Election Registration for ORCSD School Board Seats

Individuals wishing to file for school district openings must do so between Wednesday, January 20, and 5:00PM on Friday, January 29: one moderator position (1 year term) and two school board positions (3 year terms).

There is no filing fee to register for placement on the ballot. Contact School District Clerk Bill Leslie at 603-502-8219 to set up a time to file.

Candidates will be invited to participate in a School District Candidates Night at 7:00PM at the Oyster River High School on Tuesday, February 16 (snow date February 17).

(Source: www.orcsd.org)

NOTE: The two open School Board seats are at-large, meaning any resident from Durham, Lee, or Madbury may run. The election is on Tuesday, March 9.

Scrutinize Spending Now

There are some potential "nice-to-have's" in our Fund 10 2010-2011 budget, yet support staff reductions are being proposed and other initiatives are being foregone.

Per the ORCSD Jan. 6 presentation (refer to ORCSD web site), I cite the following plans for 2010-2011:

* Place ceiling mounted projectors in every classroom in the district (cost not disclosed in presentation)

* Purchase interactive white boards for the elementary schools (cost not disclosed in presentation)

* Spend $16,200 on mobile computers at Mast Way to replace old mobile computers

* Spend $28,600 to replace teacher laptops and replace old desktops with thin clients at Mast Way

* Spend $16,200 to replace teacher desktops with laptops or add additional laptops to carts at MOH

* Spend $46,600 to replace computer science classroom and redistribute computers to classrooms, add thin client lab, and replace old computers

The above-cited expenses are in addition to the $95,000 TIP which includes an estimated $80,000 to $100,000 phone system upgrade. All these initiatives may have validity and should be part of a long range plan, but the district needs to carefully examine all purchases now.

Would some of the money earmarked for the above-cited spending be better used to save the ORMS secretary position, keep paraprofessional staffing levels, or save a custodial position? Or, does the district want some of the monies preserved to use toward building a high school track, starting a string / orchestral program, adding more foreign language offerings, etc.

FROM KIM CLARK -Are you paying attention?

Are you paying attention?

This is a crucial time of year. It is budget season. It is also time for two people to step up and run for two seats on the School Board. Registration for candidates begins on January 20^th and ends on January 28^th.

Wednesday January 13^th, 7pm at the High School you will have the opportunity to tell the School Board what you think about the proposed budget. You have the opportunity to let them know what you believe should be added back in or taken out. No matter what your opinion, it will not matter, if you do not take advantage of this opportunity to express it. This is not a time for personal attacks, and I will once again make the request for these to stop. I hope we can all work together to question ideas, not attack people.

I want to thank the many people who have acknowledged how much work it is to volunteer. Anyone who signs up for a seat on a board or a committee spends a lot of precious time away from family. To continue to question the integrity and trust of anyone who works for our community, serves no purpose except to muddy the issues at hand and to show disrespect for those that serve in our community. This division needs to end and we need to all work together to provide direction and ideas.

So what about this year’s proposed budget?

Board members are coached not to state their personal opinion on budget or policy in public. They are coached to ask questions at Board meetings, but then pressured to not challenge the answers they get, or lack thereof. When they do, they are accused of being a “trouble maker”, or creating divisiveness. It is implied, that to challenge proposals implies a lack of respect or faith in the important work being done by our hard working administrators.

The problem with this logic is that it does not expose that the hard working administrators are only doing as directed by the superintendent. The building administrators then take the fall in the eyes of their staff, and many in the community, when in fact they are just employees doing what they are told to do.

One recent example of this was the decision to direct teachers to no longer allow field trips over $10 per child per year. This was a unilateral decision made by Howard during a staff meeting. The principals then had to go back to their building and immediately implement this decision, throwing many field trip plans already underway into total chaos. The board heard this decision during a live board meeting after the fact. Howard made the choice and all had to fall in line.

When Board members questioned some of the affects of that decision, it was clear the deed had been done and we were assured it would not be a big issue, but this remains a source of frustration for both staff and parents. This was similar to the way the Board was told during the last budget season that cutting bus routes would not really affect kids. Tell that to the kids standing in the cold after a long walk to their bus stop.

One of the many reasons I resigned was to be able to state my personal opinion in public during this important budget season. My personal opinion is just that, and no more important than any other. If we can all just get along for a moment, and hear each other out, I believe we will have a better chance of finding real solutions to all of the issues our district is currently faced with.

Personally, I am concerned that we are proposing cuts that seem short sighted and inequitable, and expenditures that are unnecessary. For example:

· I question why the Middle School once again seems to be bearing the brunt of cuts.

· I question why we would be adding items to the Capital plan, such as security cameras, when last year there was no mention of such an item in the “five year” plan. Why would we spend money on an item such as cameras, when our teachers are operating with insufficient supplies?

· It is proposed that we are going to buy security cameras, but fire a secretary at the middle school. This is the woman who greets all kids and parents each day with a smile, who works in an office that the phones are ringing off the hook, and parents and kids alike depend on her help and assistance on a daily basis, but lets buy security cameras at one elementary school (and not the other?!) in case something happens.

· Do we really need a custodian supervisor, or are we really more in need of a library aide who works with hundreds of kids and teachers on a daily basis?

· Do we really need a new phone system (one that we don’t know the true ROI on), or could we instead get more computers in the hands of kids?

So, what should we be spending money on that will educate our kids, help equip our teachers to do their best work, and help our kids succeed? In September board member Taylor asked for and indeed received, with the full support of the Board, a breakdown comparison of like schools and their staffing. At the time there was discussion around using this information as we went into budget season. Why is this not being used right now? If you go on line you will find this document in the September 10^th agenda.

These staffing guidelines are what many districts use to guide them into a budget season. Short of a long range plan, it is something we could be using even as a general guideline during our budget season. I don’t believe spending in our district has a clear plan or vision. Suggestions and decisions are made spontaneously, and in isolation of a broader plan. The fact that our 3-5 year Capital Improvement plan suddenly included security cameras this year shows this as fact. Meanwhile other major projects such as the Mast Way parking lot/lake, and the lack of a lunch room at Moharimet … go untouched year after year.

The problem is that big projects require long range planning, and without a strategic long term plan, we spend any available money on little projects until we run out, and never have the resources to complete the big projects our schools need. I would ask, why not take money that we keep spending on “nice to have projects”, and instead invest it into a capital improvement fund, aligned with a long term schedule of projects, so that we don’t have to keep going back to the voters every time we want to build a track, lunch room, or parking lot, and the funds are available without the need of bonds and interest.

Why don’t we finally once and for all have a real conversation about accepting, as most school districts do, corporate donations for a track and field, or for any facilities that would benefit our kids? Two years ago an attempt was made to initiate this discussion and Howard stated he would not support logos on school grounds. Others said they feared the “look” of advertising. Has anyone been to any other fields or tracks in any other school district? The reason they have tracks…. Goodyear, NIKE, Sullivan Tire and Pepsi. Meanwhile our kids are running down Coe Drive, and balls are hitting kids in the head on our over crowded fields.

In our district instead of a plan, each year a parade of people present what they want, and the board is left to figure out whom to say yes to, and whom to say no to. This unenviable position is not only unfair to any Board Member, but equally unfair to the administrators who are told to cut, then have to face their staff when “their” proposed cut or add is ignored. Did we already forget how last year Laura Rogers was told to cut some staff, only to have it put back in, and she was left to look the fool, and staff members experienced unnecessary stress thinking they were about to lose their job. More distressing is this process makes it impossible to allow any major projects to ever come to life.

There are tough questions that should be asked, and on January 13^th you will have the opportunity to ask them. If you can not personally attend then write a letter. Write to wdifruscio@orcsd.org.

Any letter sent to Wendy the administrative assistant to Howard Colter, and addressed to the Board, will go to all Board members.

Are you ready to get involved? This is your budget and your election. I urge you to participate.

Consider additional areas for FY2010-2011 budget reductions

Below is a letter I sent to the ORCSD SB and Mr. Howard Colter regarding additional areas to consider for FY2010-2011 budget reductions.

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Dear ORCSD Board Members and Mr. Colter:

I watched the January 6, 2010 School Board meeting and was happy to see a more open dialogue among Board Members and Administrators. Constructive debate certainly improves transparency and helps educate the community about our District.

Nevertheless, I do feel the Board and Administration could be more aggressive in paring down the 2010-2011 budget. Below are areas the Board and Administration should consider for further FY2010-2011budgetary reductions:

* Implement temporary administrative pay-cuts for FY2010-2011 – Ask our administrators (e.g., superintendent, principals, assistant principals, and business administrator) to make a magnanimous gesture and take a pay cut (perhaps 2%.) The District could then preserve staff employment and maintain school programs.

*Eliminate the two Directors of Instruction positions – Re-instate the two direcdtors in their previous roles, and, then, eliminate any staff redundancies. These overhead roles are truly District luxuries in tough economic times.

* Place the digital portfolio program on a hiatus or limit the program scope – The digital portfolio program may have merit, but is a “nice to have” during tough budgetary times. An examination of the program cost components (e.g., digital storage costs, computer processing/memory, additional staff training, etc.) and a thorough cost-benefit analysis should be conducted in 2010. Then, for 2011-2012, the program may be considered for reinstatement.

* Purchase computer and software for select classes only – Do not purchase computers in FY2010-2011 unless there is a very specific and justified need (i.e., to support AutoCAD software applications in the ORHS). Do not fund across-the-board purchasing of computers and new software at this time.

I hope the Board and Administration will explore these suggestions. Of course, there are other areas to consider, but these, I believe, may not have been considered to date.

Thank you for serving our District.

Sincerely,

Megan Turnbull

Commend Jay Richard and Improving Foreign Language Offerings

Below is a letter I just sent to the ORCSD SB and Howard Colter:

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Dear ORCSD Board Members and Mr. Colter:

I would like to commend Principal Jay Richard for increasing the foreign language offerings in our Middle School using existing resources. Offering a full year of foreign language to seventh graders is an important step. I am pleased to learn that Mr. Richard, Principal Laura Rogers, and the ORHS foreign language teachers are working towards a long-term, world languages goal in our District as well.

Additionally, I recommend Mr. Richard and Ms. Rogers consider adding Mandarin Chinese offerings to their long-term plans. Many school districts have fostered programs where Chinese teachers come and live with a local, family sponsor, thus allowing for the schools to offer Chinese foreign language instruction at a minimal cost.

I would be more than happy to work with Mr. Richard and Ms. Rogers in exploring such a program as well as any efforts to enhance our schools’ foreign language offerings.

Sincerely,

Megan Turnbull

Follow-Up Letter From Kim...

Subject: I know I don't have the bully pulpit but...

A decision that is not in the norm is one that will be questioned.

I know many are asking “why walk away?”

I think my letter outlined the primary reasons, but it is a mere chapter in the book. For those that question my “leadership” or “commitment”, I truly am sorry I have disappointed you.

It wasn’t until after I was elected to the Board when I began to understand the limits under which the work can be done. To quote Steven Covey “management works in the system, leadership works on the system.” Ironically, I discovered a seat on the Board doesn’t translate to an unfiltered voice at the table. Protocol, agendas, and policies have been implemented that create considerable constraints on what you can say and do as a member of the Board. Private Citizen’s, however, are not, although it is clear those who are respectful and informed are also better heard.

From my perspective the Board serves at the will of the voters, and the Superintendent at the will of the Board. If the citizens of our district want change, it is the job of the Board to deliver it. If citizens like things the way they are, it is the job of the Board to maintain. It is the voice of the community that should create the direction that our School Board follows, and as private citizens, we should all be keeping up with what is going on, and challenging it if we are not satisfied.

This public discourse must be able to take place without the fear of retribution. I have spoken to many citizens and parents of students who don’t want to speak up for fear of affecting the way their children are treated at school. I urge us to overcome this fear, stop being afraid, trust our teachers to do what is right, and to speak up if you have a concern. This fear of retribution only continues a cycle that must end … now.

I urge us all to stop the attacks and pursue solutions. It is time to look forward, and for us all to work together to focus making our district what we want it to be. We all want to believe the people we elected have our best interests at heart, (which I believe is the case even today). Whether you personally believe our school’s are great today depends on what your expectations are as a parent, citizen and taxpayer.

I decided to get involved because I believe we should always be striving to improve. I am also confident our teachers believe this too, and strive to achieve improvements each and every day, but no matter what you may personally believe in, it is hard for us to even know what our schools have set out to accomplish without an articulated long term vision backed up with a comprehensive Strategic Plan. This is the primary job of the leaders of our district, and I firmly believe we need to all let our Superintendent know we think his top priority should be to support and actively participate in the creation of a strong shared community vision that the majority of our community can get behind and be proud of.

I believe the one thing great school districts have in common is great leaders. Leadership is critical and our leaders need to work well together and be responsive to the priorities of the community. Next up is who will be the new chair from now until March. The six sitting at the table on Wednesday night will decide. Each year after an election I thought the public would weigh in on this. I thought for sure people would weigh in on who they believed should carry on this important task. Each year no one has, but after the fact there has been an outcry by many as to who the chair had become.

Wouldn’t it be great if people spoke up and said who they wanted the leader of the board to be before the vote? Please take this opportunity to state that yes you voted in these six, but here is who you would like to see be the leader. This power does exist, and it is up to you to exercise it.

This is your board, they work for you. Pay attention, participate and let them know what you think. I can assure you your comments can influence the people sitting around that table. During public comments at the start of each 7pm meeting you have your bully pulpit, use it, take part, and speak up for the kids.

Just so you all know, I will be cheering Jennifer Wednesday night as my co-chair and hope that the right thing will be done and she will simply become the chair. No matter what you believe, please show your support of the Board in continuing the important work of the district, and respect that they are all there for the kids, in different ways, and that is what makes a true democracy work.

Show your support by allowing people to speak up and listening to their point of view. Question and challenge ideas … not people. Let’s make our kids proud, support our teachers, and work together as a community.

Thank you,

Kim

ORCSD Board Chair Resigns

Please see the note from our board chair below. We thank her for her service and dedication to our school district. Hopefully, the board will seek the correct path in the future and avoid situations like this.

December 10, 2009

Oyster River School Board

Coe Drive

Durham, NH 03824

Dear Board members and residents,

Over the last few weeks I have spent many long days reflecting on why I decided to run for a seat on the Oyster River School Board in the first place.Frankly, my motives were selfish. I had, and still have two daughters enrolled in the district, and I wanted to ensure they would receive the highest quality of education possible by working towards continued improvement in our schools.

When I first decided to dedicate time to this effort, it was to put my experience as an educator to use, as well as my twenty years in this community and experience as a PTO organizer. As a former high school teacher and counselor, and after two years of volunteering with the PTO, I knew first hand our district had many strengths, but there were also many opportunities for growth and improvement I was excited to pursue.

In particular, the last few Board meetings have been very frustrating for many of us. Since I became the Board Chair in March, I have experienced increased frustration regarding the lack of progress towards open communication and working together to engage all learners. In particular, my sense is that some members of the Board seem to value process and policy, often at the expense of progress. The most recent incident occurred when Mark recently indicated a Board member called him at home regarding the approval of names to the strategic working group volunteer list. David then requested that the full Board discuss this “violation of right to know law” at a future meeting.

The fact is; no violation of the Right to Know Law occurs when one board member calls another board member to discuss Board business. Board business can be discussed by two Board members outside of a regularly scheduled meeting as stated in the State of NH right to know law, RSA 91-A:2.As far as I am concerned the Board can choose to continue this conversation if it thinks it is a good use of time, but it is important to know this specific incident was not a violation of the law.

So once again, accusations were made in the middle of a meeting that turn out to be false, disrupting the flow of the meeting, distracting us from the important work at hand, and unfortunately this has occurred numerous times in my tenure as a Board member. Worse, I have discovered it is often the headline that is heard and remembered, not the correction five days later buried on page 10. Dropping these unfounded bombshells on the laps of the Board, in my estimation is the equivalent of conducting a witch hunt, and a waste of our children’s time.

These efforts seem to be an attempt to put into question the integrity and process of specific Board members, our committees and the work we are trying to accomplish. They undermine the efforts of hard working and well meaning volunteers such as the strategic planning group. When accusations and opinions are presented as fact, citizens are left to wonder what is right, who is right and why is it this board seems to be more focused on process than progress.

I question why we seem to have Board members who intentionally impede progress, and wonder what is it that we are afraid of? Why are we questioning the intentions of citizens who want to volunteer their time and efforts? Why are we not saying thank you to citizens who want to volunteer their time? If someone is not supportive of a citizen volunteer applicant they have the right to vote no, but to question the intention of a citizen who wants to volunteer is not anything I am willing to be associated with.

The Strategic Plan is important to our district. To continue to work without a plan deprives us of a shared vision that we can rally around, communicate to our citizens and enable us all to know what it is we are striving to achieve. I am sure this is the most significant work facing our School Board right now, and believe those who do not wholeheartedly support this effort are not thinking enough about the best interests of our students, staff or taxpayers. I applaud all who are involved in this important work and hope in the future that better efforts will be made to show support and appreciation for this work.

I believe many of our administrators are able to accomplish extraordinary work under increasingly difficult circumstances. During this budget season in particular they were asked to complete the very difficult work of preparing a budget during extremely tough economic times, and I appreciate their efforts.However, as a parent and citizen I can no longer support the process and direction set for this budget season. On the eve of the Board being required to approve next year’s budget, once again we are working without the benefit of a sustainable long range budget plan or even a target for next year. It is clear that without a target the budget process lacks purpose and direction.Without a long range plan it is all but impossible to support long term continuous improvement. It is this broken budget process, lack of a long range budget plan, and up until now a lack of a strategic plan, that has created a rudderless ship that has resulted in unsustainable spending as well as an unpredictable roller coaster ride of investments and cuts, in our staff, programming and facilities, that disrupts efficient long term progress against high level needs.

For writing this I know I will be attacked. The smokescreens that have been put up to cut down anyone who questions, are just that, a smokescreen to cover up the fact that over the last few years this district has lacked vision, leadership, the willingness to be open to change, and to trust the citizens who want to be a part of this process. As Board Chair I look to the Superintendent, Howard for guidance and support, and I looked to senior Board members for guidance and support. Instead I have been met with a lack of support and trust, and worse an effort to undermine my leadership of this Board. Again I have to ask, what is it that people are afraid of? Why do so many seem to fight against improvements? If there are ideas that are better than what has currently been proposed, then these need to be brought forward for all to consider.

This lack of trust and mutual respect is appalling. To conclude that anyone who questions the status quo is a troublemaker, leaves little wonder why many people in our communities have stopped participating, or worse, have stopped trying altogether to help our district work towards what should be a common goal … doing what is best for our kids. In our Board Code of Ethics it states, that we will remember first and foremost to support the education of children. I struggle to reconcile this with the current direction of yet another unsustainable budget season and the continued lack of overall vision.

At this point it has been made clear to me that I do not have the trust of Howard or senior members of this Board. I have painfully come to a similar conclusion, and realized I too, do not have confidence in the direction they are leading us. It is clear that without mutual respect and trust I will not be able to effectively lead this Board over the remaining three months of my term. Therefore, I can no longer justify committing time to this endeavor given the time it takes away from my family. As a result, I will be stepping down from the Oyster River School Board, effective immediately.

Thank you to all of my family, friends and supporters for your encouragement and support over the last three years.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Clark

ORCSD Getting Ready for FY10/11 Budget and Strategic Plan

Now is the time to weigh in on District priorities. The ORCSD School Board is starting to work on their FY10/11 budget and the Strategic Planning Committee has kicked off. I encourage you to write to the Board with your thoughts about where our District should spend precious tax dollars.

Let's try to make every effort to give our children and educators the best with our limited resources!

Consider careful allocation of District funds

Please find below a letter articulating my concerns about fund allocations in our District.

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Dear Mr. Colter, Ms. Clark, and ORCSD Board Members:

During recent Board meetings, I have heard much discussed about technological tools, special training on technological tools, and digital portfolios. Clearly, these endeavors cost our District money. Yet our District lacks critical curricula and facility offerings; for example:

· Limited foreign language offerings in the Middle School

· No foreign language offerings at the elementary level (excluding extra-curricular language clubs)

· Limited AP course offerings (e.g. AP English) in the High School

· No High School running track

With this, I ask the Board to scrutinize where monies are being spent and whether or not these monies are being spent in areas that contribute directly to academic achievement and in areas that have the greatest impact to the Oyster River community at large.

Yes, technological tools are helpful and useful. However, when our District lacks some baseline curricula offerings, I think the budgetary focus should be on filling these gaps. A secondary priority should be funding these technological tools / training.

From here, I ask the Board to consider carefully where to allocate our District funds for the upcoming District’s budget. I would hope that funds are spent in the areas that promote academics are given the highest priority.

At last night's meeting, the board self-admitted a mistake and corrected it by following the committee election policy outlined in their policy manual. The board chair nominated and the board voted in 2 members into the oversight committee - Jocelyn O'Quinn and Jennifer Rief. The vote was 6-1 with David Taylor opposing it citing that the two board members did not promote the diversity on this committee. Jocelyn quickly defended the position in that she does not have a education background and Jennifer does. In any case, they both got elected anyway.

So, ORCSD community, why the rants and raves over this 20 member committee? In the past years, there hasn't been this level of anxiety over choosing people to be on other committees. Why choose this one?

Over the past couple of meetings, there has been a push to make the committee diversified. In my opinion, if we can 8 people that want to volunteer from the community, that is great. More than 8 is even better! The diversity will not only come from this community (the topic where 2 board members are stalling the process) but from the teachers and administration as well.

Another topic that is never discussed is weighted diversity. Should more members come from Durham vs. Madbury? There is a much larger pool that live in Durham so if a majority come from there, someone should speak up on that.

Finally, for all the Anonymous comments from my video below, please offer your opinion here. The board chair publicly made a mistake and said that they will revert to follow the policy and do what is right. I cannot say the same for what happened with the last board chair. Why bash her? What fruitful end will it produce. Bottom line is we have no long term direction. This plan is going to solve that and by the way, how much more transparent can this board be. There is already a huge change in the communication and the level of openness this board is now showing!