not alone in my thoughts. I'm sorry that DAMS will close for all of you that have had good experiences.
The population went down a couple years ago as the District changed the district school lines. As far as the conspiracy theory, I don't believe in them. I do believe there is a personal agenda with the Prep Academy (that now has found funding thru an anonymous donor??) and the fact the Administration will not recommend to wait 1 day to vote on the school closure after the tax incentive vote. That is all I am saying, why not postpone 1 day? There is NO perfect person out there, we all know that, but if you sit in the Board meetings, there are so few questions being asked by the Board Members. There should have been a detailed analysis done of each and every school (except the HS) to see where the savings would be with the number of students affected. That was not done, that is why some parents feel there is a personal agenda.
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