ORCSD December 3rd 2008 Meeting

ORCSD School Board Meeting Nov 15 2008 pt 2

Please see below:

ORCSD School Board Meeting Nov 15 2008 pt 1

Here is part 1...part 2 coming shortly:

Keep teachers, but tighten the District's belt

The news is official. Our country is in the midst of a recession and now the ORCSD needs to make tough budgetary decisions. Rather than cut a teacher or a valued program, why not explore other cost cutting options? Cutting teachers seems to be the easy way out and hurts our children by increasing class sizes, eliminating programs, etc. 

In my letter to the ORCSD Board and Administration today, I proposed the District not eliminate the Oyster River High School Theater Arts teaching position, a position that truly supports the academic and intellectual enrichment of ORCSD students,  and consider alternate budgetary action. Here are my suggestions:

* Freeze salary increases for District administrators with salaries over $80,000 for the 2009 -2010 school year

* Implement a temporary salary decrease (3% - 5%) for our Superintendent for the 2009-2010 school year; the salary will still be in line with peers from Dresden and Portsmouth school districts

* Consolidate and eliminate administrative positions where possible (e.g. examine the need for an assistant principal at the Middle School)

* Do not allow District employees to expense meals; brown bag time!

* Set up a task force to re-negotiate contracts and agreements for favorable pricing with suppliers

* Consolidate bus routes to eliminate transportation costs; students may have to walk a little farther to catch the bus

* Turn the heat down in our buildings to save energy costs

* Go paperless whenever possible

Some of these suggestions may seem radical or controversial. However, in the private sector, businesses go out of business without radical actions. 

Preserving our precious teaching resources is paramount in these tough times. I hope our District has the courage and sensibility to seek alternate cost cutting initiatives. 

Finally, I ask, what do we value? 

ORHS to Cut Teacher Positions...

Please see below an email from a very concerned community member and please attend tonight's board meeting to help out!

> Hello All,
>
> You are receiving this email because you have been involved either
> with our family or in drama in some way. Today I learned that the
> principal of Oyster River High School has proposed a budget for
> next year which eliminates the 60% drama teaching position,
> currently held by Meredith Freeman-Caple. The proposed budget cuts
> will be presented at tomorrow evening's school board meeting. I
> plan to attend the meeting in order to express my support of
> maintaining Meredith Caple's position. I am writing to you in
> hopes that you too feel that eliminating Meredith's position is NOT
> in the best interest of ORHS, the community, or our children.
>
>
> The thing about eliminating Ms. Freeman-Caple's position is that it
> effectively eliminates the ORHS drama program entirely. Meredith
> not only teaches the drama classes at ORHS, but she also directs
> the fall play, the One Act play, coordinated the highly acclaimed
> Murder Mystery fundraising dinner last year, and coordinated the
> regional One Act play festival which ORHS hosted last spring.
> While Meredith was hired as a 60% paid position, the district has
> had the benefit of Meredith's husband and son, both of whom have
> donated hundreds of hours of their time and passion for the
> theater. Additionally, Dr. Mary McCrae, clinical psychologist and
> personal friend of Scott and Meredith, has provided countless hours
> helping the casts develop their characters and speech patterns (the
> last two plays included mentally ill and mentally handicapped
> characters).
>
>
> While we realize that budgets need to be cut in tough economic
> times, those cuts should be made in a manner that has the least
> negative impact on our children. We do not feel that cutting Ms.
> Freeman-Caple's position meets that objective. Having a quality
> drama program by funding a 60% position makes it highly cost
> effective and alternative approaches, such as the use of current
> English teachers to build a program, will not likely yield
> something nearing the quality that we have now.
>
>
> Please, please, please
>
> Attend the school board meeting at ORHS tomorrow night, Wednesday,
> December 3rd, at 7pm
>
>
> If you cannot attend the meeting, please do one of the following.
>
>
> 1. Send an email to the school board, letting them know that ORHS
> needs to keep Meredith Caple orcsdsb@orcsd.org
>
>
> 2. Call the superintendent's office and leave a message asking them
> to please keep Meredith Caple 868-5100 ext 20
>
>
> 3. Tell as many people as possible about this and ask them to do
> the same...PLEASE!!
>
>
>
>
>
> Thank you everyone!

Nov 5 ORCSD School Board Meeting

See below:

October 15th School Board Meeting

Posted here

Tonight's School Board Community Meeting

I would like to share my impressions from tonight's School Board Community meeting. First, I think it is wonderful that the School Board is taking the opportunity to listen to the Community. The question posed during the meeting was "Is your child engaged in learning?" From there, we broke into three groups with a School Board member represented at each group's table. 

My group discussed what engagement means. Some of us felt that engagement is not necessarily the best barometer for learning and being challenged; often children may be engaged because it is fun or easy. Others felt strongly that children should "own their learning" and that their education should be customized as per the specific student's interests. We seemed to all agree that students do much better when class sizes are smaller. I believe this should be one of the top priorities of the District - - small class sizes for all grades (small class sizes will allow for more customized teaching and one-on-one instruction). Teachers, of course, make all the difference too. But, when a teacher is teaching a class of 23 students with a range of aptitudes and interests in learning, customization becomes overwhelming. 

With this, I fail to see how heterogeneous classes effectively engage all learners, especially in the higher level grades.  I believe that a tiered system is more effective at targeting the needs and abilities of individual students. Unfortunately, the meeting ended before we could delve into this issue. 

I look forward to future debate on whether or not heterogeneous classes are most effective for engaging learners. Additionally, I would like to see debated some of the curriculum issues I have posed in earlier posts. I am optimistic that this is a first step in what I wish to see happen in our District, that is, open debate about academic priorities.

School Board March Elections

Below is an excerpt from a letter to the school board regarding the revised purchasing policy. It speaks to the level of divide that has manifested itself over the past few years. With an historic election behind us, there is one more that takes place in March. It is here that this community will make its voice heard where previously there was none.

Ultimately, the School Board’s responsibility is not just to the parents, students, and employees of the District, but rather to all the members of the community, including those who pay taxes to support public education. A vote for this policy is a vote to abdicate that responsibility and place power in the hands of unelected and unaccountable administrators—too much power. A vote for this policy is a vote to weaken accountability and hide the spending of the public’s money from view. A vote for this policy is a vote against the very principles you ought to uphold. And a vote for this policy will surely be remembered come Election Day in March.

Good Fiscal Policy Means Good Procurement Practices

First off...kudos to Jenna Roberts for taking the time and energy to educate the Community on the current and proposed ORCSD's procurement policies. 

When every dollar counts, our District needs to implement even more rigorous fiscal policy. Part of strong fiscal policy is responsible procurement. Can you imagine not getting THREE quotes for work on your own home? Can you imagine signing a check for $20,000 to a contractor or vendor without getting competitive bids? This is what is being proposed for our District going forward.

Per the information I have, the new ORCSD procurement policy permits the District to procure WITHOUT competitive bids, for any amount UNDER $25,000. The current procurement policy is to secure competitive bids for bids over $5,000. Why is the District proposing even looser policy in these tough economic times?

This is my money. This is your money. This is unacceptable. Fiscal responsibility...now, please!