PGUSD posts draft minutes of reconfiguration meeting
Posted by simsong on 14 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
PGUSD has posted the draft minutes of the October 1st meeting. You can view them online. Discussion of the reconfiguration issue is on pages 7 and 8. I have reprinted it below:
B. Elementary Reconfiguration Goals, Process and Timeline
Porras gave a Powerpoint presentation on reconfiguration and said it would be available on the
district’s website with all the other information he has posted on the subject.
Following Niccum’s suspension of the time limits for public comment, the following people offered their comments about reconfiguration. (Every effort was made to get the correct spelling of every speaker’s name. If your name is misspelled, please contact lemerson@pgusd.org with the correct spelling.)
Public Comment:
Susan Nine, Jane Shoemaker, Dr. Kristen Polson Sawyer, Linda Bailey, Barrett Heywood, Ajay Stone, Phillip Zimetoff, Mike Cargile, Ron Woods, Alex Taurke, Erik Lawrenzson, Bruce Leivenberg, Elin Kelsey, Simson Garfinkle, Steve Albert, Marta (last name unknown), Mary Liston, Paula Crivello, Tammy Stickler, Toula Hubbard, Mary Hiserman, Elliot Booker, Simon Tuffs, Kathleen Lee, Steve Ibrahim, Daniel Pick, Karen Levy, and Rick Cosand.
• Both previous task force groups rejected reconfiguration because the community, staff and parents did not support it.
• Negatives outweigh positives; younger students need stability and older ones gain responsibility through K-5.
• District should find alternative ways of balancing class size.
• Board should look at cost/benefit and maintain neighborhood schools.
• Both schools have a community about them that would be destroyed with reconfiguration.
• Younger children learn from the older children.
• Not sure the claims in favor of reconfiguration are worth it.
• MPUSD reconfiguration tore apart their community; discuss the matter with eyes wide open.
• Being able to walk or ride to neighborhood schools is a benefit.
• Superintendent’s presentation was clear that this is about class size and academics.
• Urged to have more listening sessions
• In a tragedy, which child do you pick up first?
• (A parent who experienced reconfiguration) saw lots of advantages, did staggered bell schedule; however, parent conferences, performances, fundraising goes down, PTA goes down, big kids vs. little kids; will impact the entire city.
• Research found that less that 7% of schools are reconfigured, most are K-5 and K-8, literature discourages low grade splits, we need to do our homework on this issue.
• Kids are getting better education than in previous private schools.
• “Baby school” and “older school” a disaster, perfect to stop it now.
• Impacts on developmental changes were not mentioned, heard through gossip, sounds like it
should be a long term plan.
• Would like to see more analysis. Moved here to live within walking distance to school.
• Modeling [younger children of older] is a huge learning experience, children learn more from
what they see than what they hear
• Teachers will be insulated from learning from higher grade teachers.
• David Avenue kinders had hard time adjusting to first grade; second graders going to 3rd would also have a hard time
• The current discontinuity of staff development will be addressed with an ongoing curriculum director.
• Teachers and community should be involved in discussion.
• Teachers are opposed as their enthusiasm might suffer.
• Took Washington Union nine years to adjust to reconfiguration.
• Thanked parents for supporting teachers.
• Teachers do not need a fancy science lab to be better teachers.
• Relationships between grades is great, no problem in communication between schools.
• Values talking to younger grade teachers rather than her peer teachers.
• Transitions are stressful.
• Former student with dyslexia saw 5th graders as role models, and went on to became a role model himself.
• Parent bought their house between the school sites so their child could walk to all schools.
• This is being done to make it easier for administrators, time to be innovative.
• Cannot use old data, much collaboration already exists.
• Safety concerns of children walking home.
• If we don’t end this now, these parents won’t vote for the parcel tax.
• No problem can’t be solved with management control.
• Reconfiguration lacks opportunities and flexibility.
MOTION Phillips/Sollecito to extend the meeting to 11:00 p.m.; motion CARRIED 4 – 0
Board Comments:
Bray is in favor of reconfiguration.
Sollecito said this can only work if teachers and the community are in support.
Phillips asked everyone to keep an open mind. While our district’s test scores are among the best in Monterey County, they are not good when looking at comparable districts. He wants to take the discussion of reconfiguration to the next step. He had not thought about the idea of a “little school/big school” problem.
Niccum has been involved with reconfiguration since 2003 when he served on the task force. The conclusion of that group was that class size balancing issues can be solved with reconfiguration. It is Pacific Grove Unified School District Board’s goal to increase every student’s educational experience. The plan was to have a meeting with the teachers. If they hadn’t liked it, the process would have stopped there because reconfiguration will only work if everyone buys into it. Even though it now appears clear that there is not support for reconfiguration, we should still move forward with a meeting with the teachers – but to discuss ways to improve the educational program and not reconfiguration per se.
MOTION Niccum/Phillips to meet with teachers and have a dialogue about the district’s
educational program.
Motion CARRIED 4 – 0 Pacific Grove Unified School District
Regular Board Meeting - October 23, 2008 Consent Agenda Item B