Our Area Superintendent, Richard Swanberg, will present his recommendations to the Board of Trustees "before Thanksgiving".
Public Schools Overcrowding and Repair Needs Committee
Friday morning - Nov 20, 9 am, Washoe County Administration Complex (1001 E. Ninth St., Building A, Room 205A)Here's the Meeting Agenda
I've heard this committee described as the group that will become the lobbying group for next November's legislative session. This is the group to be part of and aware of for long-term solutions.
WCSD Board of Trustees
December 8, 2 - 6 pm, Central Administration Building, Board Room, 425 East Ninth St.Here is the Meeting Agenda - It's not filled in yet, but this is where it will be posted.
This is where they will vote on the immediate solution for Mt Rose.
November 24, 2 - 6 pm, Central Administration Building, Board Room, 425 East Ninth St.
Here is the Meeting Agenda
They won't be discussing Overcrowding here, but they do have 2 public comment times available if we want to speak.
Please use the comments below to discuss how to address these meetings.
Thanks for setting this up, Laurie! I talked with Krissy Brown after the meeting, and she asked me to write up a few of the ideas that parents shared to include in her recommendations. Here's what I sent her this morning:
ReplyDelete"Hi Krissy,
Per our conversation, below are a few thoughts and questions from last night’s parent meeting. Feel free to share, edit, etc. as needed for your purposes, especially the playground safety piece, to make sure our thoughts are supporting school goals, sensitive to the political climate, etc. The questions are more for us as parents to determine how best we can support in such a short time frame.
Thanks!
Matt Smith, Ph.D.
Potential Solutions / Responses to Mr. Swanberg’s presentation:
1. We know from the National Education Policy Center’s recent meta-analysis (Whitmore Schazenbach, 2014; http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/pb_-_class_size.pdf ) that class size does matter, particularly at the elementary level for low-income students and students of color.
Our district’s overcrowding problem cannot be solved without new facilities, and at this time, structural changes should be limited to schools where providing relief is most likely to positively impact student achievement. For instance, Mitchell is the lone Focus elementary school in the district. Strategic relief should be provided to an underperforming school like Mitchell before a school with stronger performance like Sepulveda or Mt Rose, even if those higher-performing schools have more students above capacity.
A school like Mt. Rose has demonstrated achievement over many years, and has developed the only successful K-8 model in the district. Dismantling a thriving TWI program and vibrant school culture by removing the middle school grades for the sake of applying a district-wide overcrowding strategy “equally” is counterproductive.
2. At the Mt. Rose parent meeting on overcrowding held 11/18/2015, the idea of adding a portable was dismissed by the area superintendent because there were more playground injuries after a portable was added at Brown ES. This rationale was not presented with any data, however. In the absence of a valid correlation between injuries and portables, adding a portable at Mt Rose should be considered, even if it means losing the school garden in order to ensure that playground space is minimally impacted.
If the concern truly is student safety, we as parents strongly encourage the district to inspect the existing playground to address existing safety issues with the track, signage, etc. that pose tripping or cutting hazards which are likely a greater risk to student safety than adding a portable.
3. If the portable option is truly cost-prohibitive at $300,000, the district should consider adding a teacher allocation to provide relief to the lone Mt. Rose class which has more than 40 students. This would likely provide a cost savings of nearly $200,000 to the district as compared to purchasing a portable. There is flexibility within existing facilities to create team-teaching scenarios or to relocate classes to accommodate the new teacher to reduce the 4th grade class size load of 40+ students.
Questions:
1. When will we know if Mr. Swanberg’s request for more time to plan is approved?
2. Is the Board considering school plans individually, or will they only be considering one broad district-wide OC plan?
3. Would a survey of families school-wide be likely to influence the Board? If so, can the school help distribute a parent-generated survey?
4. If we need to lobby certain elected officials (Board, County Commission, Legislature) who can provide insight to parents on who best to focus on?
5. Are there existing groups working on the ballot question related to school funding?
6. Similar to #3, although the district doesn’t engage in lobbying or political campaigning, how do we get connected with groups who are working on similar issues already?
7. Does the district have any remaining bonding capacity?
8. What else can we do to help?"
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ReplyDeleteMelissa and I sent an email/letter today regarding the way the meeting this week was handled and asking for the time to form a formal parent committee regarding overcrowding. Here's the letter:
ReplyDeleteAllyson D. Wong
allysonwong@guidenby.com
Melissa McGovern
fourmisa@yahoo.com
November 20, 2015
Washoe County School District
Ms. Traci Davis
Office of the Superintendent
Via email: nlowe@washoeschools.net
Dear Ms. Davis,
On Sunday, November 15th, parents of students at Mount Rose K-8 were given notice that a meeting would be held on the evening of Wednesday, November 18th regarding overcrowding. This meeting was an opportunity for parents to meet with Area Superintendent Richard Swanberg. Despite the inadequate notice, approximately 50 concerned parents were able to attend this meeting with the assumption that they would be able to provide input into the decisions of how overcrowding is to be handled at Mount Rose. Upon arriving at that meeting, parents were practically told that the decisions had already been made, and parents left feeling that they were not heard and their input didn’t matter.
During this meeting, parents were polite and flexible. They offered constructive, creative ideas of possible solutions to the overcrowding issue. The parents were articulate and intelligent, wanting to examine all of the possible options to solve overcrowding. Much to the disappointment of these parents, no notes were taken at the meeting by any WCSD staff. No action items were created based of the information discussed. And on top of that, the Mount Rose parents were told that they would not be given the time or opportunity to form a committee to formally provide input to WCSD as other overcrowded schools have. The main reason discussed for these things not happening was “district policy,” but I find it very hard to believe that it is WCSD policy to not give the parents a voice in major decisions regarding their students.
At this point, I think it is critical for WCSD to give the parents of Mount Rose K-8 students the respect they deserve and allow the appropriate time and opportunity for a parent committee to be formed to inform the decisions of the School Board. The parents have proven that they are committed to the Mount Rose community and more than willing to provide input. Now we need to be assured that our input will be heard.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter, and please keep us informed as to how parents can best provide input.
Regards,
Allyson D. Wong
Melissa McGovern
Melissa and I received this response:
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Wong and Ms. McGovern,
Thank you for your letter and input. The Superintendent and Board will review overcrowding recommendations from schools. Based on board policy, any school over 120% capacity must develop an overcrowding plan. Since Mt. Rose does not have the ability to transition to a multi-track year calendar, Mt. Rose’s plan must reduce total enrollment. I’m confident that Mr. Swanberg and Ms. Brown are considering all options and possibilities while developing their overcrowding recommendations. Please understand that these decisions will be challenging to make and that while no decisions have currently been made, conversations will involve parents and the community of Mt. Rose to adequately address the overcrowding at the school.
Sincerely,
John Mayer
President, Board of School Trustees
Does anyone have any media contacts? This reply is insane.
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DeleteI attended the Public School Overcrowding and Repair Needs Committee meeting last Friday, and spoke during public comment about the disconnect Mt. Rose parents felt between what was promised at the October meeting, and what happened at the second meeting at the school on 11/18. After my comments, both Deputy Superintendent Kristen McNeill and Vice President of the Board Angie Taylor asked to speak with me outside of the meeting, expressed their empathy with frustrated parents, and agreed to work on better family involvement in the school plan.
ReplyDeleteWhether my comments made any difference in the extension that was granted Monday, 11/23, I have no idea, but it's good news either way.
One clarification: the overcrowding and repair needs committee has one purpose - to develop a ballot question related to raising taxes, fees, etc. for the November 2016 election, pursuant to SB 411, passed into law last summer. This group works with the district to understand the needs and the financial picture, but does NOT make any recommendations to the Board of Trustees related to school plans.
Attending future meetings is worthwhile assuming that we want to support the ballot measure they ultimately develop, but that group doesn't affect what the district decides to do about Mt. Rose's overcrowding in the short term.
I also learned that the Board would only need to take action on budget revisions that are above $100,000, such as the addition of a portable. Otherwise, the Area Superintendent has the authority to make decisions within the zone related to overcrowding.
More to come soon, no doubt - have a great holiday everyone!
-Matt Smith
mattjsmith@outlook.com
Thank you, Matt, for attending and representing our school at this very important meeting.
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