A couple quick reminders

First, there will be the reorganization meeting tonight.  Morphing the Save District 279 into District 279 United.  Here is a draft of the purpose:

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District 279 United is a group of concerned parents and community members that support enhancing the education available to the children in our community.  We believe that neighborhood schools help create successful students who become good citizens of our community.  The group's main area of focus is to support the following:     

*  Neighborhood schools
*  Fiscal responsibility of district finances
*  Core K – 12 education
*  Community partnership in school district strategy and key decisions
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I want to stress that the old leadership team is trying to jump start the new organization, but really, really wants district wide participation.  ALL leadership positions will be up for nomination tonight. 

Second, just a quick reminder that this PCAWLE email list will be effectively shut down tonight.  Please sign-up for the new list at the following web address:

http://groups.google.com/group/district279united

Thanks!
Derek

New Web Site

The new web site and branding is up and running. Here it is:

1) Web site: http://www.district279united.com/

2) Blog: http://blog.district279united.com/

3) Email Discussion Group: http://groups.google.com/group/district279united

The hope is the new group will be across the district as a whole and unite the parents and community!

Parent's Meeting

The parents meeting at Weaver Lake offered a number of surprises. First, I thought attendance was much, much higher than we anticipated. We really do have a terrific group of very committed parents.

Second, I was stunned by the very large number of parents that reached out to the Wayzata School District to request open enrollment and several neighborhoods that will actually be getting bus service to Wayzata. I fear that our own D279 is going to be hurt even more as literally 300+ students or more move out of the district.

More information coming in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Mr. Thomas

While the parents and community were going through the process of closing schools, it was brought up that the principal of Fair Oaks was fully in support of the plan and was actually voting himself out of a job.

Mr. Thomas, the principal at Fair Oaks, was at the time applying and working his way through the selection process to become the principal at Osseo Junior High. First, he appears to be a very talented individual and we do not want to loose talent from the district. Second, it now becomes very evident that he was more than likely not losing his job. Hmmmmmmmm. Let the conspiracy theories begin! Or is it just a well orchestrated plan? Would you disagree with the plan if you were going for a promotion?

SAGE and KKK

There is currently a lawsuit between SAGE (Straights And Gays for Equality) and the School District. SAGE claims that their rights were violated when they were not allowed to use bulletin boards, and other school communication devices to announce their activities.

The School District has lost the case several times and continues to appeal it.

In the latest article on the Kare 11 site, the School District actually makes reference to the this lawsuit being important to stop groups like the KKK thereby comparing SAGE to the KKK:

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=502035

Are they similar in that they are both radical groups -- one trying to increase rights and one trying to decrease rights? On the surface, the comparison appears completely ridiculous as does spending taxpayer money to continue to fight it.

Purpose Going Forward

There is discussion going on concerning the purpose of the Save District 279 group and web sites. Dan brought up a good point yesterday in trying to understand what we are trying to accomplish. I have struggled with that a lot since the decision. In some ways, I believe what we are trying to accomplish is actually a very personal decision surrounding what each of us supports and our values as individuals. One could argue that we need to develop common ground. I would agree that we could publish a statement with multiple values that as a group we support, but each individual will have a different take on those values and the overall purpose.

Here are some of the potential purposes and potential actions/ideas (THESE ARE IDEAS ONLY AND I DO NOT PERSONALLY SUPPORT ALL OF THESE):

* Purpose: Hold the School Board accountable for their actions.
* Ask lots of questions.
* Start a web page that asks a question and the solicits SB feedback and posts their response.
* Actively campaign for or against SB members that are or are not accountable for their actions.

* Purpose: Effectuate the changing of the strategic guidelines and values.
* Make a motion for the SB to evaluate the strategic guidelines by forming a committee that is well balanced with parental participation.
* Form a team within the SD279 group to present and monitor changes.

* Purpose: Change leadership
* Campaign against or for certain SB members.
* Start a campaign to change the administration leadership.

* Purpose: Create an open and rich learning environment for all students going forward.
* Organize and participate in PST and other organizations on a school-by-school basis.
* Organize events that bring students together during times of transition.
* Participate in the Transition Committee.

* Purpose/Idea: Hold the SD responsible if it has broken any laws. (This is very controversial, but something that a portion of the population believes is important and is perceived to be the only way to get the SB's attention.)

* Purpose: Infuse a larger degree of collaboration between the administration and parents. (Make sure parents' voices are heard.)
* Participate in committees going forward.
* Attend School Board meetings.
* Continue to contact SB members and Susan Hintz by writing emails, letters, phone calls and public speeches at SB meetings.
* If the SB still does not appear to take our thoughts into consideration, then more dramatic means may be necessary (these are only ideas and are certainly controversial and are along the lines of Peaceful Protest):
* Sit ins: Literally fill up public places and just sit.
* Drive/Park ins: The farmers in France once protested by simply parking all of their trucks on major interstates -- why not fill up a few parking lots with our vehicles and leave them (ESC anyone?)? Sure, they would be towed, but it is a form of protest (Again, controversial.)
* Silent Protest: Attend SB meetings, but do not say anything - do not even talk amongst ourselves. Silence is deafening.
* Ad: Purchase an advertisement in the local paper to point out issues/concerns.


Results: What do we hope to get out of this in the end?

* Ultimately the best education possible for our children.
* A more collaborative leadership (administration and SB).

Other purposes, ideas or results? Go. Brainstorm!

Savings does not equal Savings

Here is another observation from last night that I can not wrap my head around logically: They kept talking about how they saved money in regard to medical insurance. In fact, the following is in their handout:

"Saved $1.03 million, also Saved $1.27 million on teacher new plan"

The projected increase for 2008/09 was 18.68%. The actual increase was 10.2% in some cases and 0% increase in other cases. However, there was a net increase.

Wording is interesting here. Since we expected to pay 18.68% more, then there is a savings, when really we are paying more overall -- it appears to be that we beat our own expectation and therefore have a savings (but don't forget that we are paying more). (I'm confused.)

Bottom line: Benefits have gone up steadily over the last 5 years and are projected to continue to grow. I do think they have done a reasonable job keeping the cost of benefits in check. However, continuing to talk about savings when you pay more seems a bit odd to me.

Also, if we saved what appears to be around $2 million dollars, then are we buying more teachers or buildings for that? Or is the savings actually to the participants (teachers/staff/administration) because at the top of the same page outlining medical benefits, it indicates "Addl. District Cost Over Last Year: $10,000".

None of these questions were asked last night and potentially it is just known by those that have been attending longer than I. The handout simply made little sense to me at all.

By the way - do not construe this as being anti-health-insurance-for-teachers. I definitely believe in health insurance for teachers. I just have a hard time discussing it as saving when we are actually paying more and then understanding where that savings is going.