UGH!! cursive writing my 7th grader cannot even get his name!! Mom it says sign why can't I just print it (which by the way is no better handwriting wise than his cursive!!) When I asked why we did not spend more time on this in the proper grade I was told that handwriting is not necessary because everything is printed from the computer. great.
Back to our regularly scheduled program rant... Any word from Westview? I find it incredulous that the staff at Polenta voted the way they did, without have a good base of knowledge as to the practicality of it. Seems like they were offered the chance to hear from a supporter of AEC, but not someone who is opposed to it. Another question arises....how about the paraprofessionals and professionals that service more than one school. Occupational and Speech therapists come to mind. How does one figure out which schedule they'll have to do? What about inclusion classes. Will they meet during remediation? If the idea is that students will benefit form the additional classroom time, are the EC students going to be in school? If so, why must their parents pay for transportation? Why should any parent have to? Again, the question of funding comes up, and I've heard no quantifiable answer. We all know that the budget is finite. Taking dollars from A to pay for B does not make sense. Remove AIG funding and place that in remediation..BAD IDEA. Remove funding for technology (which our kids need) for remediation=BAD IDEA... If juggling the dollars from one pot to the other is done, my question is why was that money not spent for the reason it was allocated? I'm hearing too many 'feels good' claims with no factual support. It can't be a surprise that many of us on here are not in support of a policy shift about which we know little. So why hasn't the Board stepped forward with solid information? They've had adequate notice that questions abound. Their silence on this is deafening. And given the dearth of facts, I'm against the change.
From what I understand according to my principal is each school is surveying their staff first and then the parents. Sounds like there will be an informational night(s) for parents. Then each family can vote. Most of you are throwing around what is probably inaccurate information & letting a couple angry ones on here rev everybody up. Why can't you give your school a chance to go through the process, provide you with accurate information, and let everyone decide for themselves. There are many of us out there that wouldn't mind trying this calendar.
It should be apparent that there is a need for information. That the school board has responded as they have speaks volumes about the way decisions are made. Many of us have an institutional memory of how things are brought up with little background information, presented in the best light so as to secure adoption, and opposition either dismissed or disregarded. If you think that it should begin with the schools, as if to suggest that parents only have a say in things, if it's convenient for the schools, then your priorities seem misplaced. We parents are the ultimate customers of the public school process. While you may diagnose our repeated attempts at seeking unbiased information as 'angry', I'd suggest that you consider that information is powerful, and those of us who have children in schools believe that we deserve factual information about things that affect our children. I guess if we were apathetic, you'd fuss about that as well. Can't have it both ways there, slugger. As you need parents to be involved, you have to at least allow for the consideration that few of us blindly follow. No accurate information, especially concerning a change of this magnitude, has been provided.
And many of us don't want the calendar, shall we just be quiet because you are in favor of it? Are you concerned that this discussion might prompt other posters/readers here to contact the school board, their principal, or do research online before a pretty package is assembled and presented to the public?? OH NO!!! And finally, I don't beleive Hat is throwing around inaccurate information. His posts here have been pretty informative, as were the emails he forwarded to me.
I should have posted this about 10 pages back...sorry for the delay.... opcorn: AND.... :beathorse: FURTHERMORE, :boxing: THEREFORE, :chillpill::grouphug: AND, IN CLOSING, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD, 8)!!!!
Polenta voted in favor. Cleveland rejected it. Westview results unknown. Apparently, McGee's votes tomorrow, which seems strange in that "all school staffs will vote on Friday [2-18] ballots sealed and taken to Central for counting. Why didn't McGee's vote when the others did?
Made the MSNBC local news and WNCN news feed this morning. What I found strange was that the report referred to the calendar as year round school, and I saw no evidence of Mr. Beamon's addressing that. I also found it telling that enhancement for other students is available for a fee. So, the remediation students don't pay for the week. Parents will pay for their lunch and transportation. And all other families will pay for enhancement.
Link to one of the news articles: http://www.theherald-nc.com/2011/02/16/17674/schools-pitching-alternative-calendar.html
If ballots were sealed and sent to the Central office, how then do you know the results of the schools you mentioned?
Exactly my point. If it was supposed to be a secret ballot, then questions abound. Furthermore, both media reports I've read are interviews with those who support the adoption, but are silent about the fact that there are many with questions, concerns, or do not support the adoption.
Did principals or school staff share with the entire staff the vote outcomes or is the information heresay and rumor?
I don't have that answer. I can tell you that I was advised that the vote for one school would be as it was. I don't have the exact numbers as I do not recall the Bd of Ed releasing that data. I'd be real curious to see how the data matches or not.
so, you don't really know, but you post these results like they're gospel? aren't you the one demanding demonstrable evidence? you know, from an objective point of view (which i have, as this issue affects me as neither taxpayer nor parent), they really seem to be in an interest-gauging mode so far. polling staff, intending to poll parents...these sound like feelers put out to decide if they should bother going further ahead and putting together the informationals and meetings you're talking about having before they actually implement anything. i mean, i understand your passion regarding the issue, but you act like they just told you it was happening starting tomorrow no ifs ands or buts. you may well eventually get to complain that they railroaded this through, but it seems a little early for that particular rallying cry.
It could happen next year if the feedback (from teachers *and* parents) is positive. So, we are kind of in a time-crunch.
