Insights from School Board Meeting

Watching the school board discuss and comment regarding the audit of the bidding process and public comments.

Here are my observations:

Public Comments

Comments from two board members:

- Joe Quimby said to remove them for a few months for budget season.

- David Taylor said to limit public comments by NOT televising them although in favor of hearing all comments.

- David Taylor said that public comments are "corrosive, have ill fact-checking, make false accusations, are grandstanding, and political in nature"

Remarks on Bidding Audit

- JoAnn Portalupi said the public is "confused"

- Our Business Administrator has the 100% backing of the chair

- The annual financial audit verifies that the audit that the community did was without merit and basically false. The chair stated that the audit looks into these matters and nothing material really comes out of them each year.

- Jennifer Reif and Kim Clark asked that a discussion take place on this topic and it was not really recognized by the chair.

Sign Petition Opposing Full Day Kindergarten In Lieu of Other Academic Priorities Now!

Send a message to the ORCSD School Board and Administration demanding accountability and assurance that tax dollars are spent on high priority academic areas and critical District needs...Sign the Petition Opposing Full Day Kindergarten Now! 

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/opposefulldaykindergarten/

Thank you all for your comments and contributions on this very important topic.

Share Input from Full Day Kindergarten Forums Here

Unable to attend the Full Day Kindergarten discussions, but still care deeply about this issue and our schools? Want more information? Let’s use this new post to share specific information about the proposed Full Day Kindergarten Program as well as express opinions.

Please feel free to add what you know about the proposed Full Day Kindergarten Program and make any corrections.  Here's what I have heard about the ORCSD plan thus far:

* Portable classroom structures will be used to house the Full Day Kindergarten.
* The Program will cost an estimated $337,000 (not sure if this includes the cost of portables).
* The portables would be rented.
* Blaine Cox (ORCSD Business Administrator) claims funding the Full Day Kindergarten Program will not require program cuts or increased class sizes.
* Superintendent Howard Colter requests the School Board make a decision by November (I assume this means School Board votes would occur in the upcoming month?)

* The Program could possibly be added to the School District's Budget without going to a warrant article.

Upcoming Events:

Next Full Day Kindergarten Forum will be at Moharimet, on Thursday, October 2nd at 7PM. Childcare is provided.

Next School Board Meeting is Wednesday, October 1st at 7PM at the Oyster River High School, Room C124. The meeting may be watched on our local TV station (DCAT).

Now for my opinion…this comes down to priorities. How is it that Full Day Kindergarten became such a high priority when there are many other areas that warrant the attention of our District? Why are we spending time and money considering this program and not other academic programs? Why is Full Day Kindergarten being fast-tracked? How is it our District is pursuing this in light of the current fiscal misfeasance and lack of policy compliance?

I encourage serious contemplation of the possible trade-offs and foregone /delayed opportunities that funding a full day kindergarten program could entail: higher taxes, larger class sizes, re-distribution of our children to different schools, foregoing school building / facility improvements, foregoing early foreign language instruction, not paying our excellent teachers better, not increasing /improving our course offerings in the high school, etc.

Yes, there could be some cost improvements from a bussing standpoint. But, couldn’t we achieve bussing cost improvements by having consolidated bus routes with bus stops? Couldn’t our District reduce costs in other ways as well? I could think of a few, but will hold that off for another post topic.

Finally, I would like to express my empathy towards working parents who want Full Day Kindergarten. I know first hand that you face a difficult situation. As I have said in previous posts, I am not against the concept of Full Day Kindergarten. However, I still feel the School District’s mandate should be to set an academic agenda above all else and to ensure that our children receive an education that will prepare them well for the future. This means funding programs and budget items that will give our children the biggest bang for the buck over the long run. 

We NEED more authors

Anyone interested in writing or posting to this blog on ANY topic concerning ORCSD, please email us at:

oysterrivercommunity@gmail.com

Thanks!

Results from Citizens' Audit of ORCSD Bidding

Over the summer, a group of concerned citizens requested ALL bids over $5000 per the Policy DJ from the ORCSD per the NH Right to Know Law. The below is the official results and recommendations moving forward. Please take the time to read this and offer comments.

CLICK HERE!

SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER RESIGNS!?!?

Per notice posted today on ORCSD.org.

The Oyster River School Board will meet in special session in the conference room at the High School at 8:00p.m. on Wednesday, Sept 24, regarding the resignation of a Board member and the process for filling the vacancy.

Public Observations of 9/13 School Board "Retreat"

Notes (Minutes) of the ORCSD School Board Retreat-September 13, 2008
By Henry Brackett

These minutes are from my notes at the retreat. I tried to be as true to what was being said and by whom. I did not catch all the speaker’s words but the substantive meaning of their comments is there in these minutes. Some of the jumps in conversation are just that-jumps in the way each board member wanted to direct the conversation at a particular moment. Other jumps are me not catching the words that lead to a transition in the member’s conversation.

Read More...

Let's Discuss the ORCSD Academic Priorities

"What will help our children the most over the long-term, more so than full day kindergarten?"

"What are the ORCSD academic priorities?"

"How do the ORCSD academic priorities need to be re-aligned to strengthen our children's education?"

I call upon the community to come forth and debate this issue. It is great when friends and neighbors can debate an issue as important as our children's education. This is the type of discourse I would like to see, and expect, from our School Board as well.

I am not opposed to the concept of full day kindergarten. I see the merits. HOWEVER, with consideration to the District’s lack of fiduciary / fiscal responsible and the lack of academic programs that will have a more lasting impact over the course of our children's academic careers, I must oppose full day kindergarten program.

What programs would be better? As I wrote earlier, this need to be debated. Nevertheless, below are programs /areas for improvement that I believe would have a more lasting impact than full day kindergarten:

* Early language instruction - The elementary school trend is to offer at least Spanish, if not French or even Chinese, by fifth grade. Starting a language as early as possible is always the best way to become proficient. Ask parents to choose between an early language class and full day kindergarten and I believe many would choose the former.

* Additional AP classes - We currently lack AP English, for example, at the high school. This is a hot topic, but I believe an AP curriculum is vital towards ORCSD student admittance to top academic institutions. I also believe teachers still have flexibility and leeway with an AP curriculum.

* Structured / Core classes – Another hot topic…I believe ORCSD has deviated from the core and has taken a seminar / special topic approach to education which is more appropriate for college or graduate level education, not for secondary education. Our children need to read and understand the Classics and the best examples of American and British literature in order to build a strong academic foundation; this will allow one to pursue and critique the more esoteric later in life.

For example, what better way to understand sonnets than by reading Shakespeare’s Sonnets? It is hard to imagine NOT reading and analyzing "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Lord of the Flies," "The Scarlet Letter," or “The Canterbury Tales” as a class? Or, how about not learning about the start of World War I or the French Revolution? How about grammar too? We need to return to the basics and core to give our children a fair shake in the global economy. This applies to the math and sciences as well. Secondary education is about building a strong foundation.

* Tiered Classes - Perhaps the hottest topic…I do not support the ORCSD's heterogeneous class structure and believe it places children at a huge disadvantage when applying to college.

These are just a few of the things that I believe warrant strong consideration and need to be debated in a public forum.

ORCSD Academic Priorities and Opposition to Full Day Kindergarten

Below is a letter that I,  Megan Turnbull, recently wrote and sent to the ORCSD School Board and Superintendent Colter. I encourage all concerned tax payers to consider the academic priorities of the School District and current state of fiscal accountability prior to endorsing a full day kindergarten program. Vigorous public debate must take place before an academic program such as full day kindergarten is implemented.

****
Dear Mr. Colter, Ms. Portalupi, and ORCSD Board Members,

I am a Durham resident, taxpayer, and parent of two young children who will soon be ORCSD (Oyster River Cooperative School District) students. As you may recall, I have written to you in the past about the ORCSD bidding process and what seems to be a lack of due diligence when it comes to soliciting multiple, competitive bids. I look forward to the ORCSD Board’s Policy Committee report regarding this topic.

Spending the District’s precious tax dollars wisely is a serious issue. I believe that the ORCSD can restore public confidence regarding District expenditures by instituting a process of accountability and best practices including competitive bidding. However, I am concerned about program and curriculum spending as well. In particular, I feel that it is imprudent at this time to put tax money into a full day kindergarten program when there are higher priority items that should be considered.

In my opinion, any additional funds or re-allocation of funds should be used towards improving the middle / high school curricula. There are significant program deficits (e.g. lack of strong honors, Advanced Placement and foreign language course offerings) that should be addressed and be considered a higher priority than full day kindergarten.

Moreover, there has not been public debate on the academic priorities for the School District. Open, public debate should occur prior to determining that full day kindergarten warrants funding, especially in lieu of the aforementioned curriculum improvements.

If there were unlimited educational funds, I would support full day kindergarten, but that is not the state of the ORCSD.

As parents and taxpayers, we need the biggest bang for our buck. In the long run, I simply do not believe a full day kindergarten program is the best option with the strongest long-term benefits.

Full Day Kindergarten Study

Hello,

Here is the full day Kindergarten report as developed by ORCSD.  Letters by concerned citizens are posted to the right.  

Click here to Read the full report