Thursday, October 28, 2004
Well... it's been a long time (before the election) since I've really been to a board meeting, so first of all, let me comment on the new atmosphere. And, actually, "atmosphere" is the right word, for the meeting room had a distinct air of wintergreen. Board member Claire Chesley said she'd taken up kick-boxing (sounds useful) and was kinda sore, so she got some Ben Gay, accidentally picking up the kind that smells like wintergreen Lifesavers instead of the odorless kind. All this was fine with me since I like wintgergreen Lifesavers. I actually think all board members should smell like wintergreen. There was some good discussion about board goals, a very authentic Confederate soldier, and, oh! Did you know a lot of you have the attention span of a third grader? Read on.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
FREE FOOD ~ Last time I attended a study session it was in a back room, and when the board (wisely) moved the meetings out to the main board room, I was worried what would happen with all the roast beef sandwiches, drinks, chips and cookies they used to have. Well, they've accomodated nicely. The table set aside for the press was put to good use. Since none of the press ever bothers to use it (Hint! Hint! Star-News, Monrovia Weekly and Mountain Views), it was loaded up with food. It looked like I could get up and have a turkey on French roll if I wanted. Makes you hungry to attend a study session, doesn't it?
NOT RELATED ~ To kick off the discussion of the board's vision and goals, President Betty Sandford said the board has set goals in the past, "but they were not necessarily related to one another." She said, "We have seen they were not really effective. We needed more coordinated goals, on a five-year basis, so we can see if there's movement." Also, she said, unlike the past, the board has asked the district staff and public for input.
THOUGHTFUL ~ Overall, the study session - and later the regular board meeting - involved some pretty thoughtful discussion. During the study session the board sat down with Adele Cornill, president of the Monrovia Teachers Association, and another employee representative who whispered, so I couldn't hear him. During the study session people seemed to be getting along fine and sharing fairly openly - though things got a leeeetle bit tense between Chesley and Diaz in the regular meeting. Happily, I only gagged once, but I'll get to that in a minute. Bruce Carter said the purpose of the goals is to hold the board accountable. That, he said, is "uppermost in my mind. It's sure as hell not to put more burden on our staff. It's not to beat up on the teachers."
MEASURING ~ During the study session, Monina said that some of the comments staff members have made suggest that they want to be recognized for what already done. Does staff, she asked, feel unrecognized? Adele replied that it's not so much lack of recognition, but that there have been a lot of accomplishments in the past, but every time a goal is met, a higher goal is set. She said there's a sense that things are "never good enough." Carter replied that the board recognizes the achievements over the past few years, and that the goals are to keep the *board* accountable. He said there is a common perception in the community that the school board doesn't do anything. [I wouldn't argue with that perception, though I think things are changing nicely.] The reality, he said, is that the board has set goals. The idea, he said, is to show people - to show the "critics" [Is that me?] - what the board is doing. Clare added, "It's not like we're manufacturing widgets. My child is not a widget." But, she said, the point of the board goals is that there's got to be some sort of measurement. "We want to create goals that are measurable, but we want to keep in mind all that other good stuff - the things you can't measure." Cool. I like that. You can't measure everything, but you oughta measure the things you can measure. Adele responded quite reasonably that they may be the board's goals, but it's going to be the employees who make them happen.
YOU'RE A THIRD GRADER ~ I thought this little interaction between Cornill and Carter was interesting. She said she believe's the board's job is to educate the community, to which Carter added, "and some of them have an attention span of some of your third graders." I guess he's not running for reelection this November. But don't take offense. I'm sure he's comparing us only to third graders with the very longest attention spans.
GAG ~ Diaz kind of gingerly (I thought) mentioned to Adele that while a lot of Monrovia classes are outstanding, some classes are not, uh, "engaging." Cornill responded that "some teachers do their jobs differently. I don't believe," she said, "that anybody is not doing their job. I believe everybody is doing their job." Hoo boy! that comment makes me gag like a cat with a furball. With that one comment she instantly devalued everything else she said. I've got a lot of respect for teachers (my wife was a teacher, so I better), but since when did teachers - alone out of the entire human race - become perfect? I mean, I'd have been happy if she had said, "Most teachers are doing their jobs very well", or "Almost every teacher is doing a super job." I could buy that, but this absolutist "everyone" is doing their job is just absurd. She doesn't believe it and I don't believe it and nobody else in the room believed it. I realize she wants to stand up for teachers (bravo for that), but give me a break!
DEMONIC DETAILS ~ You know the old expression, "The devil is in the details?" Well, I saw that last meeting. During its regular meeting, the board happily and almost without discussion went over its three-part vision for it's five-year plan: "Distinguished Schools," "Instructional Excellence," and "Graduates of Distinction." Those visions may seem a bit vague, but that's okay because the detail is supposed to be spelled out in the goals, and that's where the sailing got choppy.
PROPOSED GOAL ONE ~ "All Monrovia Schools will be designated California and Monrovia Distinguished Schools, with API scores of 800 or above." Bryan Wong wanted to know - he came back to this several times - how they were going to define a "Monrovia Distinguished School." Bruce Carter suggested the staff and community work out the definition. Wong seemed okay with that, but wanted to know if the definition would apply to all schools or if there would be a different definition for each school. Carter said he'd like one definition for the district, and everybody seemed cool with that. Diaz was concerned about the goal of getting schools' API scores to 800 or above. She said that if, say, Caucasian students scored at 900 and minority students scored 700, it could average out to 800, but that wouldn't be right for the minority students.
PROPOSED GOAL TWO ~ Here's where the real disagreements came out. The proposed goal is: "All Monrovia teachers will utilize specified research-supported instructional strategies." Chesley said it isn't a goal because there is no way to measure it, and Diaz, a big supporter of Goal Two, replied that it Is too a goal, and it could be measured, and... "How?" Chesley broke in. "If you'd let me finish..." Diaz said. [I sense these two don't go out for a friendly beer together after meetings.] Then Diaz finished. She talked about whether all classrooms in the district are engaging places for children and then suggested that Joel Shawn, in charge of curriculum, should come up with the measurement criteria. So Board Prez Betty Sandford asked Shawn if he could measure the success of this goal. "I'm not going to answer that question," Shawn said, but he suggested the board hold him accountable. Later, Monina said that while she still wants classrooms to be engaging, she was having second thoughts about whether this should be a goal, and suggested maybe Clare and Bryan were right.
PROPOSED GOAL THREE ~ I won't quote this in full, but it says Monrovia schools "will provide programs to guide students to become high school graduates who 1) Aim toward college and a meaningful career. 2) Complete course requirements for UC/CSU." Carter was afraid this implies that every student should go to college and Wong said what he wants is for every student to have a "game plan" for his or her life. That, he said, might involve them sitting down with a counselor repeatedly, though that might mean hiring more counselors, which might be a budget problem. Earlier, Monina noted that some teachers had indicated that college is not for every child, and asked MTA President Adele Cornill about this. Adele said the concern is simply that the teachers want multiple avenues available for the students, to which Monina responded - in too many words - that the schools should aim first at getting kids in college, and if it's apparent that college isn't right for them, then aim at vocational school. I thought that made sense, and nobody else complained, so I guess everybody else did, too.
RESULTS? ~ So what happened finally? Well, finally hasn't arrived. This project is still in the works, so feel free to contact the district with your thoughts, but the evening wrapped up with Superintendent Taylor suggesting her staff take what they heard and try to tweek the goals to reflect what board members said. Everyone seemed to like that idea, so that's where it is for now.
CONGRATULATIONS ~ On to other topics. Congratulations to the four district employees who were honored by the board and Chamber of Commerce for their outstanding service. There were: Claude Mallory, head custodian at Canyon Oaks High School; Ross October, teacher at Mountain Park School, Debra Phipps, Career Center clerk at Monrovia High School; Marcela Molina, ROP teacher at Monrovia High.
SNACK BAR ~ Ed Gililland, who's been leading the campaign for a snack bar/restroom at Monrovia High, reported that the Big M Boosters has raised all but $18,000 for the building (out of, I think about $50,000). He introduced Rick Baricatt (Sorry if I misspelled it), representing AYSO, which has just given $5,000 for the building. I think Gililland is one of the good guys. He's been working for the schools for a long time. Even though the board didn't select him as a member when a previous member left (picking Diaz instead), and even though he didn't win a seat on the board when he ran for office, he didn't walk away. He's just keeps plugging away, helping out where he can.
CIVIL WAR ~ A private in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, complete with butternut uniform and musket, whose real name is Richard Magwood and who just happens to be Board President Betty Sandford's hairdresser, spoke to the board - at Betty's invitation - about the loss of Civil War battlefields. Today, he said "our Civil War battlefields are becoming strip malls and housing. They are in imminent danger. He said "more men killed in the Civil War than in all wars we've fought since." He said 23,000 were killed in one day at Antietem alone. "Think," he said, "if that happened in Iraq." He encouraged people to contribute to the preservation of the battlefields and offered to speak to classes studying the Civil War. Quite moving. It would have helped, though, if he had told *how* to contribute.
GOLDEN BELL ~ The Village After School Tutoring Program won a Golden Bell award from the California School Board Association. Superintendent Louise Taylor said that's a big deal, that a lot of districts don't win any. Last year, Monina said, the district won three Golden Bells and Bruce Carter said he talked with a guy from another district who basically said, "Yeah, we won three Golden Bells, too." But, Carter said, the guy he was talking to was from a district with 200 schools. So I guess it really is a pretty big deal.
DEPRESSION, ETC. ~ Chesley said was concerned about the high levels of depression outlined in the Healthy Kids survey presented at the last meeting. She suggested checking the numbers and seeing if they are correct, and if so, seeing if it would be possible to get funding for additional counselors. She also noted that a parent contacted here about some asphalt work at Wildrose and Monroe that didn't appear to be done well. Clare said the district checked it out and it turned out to be okay, but she encouraged other parents to contact the board if they ever have any concerns about what's going on (or not going on) in the district.
OBSERVATIONS ~ Compared to when I was here last, the board meetings have become a lot livelier, at least if this meeting was any indication. Also, I'd say Monina Diaz more than held up her side of the conversation. Way more. I'd guesstimate that about 40 percent of all the talking was Monina's. She has some good things to say, but she could communicate the same information with half the words. Methinks she should write the word "brevity" on a piece of paper and tape it to her bathroom mirror. Think "Gettysburg Address." Also, Monina, if you're going to object to Clare interrupting you, maybe you shouldn't interrupt Bryan when he's talking.
NEXT MEETING ~ The next regular meeting of the board will be December 8, at 7 p.m. It'll be the organizational meeting, so I think everyone will switch titles. It will be at the administration office at 325 E. Huntington Drive, right across from Smart & Final.
Also on the Web, at www.monroviaschoollink.com. Remember, you can comment on these stories on the Web site.
Monday, October 25, 2004
Another chance to hear about the board's goals and vision and mission stuff. Also, I wonder how easy it would be to gather up a bunch of not-too-old computers for the district. Hmmm...
~ brad@sacklunch.net
Study session at 5:30 p.m. in the board room with the representatives of the Monrovia Teachers Association (MTA) and the California School Employees Association (CSEA) regarding the Board of Education Vision and Goals for the District.
Regular meeting starts at 7 p.m.
The board and the Monrovia Chamber of Commerce will recognize Monrovia Unified School District four employees for their outstanding service: Claude Mallory, Head Custodian, Canyon Oaks High School; Ross October, Teacher, Mountain Park School; Debra Phipps, Career Center Clerk, Monrovia High School; Marcela Molina, ROP Teacher, Monrovia High School.
The district will accept (most likely) a bunch of gifts, including four old cars, books, paper, cash, and 20 used computers from the Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills. Computers! Nice gift. That reminds me. My wife and I took some old chemicals or something to one of those toxic waste roundups and I was amazed to see stacks of old computers - monitors and CPUs - most of which didn't look too old. What a waste! If the Boys and Girls Club - or someone else - collects these to distribute them to schools, I'd love to publicize that. Or if that was a one-time deal, maybe there could be a Computer Collection Day at one of the schools. Maybe CompUSA would get involved as a community project. (Maybe they could give discounts on new computers for people who donate their old ones, and maybe they'd transfer old data to any new computers you buy from them.) Okay, I got overly excited there. I don't have the time to organize something like this, but I'd be happy to do a bit of publicity if someone else would like to do it.
The main item on the agenda is a public hearing (that means the board wants to hear from you!) about the board's Education Vision, Goals, and Mission statements, which are still in the development stage, so they can still bend if you bring up some good ideas.
As always, the meeting will be held at the district administrative offices at 325 E. Huntington Drive (On the north side of Huntington drive between Canyon and California.)
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Most of Monrovia's schools have been improving markedly on the various standardized tests. The elementary schools in particular have done great, and now the middle schools are beginning to do better. And Monrovia High School? Welllll... its scores on the standardized tests have been - to put it charitably - "lackluster." So I was interested to chat with the new MHS Principal, Frank Zepeda. What exactly, is he going to do?
~ brad@sacklunch.net
We met in his office and he didn't know me from Adam, which was probably just as well since, uh, who knows if I would have got the interview otherwise. He wanted to make it more of a discussion than a question and answer interview, so that's cool. I let him go at it.
At first what he was saying sounded somewhat ethereal, and I was a bit concerned, but the more I listened and the more we talked, the more I could see that he wasn't just repeating educational acronymns - though he did that - but could back up what he was talking about with concrete examples. I came away pretty impressed. I think this is a man who should be given a serious chance to make MHS a stellar school.
He started off guessing my age too correctly (which of course got him off on the wrong foot). He told me that the old high school format I was probably familiar with - of six periods with rows of chairs and a period of this subject and a period of that - is "antiquated." He said it grew out of the Ford assembly line and was promoted by industrialist Andrew Carnegie through his educational foundation. He said he has been a teacher, counselor and (I think he said) principal, and has had experience working with the Panasonic Educational Foundation, which funded the Leadership Associates Program, which trains administrators in effective school leadership.
So far I'm not impressed. I don't really care about the high school format's pedigree. I'm happy if it works effectively and humanely. I'd hate to see something thrown out just because we prefer Panasonic to Ford. But maybe he's suggesting there's something better. If so, I'm all ears.
Schools, he said, rarely look at their internal structures. He said Monrovia High needs to do that. He said he has worked with the Schlechty Center, which looks at best practices - arrived at by studying what really effective teachers have done and puts them into a "framework" of ten design principles.
I ask for an example.
He said one of the principles in the framework is "affirmation," which means, "Will someone else - other than the teacher - be looking at the students' and teacher's work?"
Hmm. Seems like a good principle to me. But what he said next made me nervous.
"Education," he said, "should be free of consequences so kids can explore. If there is fear of failure," he said, "it hurts the ability for critical thinking."
Now I REALLY want this clarified. I understand his point, but too often I believe it has been used to excuse rotten grades ("Well... sigh... you know, you really can't measure creativity."), and I'm hoping he isn't using it in this sense. So I ask...
No grades?
"Grades yes, fear no," he said. "We want students to take chances with assignments." There are still right and wrong answers, he added. Math is math and you need to get the answers right, and there are spelling and grammar rules, but there also needs to be room for creativity.
Okay, that makes me feel better, though now I'm not sure what's supposed to make the fear go away. Oh well, that's not high on my priority list anyway. But now, on to specifics.
Zepeda said that at Norwalk High, where he worked for six years before coming to MHS, he introduced a program called Senior Projects.
He said the idea of a senior project is that the student chooses a topic to study and makes a big study project out of it. This project, primarily overseen by the student's English teacher, involves multiple disciplines: writing, math, stats, science, research, whatever. And because the topics are student-selected, the students are hopefully more committed to them.
For example, he said an African-American student at Norwalk did a study of sickle cell anemia, which was particularly important to her because she had the disease in her family. Another student, he said, did a successful search for her birth mother.
"We want to generate an experience that will stretch them," Zepeda said.
But still, he said, senior projects are all "standards based," meaning that through the process the students need to learn the things they're required to learn. Things like research, writing, math, and statistics. And in the end, the projects are judged by a panel. (That oughta take fear away - not.)
He said, "There is a real sense of accomplishment when a student walks out (after successfully completing a senior project). We've even had students come back and say how prepared they were for college."
Zepeda said it takes about a year to put senior projects into place, and he's planning to bring up the idea with the faculty. Any decision whether to go ahead with senior projects, he said, will be decided upon with the contribution of the staff, and not by himself alone.
While I'm all in favor of this stuff, at this point in the conversation I'm a bit concerned about the standardized tests. I'm fully aware that they are not perfect and that creativity is hugely important. In fact, I'm convinced that we are in - and are increasingly moving further into - a creativity-is-king economy. But creativity needs building blocks to play with, and to a great extent those building blocks are the basics: readn' writin' and 'rithmitic, so to speak.
So what about them standards?
"Absolutely!" he said. "Curriculum needs to be wrapped around standards."
He said teachers need to be trained and there need to be good standards. And yet he doesn't want teachers "teaching to the test," by which he means that students need to understand the concepts that will be covered on the test, but not do drills on mock tests over and over. Schools "can do test-prep every day," he said. "And, yeah, you can get a bump in scores, but you can do better than that."
Zepeda said the standards, however, are not imposed, but the staff will come up with their own standards. So, English teachers might come up with their standards, counselors with theirs, and so forth. In fact, he wants to see them posted on the walls of classrooms. So a language arts class, for example, might have as item 2.1, "Effective use of synonyms, antonyms and homonyms." Whatever the teacher teaches should relate to the standards on the wall. It's right up there to remind the teacher and the students. With that accountability, the teacher might spend a bit less time chatting about his trip through the Moselle Valley of France and a bit more time on homonyms. (My example, not his.)
"You get good scores," he said, "with good strategy." And, he added later, "I adopt the philosophy, 'We do everything else well. We'll test well, too.'"
In fact, he looks at test-taking as a "life skill." He said that if students know how to take tests now, it'll help them in the future, whether they take the state bar exam, the state cosmetology exam, the state's plumber's exam, or whatever.
Although he doesn't want teachers teaching to the test, he thinks it's a good idea for teachers to format their own tests in the format of the standardized tests, so the format becomes familiar to the students. Hmmm. Clever idea.
"You can have it both ways," Zepeda said, "creativity and standards."
Another of his ideas, which he also implemented in Norwalk, are what he calls "Academies."
Academies are courses focused around a topic, such as communications or business or medical services. The idea is that students would join, say, the Communications Academy. As part of the academy, they would kind of be part of a smaller school within a school, learning and working together as a group.
For example, in Norwalk, he said the students in the Medical Services Academy learn all the standard requirements, but with a slant toward medicine. So their study of statistics, for example, might relate to medical statistics. Also, students would have internships available in the community. In Norwalk, he said, the Medical Services Academy works with the local hospitals, and the students rotate through them.
It used to be that Norwalk was loosing students, he said. But now there are people wanting to transfer in, and there isn't enough room for them.
He said Norwalk even has a donated flight simulator (Norwalk being under the flight path for LAX, there is a natural aviation connection) and this year the students are building an actual airplane on campus. The amount of science and math that go into something like this, he said, is "unbelievable."
As for his impressions of Monrovia High, he says, "I'm blown away by the quality of the staff. There are a lot of talented people." And of the students, "These kids can perform much better (on the standardized tests) than they're doing."
He said it is often the brightest kids who do not do well on the standardized tests. Why? Because they're the ones smart enough to know that these tests have no bearing on their lives. Pass or fail, it doesn't affect their grades or their chances of getting into college. Nada. Part of the task, he said, is to convince the kids that these tests are important, to "get them in the mindset of, 'Give us your best shot.'"
And now we're wrapping up, and, well, I feel a bit embarrassed to ask this question... I think I know the answer, but it seems kinda core to the whole discussion: "Did standardized test scores go up during your tenure at Norwalk?" Yes, he said, they did, but, he hastens to add, they went up "as a byproduct of good pedegogy."
Ah, good. Just checking.
"My vision," Zepeda said, "is that an MHS diploma means something" - that the students have a "rigorous academic grounding."
"This is a world-class school," he said. "It just doesn't know it yet."
ONLINE FORUM ~ Also (new topic here), if you'd like to comment on the latest issue of this newsletter, you can do that at the Monrovia School Link Web page. Scroll to the bottom of the newsletter and there will be a little "comments" link. Click on that, scroll to the bottom yet again (sigh), click on the "Post a Comment" link and then on the "Or Post Anonymously" link and finally, type your message. Click "Publish Your Comment" when you are done.
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com.
Friday, October 15, 2004
Well, this issue we're engaging in what might be called - if you are inclined to be picky about it - a "conflict of interest." Yup, we've got Steve Chesley, husband of school board member Claire Chesley, writing the newsletter. Now this says two things: One, we need more people to chip in and write up a meeting (I'm taking my turn this month). The committment is about one meeting per year, and you can sign on for one year. Not too demanding, though you do need to stay for the *whole* meeting, which can be demanding. And two, despite the possibility that he'd have to sleep in the garage, Steve did a great job! Thanks, Steve! If you'd like to volunteer to cover a meeting, just click reply, and I'll have our highly competent organizer, Ann Hodgdon, find a meeting that fits your schedule.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
By Steve Chesley
Well, you know that they're scraping the bottom of the barrel when they're asking the spouse of a school board member to critically report on the board meeting. But I'm not one to let the threat of sleeping in the garage deter me from my responsibilities, so here goes...
Headlines for this week:
1) An unnamed classified employee disciplined. (Apparently not an easy decision.)
2) MHS students excel at model UN competition; next stop New York!
3) No one from the public wishes to address the board. (Really!)
4) Board Reports: Is "feminine loquacity" a redundancy? A surprising admission!
5) Monrovia kids - druggies or model citizens? The survey data is in and we've got the numbers.
6) This just in! No pay increases... last year.
7) The board supports school lunches and appropriate dress. Opposes drug abuse and soda pop.
CLOSED SESSION
The schedule of board activities for the evening started at 5:45, with a 15-minute closed session to consider "Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release." This was to be followed at 6:00 by an hour-long study session to review the results of the California Healthy Kids Survey. I actually planned to attend this, but--between soccer practice, Wendy's drive-thru, and baby-sitter coordination--I arrived around 6:45, expecting to find the study session wrapping up. Instead I found that the closed session was still going, an hour after starting. So I didn't get to see the board being studious, but I'd like to say that the not-so-new-anymore furniture arrangement looks like a great improvement. The study sessions are held in the meeting room at a large conference table and there is plenty of seating for the multitude of concerned citizens wishing to follow the board activities.
Anyway, the study session was canceled or postponed (hopefully the latter, because there is a lot of information that those in charge need to digest fully to understand the state of the Monrovia schools), and the board meeting was convened at 6:59 sharp.
Early in the meeting Board President Betty Sandford gave a terse report on the apparently not-so-terse closed session, revealing that the board voted in closed session to order a three-day suspension for an unnamed classified employee. All members voted for the sanction, except Monina Diaz, who abstained. No other information was provided, but one wonders why it took so long to decide. My inference is that there was a lot of discussion, probably surrounding whether the discipline was either too stiff or too lenient. And, if the board reports give any indication (see below), the fairer sex had a lot to say. [He said it, not me. - Brad] But that's my story. If you prefer a different story then you'll have to make it up yourself, just like I did.
FUTURE DIPLOMATS
The board recognized MHS teacher Yvette Romero and her Pre-AP Geography students for their exceptional performance at a Model United Nations competition, hosted at USC last summer. The group took first place overall in the compettition, which consisted of role-playing different UN member nation positions on various international issues. Maybe we can get them to take over the real UN. (Couldn't hurt.) Speaking of the real UN, Betty Sandford announced after handing out the awards that she (or the board, it wasn't clear) had arranged for a grant that would allow Ms. Romero and one of her students to attend a UN function next month. The teachers wide-eyed response, "You mean the *actual* UN?" was great to see. This is clearly a well-deserved reward for a teacher doing all the right things. Congratulations to Ms. Romero and her student diplomats, Hannah Owens, Irene Guillen, Caitlin Curran, Michael Liu, Sara Rodriguez, Giuliana Forte, Samantha Rogers, Kristen Hayford, William Kirkendall, and Alex Le Cea.
After the awards were handed out, most everyone scurried away in order to avoid the tedium that was sure to come. Soon after, it was down to four: Ms. Deb Rinder (Clifton's principal), a gentleman wearing a tie, a lady with a tape recorder, and a cynical ruffian wearing shorts (me). We four stalwarts lasted to the end of the meeting.
PUBLIC COMMUNICATION
The most astounding thing of the whole meeting was that there was *nobody* from the public who had anything to communicate to the board during so-called Open Communications. This is more than a little disappointing, since there are something like five or six thousand students in the district and probably at least as many parents. Something must be going well somewhere that is worth comment; even more certain is that something somewhere is ripe for improvement and nobody has pointed it out to those in charge.
Getting more parent and community involvement at the school board meetings was a big campaign issue in the last election, and I thought things were improving. If anybody in charge is listening, and I know they are, I offer the idea of a flyer going out to parents in the Wednesday green folders announcing the meeting taking place that night, inviting public comment, and possibly including a condensed agenda. Of course, to be fair, maybe things are improving and this meeting was just anomalous. I haven't attended very many board meetings this year, being the designated babysitter on board meeting nights. And this particular meeting coincided with the third presidential debate, which could have kept a lot of people home.
BOARD REPORTS
After nobody from the public stood up to speak, the board members went on to give their reports. At which point we had a classic "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus" moment. Bryan Wong's report consisted of "I have nothing to report this week," which was followed shortly by Bruce Carter indicating that he too had nothing report. Upon being queried, he said, "We are men of few words." To which Betty Sandford quickly retorted, "Well, we women are not," and then she proceeded to give a very thorough report. And, along the way, the reports of Clare Chesley and Monina Diaz didn't break the tongue-in-cheek stereotypes that Bruce and Betty had expressed.
I have mixed feelings about the board member reports. On the one hand, Bruce and Bryan helped to keep the meeting moving along nicely, but they left the impression that all they do as board members is attend the meetings and vote. I'd like to be reminded that my board members are doing something more than that. On the other hand, the three reports that actually were given grew a bit tedious. A point-by-point listing of the activities undertaken during the week is overmuch, in my opinion, especially when events involve multiple board members and the reports become repetitious. This should be a time to report on *significant* things that have occurred or are planned, and some coordination could eliminate a lot of repetition. This is not just an issue of style; if the school board meetings are god-awful boring then that will scare off attendees, who are ostensibly desired. I think there's a large comfortable middle ground somewhere between no report at all and a listing of all the bake sales attended last week. To steal a quote from Bill O'Reilly, "Keep it pithy. And no bloviating; that's my job." (Garage, here I come!)
With that said, let me consolidate the Board Reports:
Clare: Mayflower Elementary now has an afterschool program, due to the persistence and determination of district staff (especially Susan Hirsch) and the Boys & Girls Club of Monrovia (especially Bob Monk). This is very good news, indeed. Next year, as I understand it, they will be eligible for Village program funds. The current year arrangement is a badly needed stopgap.
Monina: KGEM Telethon is Saturday. Give lots of money if you want to keep watching the meetings on TV.
Betty: Bradoaks, Monroe and Mayflower were recognized at the Monrovia City Council meeting last week for achieving California Distinguished School status. The principals were there to receive certificates of some sort. Also, the new MHS principal, Frank Zepeda, was introduced by Betty at that city council meeting. [Speaking of Zepeda, I did an interview with him that I'll send out shortly. - Brad]
OTHER REPORTS
Ryann Blackshere, the MHS Student Board Representative, announced that homecoming celebrations are Friday, Oct. 22, including a parade starting at 6 pm. She issued a plea for volunteers with convertibles to drive in the parade, effectively cornering Joel Shawn, and maybe Louise Taylor. Clare Chesley offered our minivan, which was politely declined.
Ryann also reported that Pre-SAT testing had taken place and there was some sort of counseling or college fair to help students learn some of the skills that are needed to successfully navigate the harrowing college application process. Or something like that. Anyway, it sounded great. (At this point you may notice that my ability to take notes is in serious conflict with my ability to follow what is going on. Keep that in the back of your mind as we continue.)
Superintendent Louise Taylor reported several things, two random samples:
* Louise and Kris Mariconda, her Administrative Assistant, volunteered at the Monrovia Arts Festival Association (aka MAFA) art festival. MAFA is an important financial supporter of the Monrovia schools.
* Some MHS students were named "Science Students of the Month" and so were subjected to endless teasing by their friends. Oh, wait, that was *my* experience. These students actually got personal congratulations from Superintendent Taylor and Principal Zepeda, as well as a free slice of pizza. One wonders for which of these they were the most grateful.
CALIFORNIA HEALTHY KIDS SURVEY REPORT
Loretta Whitson, the District's Director of Student Support Services, gave an excellent and information-packed report on the raw results from this survey, which was given to about 1200 MUSD students last October. The students, in grades 5, 7, 9 and 11, were asked a hundred or so questions relating to substance abuse, nutrition habits, school safety and school/teacher relationship perceptions. During the presentation there was the occasional lapse into jargon ("assets and resiliency factors"), but I found the presentation well organized and understandable, not an easy thing for such a volume of data.
I managed to secure a copy of the presentation, from which I'll capture some of the more notable results and append to this report. It would be nice if the district would put the presentation up on the website for all to see. Bear in mind that what students *say* may not precisely reflect what students are *really* doing. It seems pretty clear that there are some real issues revealed in these numbers, as well as some things that are most likely reporting problems.
Overall, I didn't find anything too alarming about substance abuse in the report, and many things that might even be hopeful. The most serious problem that I see is the reported lack of caring relationships, high expectations and, especially, meaningful participation opportunities. This is not just a bunch of touchy-feely mumbo jumbo because, as reported by Ms. Whitman, these factors have been demonstrated to reduce or delay many kinds of destructive behavior. If the kids know that adults care about them, if the adults demand top performance, and if the kids feel connected to their school, they are better equipped to say "No" to harmful activities. And that's not just common sense; it's also been shown scientifically.
Elsewhere in the report: 25-40% of older students reported "feeling so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more that [they] stopped doing some usual activities." This seems likely to be a reporting issue, but it does not make me look forward to raising teenagers!
Another thing that came out is that MUSD has a very robust Student Support Services Program, the envy of surrounding districts. In other words, the district has an extraordinary network of programs and services for children at risk or in need. Ms. Whitson listed 14 different district programs and resources. A reasonable concern is whether these programs are advertised widely enough to reach their target audience. I suppose it must be a real challenge to reach those who can benefit most.
On being asked, Ms. Whitson said that the weakest point in the system is a lack of resources to help homeless families. Yes, there are homeless in Monrovia, intermittently living in parks and still sending the kids to school. As usual, one phone call to just about anywhere--the district office, Monrovia Community Services, even the police--is the first step towards getting the right resources mobilized.
The board had several questions for Ms. Whitson, and took great pains to congratulate her on doing such a good job. That's nice, to a point, after which it starts to seem a little patronizing. It was not particularly egregious in this case, although I have seen it get downright embarrassing. Most of the questions were pretty insightful. Clare inquired as to what external resources the district was tapping for student services. [Was Claire's one of the insightful questions, Steve? - Brad] It turns out that there are several. Bryan Wong pointed out that using pre-9/11 statewide comparisons might not be very useful when assessing how safe MUSD students feel while at school. Monina asked a couple of questions, each preceded by a lengthy preamble, none of which I really followed. I think I must have been getting tired by that point, but fortunately the meeting was winding down rapidly.
MISCELLANEOUS
* The board "sunshined" (ya gotta love English!) the finally settled employee contracts for last year. I find it strange that this could be finalized long after the school year is over, but I've learned it is SOP when negotiating with unions. Main point: No pay increases last year. Again.
* The board reappointed Ms. Jeanne Tyler as CSEA's appointee to the Personnel Commission. So who's doing the appointing here? It was not clear, but I presume that CSEA (one of the unions) is contractually permitted to appoint one of the members of this commission, and Ms. Tyler was their choice (again). If so, this is just a pro forma exercise for the board to appoint her to this position, but they must go through this procedure since, formally, all of the commissioners are appointed by the board. Still, Brad's comment about pre-supposing the outcome of the public hearing right there in the agenda seems rather odd. In the end she was appointed and everybody seemed genuinely pleased with the outcome.
* The board adopted a revised dress code policy. No gang attire, nothing obscene, profane, intimidating, prejudicial, or disruptive. Geez, what's left? Well, the one thing that's not covered, and has caused trouble elsewhere in the country, is politically inflammatory clothing, which has generally been ruled as protected speech, even in schools. Let's hope that doesn't crop up in these parts.
* The board had a second reading of a new policy/regulation banning the sale of soda pop at elementary schools and middle schools. I guess they didn't want to start an open rebellion at the high school. Actually, this regulation is required to comply with state law and will probably be passed on the consent agenda at the next go around.
* The board adopted two resolutions: 1) Oct. 11-15 is National School Lunch Week. Not sure what we're supposed to do to observe that. I plan to meditate. 2) Oct. 23-31 is Red Ribbon Week. We *are* told what we are supposed to do for that: "Demonstrate commitment for a DRUG-FREE AMERICA by wearing and displaying Red Ribbons during Red Ribbon Week." One might wonder if this is an effective way to fight drug abuse. One might also wonder whether I'm a long-winded, pessimistic, cynical curmudgeon. One might be right.
The meeting was over at 8:45 pm. Not too long at all. You should contact Brad to volunteer to take a board-watching tour. Yes, you, the one with the mouse in your hand, I'm talking to you! Just click "Reply" and type, "I'll take a meeting." Then press "Send." It's that easy.
APPENDIX: SUMMARY OF DATA FROM REPORT ON MUSD HEALTHY KIDS SURVEY
LEGEND: Everything is in percentages. Two numbers separated by a slash indicates a comparison between 2003 MUSD data and 2001 California State data (the latest available), e.g., 8/12 indicates 8% of MUSD students versus 12% of Californians of the same grade. For the 7th graders, Clifton and Santa Fe are sometimes separated, so you may see, for example, [12,20]/15, which indicates 12% for Clifton, 20% for Santa Fe and 15% state wide.
Percent using cigarettes within last 30 days
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
- [4,4]/4 10/11 18/19
Percent using alcohol within last 30 days
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
3 10/10 26/29 46/41
Drunk or high at school four or more times
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
- 1/0 4 13
Ever driven while drinking or ridden with friend who was
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
- - 5 8
High from drugs four or more times
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
- 1/2 10 27
Gotten drugs on campus four or more times in last 12 months
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
- 4/1 10 17
Feel *very* safe at school, as opposed to just "safe"
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
59 18/22 11/14 12/16
Seen another kid with a gun or knife at school in the last year
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
16 10 - -
Carried weapons to school two or more times
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
- [3,3] 7 11
Ever belonged to a gang?
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
- [5,4] 8 14
Report teachers or staff that care about them
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
68 34/47 23/53 34/53
Report teachers or staff have high expectations
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
65 50/51 36/38 41/53
Report opportunities for meaningful participation at school
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
28 20/40 14/43 12/43
Signs of depression
Grade 5 7 9 11
-----------------------------------------------
- [25,28] 38 40
Well, there's a lot more, but if you're still here you're very persistent. You'd better go to the study session!
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Looks like the item of interest is the California Healthy Kids Survey, which will be discussed at the 6 p.m. study session and during the regular 7 p.m. meeting.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
At a 6 p.m. study session this Wednesday, the Board will review the California Healthy Kids Survey and its results.
At the regular board meeting, at 7 p.m., the board will...
- Recognize Monrovia High School 03-04 Pre-AP Geography students who received honors at a Model United Nations competition at USC in June 2004.
- Have a report on the California Healthy Kids Survey results.
- Disclose a tentative agreement with the employee groups for 2003-04. These include the Monrovia Teachers Association (MTA), California School Employees Association (CSEA), Monrovia Association of School Administrators (MASA) and Confidential/Classified Management (C/CM).
- Hold a public hearing about reappointing Ms. Jeanne Tyler, CSEA's appointee to the Personnel Commission, "and at the close of the public hearing reappoint Ms. Tyler to the Personnel Commission for a three-year term, beginning December 1, 2004." Hmmm. I'm sure Ms. Tyler is a wonderful person and all, but to announce in advance that the board will reappoint her seems a tad premature. Possibly the agenda writer should leave the door open to the admittedly teensy, tiny possibility that the board will *not* reappoint her. I mean, after all, what's the public hearing for if the matter is already decided?
- Vote on the second reading of proposed new Board Policy 3546.2, Nutrition and Food/Beverage Sales and proposed new administrative regulations on nutrition and food/beverage sales.
- Vote on proclaiming October 11-15, 2004 as National School Lunch Week and October 23-31, 2004 as Red Ribbon Week.
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com.
