Offer of Website to School Board

After the school board meeting Thursday night, when everyone else had left, there was some discussion from the superintendent that he thought the school board should go through the school's website instead of form its own blog. He said something about the school's lawyer would probably prefer that. Some school board members indicated that they didn't think they could post something to a blog or it would be taken as speaking for the entire board.

That discussion prompted me to send the following email to every school board member yesterday:

Hello Arlan and all-

I have the domain name www.cmsbears.info paid up through May 2012. Using MyDomain.com, I can have it forwarded to whatever blog name you come up with at no cost. You can even set up email addresses via the domain, and it will forward to you. For example, if someone emailed "dougporch@cmsbears.info" I could have that forwarded to Doug's forest service email address.  Also, I looked into the Policy Manual, and there is specific wording that if a board member speaks about something or voices his/her opinion, he/she is NOT speaking for the entire board but for him/herself. I'm pretty sure I found that in Section B.

I see no reason why an elected official cannot voice his/her opinion on a blog or website outside of the school's website. That's just another way of communicating with your constituents.

I never got a chance to sign up my email address last night, however I, too, would like to put my name in the hat as an interested parent willing to serve on the search committee and help in any way possible to assure we have a vast array of qualified and capable candidates from which to choose.

Arlan, let me know what I can do to help with the blog...

Margo


The policies that I'm referring to are:
Board Member Authority and Responsibilities
Board Powers and Responsibilities
Board Member Ethics

A Way Ahead for Resolving the 4-Day School Week Issue

The author of this letter is Paul Benshoof. He has also sent this letter to:

Cloudcroft School Board President Bill Denney Cloudcroft School Board Vice President Jackie Cates Cloudcroft School Board Treasurer Doug Porch

Cloudcroft School Board member Gerold Green Cloudcroft School Board member Arlan Ponder

And cc’d:

State Senator Vernon Asbill

State Representative Nora Espinoza
State Representative Yvette Herrell
Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera
Deputy Secretary, Finance and Operations Paul J. Aguilar
Public Information Officer Larry Behrens

Cloudcroft Superintendent Tommie Hancock

Lately, there has been a lot of discussion in the community about a proposed 4-day school week for the Cloudcroft School System.  As a parent concerned about my son’s continuing education in these schools, I—as well as nearly 100 other interested community members—attended the last School Board meeting where this subject was on the agenda.  Unfortunately, the board suddenly decided to defer discussions on this topic to the following week, citing that they desired community feedback and the current attendees did not adequately represent the community.  I’m not sure what type of audience constitutes adequate community representation, but this move signaled that either (1) the board was unprepared to discuss the topic or (2) they didn’t really want feedback from that particular cross-section of the community.  I find both of these options unacceptable and hope the board can correct this perception at next week’s hastily scheduled meeting.  Since I personally will not be able to attend this meeting, I thought I would use this message to share my thoughts regarding the 4-day school week and the board’s decision-making process in hope that we can find a way ahead.

The 4-day school week proposal is a complex issue that deserves dedicated attention.  On the surface, a shortened school week appears to be at odds with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s push for a six day school week to keep up with educational attainment of students from Europe and Asia.  Currently, overall U.S. academic performance appears to be languishing, with some reports suggesting that we are “less than average” when compared to international academic statistics.  Despite this, most of us understand the fiscal limitations we currently face, and something obviously needs to be done.  Perhaps a compressed school week will help reduce the financial burden, but right now the community is unclear as to how much it will help and what unintended repercussions will endure because of the change.  

To gain the community feedback the board claims to desire, there first must be some information on which the community can provide feedback.  However, discussions on the proposed 4-day school week between the board and the community have so far merely been speculative and/or emotional with very little hard data to back up asserted benefits and drawbacks of the proposed schedule.  Certainly, such data exists, since the board members repeatedly suggest that they’ve been studying the proposal for a lengthy time.  This data presumably includes historical case studies from other schools that have implemented a compressed school schedule, an analysis of relative pros and cons, and the board’s conclusions/recommendations based on that analysis.  These recommendations should include a proposed implementation plan, projected savings and other benefits, mitigation strategies to minimize potential problems, and metrics to evaluate the decision once it is put into service.  Without this data, the community cannot provide constructive feedback and, quite frankly, the board cannot make an informed decision.

In lieu of the board’s data, I have tried to collect some of my own.  My Internet search reveals that some schools have implemented a 4-day school week with some degree of success, while others have failed.  However, long-term implications on academic performance remain sketchy at best.  The data supports both academic increase and decline, which suggests that a 4-day school week implementation strategy must be well-conceived in order to be effective.  This is paramount and cannot be neglected: academic performance must remain the priority around which all other decisions are based!  In other words, we cannot afford to compromise our academic quality for the sake of saving money or any other perceived benefits.  In addition to reports of substandard U.S. performance in the international community, New Mexico is ranked last in the nation in terms of state education according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and our elementary school is not even within the top third of the state (137/377).  In a school that is already struggling to succeed, our elementary school students are probably the most vulnerable participants in a 4-day school week schedule, as their attention spans might not be ready for longer school days.  Hence, a well-thought implementation plan is essential to ensure elementary classrooms are engaging enough to support prolonged school days so that academic performance is maintained (if not improved).

Our Middle and High Schools seem to be performing substantially better (top 10% and 13% in the state, respectively), so we certainly do not want to impose schedule changes that disrupt these achievements.  Our best teachers will surely welcome longer class periods in order to maximize the classroom experience.  However, my first hand observations sadly suggest that other teachers struggle to fill their current class time with substantive curricula, so it could be a challenge for them to make longer class periods productive. Again, a successful implementation plan is key to maximizing educational benefits and minimizing wasted time, but I have not yet seen such a plan.

It is clear that some board members favor the proposed 4-day schedule, but they have not clearly indicated the rationale behind their advocacy.  Curiously, other board members have not expressed any position at all.  However, if the board really wants meaningful community feedback, then we need to understand their thoughts and concerns.  We can’t comment on a position that hasn’t been revealed, whether it be to criticize or endorse it.  Furthermore, if I suspect a conflict of opinion, I don’t see it as my responsibility to convince board members that they are wrong if they have no desire to convince me that they are right.  A responsible board member will present his/her views in writing to the public and see if they stand up to scrutiny.

In the meantime (while I wait for clearly articulated positions from the board members), I have heard some well-reasoned concerns from the community voiced at board meetings.  These concerns have garnered support from (at last count) 105 petition signatories who anxiously await a thoughtful school board response that directly addresses these concerns.  A thoughtful response will point to qualitative data and the board’s comprehensive analysis to support its conclusions.  As of yet, I have not seen it.

In summary, without a clear understanding of the board’s proposal, all the community can do is ask questions and voice speculative concerns.  We cannot reasonably provide feedback on a plan we have not seen, so for the board to request community feedback in the absence of a published plan is counter-productive.  Furthermore, without a clear understanding of each board member’s individual view on the subject, the community cannot effectively engage the board in discussions to illuminate key issues and concerns and help formulate an agreeable plan.  To this end, I urge the board to release their plan to the public, coupled with the analysis and conclusions that underpin their recommended approach.  Additionally, I recommend that each board member document his/her position in detail and allow the community to review it.  Not only will this help alleviate the perception that the board is formulating its opinion(s) on absent or incomplete data, but it will inevitably stimulate relevant community feedback and meaningful exchange among both parties, thus increasing the chances of a course of action acceptable to all. 

Special School Board Meeting Scheduled for June 20, 2011 (and me venting about it!)

The school board has decided to hold a special meeting this Monday to get additional input from the community regarding the 4-day school week. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the High School commons. There are no action items, and I don't know if there is even going to be an agenda.

There was a lot of talk from the School Board at the last meeting about getting everyone's feedback (on something the board has already voted to approve.) But when it was suggested by a community member that the Board take a show of hands to see how many of the roughly 60 people present were for or against the 4-day week, they wouldn't even call for that show of hands. What is that saying to the people who have been showing up at these meetings trying to be heard? Personally, I think that is demeaning to them and someone, ANYONE, on that Board should have at LEAST respected those present enough to call for that show of hands.

When one parent noted that he had emailed the individual Board members repeatedly and never gotten a response from any of them, there were just mealy mouthed excuses..and that was just from the few Board members who at least have the gumption to open their mouths at these meetings.

I'm starting to get the impression that the only "feedback" that is going to be considered is that which agrees with what the Board has already voted to do. Each Board member was given copies of the petitions that have been circulating to remove the Superintendent (100 signatures) and reject the 4-day week (86 signatures). Does that count as "feedback?"

School Board Meeting June 13, 2011

The podcast is finally up for this meeting. You can listen at http://cmsbears.podbean.com.

Here is the Alamogordo News article when it is published.

There was a lot of discussion at this meeting, so I once again urge you to listen to the podcast.

Meeting Scheduled for Concerned Parents and Community Members

To all concerned parents and community members:

If you would like to discuss the recent decisions made by the Cloudcroft Municipal Schools Board of Education on Monday May 9th, 2011, please join us:

Where:                 Big Daddy’s Diner on Highway 82

When:                  Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Time:                   6:00 PM

We will be discussing how to organize our efforts to ensure the quality of education that is offered in Cloudcroft Schools. 

If you are worried about the future of our school, please come and help us with your ideas for improvements.

Please share this information with anyone you feel would be interested in attending this gathering. 

See you there!

Cloudcroft Concerned Citizens

School Board Meeting May 9, 2011

Over 62 people attended last night's meeting, where the 4-day school week was approved, along with a RIF (reduction in force) plan. The meeting lasted almost 5 hours! Here is the Alamogordo Daily News article.

There were numerous handouts at the meeting:
New School Calendar
Recommendation to Implement RIF for the 2011-2012 Budget Year
Proposed Changes to Offset 2011-2012 Deficit
Changes in the Administrative Staff 2006 - 2011

A podcast of the meeting is available at http://cmsbears.podbean.com

Regular School Board Meeting September 13, 2010

The podcast is posted for tonight's meeting. This posting has been updated to include copies of the overhead presentation given by the Superintendent.

As you will hear in the podcast, most of the meeting was routine, with the exception of the Superintendent's presentation, which lasted about 30 minutes. During this presentation, the Superintendent covered the various improvements that have been made to the schools over the past three years, and the improvements that the school cannot afford to make. He used a "to do" list developed three years ago and blocked out the columns where the architect had estimated the cost of the proposed projects. (These were also blocked out in the copies he provided to me.) He started with a summary for the elementary and middle school. (overhead 1) He gave me some additional information to pass along that wasn't provided at the meeting. (overhead 1A). Then he discussed improvements made at the high school and what the school could not afford to do. (overhead 2).

In the second half of his presentation, the Superintendent addressed some public input (complaints?) that he has received along the lines of the organization being top-heavy. He used this overhead as a visual aid. He also gave me a summary to pass along that was not used at the meeting. (overhead 3A).

Again, all of these overheads will be much more useful if you look at them while listening to the podcast.

There was some discussion during the Financial presentation as to whether or not the closing of the campus will translate into cafeteria profits. The jury seems to still be out on that one.

Mr. Hancock Responds

In my prior posting I included a copy of a letter that I sent to Mr. Hancock and the School Board Members. In it I offered some suggestions as to ways that the school could better inform the public of upcoming special meetings. Here is Mr. Hancock's response to that letter:

Great minds travel the same path.  Number 1 would only notify parents and to add others would be at an expense that we just cannot take on, Number 3 we have those blocked on our network, number 2 is the one that I have already started Joel working on.  It is my thinking that this will work if Joel can overcome some issues caused by our network software.  He has been working on that and thinks that it can be done but still not sure (it is a network software issue).  If this will eventually work then we will have a list that one could sign up for to receive an e-mail about special meeting that are convened on short notice such as the one last Monday night.  This will require that one contact Joel to be added to the list.  This is not in place yet but I hope that it will be soon.  You can see that we were thinking alike on number two.  If this gets up and running I will let you know.

Special School Board Meeting Held Last Night

I discovered today that there was a special school board meeting held last night. It sounds like the topic of discussion was further budget cuts. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the meeting, so there is no podcast available.  I have long had a problem with the way that the school notifies the public of special meetings. Below is the letter I sent to Mr. Hancock and every member of the school board outlining my concerns and possible solutions:

Dear Tommy,

I discovered today that there was a special board meeting last night. I wish I had known about it ahead of time so I could have included its podcast on my blog, but I don’t routinely stop by the school to read the window. I realize that the school does the minimum which is required by law as to posting notification of public meetings when someone tapes the notice to the window by the gym and gives the notices to the post offices in hopes that they will post them. I am fully aware that you are loath to start an email list to notify people such as myself (People Concerned About Cloudcroft Schools blog) or Jennifer Smith (the Alamogordo Daily News) of special meetings out of fear that “everyone else” will want to be included in that notification, thus taking too much of your or your staff’s time. However, I think that you need to be open to alternative methods of communication if you are sincerely interested in having the public participate in public meetings.

The school has made significant investments in technology, so I assume that means that you and the school board recognize that it is an important tool in the educational process. Unfortunately, when it comes to public meeting notification no one wants to use the technology that you have readily available. I would suggest that the following notification methods could easily be employed by the school with minimal time and effort. I only suggest that these methods be used when it comes to special public meetings that are convened at the last minute...such as the one that you had last night.

1. Use the phone notification system that the school has in place.
2. Establish an email list and allow members of the public who want to be on that list to add their email addresses.
3. Set up a Twitter or Facebook account that can be updated, then anyone who wants notification can sign up for text or email notification.

If you are truly interested in encouraging public participation, then any of these methods could be implemented quickly and at no cost to the school. Expecting people to stop by the school on a daily basis to see if anything has been taped to the window is not reasonable. It is a waste of time, fuel and energy. It is, however, ideal if you want to do the absolute minimum.

School Spends $43,000 to Wire a Wireless Network

In listening to the school board meeting, I was interested to learn that the school spent $43,000 to wire a wireless network for all of the schools. I'm sure it was just an amusing choice of words...I was sure amused.

But on a more serious note, the High School currently has wireless...the only problem is the IT person won't give ANYONE the password...not teachers...not administrators...certainly not students! If the school is going to spend this kind of money to develop a wireless network, they darned well better give Students, Teachers and Administrators unfettered access to it!

Open Letter from Dulaney Barrett

Dulaney Barrett has asked me to publish this letter which is his response to the Special Board Meeting held to address the School Board's violation of the Open Meetings Act when appointing D'dre Brock and Ed Woten to the School Board.

In his letter, Dulaney refers to various blog postings from cmsbears.net. To help you follow his letter, I have linked to those postings:
Open Meetings Act notification (dated February 5, 2010)
Request for Letters of Intent (while I requested copies of these letters in November, I only received Dulaney's letter and was not successful in obtaining a copy of Ed's)

Overview of March School Board Meeting

It was an active School Board meeting last night, with around 20 citizens attending. Several folks signed up to make public comments.
1. One man spoke against the idea of a 4-day week. The Superintendent said that it was being considered as a last resort should they need it for budgetary concerns or should the citizens/teachers decide that they wanted to add staff with the savings from going to a 4-day week. Mr. Hancock suggested that people email him (thancock@cmsbears.org) with their thoughts about the 4-day week.
2. Another man asked about the school's priorities. He said that when the board was asked about its priorities that the students were never mentioned in the response. He referenced programs like "Character Counts" in the elementary school and asked what was being done along those lines in the Middle and High School. Mr. Hancock suggested that he get with the school's principals and they could fill him in on the various programs at the Middle and High School.
3. Dulaney Barrett handed out this letter pointing out that the executive sessions which were held to appoint both D'dre Brock and Ed Woten to the school board were in violation of the open meetings act. (see blog post "Open Meetings Act" posted on February 5th). Mr. Hancock suggested that the school board consult an attorney, which they voted to do. Mr. Hancock also commented that "this could cause the school to have to consider a 4-day week if they have to pay an attorney to fight it."
4. A woman asked whether any follow-up action had been taken with regards to a staff member using tobacco products on school grounds. Mr. Hancock informed her that there were specific procedures for filing complaints and that they needed to be specific with names and dates before any action could be taken. He said that there is a complaint form that needs to be filed with the person's supervisor. (Here is a copy of the complaint form.) Then if the matter is not resolved, they can come to the superintendent, and if the matter is still not resolved they can come to the school board. He stressed that they need to go to that person's immediate supervisor so that person has the details, otherwise the board and superintendent are not going to spend time trying to figure out who/what they are talking about. The woman said that they had gone through channels, that the channels didn't work, and that when they complained their children were harassed.

After the public comments, the Action items included:
1. Changing the next board meeting date to April 5th due to Spring break.
2. The "first reading" of Policy Advisory No. 69 (GBEB) which deals with "self conduct" and No. 70 (JFC) which deals with student withdrawals. I asked that copies of these proposed changes be provided for the public, but they were not. (see "Making Policy Advisory Changes available to the Public")
3. The board approved a waiver for a senior who just moved here from another state so did not have New Mexico history.

In the Information Items, Assistant Superintendent Amy Lane gave a summary of the various testing that is required by the Feds and the State. Apparently New Mexico's Public Education Department (PED) has received numerous complaints from schools that the unfunded testing mandates were becoming a financial burden with the ongoing budget cuts. The result of this is that some testing can be eliminated next year, saving the school approximately $3,200.

Mr. Hancock said that, if the Governor signs the budget bill, we would be looking at another 1.8% budget decrease, on top of the 2% decrease from the Fall. He said this would amount to about a $150,000 cut. He noted that we had already cut about $110,000 through "personnel." He also brought up the 4-day week and said the biggest issue with the public is babysitting on the fifth day.

It was also announced that the school had hired a nurse.

As acting school board president Jackie Cates was about to close the meeting (Terry Buttram was absent from the meeting), John Braziel, spokesman for the "Concerned Citizens" objected, saying that he was told that the board would read and respond to the questions that he had supplied earlier (see February 25th blog posting "More Questions for School Board from Concerned Citizens"). Board Secretary Doug Porch said they had decided before the meeting not to read the questions. I had some trouble following the timeline of who promised what to whom, but the bottom line sounded like the "Concerned Citizens" thought their questions were going to be addressed by the board and the board did not do that. Mr. Braziel also said that the issues had been taken through the chain of command and the result was the kids were being harassed and intimidated when the parents made a complaint.

More Questions for School Board from Concerned Citizens

Here is a list of questions submitted to the school board from the "concerned citizens" group. Though the letter references the February meeting, I think these questions were submitted for the March meeting, which will be Monday, March 8th.

Specific Questions Regarding Sex Offender Notification

After doing some research, today I addressed the following email to High School Principal Roman Renteria. I have cc'd Superintendent Hancock and the entire school board, as I would like to see all of them in the loop on this issue:

I have done some research with regards to sex offenders/registration and found the following:

NMSA 1978, Section 29-11A-7 Notice to Sex Offenders of Duty to Register

(8)     disclose his status as a sex offender in writing to his employer, supervisor or other person similarly situated, when he begins employment, begins a vocation or volunteers his services, regardless of whether the sex offender receives payment or other compensation, pursuant to the provisions of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act;

Since it sounds like the cheerleading coach knew that he was a registered sex offender, some notification must have been given. My questions are:

1. How many times has he been at the school or with the cheerleading squad?

2. Did he volunteer his services?

3. Did he provide written notification of his status? If he did, who did he give it to and when?

There should be simple, quantifiable answers to these questions. I would appreciate knowing them.


****UPDATE**** I heard from Mr. Renteria this afternoon. He said that the man had only been at the school twice, once last year and once this year. He said the man had provided written notification of his status last year. He is still reviewing who got this notification and when. He also said that as soon as this issue came to his and Mr. Hancock's attention that the man was notified in writing that he is not to come onto school property.

Letter from Parent re: Registered Sex Offender on Campus

The following letter was sent by parent Jennifer Smith to Superintendent Tommy Hancock and High School Principal Roman Renteria. Every member of the school board was cc'd.

Hello,

It has come to my attention that there was a known sex offender working with the cheerleaders.

I dont know if he happens to have the same name or if he is the same felon listed on the NM state Web site or not.

Either way, the issue has been brought to light that there are absolutely  no background checks done on the people who interact with our children.

As a university professor, I was told by our administration at NMSU-A, that everyone who steps foot on the Alamogordo school campuses are required to have a background check. I also have a student who is not allowed to substitute teach because of a 20 year old misdemeanor charge of possession of less than 1/4 ounce of marijuana.

If the Alamo school are implementing these types of protective measures, why are we not protecting our children as diligently? Yes, they have had their share of personnel sexually assaulting minors. Cloudcroft has it's own history of the same.

Are we going to wait until one of our kids get hurt before we do something? I personally do not want to sacrifice any of our mountain kids before the  policy is put in place.

I know many parents, including myself, will not put this to rest until a preventive policy is put in place. In Alamo, the folks who want to help on campus pay for their own background checks. I know I would.

Thank you for your attention to this matter,

Summary of School Board Meeting from Alamogordo Daily News

Here is a summary from the Alamogordo Daily News of Monday's school board meeting.

Why is a Registered Sex Offender helping to coach Cheerleaders?

Here is the email that I sent this morning to High School Principal Roman Renteria with a cc to Superintendent Hancock. I will gladly post their reply...


Hi Roman,

It has come to my attention that a registered sex offender is helping to coach the cheerleading squad. He was in the commons yesterday with the squad.

Has this been approved by you or someone else in the administration? Do you think it is appropriate? Have the cheerleader's parents been informed?

Since my kids are involved in extracurricular school activities, I would like to know the school's policy with regards to allowing known registered sex offenders to interact with the kids.

Thank you,
Margo

"Concerned Citizens" ask questions of School Board

This letter was given to the school board prior to last night's meeting. School board president Terry Butram addressed the concerns line-by-line at the end of the meeting. The answers were brief and quick, but I was able to capture the following:

1. What are issues other than test scores that are important to board?: AYP, policies, finances
2. Is it policy that tobacco use is prohibited for school employees?: It is policy for anybody on school campus per state law.
Has there been disciplinary action taken when a school employee has used tobacco?: Don't know.
3. Sexually inappropriate verbal statement made at staff meeting attended by Superintendent. Is this allowed, if not what was done about it?: Don't know about this, no one reported it to Superintendent.
4. Whose responsibility is it to establish procedures for student's and citizen's safety in getting to/from the school building?: The school district's, which includes staff, administration and citizens.
Is it a safety hazard to have children and citizens walk behind/between vehicles due to snow pileup?: Yes
What would be the appropriate time frame for snow removal by school personnel?: As soon as it can be done.

Letter About 7th Grade Computer Class Test

I am posting an email that I sent today to Ms. Merrick (7th Grade "Computer Skills" teacher). I also cc'd Fred Wright (middle school principal) and Jean Davis (special education mentor). I am posting this because this blog is all about parents communicating. I won't know if any other parents share my concerns if I don't post what my concerns are. I also won't post any concerns that I haven't first sent to the school and asked them to address. I will post any reply that I receive under "comments."

Ms. Merrick,

I was going over Mitchell's progress report with him this evening and have some concerns regarding some of the computer grades.

I understand that typing is a big part of computing, and being able to type without looking at one's hands is a big part of typing. However, I fail to see the merit in turning the computer screen OFF while one is typing. Not only is this something that the students have not been practicing, but it seems to negate the idea of word processing. In fact, I don't know of any computing application where one must type and not be able to see the results of what you are typing in real time. Can you please explain to me why students were graded on something that they typed with the computer screen off, and how this is relevant to computing?

Thank you
Margo Whitt