School Changes

[Mom70x7]

I'm so sorry I missed the meeting - first one in months I missed. 
Just had too much work to do. Lost 6 hours today going to VA in Wichita. 

If you want to know what is going on then get involved

What, if any, involvement ideas were presented tonight?

[pepelect]

The administration and staff were going to meet to get their list of wants and want nots for the possibility of a new school.  Cost of construction and the availability of labor were discussed.  It is a good time to build as far as labor goes but stuff is still high.  The attached vs detached school plans were hashed about.  The board wants to stress that this is just a fact and dollar finding mission.  The needs of the students were discussed as far as new curriculum and services.  Foreign languange, physics, and expanded techinical skills.  The need for more technology in all parts of every job dictates the need for more technology in all education.

[Mom70x7]

If the administration and staff get together and come up with wants and want nots - and do not include teachers, parents and community - then they're going to repeat earlier mistakes.

I still think the elementary, middle school and high school concept of June was a viable one for the time - but was presented ALL wrong.

Without the input and buy-in of teachers, parents and community into wants of a new facility, there will still be communication problems.

[Catwoman]

I would not anticipate that the Board will involve the public or the certified staff in this decision.  Past precedent would indicate that any decisions will be driven through the aspects of availability of labor, the availability of differing types of monies (grants, increasing mills, etc.) and the wants of the Board/Sup.  They might make a show of appearing to listen but any real decision making ability will remain theirs.  This is one of the reasons why I have been pushing for Patrick to run for the BOE...he has the tenacity to withstand the herd mentality and represent the public's interests.

[pepelect]

No ..... The board stated that they did not want to make any decisions with out the input of the staff(teachers), community(tax payers), and the students......


They did not leave any one out from what I heard at the meeting.   They were an a fact finding goal....What are we doing right and what needs to change.....Would a central campus be more cost effective to keeping and more importantly attracting good qualified teachers for the future.....If you didn't have to worry about nickel and dime expenses on 50 year old facilities then you could do more with less in the future if we have low enrollment....It is all about efficiency....The more efficient we become the smarter per dollar our kids are.......

Computers are cheap...Busses are expensive.....Quit buying fuel and buy a terrabytes or two.......

If we built in some flexibility when we have a smaller class we shift the building to meet the class size.  If we have bumper crop enrollment then we shift the building to accomidate that.  It is cheaper to think out the worst and best case on a computer screen than to run into the problem we have now.....

[sixdogsmom]

Were portable classrooms discussed at all? After all portables can be expanded or collapsed at need without a great deal of expense. A covered walkway should not be too expensive either. I truly think that may be the way to go.

[pepelect]

They discussed putting the classrooms in a cloverleaf configuration with shared center room for combined or groups.


The only thing I see with wrong portables is the same thing I have against trailer houses and mobile homes.  They are a short term fix for a longterm problem. The other thing that comes to mind is .....Greensburg......Chapman....

The state is stressing a safer room for all students and most schools open that up to the community at large....I think that a permanent structure with flexibility has more of an up side than a portable.

The problem of low enrollment is going to be around for a while.  The problem is that the redundant expenses with three campuses could finance quite a bit of staff to actually teach.   Three lunchrooms.....Endless transportation......Logistics of getting to and from......


There is no point in the district that is more than 25 miles from the highschool.  It is as close to the center as you can get without GPS.   If you did bus route even like the spokes of a wheel you could cut time on the bus signifacantly.  That is not even looking a map of where the students live. Greenwood, Chautauqua, and Elk students would benefit from one great asset. 

[D Whetstone]

I am not convinced the Board really wants significant input from the community.  Patrick, you are right in that it was stated at the meeting that the community would get their opportunity for input somewhere down the road. Bert advised that he would have the administrators meet with their teachers to get their input.  I hope this is not just one meeting. I would like for the teachers to meet directly with the Board. 

I strongly believe we will be far ahead to involve the community, teachers, and students from day one.  Yes, the Board stated that this was a fact finding mission. And they did gather facts from the architects. But they need to gather input from elsewhere. Make our future schools one "built" by the community.

Chanute, as I undertand it, has built some incredible schools. Not less than 100 meetings were conducted involving all stakeholders.  Do we intend to meet that much?  To put that much effort into such an important and critical issue?

DW

[Catwoman]

As I stated before, past precedent would indicate that the ultimate decisions made will not involve the public's views.  The Board will make a show of 'listening', then do exactly as they please.  Actions speak louder than words...and their past actions indicate a healthy disregard for any opinion other than theirs.  The only reason that the Board listened to the public regarding the school issues over the summer was that they recognized that there was liable to be a mass exit to other school systems if they carried through on their original plans...i.e. loss of precious funding if the kids are gone previous to the Sept. 20th count date.  Money (or the lack thereof) is a great motivater.  And, the general public staying away from the BOE meetings gives them ample room to be able to do as they please.  If you want the public's views to be heard and respected, then the general public has to show up IN DROVES...get every person who is able to hobble through the door to be there and pack the room.  You can't just let someone else show up and do the dirty work, then sit back and smile about how it all turned out.  This is one occasion where you're all going to have to get in there and be ready to mix it up with the best of them...unless you don't really care about the outcomes...then, by all means, stay away.  If you're serious, then show up...and show up...and show up...and show up.  Don't just make it to one meeting...make it to them all.  Make your presence felt and impossible to be ignored!

[D Whetstone]

Catwoman, you said it. We must get involved. The community has allowed the current culture to exist. If the community wants it to be different, than the community must get involved.

DW