12/5 BOE meeting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I still do not understand: If this "transition day" is for K, 6 and 9, new transfer students or special education students, what is the guidance for all of the teachers and students for whom that DOES NOT apply to? Stay home?

That was exactly the question the teachers had which is why CO came to the BOE meeting saying to make it only a half day and then get some feedback to determine if it needed or should be a whole day. There was balking at that because some working parents might have to take off half a day or find childcare for that half a day. SO now everyone has to brainstorm a whole day and still await guidance on what everyone else is supposed to be doing.

I can’t wait to hear how some of the student groups feel about folks wanting them to essentially do first day of school activities two days in a row.

Yes, this was something I put in the survey comments. If the transition day is going to have a pep rally, an activities fair, etc, wouldn't they also want to do those same things for the returning students the next day or at least sometime that week?

For 6th and 9th they've always had a 1/2 before school started. This isn't anything new.

Yes but they didn’t do Peo rally’s or club fairs during the 1/2 day because usually that is done once everyone is back. And the greetings activities that happen the week before work because teachers are already there for Pre-Service and and at the HS level many Fall sports teams are already practicing. Plus the buses and transportation got the entire weekend to make any adjustments that came up from running the buses in Thursday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I still do not understand: If this "transition day" is for K, 6 and 9, new transfer students or special education students, what is the guidance for all of the teachers and students for whom that DOES NOT apply to? Stay home?

That was exactly the question the teachers had which is why CO came to the BOE meeting saying to make it only a half day and then get some feedback to determine if it needed or should be a whole day. There was balking at that because some working parents might have to take off half a day or find childcare for that half a day. SO now everyone has to brainstorm a whole day and still await guidance on what everyone else is supposed to be doing.

I can’t wait to hear how some of the student groups feel about folks wanting them to essentially do first day of school activities two days in a row.

The whole thing seems poorly thought out. Despite Dana Edwards and her team having months to think through this stuff since they got this feedback from parents, teachers and students around confusion of the purpose of the transition day over and over again.

I think it’s funny (but not funny) that Dana Edward’s and her team are catching blame when changing the day was then Superintendent’s idea and Edward’s and her team tried to get the board to accept it being a half day noting that many schools had traditions and they wanted to get data about how half a day went.

Dana is catching the blame because she couldn't answer or explain basic things like what is this accomplishing that the previous orientations didn't, why half-day vs full day since you initially proposed it as a half-day, and what do you want all of the other grade-level teachers and students to DO that day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I still do not understand: If this "transition day" is for K, 6 and 9, new transfer students or special education students, what is the guidance for all of the teachers and students for whom that DOES NOT apply to? Stay home?

That was exactly the question the teachers had which is why CO came to the BOE meeting saying to make it only a half day and then get some feedback to determine if it needed or should be a whole day. There was balking at that because some working parents might have to take off half a day or find childcare for that half a day. SO now everyone has to brainstorm a whole day and still await guidance on what everyone else is supposed to be doing.

I can’t wait to hear how some of the student groups feel about folks wanting them to essentially do first day of school activities two days in a row.

The whole thing seems poorly thought out. Despite Dana Edwards and her team having months to think through this stuff since they got this feedback from parents, teachers and students around confusion of the purpose of the transition day over and over again.

I think it’s funny (but not funny) that Dana Edward’s and her team are catching blame when changing the day was then Superintendent’s idea and Edward’s and her team tried to get the board to accept it being a half day noting that many schools had traditions and they wanted to get data about how half a day went.

Dana is catching the blame because she couldn't answer or explain basic things like what is this accomplishing that the previous orientations didn't, why half-day vs full day since you initially proposed it as a half-day, and what do you want all of the other grade-level teachers and students to DO that day?

No it was initially proposed as a full day. Based on feedback from school staff they were trying to get the board to agree to half day, which some wouldn’t. And besides seemingly needing to mandate it for all schools so that it’s equitable across the district and include transition for K students, I’m not convinced she believes that moving the day would be better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I still do not understand: If this "transition day" is for K, 6 and 9, new transfer students or special education students, what is the guidance for all of the teachers and students for whom that DOES NOT apply to? Stay home?

That was exactly the question the teachers had which is why CO came to the BOE meeting saying to make it only a half day and then get some feedback to determine if it needed or should be a whole day. There was balking at that because some working parents might have to take off half a day or find childcare for that half a day. SO now everyone has to brainstorm a whole day and still await guidance on what everyone else is supposed to be doing.

I can’t wait to hear how some of the student groups feel about folks wanting them to essentially do first day of school activities two days in a row.

The whole thing seems poorly thought out. Despite Dana Edwards and her team having months to think through this stuff since they got this feedback from parents, teachers and students around confusion of the purpose of the transition day over and over again.

I think it’s funny (but not funny) that Dana Edward’s and her team are catching blame when changing the day was then Superintendent’s idea and Edward’s and her team tried to get the board to accept it being a half day noting that many schools had traditions and they wanted to get data about how half a day went.

Dana is catching the blame because she couldn't answer or explain basic things like what is this accomplishing that the previous orientations didn't, why half-day vs full day since you initially proposed it as a half-day, and what do you want all of the other grade-level teachers and students to DO that day?

No it was initially proposed as a full day. Based on feedback from school staff they were trying to get the board to agree to half day, which some wouldn’t. And besides seemingly needing to mandate it for all schools so that it’s equitable across the district and include transition for K students, I’m not convinced she believes that moving the day would be better.

Well, then maybe she's intentionally sabotaging the effort then. If so, it's working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I still do not understand: If this "transition day" is for K, 6 and 9, new transfer students or special education students, what is the guidance for all of the teachers and students for whom that DOES NOT apply to? Stay home?

That was exactly the question the teachers had which is why CO came to the BOE meeting saying to make it only a half day and then get some feedback to determine if it needed or should be a whole day. There was balking at that because some working parents might have to take off half a day or find childcare for that half a day. SO now everyone has to brainstorm a whole day and still await guidance on what everyone else is supposed to be doing.

I can’t wait to hear how some of the student groups feel about folks wanting them to essentially do first day of school activities two days in a row.

The whole thing seems poorly thought out. Despite Dana Edwards and her team having months to think through this stuff since they got this feedback from parents, teachers and students around confusion of the purpose of the transition day over and over again.

I think it’s funny (but not funny) that Dana Edward’s and her team are catching blame when changing the day was then Superintendent’s idea and Edward’s and her team tried to get the board to accept it being a half day noting that many schools had traditions and they wanted to get data about how half a day went.

Dana is catching the blame because she couldn't answer or explain basic things like what is this accomplishing that the previous orientations didn't, why half-day vs full day since you initially proposed it as a half-day, and what do you want all of the other grade-level teachers and students to DO that day?

No it was initially proposed as a full day. Based on feedback from school staff they were trying to get the board to agree to half day, which some wouldn’t. And besides seemingly needing to mandate it for all schools so that it’s equitable across the district and include transition for K students, I’m not convinced she believes that moving the day would be better.

Well, then maybe she's intentionally sabotaging the effort then. If so, it's working.

How is she sabotaging the effort? She was clear that some secondary schools already do it half day and some amount do not (why I don’t know). She was clear that the feedback and initial meetings lead to them to change from full day to half day. She was clear that more ideas and thoughts need to be done around it and they would like to bring it back in the new year and spring but unfortunately the calendar had to be approved in December (another reason they should be two years ahead in approving a calendar). If anything she and her team are trying to make it work when reasonable it would have been easier to say let’s keep it on the Thursday, include K, mandate it for all schools, include the date on the calendar, and then move on.

[Anonymous]

The issue is that full day transition was proposed and the only thing to which people could comment on. They changed it half day without seeking public comment. You all can complain about transparency and public input then complain when the brown members of the board (Wolfe and Rivera-Ovens) flag the issue since it was a change the public did not comment on because it was presented as an option.

[Anonymous]

And people did comment on it including school staff. Based on that commentary, a decision was proposed to change it to half day. There is no need to send it back for public commentary again based on that until after the event is held. If there are concerns that half day could present problems then be transparent about the change and ASK what if any problems people will have on attending and address those. Frankly it’s not the school’s responsibility to resolve every problem that a family has in attending school.

They are having the transition time to help support students, families, schools. They will provide transportation to and from. The date is being shared well in advance.