Board Retreat on 12/12 from 5:30-8:00 PM in
the GMCS Board Room.
Sunday, December 21 at 4 PM, John Samford,
Assist,. Supt. For Business Services, and GMCS Attorney George Kozeleski
will be on KGLP.
Ethel Manuelito, Assist. To the Supt.,
reported that there is significant opposition to the proposed liquor
license for the Mustang convenience store at meeting at Tohlakai:
The Navajo Nation President and Gallup Mayor
have written letters in opposition
Schools and students have written letters to
Santa Fe
Monday, January 5 at 6 PM District 14 at the
Tohatchi Chapter and issue a joint resolution from 5 chapters inopposition
Supt. White and Assist. Supt. Manuelito will
draft a similar resolution for the GMCS Board
Board member Bill Bright added that the
corporation has the liquor license issue on its agenda.
Under NCLB, Theresa Mariano, Assist. Supt. For
Human Resources, said that districts must report to the public teachers
that are unqualified, have no teaching experience, or are teaching out
of their field.
GHS Coach Martinez presented the GHS Cross
Country Team to the Board from whom each received a certificate. Boys
and girls were district and state champions. Included were 3
All-Americans:
Sheyenne Lewis
Terra Brown
Philbert Brown
Assist. Supt. For Curriculum and Instruction
Chantal Irvin reported on the school calendar for 2004-05. The board
unanimously approved this.
School will start on August 30.
Delayed Mondays for Professional Development
on the second Monday of each month
Parent/Teacher Conferences to be on different
days for different levels from 1-8i PM.
Holidays: Traditional
175 students days
183 teacher days
Feb. 21: President’s Day is professional
development day
January 14: Staff development and
International Reading Conference at UNM.
Chantal Irvin reports that all graduation
dates have been set with the exception of Gallup High. Graduation at GHS
depends on the availability of Red Rock State Park.
Bill Bright moved to approve the position of
Interim Director of Safety and Teacherages. The interim director would
train staff in claims and safety concerns, represent the district at
monthly board meetings ion Albuquerque to review claims, work
proactively as coordinator between the fire marshal and county schools,
and update the teacherage booklet. After discussion regarding the need
on justification on this position and the availability of funds, the
board unanimously approved the motion. Board President Thompson insisted
that the individual filling the position have a schedule, have a
timeline for completion of duties, and report on the status of the
district to the board.
Dr. Monaghan informed the board that according
to the Criterion Referenced Test (Language Arts and Math) given in grades
4 and 8, 65%-75% of students are not meeting standards. The board
approved the adoption of Lightspan “Edutest” Assesment. This assessment
will be used this year in corrective action schools and in all schools
next year. The district will look at Title VIII funds for this.
Student Transfer Policy: The board unanimously
tabled decision on intra-school transfers until the next meeting in
order to settle the language. The new policy would prohibit students
from advancing to the next grade level during the school year due to
problems this causes for testing.
GMCS Resolution regarding board member
participation in the procurment of services was tabled for further
study. This would allow for further \outside businesses to be contacted
by the district even though the business has an employee that happens to
be related to a board member.
Meeting adjourned at 8:02
PM
Public Forum
a
Cosy Balok and community parents, with support
form Sen. Lidio Rainaldi, presented concerns about the lack of athletic
facilities (i.e. soccer and football fields) in the district,
particularly at Gallup High School.
Skeeter Caretto addressed the board about the
truancy policy. Students from Gallup Junior High that were ditching home
burglarized the Caretto recently.
“Listening is the shortest
distance between two people.”
“Recognize achievement
every day. Reward responsibility every hour.”
“A man is known by the
company he keeps, and also by the company from which he is kept out.”
Grover Cleveland
“Stand with anybody that
stands rights; stand with him while he is right and part with him when he
goes wrong.”
Abraham Lincoln
Eyes on the Board1 December 2003Central Office
All
members present.
Students on the
Student Task Force were introduced to the Board. The 3 students are from
Ramah High, Tohatchi High, and Crownpoint High.
Dr. Elvira Largie was
introduced as the interim NEC Director.
Mr. Jeff Frye,
Technical Marketer from Loss Prevention Management, Inc. of Albuquerque,
gave a presentation on security cameras. The Board, administration, and
audience viewed, in real-time, Tohatchi High School. The technology is
digital, no video tapes are needed.
Chantal Irvin gave a
brief summary of National Board Certification. Certification cost is
$2300; the District pays $200 for 5 candidates per year. Ms. Irvin also
introduced Verna Escudero as the district’s latest Board Certified
Educator.
NAFIS Resolution
draft was read and passed. The district will pay NAFIS dues with
stipulations detailed in the November 17 board meeting. Additionally,
the resolution will be sent with the requisition of dues and also to
other members of the coalition.
The GMCS Board
unanimously passed the Resolution and Proclamation of Public School
Capital Improvements Mill Levy Election after a presentation by Mr.
Samford. It was emphasized that these are not additional taxes, but a
continuation of existing monies currently received. The state also
matches funds dollar for dollar. Election Day will be Tuesday, February 3,
20004.
Eyes on the Board17 November 2003Central Office (Very Short
Meeting)
Adrienne
Sloan – Absent
Thoreau High School
will receive $75,000. Thoreau HS was one of eighteen schools to apply
for a Title 1 grant. Of this, $52,000 is already earmarked for books.
Congratulations.
GMCS Board
unanimously passed a resolution initiated by MCFUSE stating the
displeasure at the FCC decision to allow the “F” word on television.
MCFUSE will ensure the delivery of the resolution to local, state, and
federal representatives.
GMCS passed a
resolution to pay dues to NAFIS out of Title 8 money. Administration
will petition NAFIS to lower dues, establish a legal defense fund, and
monitor NAFIS progress/achievement to determine practicality of future
dues payment.
GMCS Vocal Music
Program will look at state standards regarding music and align them for
Jr. High and Middle Schools.
Eyes on the Board3 November 2003Central OfficeAll Board Members Present
WNM Mental Health Partnership report postponed
due to illness of presenter.
Mavis Price and Bill Bright questioned the
following budget adjustment requests:
$2000 to general supplies for Thoreau High
for program activities. Ms. Price asked “What are the activities?”
Title 1 Admin. Additional funding for office
furniture. One secretary was added.
$50,000 to contract services for stipend
payments to parents who participate in trainings and scheduled home
visits. Ms. Price asked for a list of participating parents.
Title 1 asked for $500 for other textbooks.
Ms. Price wanted to know “What textbooks?”
$1038; additional amount needed to hire
Technology Support Specialist. The district is hiring 3 to make a total
of 5.
Ms. Price suggested that past graduates of
Thoreau High donate caps and gowns. JOM budgets $250 for needy
students.
Ms. Price reiterated that travel dates be
submitted one month beforehand.
Mr. Samford reported that all bids for
teacherage construction of October 20, 2003 were rejected. The lowest
bid was still over the GMCS budget.
Under NCLB the military enjoys the same access
to student records as colleges and universities unless opted out by
parents.
Dr. Tempest states that there are excessive
demands on employees under Extensive Leave of Absence.
Graduation dates discussed. Ms. Price wants to
attend both graduations in her district, Ramah and Thoreau.
Mr. Stanley, Tohatchi Mid Principal, and Ms.
White are to meet with Gov. Richardson in Albuquerque. Tohatchi Mid was
one of the New Mexico schools selected to receive laptop computers for
students and teachers.
Board Scholars at Gallup High, 6 PM on
November 24.
GMCS Board to hold a retreat on November 18 at
5:30 PM at Central Office. There will be an additional retreat on the
Facilities Master Plan on December 16 at 5:30 PM at Central Office.
68 of 89 superintendents attended the State
Supt. Retreat in Albuquerque.
There was a consensus that education decisions
are made without input from districts and superintendents.
Superintendents to “tag team” that
legislature. Two superintendents to be present at all times to lobby.
Dr. Monaghan reported on the National Science
Foundation Math and Science Partnership Program, specifically building
units of prior knowledge of students.
GMCS Board was invited by the UNM Board to
attend a planning meeting of common issues on November 20 at 6 PM.
International Education Week: November 17-21.
Dr. Monaghan reported on the Universal Design
of Assessments, Univ. of Minn. Report by Christopher Johnstone. The
report deals with designing assessments to promote student achievement.
Mr. Bright and Joan to update the Board Policy
Manual.
Mr. Bright suggested that Board packets be
received before meeting so that members have more opportunity to make
calls, research, etc.
SFC Woody and 2 Gallup High students reported
on their trip to College Station, TX to visit Texas A&M. The two
cadets selected for the Junior Cadet Achievement Program were among 200
selected from 1500 candidates.
Mr. John Forkenbrock, Executive Director of
NAFSIS, explained the dues formula and benefits of NAFIS membership.
GMCS dues are in excess of $9000 per year.
Mr. Forkenbrock mentioned that NAFIS is
bipartisan and able to get into offices that AFT and NEA can’t. He added
that AFT and NEA are envious of this. (Note: While federally impacted
schools continue to pay excessive dues to NAFIS to lobby to gain impact
aid monies, MCFUSE members pay full due of $40 per month, have the CB
Law, and are currently working to strengthen the local and assist GMCS
with challenges confronting it. Which is the better deal? Who should be
envious of whom?)
A Steering Committee that includes former
Governor Caruthers and Lt. Governor Diane Denish will restructure SDE to
ensure permanent fund money gets to classrooms.
SDE will now be called the Public Education
Department (PED).
On October 20 Ms. Price was presented the True
Hero: Native American Substance Abuse and Tobacco Prevention Award.
Conroy Chino presented the awards. (Congratulations.)
Ms. Price was nominated by Governor Richardson
and confirmed as Vice President of the New Mexico Children’s Trust Fund
from 2003-2007 (IT CHICK)
Eyes on the Board20 October 2003Central Office
Absent:
Mavis Price (In Albuquerque to accept an award. Congratulations.)
Board unanimously
approved Ms. White’s motion to allow MCFUSE access to GMCS Internal
Distribution Boxes (mailboxes) as a temporary waiver to Board
policy. Trial period ends on 31 January 2004 with the following
stipulations:
·Access to be at individual sites only not through
Central Office boxes.
·An employee of that worksite will put information in
the boxes.
·No information will be distributed unless initialed
by Supt. White.
·Fair share dues component of collective bargaining
law will be distributed with other information during this trial period.
Annie Tsosie reported
on a trip to Washington D.C.
Supt. White reported
on the National Summit of High School Reform. Also attending from New
Mexico were AFL-CIO President and NMFEE President Christine Trujillo,
Virginia Trujillo, Steve Sanchez, as well as the Superintendents of the
Rio Rancho and Hobbs schools.
·Ms. White and Ms. V. Trujillo met with Senators
Bingaman and Domenici and Rep. Wilson, attended a Business Roundtable, and
visited the US Dept. of Education.
·Supt. White was questioned on teacher retention, EA’s
under NCLB, and the NCLB in practice.
In accordance with HB
212, NMSBA members need 5 hours by 12/1. Mark Mitchell and SDE must
approve credits.
GMCS and the city of
Gallup are currently talking about an Aquatic Center. The city wants to
build it and GMCS wants it close to schools to be accessible to
students. Possible locations include the GMCS school bus parking lot.
Council of
Governments is looking for grants to get an office. A possible location
would be Chee Dodge Elementary. Patti Lundstrom is willing to work with
GMCS on sewage at Chee Dodge.
Supt. White briefed the
GMCS Board on a proposal to develop a regional education center t Smith
Lake Elementary. The proposal must be submitted to and approved by Dr.
Alan Morgan, Interim Secretary of Education.
·Other revenue sources for this include UNM-Gallup
Center for Career and Technical Education, Rural Utilities Service Program,
CYFD Project Success, Diné II, and UNM-Gallup Diabetes Resource Center.
·Benefits include:
·Access for EA’s to obtain required hours for
licensure to comply with NCLB
·Student access to career and technical training
through concurrent enrollment
·Student access to a Bachelor’s Degree program without
excessive travel
·Access for local residents to advanced training in
early childhood development
·Distance learning options to enhance educational
opportunities for residents of the area
·Students attending the center will qualify for
childcare and be exposed to quality child development practices.
Candyce Head-Dylla
and Louise Benally were selected as presenters at the NABE conference in
Albuquerque. Congratulations.
Sunny Dooley and
Tianna gave a parents perspective on pre-schools and advocated for
pre-schools at every school. She mentioned that pre-schools get parents
involved in early childhood education. She suggested that requirements
be translated in to Navajo and Spanish and that more protein and complex
carbohydrates be incorporated into breakfast.
Ms. Irvin discussed
NCLB. C&I meetings have been restructured to include NCLB. Mr.
Linford added that every grant written should be directed towards NCLB.
Personnel Handbooks
have been modified to comply with NCLB and HB 212.
Bill Bright mentioned
the need to inform parents of military options or the Board will be
required to do so.
Board Resolutions
·10/20-10/24 National School Lunch week and National
School Bus Week
Assistant
Superintendents gave updates on “Range” assignments
·John Samford: Purple Range
·Leonard Haskie: Pink Range
·Chantel Irvin: White Shell Range
·Theresa Mariano: Obsidian Range
·Ed Monaghan: Turquoise Range
·Ethel Manuelito: Gold Range
·District schools fall into each range.
·Assignments serve to improve communications in the
district and are discussed every 2nd and 4th Monday.
GMCS visitor’s policy
amended due to SB46.
Chantel Irvin and
Candyce Head-Dylla were invited to the Vocabulary Conference in Dallas,
TX. This is put on by the PREL (Pacific Resources for Learning).
Reading First Start
Grant Process discussed. RFG meeting attended by Chantel Irvin, Candyce
Head-Dylla, Larry Linford, and Ray Macias.
Volunteer Policy
discussed due to a concern to have a mechanism in place for background
checks.
Leonard Haskie
reported on Highway Project 491. This highway will be constructed from
Navajo to the Mexican Springs turnoff. The project is in the study phase
currently and is due to begin construction in January 2005.
The GMCS Board
institutes an Open Public Forum. Open Public Forum will be during the
second board meeting of each month and scheduled through Central Office.
No personnel issues or issues under litigation will be heard.
Additionally, each forum will be limited to three speakers.
Eyes on the Board22 September 2003Tohatchi Elementary SchoolAll Members PresentMs. Sloan Tardy
Item added to agenda
Bill Bright moved to have the following items
placed on the consent agenda
GMCS Volunteer Policy Approval
Public School Stadium Notice Approval
Athletic Trip Beyond 200 Miles
Approval of SDE Corrective Action
Recommendation
Approval was unanimous
NAFIS Conference
The Board had discussion about sending Dolly
Begay, Jackson Gibson, and Annie Tsosie to the Fall NAFIS conference in
Washington DC from September 18-24.
Ms. Price objected to sending personnel
without Board approval.
Ms. White explained that the travel requests
were late due to discussion of NAFIS dues at the last Board meeting.
Ms. White added that as per GMCS policy, the Superintendent could
approve such requests. Begay, Gibson, and Tsosie will make reports,
both oral and written, to the board at the next meeting in October.
Ms. Price would like the Board in the future
to receive all travel requests before departures.
Seventh Grade Computer Program
The Governor’s 7th Grade Computer
Program will provide 5 New Mexico schools with laptop computers for
every 7th grader and every 7th grade teacher.
Tohatchi Mid School has been selected as one
of the 5 schools to receive computers. (Congratulations TMS!)
Computer will follow the student throughout
the schools but will remain the property of the district.
Legislative Education Meeting
The Legislative Education meeting was held in
Rio Rancho.
Discussion included:
Closing the warehouse and giving 100% of the
money for books to schools. Schools would then have to deal with
textbook publishers.
Library and cafeteria size being tied to 200
students and making 2 lunch periods mandatory.
APS Superintendent wants to look at funding
sources to assist Educational Assistants with college courses. EA’s
are low-paid employees and many are single parents. The item will be
placed on the legislative agenda.
Keynote speaker was Douglas Reeves who spoke
on Writing in Focus Across the Curriculum and how it raised
standardized test scores.
Rubrics on Principal Evaluation
Pre-evaluation Conference scheduled
Rubric Review
Collaboratively set goals by November 1.
School visits 3 times between November and
January.
Final evaluation the first week of March.
Review progress and data file.
Recommendation made to the Superintendent.
Four Assistant Superintendents with
Principal/Academic experience will conduct the evaluations:
Theresa Mariano
Ed Monaghan
Chantal Irvin
Ethel Manuelito
The principle focus of the 5-year plan will
be the Leadership Pillar.
Emergent, developing, proficient, or
advanced
Classroom walkthroughs
Professional development
Having a district perspective
Advisory Council
Shared Vision
Management: ability to work with personnel,
facilities, safety
Recommendation page
Page for notes and observations
Ms. Irvin stated that GMCS is moving in the
right direction. The district has excellent leaders and excellent
teachers.
Bill Bright stated that the Board needs to
look at Principals with regard to teacher retention and making the
district a place to stay.
GMCS Board was invited to attend the Effective
Schools Conference on March 11-14 in Scottsdale, AZ. The $565 per person
will be waived.
Impact Aid Hearing Date
September 29 at 1:30 PM, Room 310 on the
State Capital Building.
The public is allowed to speak.
The Athletic Policy Manual draft was
distributed. A vote will be held at the next board meeting.
The district received $5.4 million on
September 16 in Santa Fe for the construction of Tse Yi Gai High School.
Mr. Gintowt of the Hearing Authority will
represent GMCS at a meeting on truancy in Albuquerque on September 25
and 26. Governor Richardson will be in attendance.
The Crownpoint Clinic agreement is in its
final draft. The district is trying to get the clinic back.
One member of each school advisory group is
needed to form the Calendar Committee.
Proposals for topics of breakout sessions for
the New Mexico School Board Association Convention include the
following:
Impact Aid, History, Concept, Lawsuit
Model Corrective Action Plans for Exemplary
Schools
Baldrige History
Title Programs
State Curriculum Standards
Special Olympics Presentation
Chris Livingston gave a presentation on the
Special Olympics New Mexico-Gallup. This includes community and
school-based activates.
Ms. Livingston asked for the district’s
support for the Track and Field portion of the program.
Community members wishing to volunteer their
time and talents are needed as coaches, assistant coaches, chaperones,
etc.
Contact Ms. Livingston of Mary Havlick at
722-4101
Sarah Wilson received 2 gold medals in the
Aquatics portion of the program. (Good job!)
Membership Dues
Dr. Monaghan presented information regarding
dues to NAFIS
Dues are based on impact aid received by the
state and not the amount actually received by GMCS.
Mr. Thompson and Dr. Tempest gave suggestions
of other options that might be more productive in lobbying for impact
aid.
A representative of NAFIS will be invited to
make a presentation on why GMCS should maintain its membership.
Student Enrollment
Projected enrollment for 2003-04 was 13,421.
Actual enrollment is 13,439 or 18 more
students.
Pathways for All Students to Succeed Act
Information presented by Ms. Irvin.
Provisions include:
Title 1
Funding for Success
One literature coach per 20 teachers at the
high school level
$1 Billion in 2005 for 5 years
Title 2
One coach per 150 students with the purpose
of building personal graduation plans.
Fostering Secondary Schools
Personalization of instruction
Professional development
Alignment of instruction with curriculum
High expectations
Ms. Irvin stated that the only area of
concern is that additional staff members are provided for facilities,
such as an offices or classroom space.
Ms. White asked the board to adopt this
resolution with the additional funding for facilities. The board voted
unanimously in favor.
Advisory School Councils
The Board discussed the composition of
Advisory School Councils.
Discussion will continue, although ASC’s were
adopted in principle.
No Child Left Behind Policy Guidelines
Bill Bright stated that administrators need
to review NCLB policy to see what has been accomplished and what has
not. This discussion will be on going.
Eyes on the Board8 September 2003Central Office BoardroomAll Members Present
Advisory School Councils Policy Distributed
Each public school within the district will
have a school council to assist the principal in an advisory capacity
with school based decision making and to provide parents with the
opportunity for greater involvement in their children’s education.
Regional indigenous Bilingual Education
The conference will be held in Gallup on
November 21 and 22 at the Gallup Graduate Studies Center of WNMU.
Chee Dodge Construction
Leonard Haskie gave a summary of the
archaeological findings at Chee Dodge and their cultural significance.
Healthy Beverage Sales
Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Gallup
discussed healthy beverage sales in GMCS and distributed samples of their
products. In addition to Minute Maid, the company has a new beverage
called SWERVE. Ingredients include skim milk and it comes in various
flavors.
GMCS Membership Dues
Ms. White discussed payment of membership
dues to organizations, such as NAFIS. Ms. White said the dues needed to
be scrutinized to ensure the district get the most “bang for the buck.”
Board member Mavis Price requested a list of all district membership
dues for the next meeting.
MCFUSE Presentation
MCFUSE President Brian Bernard received a
warm welcome from the board after and introduction by Ms. White.
Bernard explained the new focus of MCFUSE was on members and
membership, as well as students. Bernard said it is time we work
together for the good of the district as a whole. The board was very
receptive. Board member Bill Bright said he appreciated MCFUSE
distributing voter information on Amendment 1 and 2 at New Teacher
Orientation.
Bernard also took the opportunity to make two
requests of the board.
Limited access to mailboxes. All of the materials for dissemination by
MCFUSE in school mailboxes would be approved by Ms. White.
Normalization of access to district school
by MCFUSE. Increased access
would be for special activities for MCFUSE members and professional
development opportunities coordinated with Central Office for all
interested employees. Board member Mavis Price had questions
concerning types pf professional development topics.
All Board Members were presented with AFT
mementos recognizing the renewal of cooperation and the goodwill of all
parties.
FYI:
The Gadsden AFT local received payroll deduction of dues on a 3 to 2
vote by the local school board.
Date: 3 September 2003Location: JFK AuditoriumTime: 3-5 PMSpecial Show Cause Hearing
The Special Show Cause Hearing was held at
JFK on September 3. GMCS presented the corrective action plans to the State
Superintendent of Schools who has 10 days to make a written recommendation.
Recommendations include:
Suspension
Non-suspension
Recommendation for local implementation with
additional mandates or state monitoring.
MCFUSE has copies of the corrective action
plan for each school. Any person who wants a copy of the plan for their
school can email MCFUSE or call
722-6980 and will will provide copies.
Date: 28 August 2003Location: Central Office Board RoomAbsent: None (Ms. Sloan Tardy)
Purpose of this special meeting was for
principals of corrective action schools to present their corrective action
plans to the Board for approval. All plans were approved and principals will
report at midterm on their progress. Eleven corrective action schools
were represented: Navajo Elementary, Crownpoint Elementary, Tohatchi
Elementary, Tohatchi Mid School, Tohatchi High, Twin Lakes Elementary, Chee
Dodge Elementary, Washington Elementary, Stagecoach Elementary, Turpen
Elementary, and Rocky View Elementary.
18 August 2003
MCFUSE was unable to make
this meeting. Mrs. White has graciously agreed to provide us with the minutes.
As soon as these are available, I will provide an update.
Between Meetings
GHS Senior Picinic: 8/27/03 at Ford Canyon
Park
This is a potluck for GHS seniors, faculty,
and staff.
GJHS Student Orientation: 8/28/03 6:30-8:00 PM
4 August 20036:00-9:15 pmabsent: none
Report on Rocky
View: Ed Haskie reported an architect has inspected the north
side of the building and found there is serious structural damage.
The kitchen will be closed. If the structural damage in the
kitchen area cannot be repaired by the time the school year begins
students will likely be transported to JFK for lunch.
Report on Red
Rock: Mr. Samford reported that portables are coming in
for the south side. Portables will be used to start school and
perhaps for the entire school year. Some portables will be
doublewide to accommodate two classrooms. A hotline for teachers
and students has been set up using the existing district phone with
prompts for information concerning Red Rock. Mr. Thompson asked
Mr. Samford about the cost for the portables and other costs incurred by
the damage. Mr. Samford replied that the districts insurance was
paying for all costs.
No Child Left
Behind Act: Ms. Manuelito reported that on August 12 and 13
there will be a community planning meeting to get input from the
community on the No Child Left Behind Act. She stated that this
fits in the Districts five year strategic plan. During this
presentation she was also heard to refer to parents as “customers”.
Internal
Distribution Boxes: Ms. Manuelito reported that after
consulting with their attorney the district has decided to rename
teacher mail boxes “Gallup McKinley County Schools Internal Distribution
Boxes”. She claimed that there has been much confusion about
teacher mail boxes, and that the term itself “mail boxes” was somehow
misleading to many, carrying with it the implication that “mail boxes”
denoted public access. After her presentation the board
voted unanimously to approve the renaming.
HB 212 Advisory
Committee: Mr. Bright made several brief presentations.
The first of which concerned adding categories to the district advisory
committee which will be set up in compliance with HB 212. Mr.
Bright wants to add categories including students and faith based
representatives. Sandy Webb spoke on the faith based issue and
among other things stated that while she believed faith based
organizations can be a positive influence in the schools she firmly
believes in the separation of church and state. It was stated that
any representatives on the committee would have to be elected.
UNM Gallup
“Gear-Up” : Mr. Bright proposed adopting a program called
“Gear Up”. This program would be used in the middle
schools to help students develop a positive attitude about continuing
their education. A grant would be applied for and the program
would not begin until the 04-05 school year.
Teacher
Navigation guide: Mr. Bright presented the idea of a health
resource guide for teachers that could given out at teacher orientation.
The guide would help familiarize teachers with local resources for
health related needs.
Personnel
Handbook changes: Ms. Manuelito went through a barrage of
changes which will be forthcoming in a new edition of the
handbook. As those present other than the board did not have
immediate access to a copy of the present handbook to view pages where
changes were made it is difficult to accurately spell all of them out at
this point. More information on the changes will be
forthcoming. However some highlights include the fact that there
will now be only a 15 day turn around on submitting your signed contract
to the district office, the implication being that if you don’t
get it done in that time you do not have a contract. Ms. Manuelito
also addressed the issue of district slip ups on salary that many
teachers find on the contracts every year. She said it is only the
personnel offices duty to correct these salary mistakes and that
complaints should not be made to others offices in the administration office.
Ms. Manuelito
said more than once that HB 212 prohibits a duty free lunch. Concerning
the grievance policy Ms. Manuelito said that those with collective
bargaining would not be included in the districts grievance
policy. In regards to work related environmental health issues Ms.
Manuelito said that after consulting with the district’s attorney they
will not take responsibility for any health concerns in the work place
since they have no written policy on the subject.
7 July 20036:00PM to 9:20PMCentral Office
Absent: Mr. Thompson
CONSENT AGENDA:
Closed for public discussion.
REGULAR AGENDA:
Admin hires. Dr. Monaghan as Assistant Superintendent of Research,
Tammy Hall as Early Childhood Coordinator, Patricia Castleberry at Crownpoint
MS, Jackie Gillman (sp?) at Crownpoint ES, and Jodie Tidgen (sp?) at
Church Rock ES. Still open: Director Professional Development,
Pueblo Pintado and Twin Lakes principals, Counseling Specialist, and
Assistant Superintendent of Personnel.
Red Rock ES fire. School will be reopened by September
although parts will remain closed. Portables and a toilet trailer
are being moved in. Furniture and textbooks will be in
place. The district has no money to reimburse teachers for lost
personal items; teachers will have to use their personal homeowners
policies for this. The district donated money to help catch the
arson. First Financial is raising money to reimburse personal
effects for the teachers. All board and administration discussions were
about money, library books saved, computers okay, how wonderful Business
Services did, etc. Nobody asked about how the children were
doing. MCFUSE learned that many were distraught, and no counseling
services were provided to help them deal with their loss. Note:
$1.5M damage and arson suspected according to Fire Chief Louie
Chavez.
Crownpoint HS clinic. Liability issues still need to be
resolved. Note: On a McBreen Liveline
radio interview following last board meeting Dr. Tempest revealed that
family planning clinics would not be part of the planned clinics.
This negates a 2001 campaign promise made by both Dr. Tempest and Mr.
Bright to the Health Alliance Committee. Their opponents had voted
to shut down the clinics at Thoreau HS and Crownpoint HS when the
medical community and every chapter house in the district voted to add
family planning programs. At the school board meeting this was
kept secret from the public when Dr. Tempest presented the plan for
clinics to the board. MCFUSE found out that Navajo Nation
President Joe Shirley supports family planning programs. MCFUSE
contacted the Health Alliance’s project officer and let him know our
board was not supporting family planning efforts. MCFUSE’s
position is that the district should respect the democratic process of
the chapter house positions and do what is best for the kids. City
board members should not “play politics” with the health education of
county children based on what the board members perceive to be the
opinion of some city voters.
Corrective action update. In a 17Jun03 press release
Superintendent Davis added eight more “modifications” to the fourteen
New Mexico corrective action schools. The SDE modifications added
professional development, bilingual, and literacy programs. They
also called for less teacher time off with the exception of personal and
sick leave days. Middle schools were cited for taking coaches out
of classrooms during the instructional day. Teacher absences at
the four GMCS schools must be reported to parents, the school board, and
SDE. The four GMCS schools must also work better with the Navajo
Nation in the areas of language and culture. For more information,
you may link to SDE’s website elsewhere on the MCFUSE website. Ms.
Irvin briefed the board on most of these modifications. The
district’s suspense to SDE was 30Jun03.
Churchrock corrective action fight. State Superintendent Michael J. Davis had one
specific recommendation for Churchrock Academy: “Continue the
extended school year and inter-sessions for at-risk students.”
CRA’s former principal was in the paper 10Jun03 criticizing central
office’s plan to end the extended school year. A 7May03 letter
from Ms. White to all staff stated, “Church Rock Academy instructional
staff contracts will match the length of other district schools.”
In the paper Ms. Irvin stated the district misunderstood HB212,
Education Reform Act, signed this past legislative session. At the
board meeting the board voted 4-0 to not do the extended school year and
do the summer school jumpstart program instead. They will also
modify the inter-session programs so fewer teachers are available to
help the students most in need. Dr. Monaghan had previously
praised all the accomplishments this past year at Churchrock, but now he
is saying that it is impossible to tell why they did so well.
MCFUSE’s position is that if the teachers and principals agree that they
found something that works, the board should support it, not break
it.
Skeet cans extended day. Parents did not like it, so it will not
be done next year. No mention was made what teachers
thought. School will start at 8:00AM and breakfast will be in the
classroom. The administration said this would not extend teacher
classroom time as classes already started at 8:00AM.
Federal money misspent. “Smart boards,” i.e., computerized
chalkboards, were not provided in all Churchrock classrooms as stated in
the school’s corrective action plan because a previous Central Office
administrator spent the Title 9 money elsewhere. Smart boards are
currently placed one per school throughout the district.
More schools in corrective action. The administration predicts five to ten
schools will be added to the four already in corrective action.
The final list will come out on 1Aug03. Note: At state and
national levels the union has been lobbying for a fairer criterion-based
test. This was a success with NCLB and also at state level, and
these tests are now being phased in. Also, at local level MCFUSE worked
with SDE to prevent administrators from harassing local teachers.
Last year some local principals panicked and passed their personal fears
on to teachers.
Master teacher training. Instructional support teachers will be trained
by Learning 24/7. The union is concerned because Learning 24/7 is
the same consultant that advocated for reconstituting Churchrock and
dismissing all teachers based on a walk-thru of the school that many
teachers said was brief, inaccurate, and unfair. Learning 24/7 is
also the consultant that did last year’s in-service at GHS on Fred Jones
classroom management. The union heard many complaints on the
quality of this presentation. The union’s position is that
in-services that local teachers put together are generally better than
any done by outside management consultants.
Smith Lake update. Per Ms. White, two liaisons worked all
of June to recruit students. Parents in the Mariano Lake area want
to keep their kids at the BIA school.
Board officers elected. No changes. President, Mr.
Thompson; Vice-president, Dr. Tempest; Secretary, Mr. Bright.
Tohatchi HS modified block. Teachers and staff voted 100% to
support a modified block schedule next year that will result in smaller
class sizes, more classes, both a staff and an individual prep for teachers,
and classroom breakfasts. Parents and students voted over 90% to
support to accept the schedule. The teachers will work from 8:00
to 1:50, then have “family time” for various staff meetings until 2:40,
then individual prep until 3:45.
Board’s Reno trip. Four board members canceled, and only
Mr. Thompson and Ms. White went. Ms. White said that since she
doesn’t gamble she got to visit with a lot of people. MCFUSE had
requested an accounting of all expenses claimed in the school board’s
scheduled trip to Reno, Nevada. MCFUSE requested these figures
before the board made the trip.
Middle-College High School update. Next board meeting MCHS will provide
test scores on the NMHSCE all tenth graders must take to receive a
diploma. Last meeting board members Mr. Bright and Dr. Tempest
disagreed about whether these scores had been requested by the
board. Dr. Tempest has been requesting these scores at past board
meetings. Ms. White pointed out it was part of MCHS’s
charter. MCFUSE’s position has consistently been that MCHS should
be held accountable, especially since they receive $10,000 per student
versus the $3,000 GMCS receives. The approved minutes of last
board meeting’s MCHS presentation incorrectly reported that last year’s
dropout rate was four. MCHS actually had eight dropouts for the
year. The board did not discuss this error.
Top performing Title 8 preschools. All did well, but Skeet was tops in
both 3- and 4-year-olds for language development. Crownpoint tied
with Skeet for 3-year-olds. For cognitive development Chee Dodge
and Navajo had the highest gains. About 15% of eligible children
attend preschool. Note: At state and national levels the
union has been fighting for funds so more children have the choice to
attend preschool. As education’s largest lobbyist and primary
“vote-getter,” union efforts made federal preschool funds available.
WORK STUDY SESSION:
Service learning. Mr. Bright wants the district to do
this. A thick package was given to board members and administrators
only. MCFUSE’s concern is that UNM-G has a service-learning
administrator, and that this could be another UNM-G push to tap K-12
funding the way they did for the Middle-College High School.
P-16 concept. Another thick package from Mr. Bright
not provided to the public. He said this was an “every kid is
college prep” program. Dr. Tempest said he read the secret package
and that it didn’t make any sense and that is was “utopian.” Dr.
Tempest also expressed concern that it could jeopardize local vocational
schools. Ms. White said she got a call from both UNM-G and WNMU
urging her to support the program. Again, MCFUSE is concerned this
will be a way for the local universities to drain district operational
funds.
Home visits. Mr. Bright again, this time pushing an optional state
program to encourage home visits. Ms. Irvin pointed out that this
conflicts with SDE corrective action mandates to keep teachers in the
classroom. She suggested using the program for extra
parent-teacher conferences, and patterning these conferences after Red
Rock’s program of structured meetings with specific learning
goals. These meetings would define responsibilities for parents
and students as well as teachers. For two years parents and
students at Red Rock liked the program. No mention was made what
teachers thought. MCFUSE’s position is that teachers at Red Rock
should be allowed to freely express their opinions, and if supportive
the board should accept Ms. Irvin’s recommendation for schools that volunteer
to try this idea. Issuing another top-down mandate, however, may
be unsuccessful.
BETWEEN BOARD MEETINGS:
District budget declared secret. Last board meeting Acting Board
President Dr. Tempest refused to make public the draft budget for
2003/04 that the board unanimously approved. This was based on the
advice of Mr. Samford who claimed that draft budgets are not public
information until the state approves them. MCFUSE called Gallup’s
budget analyst at the State Department of Education and learned that
copies of the approved draft budget were public documents and copies
should have been provided to the public at the school board
meeting. SDE also stated that a series of public meetings should
have been held so the public could make input. SDE sent a copy of
the budget to MCFUSE.
State AG office agrees district broke the law. In a 21Jun03 Independent article the
State’s Attorney General’s office and the Director of the New Mexico
Foundation for Open Government both stated that the district was wrong for
keeping the budget secret from the public. According to the
article, state statute states it is the local school board’s duty to
“give notice to parents explaining the budget process and inviting
parental involvement and input in that process prior to the date for the
public hearing” at which the board is obliged to listen to that
input. The article also quoted state statute stating that SDE
shall not approve and certify an operating budget of any school district
that fails to solicit parental approval. The article also pointed
out that Board President J.R. Thompson, who was absent when the budget
presentation was made, agreed that the budget should be public
information.
MCFUSE questions budget. After a cursory review of the draft budget
received from SDE, MCFUSE has many questions as to why the district’s
operating budget figures do not match the estimated amounts. For
example, why was Library and Audio-Visual estimated at $364,329, then
budgeted for 0? Why was Athletic Student Travel increased from
$94,476 estimated to $164,356 budgeted? Why is state grant money
for the mentorship program zeroed out? Why is “Unrestricted Cash”
being increased by $20M? Now that the district successfully closed
off public input in violation of state statute, these and many other
questions may never be answered. MCFUSE sent a 19Jun03 letter to
the superintendent and school board members asking that in the future
public documents be shared with the public at public meetings. The
letter also pointed out that historically it is Business Services that
is most secretive. To date no reply has been received. A
follow-up letter was mailed 8Jul03.
MCFUSE questions “master teacher” standards. MCFUSE went on KYVA/KTHR to protest the
district’s lowering of standards for master teachers at each
school. Favoritism is already being reported to the union in the
form of a principal hiring a level two teacher with minimal experience
and education over more educated and more experienced teachers.
MCFUSE’s position is that level three teachers, i.e., teachers with a
masters degree and more years of experience, should be given priority
hire rights over lesser-qualified teachers. Current policy allows
for a teacher with zero years of extra education and four years
experience to be hired to teach more qualified teachers how to
teach. When MCFUSE discussed this with the administration, the
union was told that a masters degree in education does not have much
value in the classroom.
Board fights Governor Richardson -- again. MCFUSE previously reported how the
district undermined Governor Richardson’s mandated 6% teacher salary
increase for next year by cutting contract and increment pay for
bilingual teachers, special education teachers, coaches, counselors, and
numerous others. Now the board has refused to endorse
Constitutional Amendment 1 that will create a Secretary of
Education. The New Mexico School Board Association that the board
is a part of endorses this amendment. Amendment 1 is also endorsed
by the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators, the Albuquerque
Chamber of Commerce, both teacher unions, and numerous other
organizations. GMCS is almost alone among educational
organizations refusing to support Governor Richardson on this
issue. MCFUSE sent a 9Jun03 letter to the superintendent with info
copies to the board members requesting a one-time waiver to the mailbox
censorship policy so the union can better support both amendments.
To date no reply has been received. When Governor Richardson
visited Gallup last May no board members showed up for his public town
hall meeting on education.
Teacher loses job – gets better one. A union teacher was involuntarily
transferred to a position she did not want and her job was given to
someone else. The principal told the teacher if she did not like
it, to go find a job somewhere else. The union protested to
Central Office. Central Office did not support the involuntary
transfer and gave the teacher her first choice of open jobs in the
district.
Tenured classified employee loses job – gets
better one. An
assistant principal recommended that a union classified employee be
fired without just cause. The union protested to Central
Office. Central Office arranged for the employee to be transferred
to a better position.
Central Office salaries. All the recent personnel changes at
central office have led some teachers to ask about administrator
salaries. Since these figures were not part of the 2Jun03 board
meeting’s discussion of district salaries, MCFUSE requested an accounting
of administrator salaries. Watch www.mcfuse.com
to learn the salaries of directors and above….coming soon.
16 June 2003
Central Office
Absent: Ms. White, Mr. Thompson, and Ms. Price
CONSENT AGENDA: Closed for public discussion
Note:
Last meeting the board voted 4-0 to make students brief the board on student
travel. Four student trips were completed this month and no
presentations were made. Two more are scheduled to be completed before
the next board meeting.
REGULAR AGENDA:
Administrator
interviews: Ms. Irvin invited the board to sit in on upcoming
administrator interviews. HB212 Education Reform Act directs that
school boards not be involved in approving district hiring decisions
except for the superintendent position.
Two-hour delay
for Thoreau: All Thoreau teachers will work an extra uncompensated
50 minutes per week to accommodate two-hour student delays every
Monday. The delay time will be used for professional
development. The other 70 minutes of unpaid overtime will be
compensated to teachers by giving them longer lunches and allowing them
to come in later and leave earlier. Dr. Tempest wanted to know how
the bells would be adjusted. Approved 3-0.
Middle College
High School problems: The board voted 2-0-1 to approve the
MCHS’s budget. The union objected that this budget was not
available for the public, and that copies should be provided to the
audience. UNM-G had given the district eleven copies, but the
district said they had no extras. (Note: last year the union
reported this same problem to the State Attorney General as a violation
of the Open Meetings Act. At that time Dr. Tempest called a UNM-G
official forward and went into a quiet huddle to discuss the MCHS budget.
Copies of that budget were also not provided to the public. The AG
ruled that this was illegal and directed the board to let the public
know what is being discussed.) The high dropout rate for MCHS was
discussed. The UNM-G principal claimed it was normal as these
students were dropouts to begin with. First semester had 4
dropouts out of 30 students; second semester had 8 of 33. Also,
MCHS has failed to recruit home scholars as promised, having only one
all year. Dr. Tempest asked for data concerning student
achievement and parent surveys. He said he has been asking for
this for some time and still has not received anything. Mr. Bright
said nobody has been asking for this information. UNM-G’s
principal said Ms. White has been going to MCHS meetings and has not
asked for this information, but that he would be glad to brief the board
on 10th grade test scores. Dr. Tempest abstained pending
information on test scores and parent surveys.
GMCS budget
declared secret: The board went into a modified closed session
as Mr. Samford went through the draft budget page by page. The
union objected that this was a public meeting discussing public funds,
and that a copy of the budget should be shared with the public.
Mr. Samford said the budget is secret until the state approves it.
Mr. Samford also complained that the district lost 300 students, the
biggest drop ever, and this left the district short of money.
(Note: a few months ago Ms. White promised the board she would study why
this happened. To date this study has not been done.) Mr.
Samford claimed the 6% mandated teacher pay raise averaged 6.4% in our
district. The union reminded the board that because they reduced
the teacher salary schedule 2.5% last year, Mr. Samford’s 6.4% figure
was really 3.9%. Note: last year’s pay cut was done when the
budget was actually increased.
Alaska trip:
Ms. White, Ms. Irvin, Ms. Jackson, two principals, two instructional
support teachers, the unnamed Assistant Superintendent of Research, and
a to-be-determined number of Navajo Nation personnel will attend a
five-day Baldridge conference in Alaska. The district will pay all
expenses for tribe officials. Approved 3-0.
BETWEEN BOARD MEETINGS:
Reno trip:
Ms. White and the board are scheduled to travel to Reno, NV, from June
28 through July 1.
Teacher attacked:
On June 7 a Navajo Elementary teacher was physically attacked when a
drunk broke into his teacherage. The union is calling for security
measures in county teacherages. Friends of the Federation were
surveyed for comments on the need for more security in
teacherages. These comments were e-mailed to the board and
superintendent. (See letter to School Board below.)
New spin doctor:
Superintendent secretary Coreen Smith was chosen for the community
relations position. She’ll start in August. This position
was created about two years ago when the school board directed that
operational funds used to support classrooms be diverted into
administration costs to create “good news” about the district.
New teacherages:
Thoreau, Crownpoint, Tohatchi is the building sequence for replacement
teacherages. Teachers will not be displaced during
construction. A contractor from Albuquerque was selected.
Retaliation:
One principal recently threatened to retaliate against
teachers who gave the principal a bad evaluation on the end-of-year
survey form. This was reported to MCFUSE by a number of concerned
teachers.
Elementary Arts: Thoreau, Red Rock, and
Stagecoach may receive about $48 per student to fund music, drama,
dance, and fine art programs next year. The state grant calls for
students to receive at least a half hour per week of
instruction/activity. Teachers and administrators are meeting to
discuss how to best spend the money.
OPEN LETTER
June 14, 2003
Dear School Board Members and
Superintendent:
Early Saturday morning, June 7, a drunken
male broke into a Navajo Elementary School teacher’s teacherage. The teacher
was physically battered. It is the opinion of MCFUSE's Executive Council that
teachers should be safe in their teacherages. We also asked our Friends of
the Federation to share their ideas with us. The comments listed below are
how they responded.
Tom Payton
MCFUSE President
Our new superintendent is a former police
officer. She is currently increasing security at central office to
protect district administrators. t is my hope that she will also support
protecting our teachers.
Doesn't the district address this in its
vaunted "emergency plan?"
Most of the in town schools have security.
Shouldn't the county schools also have it? This issue needs to be
raised, especially at the teacherages.
Have the district issue them a pistol.
This just helps illustrate the extent of the
problem for teachers living in the outlying areas. It makes me wonder
how many things go on that do not get reported for one reason or
another.
The complex at Tohatchi for the high school,
mid school and elementary teachers is fraught with problems from vicious
dogs on the loose, to break-ins and other problems. It seems to be a
dangerous place, especially for residents who have children.
Teachers should have no more protection than
anyone else in the county. If there are dangerous gangs, it does not
matter. Everyone should have the same protection.
I want you to know that if the district does
not do something about the safety issue I may consider a lawsuit. This
situation is just plain wrong.
I think EXTRA is a little misleading. The only
protection I have is whatever I can do for myself or the help of fellow
teachers who may be around. I think the union should write an open
letter to the Independent (if they will publish it) let the public read
about the crap that is going on out here. Also what about getting on the
radio?
Self-defense classes on in-service days.
Unlike the programs we usually get, at least it would be useful and the
exercise would benefit a lot.
This just helps illustrate the extent of the
problem for teachers living in the outlying areas. It makes me wonder
how many things go on that do not get reported for one reason or
another.
The BIA provides a dedicated, live-in security
guard for each of its teacherages, why can’t GMCS?
A teacher at Navajo Elementary was raped in
her teacherage some years ago. Another teacher in Navajo was attacked a
few years ago. A teacherage in Navajo was set on fire over Christmas
break a few years ago.
The union concerns are: A decent work
environment including job safety, decent wages, and quality product. You
can't teach a quality program if you're not safe. Period. That's my
position. There are political concerns regarding our rights as
non-Native Americans on the reservation. It appears that NO ONE takes
responsibility for our safety, including reservation police, county
sheriff, or FBI. Maybe this is an issue to take up with our legislators
and the Department of Education. You know that our administration won't
do anything unless it comes from the top, then they will still find a
way to punish us. As to what action we should take, I think that first
of all that a clear plan of action needs to be developed for the
outlying school communities. For example, we are all so used to calling
911 in an emergency, but that is next to useless out here because you
immediately routed to ABQ and then Shiprock. The Window Rock Police are
our nearest help. I know for a fact many teachers are not clear on what
to do when faced with a crisis involving the safety and well being of
themselves or others. Perhaps a support team should be formed for each outlying
school or all schools for that matter. Issues such as who to call, an
escape route.... Also I think that the teachers should receive training
in how to deal with a potential assailant-that could even be part of
orientation or do at each school individually. I can see how the admin
may not like this as it looks like negative PR- but look what happened
in ABQ and other schools-teachers have been killed, this is something
the district had better get its act together on or they may well mind
themselves neck high in some big legal suits.
I would also like to see a 24-hour security
patrol out here. Mr. Stus had someone doing that when the new school was
being built and I don't why he could not do it again. Summer is a time
when teachers who stay in their teacherage can be especially vulnerable
due to the fact that many of their neighbors depart for the summer.
I have lived in two separate school
teacherages in the district and have visited a third. Though many
buildings are basically the same, the outside appearance, maintenance
and principals as ‘landlords’ are different for all three. In the past
I, like others, have forgotten their keys and locked myself out. It is
very easy for anyone break into the apartments as I have had to do. The
principals have either traditionally or by district accord have
taken care of ordering maintenance, established procedures and corrected
problems. The safety for each of the schools is also quite different.
Some have local police or sheriff officers to patrol or live on site.
Tall, chain link fencing adding to the security are in place, while
others had an open area which horses, sheep and cattle grazed through
unless the teachers themselves put up fencing. Since there is the
proposal for replacing the old buildings with new ones, new safety
procedures and protocols should be put into place and standardized for
all new and existing teacherages and accompanying areas. For example,
dead bolt locks should be in place as well as door handle locks and
smoke detectors installed for existing buildings and the new ones.
Insurance companies will not always insure renters unless dead bolt
locks and detectors are in place.
Being a single woman, I was warned (and told
examples) about the lack of safety at the teacherages when I moved to the
areas. Many of the dogs, including teacher owned, have been a safety or
health issue. It had been proposed that one person at the district level
be in charge of the many teacherages.
Standardized buildings, safety procedures and
conflict resolution among teachers living in the individual areas may be
solved with one office to maintain standardization for the separate
areas. Also the principals would have ‘landlord’ burdens removed and
would need to follow newer protocols as well. Although all teachers may
not be in agreement, new or additions to the current lease agreements
should be made with everyone’s input at individual sites. Group meetings
with truly elected representatives, not appointed, for the entire
district’s lease ‘agreement’ meetings should be made at variable times
for everyone’s convenience. These are my personal concerns; those with
young children or older ones have other pertinent issues, which I am
unable to address in this forum. Thank you for your reading my opinions.
Dear Friends of the Federation,
Early Saturday morning, June 7, a Navajo
Elementary School teacher's teacherage was broken into by a drunken
male. The teacher was physically battered. It is the opinion of
MCFUSE's Executive Council that teachers should be safe in their teacherages,
and we are currently discussing the best way to make that happen. We
want your opinion on this issue.
Do you know of any current or past
security issues at county teacherages? If you can share these with MCFUSE, we
will consolidate these anonymously for district input via our website.
This will strengthen our effort to make our teacherages more secure.
Any other comments and ideas on this issue will also be included. Also,
any other ideas you may have for protecting our
teachers will be appreciated.
Our new superintendent is a former police
officer. She is currently increasing security at central office to
protect district administrators. It is my hope that she will also
support protecting our teachers.
Tom Payton
MCFUSE President
2 June 2003
Central Office
Absent: Ms. Sloan
CONSENT AGENDA
Student travel. Ms. Price moved to have
student travelers provide a 5-10 minute briefing to the board following
their travel. Passed 4-0.
On the road again… Ms. White and board
members to Reno, NV, June 28 to July1, to attend NIISA Conference.
Operational funds.
REGULAR AGENDA
New supe…again. Ms. White in, 4-0,
$113,300 effective July 1. That’s a 3% raise over what she’s
getting now. Plus a two-year contract. This is several
thousand less and one year shorter than what Mr. Walz was asking for.
New “Number Two.” Ms. White asked for
and received permission to select an assistant to the superintendent
without advertising the position. She did not say whom she planned
to ask. Approved 4-0.
Smith Lake support. Off to a good start,
six former students returning, children’s festivals planned, and a
full-time liaison assigned for summer.
Central Office lockdown. Ms. White said
that due to the high number of angry people coming to Central Office,
tighter security procedures are needed. Security badges, a
check-in control point, and other security actions will be put into
place.
Release time proposal. Ms. Crowe
presented a policy to allow employees up to 2.5 hours release time to
take educational courses. Money for tuition may also be
available. Ms. Crowe stated that educational assistants and middle
schools teachers were hit hardest by NCLB. Tabled 4-0 pending
legal review.
Highly qualified teachers. Ms. Crowe
reported that 74% of elementary and 67.5% of secondary teachers
currently meet NCLB standards for being highly qualified.
District claims low teacher turnover.
Ms. Crowe reported that of the district’s 951 teachers in 2001-02, 19
retired and 156 resigned. That would put teacher turnover at
18%. In the past the district claimed turnover was 33%.
Mentoring program report card. Ms. Crowe
reported that 126 mentors and 178 protégés were in the program for
2002-03. When asked if the program was worthwhile, 63% of protégés
and 76% of mentors said yes. The union has been telling the
administration for several months that the program forced too much
paperwork on the protégés. New teachers have plenty of
work-related stress the first two years of teaching without adding more.
BETWEEN BOARD MEETINGS
Grievance lost. A disabled veteran was
ordered to seek medical care when one day his disability interfered with
his job. The district ordered a second opinion from a
district-chosen doctor before the veteran met with his personal
doctor. This caused the vet to use an extra week’s sick leave
while he waited to see the district’s doctor. School board policy
V.16.1 states, “Should the Superintendent have reason to doubt the
employee’s health or ability to continue performing duties, the employee
may be required to furnish a doctor’s statement certifying that the
employee may safely continue.” V.16.2 states, “In the event an
employee and the district fail to agree on the status of the health of
an employee, the district may select a doctor to examine the
employee.” Both doctors cleared the employee to return to
work. The union’s position was that the employee had a right to
see his own doctor before the district assigned a doctor. The
union asked that the lost week of sick leave be reinstated. The
district maintained that the employee had no right to choose his own
doctor.
Governor hears local teacher complaints.
On May 20 Governor Bill Richardson held a public meeting at city
hall. MCFUSE Officers Brian Bernard and Tom Payton thanked
Governor Richardson for the 6% pay raise, then told the Governor how in
Gallup the district cut salaries for some certified employees up to
10%. Cuts of $2,000 and $1,500 in bilingual and special education
stipends were also discussed. The union also told the governor it
would strongly support both constitutional amendments on September 23,
but that the local school board is fighting this effort by restricting
access to employees in violation of the Public Employee Bargaining Act.
Governor Richardson said this is one reason why it is important that the
public support his request for a Secretary of Education. This will
give the Governor a direct line of authority over school
districts. No board members were present at the public
meeting. Ms. White was present but had no comments.
Board breaks law -- again. MCFUSE
recently learned that the school board was found guilty of violating the
Open Meetings Act on September 2, 2002, when they closed the board
meeting to the public to rehearse the September 4 Show Cause Hearing for
SDE. At the time MCFUSE protested their going into closed session,
but the board ignored the protest. Another citizen lodged a
protest with the State Attorney General who recently ruled the meeting
should have been open. For the past two years MCFUSE has been
protesting the frequent closed meetings this board has been
having. Earlier this school year the AG also found them guilty of
shutting off the microphone to keep information from the public, and is currently
investigating their closed-session handling of the $350,000 Astroturf
purchase with the city.
Smith Lake witch hunt. Ms. White
defended teachers and told community members they were an advisory board
only, and would not have a say in teacher hiring and firing decisions.
19
May 2003
Navajo
Pine Elementary
Absent:
None.
REGULAR AGENDA
New supe?
Contract negotiations for William Walz ended, and negotiations began to
hire Karen White for the superintendent position. No reason for
ending the negotiations with Mr. Walz was given. Ms. White has
been filling the superintendent position along with the
assistant-to-the-superintendent position for the past school year.
C&I
realignment. The realignment was approved. After the
position is advertised, Dr. Monaghan is expected to be hired as the
Assistant Superintendent of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment.
Director positions will require principal experience. Ms. Irvin
said the Baldridge process was used to reach this decision. Four
yes votes, Mr. Thompson abstained.
Permanent school
fund resolution. The board voted to support the September 23
constitution change that will bring an extra $78 million into New Mexico
schools per year and significantly raise teacher salaries.
However, when the union asked to have access to mailboxes to help urge
school employees to support this issue, access remained closed.
Teacher unions throughout New Mexico are gearing up to support the
amendment. Restricting access to GMCS employees will sabotage this
effort.
Smith Lake
takeover delayed. Parents, children, a teacher, a Navajo
Nation Council Delegate, a Crownpoint Hospital representative, and a
representatives from the Navajo Nation’s President’s Office spoke
against the Smith Lake closure. The board voted 5-0 to give the
school a one-year reprieve on closure. The board had been
discussing turning the school over to UNM-G. Ms. White stated she
needed enrollment up to 160 to assign a principal and keep it open past
next year. The school will operate with a head teacher unless this
enrollment goal is met by August. Ms. White said it cost about
$7,000 a student to operate Smith Lake with the current low
enrollment. MCFUSE Vice-President Jeannine Russell pointed out that
the board was willing to support UNM-G’s Middle College High School
which costs $10,000 per student, so why should the Smith Lake children
have a lesser value? MCHS serves up to fifty students, and was
funded for 29 its first year. Smith Lake Elementary has about 90
students enrolled. The hospital representative spoke of the
dangerous pass the school bus would have to drive through, especially
treacherous in the winter. She also discussed the drunk driver
problem on this road, and the expectation it will increase with the
opening of a new package store. Teacher representative Judy
Bolick said test scores on the CAT-6 were way up, at least 10 percentile
points for every subject in every grade. However, Dr. Monaghan
criticized the students, saying their English proficiency was low.
Ms. White stated she would work with parents to develop a plan to
recruit and retain students this
summer.
BETWEEN BOARD MEETINGS
6% pay
raise. Teachers will receive the union’s 6% pay raise for the
full year next school year. When the administration rolled back
the teacher salary schedule 2.5% last year, funds were available to
supplement this year’s increase to the unit value.
10% pay cut.
Some teachers and other licensed professionals will take a pay cut up to
10% to go along with the 6% pay raise. This was done by cutting
coaches, band directors, counselors, and others from a ten-month to a
nine-month contract. Bilingual teachers got a stipend cut from
$3,000 to $1,000; special education teachers got cut from $2,500 to
$1,000. The reason given by Ms. White was a decrease of 300
students, a reduction of “at risk” funding, and the need to improve
academic performance.
Instructional
support teachers. The union has received complaints that the
district is allowing principals to hire instructional support teachers
with lesser qualifications to “teach” more experienced and more educated
teachers how to teach. Originally these teachers were to be level
three, but the district has lowered standards to level two. Also,
these positions are not being advertised to encourage a more qualified
pool of applicants to select from, but rather are being assigned within
schools. These positions were traded for classroom reduction
teachers. The administration claims that reducing class size has
not improved test scores. The administration has offered no
evidence to support this claim. The union is concerned that by lowering
qualifications for instructional support teachers, some principals will
select less qualified teachers based on personal relationships.
This is already a concern at one school known for practicing
favoritism.
5
May 2003
Central
Office
Absent:
None
CONSENT
AGENDA (closed to public discussion)
On the road
again…Rehoboth Christian School teacher to Orlando, FL, May
3-8. Three more Rehoboth teachers to Seattle, WA, June 29-July
2. Another Rehoboth teacher to Orlando, FL, July 23-26.
REGULAR AGENDA
Medical costs up.
As part of a budget review Mr. Samford reported that medical costs would
be going up 23.3%. (Note: the legislature is compensating the
district for their share of the increase.)
Early teacher pay
hike? Mr. Samford said it would be hard to comply with the
board’s request to give the union’s 6% pay hike to teachers earlier than
the mandated December date. At no board meeting was this board
request for an early pay increase previously
mentioned.
C&I
realignment. Ms. Irvin said the district is advertising for an
early childhood coordinator and a second C&I Assistant to the
Superintendent, this one for Research, Evaluation, and Assessment.
(Dr. Monaghan is currently Director of Research, Evaluation, and
Assessment.) Mr. Samford said the realignment resulted in “virtually
no expense” to the district. District concerns about low student
achievement was a main reason previously given for adding another
assistant superintendent.
Dr. Monaghan
recognized. Dr. Monaghan was presented a state award for
increasing student achievement.
Gallup Mid
changes. Next year they will do teaming and use flexible
schedules. There will be more cross-curriculum activities, more
inclusion, and more professional development via a double prep idea,
i.e., one prep for prep, one for team planning. There will also be
eight periods instead of the present seven.
Principal
rehires. Next year principals will find out if they are
rehired in March instead of May. Ms. White said this was for the
benefit of teachers. She also said this was the way it was before
Mr. Gomez was superintendent.
WORK STUDY SESSION
Smith Lake
closure—community input. The PTO President spoke of “one bad
apple” that has chased the children away. He called for a new
principal as the solution to declining enrollment. Other community
members spoke of how the land was donated for an elementary school, and
the person who donated the land was against giving the school to
UNM-G. Parents were upset the decision had been made without their
input. A petition was presented, and more will follow. Local
political leaders are being contacted. To date the district has
only contacted one of the three affected chapter houses.
Smith Lake
closure—union input. The union pointed out that for several
years they have been notifying the administration of problems at Smith
Lake ES, and these problems resulted in the decline in enrollment.
It is unfair to close the school because central office failed to
address the problem.
Smith Lake
closure—UNM-Gallup input. Dr. Beth Miller, UNM-G Acting
Director, explained what courses UNM-G would like to offer. When
the union asked who from the district approached her about taking over
the school, she said she did not know.
Smith Lake
closure—board input. Mr. Thompson asked that the board members
travel to Smith Lake and listen to the community. He asked that
they make no decision until they hear what the community has to say.
Smith Lake
closure—administration input. Ms. White spoke of declining
enrollment and cost effectiveness. She said there were as few as
five students in a class and that research said that was too
small. A teacher pointed out that the smallest class size is
sixteen.
Health and
fitness committee. This was presented in a muted voice and the
audience was unable to hear most of what was discussed. Packets of
information were given to the board but not the audience. Based on
what little was heard, it means no more soda and candy machines in
schools. This committee has been meeting for about a year, according
to what was said at the last board meeting.
HB68 merits.
Teachers of grades 1-5 will have up to 22 hours for home visits and
parent conferences; full-day kindergarten teachers up to 33 hours.
This is optional for schools. Ms White saw transportation as a big
issue.
Proactive teacher
recruitment. Mr. Walz said he wants to start getting letters
of intent signed while at job fairs. This will make the district
more competitive. He said it worked well in Farmington. He
also said it must be balanced with the principals’ right to select their
own teachers.
BETWEEN BOARD MEETINGS
Union protests
foreign teacher hires. KYVA/KTHR aired a local teacher union
interview that protested the board’s decision to start hiring foreign
teachers from various third world countries. The union objected to
school board pressure to force principals to hire foreign
teachers. The union also sent letters to local politicians
informing them of the school board’s negative comments about American
teachers. These letters went to local New Mexico legislators, New
Mexico chapter house presidents, and city and county elected
representatives.
Tempest pushes
for more unlicensed teachers. In an April 23 Liveline
interview with John McBreen, Dr. Tempest said he favored hiring
short-term, unlicensed teachers from Teach For America because, “I think
it’s a way of dealing with the vacancies.”
Smith Lake ES
closure. The union mailed letters to all GMCS-area chapter
house presidents informing them of a city board member’s efforts to
close Smith Lake and give it to UNM-G. The union’s position is for
the district to make all the facts public, respect the wishes of the
community, and do not rush the decision.
Board soft on
expulsions. At a special March 20 board meeting students
#742769 and #722601 had their expulsion appeals upheld. Absent:
Mr. Bright and Ms. Sloan.
Gallup’s
in-service rip-off. State Superintendent Michael J. Davis’s
April 28, 2003 letter clearing up the nine-and-one-half-month contract
scare raised some other questions for local teachers. It stated
that state statutes require “180 full instructional days or the
equivalent thereof” and “at least two full days of in-service
training.” The current GMCS 2002/03 teacher salary contract calls
for 173 instructional days and 10 in-service days. What GMCS does
is make the workdays longer to reach 180 in 173 days, then loads
teachers up on in-service days. Because the annual salary appears
to cover 183 days, most teachers are unaware they are actually working
unpaid overtime in the form of longer days. The district started
loading up in-service days when collective bargaining was voted down by
the school board.
21 April 2003
Tohatchi Mid
Absent:
None
Consent agenda:
Closed to the public.
2002/03
calendar. Last day for students will be May 20, for teachers
May 22 for checkout. An in-service will be held May 21.
2003/04
calendar. Ms. White said teachers might have to work an extra
half month next year due to HB212. (This rumor is also going
around some schools. MCFUSE and NMFEE both looked into it and
agree that the administration is reading something into the law that is
not there. The student calendar is still 180 days in HB212.
Also, no mention of extending the school year came up in the legislature.
NMFEE is double-checking with SDE just to be sure. MCFUSE will
send out an e-mail notice once SDE replies.)
New
superintendent. William Walz from Bloomfield was chosen after
a 90-minute deliberation. Salary is still to be negotiated.
He will replace Ms. White who was hired last August as the assistant
superintendent, then immediately assigned as acting
superintendent. Ms. White has been filling two of the district’s
top positions during the challenges of the first year of corrective
action, a busy education year in the legislature, new leadership in
Personnel and C&I, and the election of a new school board. Ms.
White will serve as assistant superintendent once Mr. Walz starts no
later than July 1.
Smith Lake
takeover. The takeover of Smith Lake ES by UNM-G was well
received by the Smith Lake Chapter House, according to Leonard
Haskie. Vocational classes will be offered. Casamero and
Mariano Lake Chapter Houses will also be asked to approve the takeover.
Realignment of
C&I. Ms. White and Ms. Irvin asked that C&I add
another assistant superintendent to C&I. They said as part of
the Baldridge process, teachers, principals, central office personnel,
and SDE requested this. Mr. Thompson said he was concerned that it
would tap into money meant for teacher salaries. When he asked
about the cost of the realignment, Mr. Samford said it was “within the
framework.” Corrective action and special education concerns
were cited as reasons for the realignment, and that personal
considerations were not part of the decision. Mr. Bright said wait
for the new superintendent to decide. Tabled until the retreat on
Saturday.
State
accountability changes. Data points will not be figured by
grade levels but by ELL status, ethnicity, content areas, etc. Dr.
Monaghan stated this should be fairer and more useful.
County school
board meetings. Next year county school board meetings will
not be held in winter months to avoid hazardous travel. Next
month’s May 5 board meeting will be broadcast to Tohatchi HS via
distance learning.
Teach for
America. Ms. White recommended that TFA not be allowed to
increase from 30 to 70, that they not be given hiring priority over
other teachers, and that no extra money be paid for TFA teachers.
Mr. Bright moved to table this until data analyzing TFA teachers comes
in. Motion passed 4-1 with Dr. Tempest voting no. Increasing
the number of TFA teachers will increase teacher turnover and the
unlicensed teacher rate.
Between
Board Meetings
Board attacks
local teachers. In an April 16 radio interview on KYVA/KTHR,
board member Ms. Price told reporter John McBreen that foreign teachers
from the Philippines, Russia, Baltic States, and South America would be
more committed to our students than the American teachers currently in
the district. She said they would not quit the profession like
Americans do, and that they would stay for up to six years. Mr.
Bright also criticized local teachers. Justifying the hiring of
foreign teachers, he said, “We shouldn’t be begging for and getting
leftovers.” MCFUSE went on the air two days later and pointed out
how parents annually rate local teachers highly on the Quality of
Education Survey. The union also stated that SDE’s Special Master
Dr. Toni Nolan Trujillo told the board our teachers were by and large as
good as the teachers at the state’s highest performing schools.
Teachers have been complaining to the union mostly about the “leftovers”
remark.
17 April 2003
Central
Office
Absent:
None.
Consent
agenda:
·Ms. White took all personnel hire and fire actions
off the agenda because HB212 moved this responsibility to the
superintendent. The board will no longer be able to officially
disapprove superintendent personnel recommendations.
·One area of concern closed for public knowledge is
the Director of Construction position realignment. Is this another
increase of administration costs?
·Another concern is the Johnson O’Malley 2003/04
proposal. Why is this a secret?
On the road
again… Trips discussed by board members: Ms. Price to DC, Ms.
Sloan to San Francisco, and Mr. Bright to Albuquerque. Operational
funds.
School board
retreat. Saturday, April 26, 9-3, Sacred Heart Retreat.
Sky City
Casino. Zuni, Grants, and Gallup Boards will meet at Sky City
Casino to discuss the impact aid lawsuit. Thursday, April 24, 6:00
PM. Operational funds.
Outstanding
Secondary Principal of New Mexico. This year it went to GHS’s
Mike Butkovich. Mike thanked school’s staff, parents, and
students.
Teach For America.
TFA representatives spoke on their plan to go from 30 to 70 teachers
this fall, and eventually up to 120, or over 10% of the district’s
teacher force. They called this “critical mass,” and claimed it was
necessary to make the program work. Ms. White questioned the
$4,500 Americorps stipend each teacher receives, and explained how many
of the TFA teachers in their second year do not take the state-mandated
education courses their waivers require because they know they are not
coming back. Ms. Irvine clarified that TFA’s claim that SDE
considered them “highly qualified” as defined by NCLB was not
true. She stated that SDE was “shocked” that TFA made this claim
based on a TFA five-week crash course in teaching. Ms. Irvine
stated concerns that TFA teachers do not participate in the district’s
mentoring program, did not participate in professional development,
don’t “become part of the staff,” and are “not part of our
system.” The union asked TFA’s national Vice-President for
Membership if she would consider extending the program to four
years. The answer was no. As the TFA representative kept
insisting TFA teachers were excellent teachers and producing great
results, the union challenged them to “put your STAR scores on the
table.” Tom pointed out that at last Saturday’s union meeting many
of the same concerns principals expressed were also brought up among
union teachers.
Foreign teachers.
Mr. Bright said he was responsible for bringing in two overseas
recruiters to brief the board. One recruiter brought 68
applications from Filipino teachers ready to start work in the
fall. They were filled out on the district’s form, and each came
with a CD showing the teacher teaching. He stated that our area
was not a desirable place for American teachers to live, but that it is
similar to the Philippines so there would be very little culture
shock. The teachers would come for a three-year tour. The
other recruiter gets teachers from Russia, Scandinavia, the Baltic, and
South America. He brought two young female teachers and an
administrator from Borrego Pass to speak to the board. The
administrator said it was better than having no teachers at all, and
that half the community was in favor of the program. SDE
classifies these teachers at Level I even though they have five or more
years of experience.
Board to shun
public contact? Ms. White said she wanted central office
personnel to stop going to monthly board meetings at county schools
because it was easier for the staff to have the meetings at central
office. Mr. Bright agreed, and said the board was too busy to
travel to these meetings. He also wants to spend time doing
classroom observations of every classroom in his district. Mr.
Thompson stated that the community voted for them, and they have a duty
to be visible in the community, and the monthly board meetings were a
good way to do this. Ms. Price and Ms. Sloan agreed on the need to
be visible in the community. Dr. Tempest wants to use distance
learning technology so county residents can watch the meeting on
interactive TV.
E-rate funding
flop. FCC disapproved e-rate funding throughout New Mexico for
a contracting glitch on seeking competitive bids. Mr. Oakes helped
win Senator Bingaman’s support to fight this denial of funds. Without an
approval of funds, the whole network will be impacted.
District report
card. Loaded on district’s website along with school board
policy.
Lunch prices
jump. Staff will soon pay $3 for a school lunch.
School day care.
Chee Dodge is working a proposal to offer teachers day care for their
children in the school. Classroom operational funds may be
diverted to fund a director, a nurse, a copier, subs, and liability
insurance.
Smith Lake
closure. Enrollment declined over four years from 165 to
90. Ms. White recommended it “change status” for UNM-G programs
and other uses. The community is against the closure, and Mr.
Thompson vowed to let the community make the decision, not central
office. The kids would be sent to Thoreau and Crownpoint.
The union asked the district to not repeat last year’s Church Rock
mistake of mass dismissing teachers. Tom asked that all Smith Lake
teachers be given priority placement rights to Crownpoint ES and Thoreau
ES. Ms. White said the Smith Lake teachers were good teachers,
not like the Church Rock teachers, and would transfer easily. She
said it was like comparing apples and oranges. Mr. Bright asked
that UNM-G try to sell the closure to the community. (Mr. Bright
sits on the UNM-G board.) Ms. Price said the community needed to
have an input. A community representative said there were problems
with the principal and that parents and teachers were often complaining
to the chapter house. He said a change in principal might bring
the kids back to the school. The union said Smith Lake generates
more teacher complaints over the last few years than any other school,
and that closer management of the school could prevent many
problems. The SDE deadline for a local decision is July
1.
Between
Board Meetings
District “vetoes”
Governor. The district discarded Governor Richardson’s
February 4 letter requesting all state agencies grant access to
unions. MCFUSE gave the district a copy of the letter and
requested to get on the school board agenda to present access requirements.
The district disapproved the request. District policy currently
keeps unions locked out of school mailboxes. Gallup is the only
district in New Mexico that closes school mailboxes to unions.
This has been school board policy since December 13, 1999.
Some schools have been allowing union flyers to be placed in teacher
lounges.
District fights
collective bargaining. The superintendent and the school board
met with New Mexico Federation of Educational Employees President
Christine Trujillo during the recent legislative session. They
gave Christine a package on meet-and-confer, an alternative to
collective bargaining that would put MCFUSE 100% under school board
control. Christine said she did not support that proposal.
In an April 5 article in the Independent the district denied advocating
meet-and-confer in place of collective bargaining. Christine
pointed out in the same article that Gallup is the district that is
being the most difficult in cooperating with its teachers union.
District picks
new union. The superintendent and the board went across the
street from the Roundhouse to NEA-NM and asked if they would represent
Gallup teachers. They were told no.
Superintendent
interviews screwed up. At the March 17 board meeting the board
agreed to interview the five candidates on April 2. The five
candidates were in Gallup April 1 for a tour of the district and a
public icebreaker that evening. The candidates were not
interviewed due to the district’s failure to comply with the Open
Meetings Act.
Baldridge
surveys. Watch for anothersurvey from Central Office,
this one to satisfy the public input requirement mandated by SDE.
MCFUSE was told teachers would be allowed to participate in this one.
The survey will come out of the Baldridge training administrators are
currently undergoing. GMCS is the only district the state
superintendent mandated leadership training for as a condition of
corrective action.
Teach For
America locations. MCFUSE was unable to get a breakout of how
many TFA teachers were in county schools and how many were in city
schools. At the March 17 board meeting the two city board members
wanted to vote on accepting TFA as soon as possible while the three
county board members voted to get more information first after MCFUSE,
Ms. White, Mr. Thompson, and Ms. Price expressed concern about high
teacher turnover and TFA’s contribution to that
problem.
Turpen “free
leave” issue. Some Turpen employees called upon the union’s
whistleblower protection to investigate an allegation that the
administration was granting free days of leave to an employee based on a
personal relationship. The allegation was creating a morale
problem at the school. MCFUSE gathered the evidence and
reported it to Central Office. Personnel then made sure most of
the uncharged days were then accounted for and properly charged.
MCFUSE mailed a copy of the investigation and evidence – minus the name
of the affected employee – to Turpen employees. Copies of the
report were also available at the union’s recent members
meeting.
17 March 2003
Washington ES
Absent: None.
·Consent agenda:
·New Board Member Mavis Price attending NAFIS conference March 23-26 in
D.C. Operational funds.
·Anna Zwiers, Rehoboth Christian School, to Minneapolis March 13-16 for
music conference. Federal funds.
Note: the school board forbids public
discussions of consent agenda items. They even denied one of the new
board members from asking a question because she asked at the wrong
time.
·Principal shuffle. Stagecoach acting principal Tim Nelson
replaced by Eddie Bortot from Central. Assistant principal job at
Central deleted, “balancing” the extra position added at Crownpoint Mid the
union complained about last school board meeting. (The district remains
top heavy on administrators, according to SDE data.)
·SDE’s GMCS SpEd report. Ms. Irvine briefed that SpEd
paperwork may need to be streamlined. Also, CTBS test results were poor
and the results were not being used for goals and objectives. More
parent involvement in IEPs is needed. The problem for parents is
finding time to meet during the day, according to Ms. Irvine. “Creative
scheduling” may be needed to accommodate parent work schedules so they may
attend IEPs. Also, Ms. Irvine said the SAT and IEP process needs to be
better aligned.
·Superintendent search committee. Five candidates were
selected and sent to the board, all from New Mexico: Thomas A. Jackson,
Grants; R. Michael Kakuska, Roswell; William R. Walz, Bloomfield; Karen S.
White, Gallup; and Angelo DiPaolo, Gallup. Of 34 applicants, only 17
packets were complete. The school board will interview the five
candidates on April 2. The integrity of the process may have been
compromised when one board member participated in part of the search
committee selection process.
·Student enrollment down. Mr. Oakes briefed that
enrollment is down 279 students averaged over the 40, 80, and 120-day
counts. At $3,000 per student, the dollar loss will be
significant. Mr. Bright said a new truancy program will fix this, but
Ms. White pointed out that most of the losses were in the early elementary
grades. Tom stated that high teacher turnover and the influx of inexperienced,
unlicensed teachers was hurting education quality. He pointed out that
two-year “boot camp” programs like Teach for America takes a toll, and this
is reflected in discipline problems as well as low test scores. Parents
want quality education, and some believe the BIA is now surpassing our
schools. Also, unlicensed teachers grew from 20% to 35% in the last few
years. Also, hiring ELL teachers from third world countries to teach
our ELL students does not make sense. Ms. White agreed that the first
two years of teaching are the hardest. Mr. Bright stated on April 7 the
board would review hiring teachers from third world countries.
·Teach for America. Justin May briefed that he wanted to
increase the program from 30 teachers to 70, and charge the district $1,500
per teacher for recruitment and handling. That will be $105,000 total
for next year. Also, he wants all teaching positions locked in by June
15, and teachers spread out at all grade levels. He also said TFA
teachers cannot be sent alone to schools, that they must have at least one
other TFA teacher for support.
·TFA concerns. Tom asked if TFA would increase the
commitment from two to four years. He said no. Mr. Thompson
expressed concern about the effectiveness of high-income college graduates
coming here and leaving two years later. Also, our district has a
partnership with the Navajo Nation, and he wants to know what their view is
about TFA. Mr. Bright asked about these teachers being considered
“highly qualified,” and Mr. May said new guidelines were being written that
would make them highly qualified under NCLB. Dr. Tempest wanted to know
how much normal teacher recruiting cost. Ms. White was concerned about
the June 15 deadline, and wanted to know if the $1,500 cost was negotiable
(it was). Ms. White also said higher teacher pay and collective
bargaining would stabilize the teacher workforce, and locking in 70 teachers
by June 15 may deny jobs to more experienced teachers. Ms. Price expressed
concern about teachers who come and go. The board then voted to
research the matter further, and not approve it now or at the next
meeting. The two city board members voted no, calling for a vote next
meeting. The three county board members voted to not rush the vote at
the next meeting. (MCFUSE will try to find out if most TFA teachers are
assigned to county schools.)
·SAVER survey. Last meeting concern was expressed over
giving middle school kids a survey that Ms. White and the two city middle school
principals felt would condone drug use and suicide as normal behaviors.
Mr. Bright said that giving this survey would bring money to the district,
and the kids should take it. (Last school board meeting he had asked
the administration to force the mid school principals to support it.)
It was voted on and approved that a stricter parent permission form would be
used, but that it first needed to be modified to let parents know that
questions about suicide were on the survey in addition to questions about
sexual activity and drug usage. The information obtained from the
survey is used to fund SAVER of which Mr. Bright is a member.
Between
Board Meetings
Too many
administrators? Both
the paper and the radio reported concern over the district’s hiring an
extra administrator at Crownpoint when student enrollment in the
district recently dropped 400 students and Governor Richardson is
calling for reduced spending on administration. According to SDE,
the district has one administrator for every 193 students. The
state average is one for every 250 students.
1% pay
raise. Santa Fe school
employees received a 1% pay raise when SDE finalized the unit value
$18.88 higher than last year. Our district made a similar promise
to school employees last fall, but so far have not followed through.
More
administrators coming.
Two more warm bodies will be joining Central Office. The district
is currently advertising for two standards specialists to work with
“power performance” standards. The school board will not learn of
these new positions until individuals are identified for hire.
Title 2 funded.
Bedpans for
teachers. GJHS and JFK
students got a day off when a water main broke. Employees were
forced to work under threat of no restrooms. The district went on
the radio and denied they would keep employees at school without
restrooms, however, the day before teachers at both schools were told
they would have to “go to McDonalds” for restroom
breaks. Luckily the water did not go off until 3:00
PM. No reason was given why teachers had to stay when students
were not present.
Third world
teachers coming? Last
weekend’s Independent carried a story reporting that the district may
recruit teachers from the Philippines. The local school board is
presently working this out of public view, and “will be discussing the
issue formally in the coming months.” (Note: normally the public
is informed of school board actions at open meetings.) The three
issues the district expressed concern with were saving money, minimum
paperwork for administrators, and the ability of the teachers to speak
English.
Another backroom
deal? The district has
been working to import third world teachers since last fall’s school
board retreat. It was revealed to MCFUSE at an October board
meeting when a board member let it slip out. The district
retracted the statement and claimed there were no plans to import third
world teachers.
SDE attacked. In a local radio interview on March 17,
the JFK corrective action principal criticized SDE for lowering teacher
morale at JFK. Earlier in the school year SDE’s Special Master
Toni Trujillo told the JFK staff she was not there to “help” teachers
but to monitor compliance with the school’s corrective action plan.
Ms. Irvine stated that “helping” teachers was Central Office’s job based
on SDE’s reports. The principal claimed this insulted her
teachers. Note: at a recent school board meeting Dr. Trujillo
stated that the teachers at all four of the district’s corrective action
schools were “by and large as good as teachers at the best schools in
New Mexico.” Dr. Trujillo further stated that the myth of bad
teachers at our district’s four corrective action schools was false, and
that she wanted this myth ended. All four corrective action
principals were present to hear Dr. Trujillo’s compliments to their
schools’ teachers.
March 15 SDE
corrective action highlights.
The Technology Department is not supporting Church Rock’s corrective
action plan. Also, Church Rock teachers may drop Success for All
for Four Block and Accelerated Reader. Skeet teachers are happy
with SFA.
3 March 2003
Central Office
Absent: None, two
new board members sworn in.
New teacherages. Teacher input will be
sought on the designs. Several years ago this was an issue as
teachers at Navajo voted one way and the district bought another.
Board goes to Santa
Fe. Dr. Tempest and Mr. Bright went to Santa Fe and reported on
their trip. Dr. Tempest said, “We just talked to some legislators.”
That’s all we have to report. Mr. Bright said nothing.
Operational funds.
Unacceptable trip
reports. Mr. Thompson again reminded the administration he
wanted trip reports of administrators to include benefits to
students. It was not clear which trip Mr. Thompson was referring
to, but Ms. Irvine, Mr. Monaghan, Ms. Macias, Ms. Crowe, and Ms. Jackson
were all scheduled to have just returned from a brain compatibility
conference in Phoenix.
Less operational
money. The classroom budget took a hit when the board voted 5-0 to
approve the hiring of a community relations specialist. Both the
union and the Independent over the last two years have criticized this
as an unnecessary spin doctor position created to generate good
publicity and cover up the bad. Mr. Samford
said money was available for this position. Duties will include
monthly social activities for new teachers, providing refreshments for
corrective action schools, Chalk Talk, and meeting with local chapter
houses and civic groups. Motion by Mr. Bright.
Less operational
money, part two. Dr. Tempest motioned and the board approved 5-0
to create a new administrator position for the new Crownpoint
Middle School. Tom asked why the high school did not do like
Navajo HS did and transfer the assistant principal to the middle
school. He also asked if the parents knew they were tapping into
the classroom budget and making teacher pay harder to fund next
year. Mr. Helms stated that he could not do without an assistant
principal. (New Mexico school districts are under criticism from
Governor Richardson for putting too much money into
administration. State classrooms only receive 59% of operational
budgets; the national average is 62 %.)
Power performance
standards. The state has watered down our ability to teach
technical writing skills, said Ms. Macias. This was one reason
cited for assembling 31 teachers to developmentally align the power
performance standards. Mr. Bright requested that healthy items be
added to the district standards.
Casual pay
up. Because grant money is plentiful, casual pay for after school
and summer school programs will increase from $20 per hour to $25 per
hour. Ms. Irvine said this would attract more qualified teachers
than those currently working these programs. She also stated that
she wanted detailed lesson plans for the extra money and that there will
be extra expectations that go along with the $25. Ms. Irvine also
pointed out that not everyone will get the extra $5 as some grants were
already written at $20 per hour. Jeannine pointed out that last
summer she had 40% deducted from her check, so the extra $5 may not
really be $5. Mr. Samford told the board
only 25% average is deducted from teacher pay. Mr. Bright motioned
to accept the increase in pay and extra expectations. These extra
expectations were not defined.
Gallup Mid and JFK
bashed. SAVER (Substance Abuse Violent Episode Reduction) briefed
that not all schools participated in their survey. Mr. Bright
asked that the administration put pressure on the principals to do
so. Ms. White pointed out that the two city middle school
principals were concerned about the sexual nature of the survey, and
feared the message it could inadvertently send to sixth and seventh
graders. Ms White also said the principals expressed concern about
questions on suicide that could similarly encourage the children.
Tom pointed out that parents are supposed to be involved with this
survey, which led to a discussion about parental consent forms.
Dr. Tempest emphasized that this consent form must fully disclose the
nature of the questions so parents can make an informed decision.
Tabled, pending further board review.
Truants and
drop-outs. The district plans to copy Silver City’s program.
Ms. Price expressed concern about out-of-school suspensions putting
students further behind in their learning. Dr. Tempest criticized
Governor Richardson for examining Florida’s successful programs when
Silver City is closer.
Collective
bargaining. This is the subject of an upcoming Saturday retreat
the board will attend.
Between Board Meetings
Another fired
teacher causes Central Office lockdown. This time it was allegedly
based on one or two phone calls from someone other than the
teacher. According to the paper, the lockdown occurred after the
Board voted 3-0 to fire the teacher for child abuse.
Stagecoach
principal resigns. Principal Tim Nelson resigned citing his need
to concentrate on his graduate courses.
Next year’s
calendar. According to district comments in a recent news
story, parent input on next year’s school calendar was not sought
because SDE forced the district to coordinate the calendar with the
Navajo Nation. This left no time to invite parents to the meetings
or have a vote on alternative calendars.
18 February 2003
JFK Mid School
Absent: Manuel Shirleson.
Secret consent agenda: 2002-2003 Capital Improvements
Resolution. Are they changing the prioritized list? Maybe, maybe
not. The public will never know because our school board – unlike city
and county officials – keeps the consent agenda secret.
6% pay raise. Karen said she was all for it, but then
went on Liveline the next day and said not if it comes out of the
district’s cash reserve (a.k.a. carryover money). At state level
superintendents and school boards are fighting giving teachers the raise
for the same reason. Carryover money is the district’s slush fund
for pet projects.
SFA gets the boot. Five years ago the district mandated
nine more schools go with Success For All. This brought the total
to eleven. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent, over
$300,000 the first year alone. At that time MCFUSE pointed out
that SFA requires 80% teacher buy-in to work. Well, Ed did a
thorough analysis and concluded that SFA wasn’t working. Ed did
note that three of the eleven schools were successful with SFA – Thoreau
Elem, Chee Dodge, and Onate. So now SFA is optional at schools,
hopefully with teacher buy-in and not just principal buy-in.
Bye-bye Annie. Ms. Descheny’s 1991–2003 reign ended
with complimentary remarks from the school board. Veteran teachers
will remember Annie for her strong admonishments against teachers, but
also more recently for voting against reconstituting Church Rock,
pushing for new teacherages, advocating for county schools, and ruffling
the former supe’s feathers – and yes, Tom and her went around a few
times, too. Ms. Descheny had to leave the meeting early and did
not vote on the items listed below.
Burn your teaching license and make more
money. The school board
approved a recruiting plan to give newly hired teachers a bonus if they
DO NOT have a teaching license. Tom pointed out we already have a
problem with excessive unlicensed teachers. (Three years ago we
had 20%, compared to the state average of 5%. Now we have about
35-40%.) Machs nichts, the district still loves unlicensed
teachers.
Still MORE unlicensed teachers coming. The same retention plan also calls for
increasing the next year’s hiring of Teach for America teachers by 40.
As they are unlicensed, these teachers will make more than incoming
newly licensed teachers. MCFUSE had requested a copy of the
recruiting plan, but one was not provided. Wonder how much that
bonus will be….
Community Relations Specialist. Tom pointed out that this position
would cost about $60,000 (with benefits) of operational money, or about
$2,000 from each school that could go toward classroom supplies.
He also quoted Chantal’s earlier comments about focusing on what is best
for student achievement, and stated the position’s only purpose seems to
be to create “good press” to help school board members get
re-elected. He asked how the position would benefit
students. Karen said it would save time for principals so they
could be instructional leaders. (In reality, this will save time
for the superintendent and assistant superintendent as the duties are
currently in their job descriptions.) Jeannine commented on the
low opinion the community has toward teachers and the lack of recognition
given for the many good things our teachers are doing everyday.
Bright wants the position changed so it encourages more parent
involvement in the schools, and JR wants it rewritten to directly
benefit student achievement. If you speak Navajo, understand some
technology, and have a degree in education, this will be one soft palace
job – paid out of operational funds, of course.
New vision/mission statement. Karen said per Baldridge training the
old mission statement was too long, so she came up with a new one with
more words. She claimed that even though the new one had more
words, it was actually shorter. Copies of the new mission
statement were not available to the public. Note: Baldridge training was
chosen by our district to satisfy the SDE mandate to have our Central
Office administrators learn how to do their jobs.
Board policy on calendar. Tempest wanted to open the dates so the
district could use as much of the summer for school without
restriction. Karen said it was originally the union that kept some
of the summer free for teacher vacations. Tom said if they wanted
to really run off teachers, vote to open the summer. Miraculously,
they listened and only took away part of the summer to accommodate next
year’s later start/finish and corrective action mandates.
Dine’ Division of Education. Chantal briefed that the first meeting went
well. (SDE mandated the district to work with Window Rock.)
Chantal presented a rough outline for an extensive plan to incorporate
Navajo culture into our schools. This plan includes expanding
scholarship opportunities for our students. Karen kept referring
to DDE as the Department of Dine’ Education.
Corrective action update. The four principals all got up and
basically said not much progress is being made in reading, but some in
math is happening. Of course, a few cheap shots at SDE were
made.
Between Board Meetings
Fired teacher wanted in New Mexico and
Florida. The
Independent on February 15 reported that a fired teacher had a January 5
New Mexico State Police warrant plus an arrest warrant in Florida.
MCFUSE wants to know: How did he pass the background check?
Bright calls for Tom’s ouster. The day after winning the UNM-G
Advisory Board election in a close race against Tom, Bright went on John
McBreen’s Liveline and said Tom ran a dirty campaign (Tom had printed
Bright’s voting record on a flyer). Bright then said the union
needs new leadership. He also called for NEA union members to
start meeting. Bright said he used to be in the NEA. Note:
MCFUSE is an AFT union.
Bright stands up to Gomez. In the same February 5 Liveline
interview, Mr. Bright was asked why he supported the mass dismissal of
teachers at Church Rock last year. He said it was based on bad
information from Superintendent Robert Gomez. He further attacked
Gomez for his poor relationship with SDE. Note: Gomez left the
district and moved to California about six months ago.
Teacher pay raise—district reneges again. Last fall the district promised
to look at raising teacher pay once the budget’s unit value was
finalized after Christmas. The administration suggested that a 1%
pay raise might be possible. On January 31 the state released the
final unit value at $2,889.89. This is an $18.88 increase over
last school year. Multiply this by 13,600 students. The
district apparently forgot its promise.
3 February 2003
Central Office
Absent: None.
Above the law. The board decided to start the meeting
early at 5:50 PM. This caused several citizens to miss the first
part of the meeting as the legal start time was 6:00 PM.
Above the law,
part 2. For several
meetings now the minutes of the previous meeting were not
available. The Open Meetings Act requires that they be approved
before starting another meeting.
Karen’s pay
raise. Karen White told
the board she wanted a pay raise right now, so Bright moved that they
increase this year’s salary by $29,035.70. Passed 5-0.
Operational funds.
SDE Special
Master Toni Trujillo briefed
that there were four issues for the district to focus on:
curriculum alignment, consistent literacy focus, principals as
instructional leaders, and high mobility of staff. The high
percentage of first-year teachers was also noted. Toni went on to
debunk the myth that corrective action schools had bad teachers and were
out of control. She praised the teachers at corrective action
schools as by-and-large being as good as any in the state.
MCFUSE’s
response: Tom thanked
Toni for calling for curriculum alignment, pointing out that for years
teachers have been asking central office for this. Tom stated that
teacher turnover has gone from 15% to 33% in recent years, and the
district has not listened to suggestions on how to stop it. He
also pointed out that students have a right to have a licensed teacher,
and that this is not a criticism of Teach for America or the Peace Corps
or the waiver program, but a criticism of giving non-licensed teachers
priority hire rights over licensed teachers. Tom thanked Toni for
praising teachers at corrective action schools. (Another teacher
in the audience pointed out that no recognition of district teachers was
received until Toni made her comments.) Tom stated that last year
district teachers were also good, and then spoke of the unprofessional
and disgraceful way the district treated the Church Rock teachers.
Tom asked the board and administration to apologize for the horrible way
these teachers were held up to public ridicule. The board and
administration did not do so.
Next year’s
calendar. The task
force presented two options. Karen told the board to reject the
four-day week calendar and approve the more traditional one.
Tempest asked if parents should be asked their opinion. Karen said
she did not want parent or teacher input. It will be approved at
the next board meeting, supposedly as written. Both calendars
honor Veterans Day and two Navajo holidays. Last year MCFUSE had
protested dishonoring veterans especially while the country was at
war. MCFUSE will have copies of both calendars at the next members
meeting on February 8th.
Spin doctor job
description change.
This job will require fluency in the Navajo language so the person hired
can go around praising our district to the community in two languages.
The gag order was put on public discussion, otherwise MCFUSE would have
suggested that supporting teachers would result in better public
relations than hiring a person to go around saying everything is
wonderful. This position paid for out of operational
funds.
Between Board
Meetings
Secret board
meetings. Tempest went
on John McBreen’s Liveline and stated that consent agenda items should
remain secret from the public so the meetings can be shorter. Last
school board meeting Tom asked for a discussion on the school board’s
weeklong trip to San Francisco this April. The board refused to
discuss it.
27 January 2003
Indian Hills ES
Absent: None.
Terminations: Jerry Garcia, 3rd grade
teacher, Stagecoach; Jonathan Weston Sherman, auto shop teacher,
Tohatchi High.
Resignations: Three teachers.
Why teachers
took a $700 pay cut this year:
Community Relations Specialist Debbie Castro quit. Her position is
being advertised at $30,098 to $47,857. Operational
funds.
Why teachers
took a $700 pay cut this year:
The Board, Ethel, and White will attend a NSBA conference in San
Francisco from April 3 through 8. Also, Esther and Bev are going
to Nashville February 3-8. Operational funds.
New board
meeting protocol policy:
White and Samford told the board that they would no longer allow consent
agenda items to be publicly discussed. Tom protested, and his
letter calling for public discussion of the above topics regarding
travel and money for public relations was not responded to. Tom
pointed out that this was secrecy, and that the city council and county
did not hide items on the consent agenda, and that the Open Meetings Act
prevented the school board from doing so. Radio reporter John
McBreen said the same thing, and promised to file a complaint with the
State Attorney General. (MCFUSE will do likewise.) Tempest
and Bright supported White’s call for secrecy. Annie supported
Tom’s call for respecting the Open Meetings Act, and stated that there
were too many items on the consent agenda, and that perhaps there should
be no consent agenda.
Strike Three for
School Board? In a
radio interview after the meeting Tom pointed out that the school board
was citedonce this year forshutting off the microphone
at open meetings. Also, the State Attorney General is currently
investigating alleged secret meetings regarding the reneging of
Astroturf for the city. Denying public discussion of consent
agenda items may be the third violation this year.
Blame Gomez: Tohatchi Mid’s new gym may use old
bleachers. Previous Superintendent Gomez was blamed for not
ordering new ones. Ironic shot at the guy who brought a ton of
additional federal and state monies to the district.
Superitendent
Search Committee: The
superintendent job is being advertised with a suspense of Feb 26.
Also, three search committee nominees for the 30-plus committee have
failed to respond. All three are board-selected individuals.
This prevented the list of committee members from being released to the
public. Last November Bright promised public release of this list
by December 9. (Last December MCFUSE filed an investigation
request with the State Attorney General regarding the school board’s
secret nature of selecting this committee.)
Dine’ Division
of Education meeting:
GMCS will try to sell the tribe on Ed’s plan on how to teach Navajos on
Feb 11, 10:00 to 2:00, at Sacred Heart Retreat. This is an SDE
mandate that GMCS start working with the Navajo
Nation.
Crownpoint and
Navajo kids may burn:
The state wrote us up for not having enough water pressure to operate
the sprinkler systems. MCFUSE wonders if the district knew of this
problem before the state told us? (Oops! Under new board
meeting protocol policy these questions can no longer be asked.)
Tempest and Annie expressed their concerns for child safety. White
agreed that something should be done about this.
J.R. calls for
administrator accountability:
Last year Tempest called for trip reports on out-of-state travel.
Apparently none were done, because JR brought the issue up again,
demanding that these reports be made and that they document how children
will benefit. Tom said, “Thank you!” and a small round of applause
was made in support of JR’s call for accountability.
Between board meetings
CHILD ABUSE
cover-up implicates “previous regime”: (rewritten from a January 17, 2003 Independent
article.) Five police reports dating back to February 2002 charge
Thoreau ES Principal Yvonne Crooker with child abuse. The abuse
included hitting heads, slamming against walls, swinging by their arms,
force feeding, swearing, and insulting. One of the insults was
“stupid-ass little Mexican.” The parents had reported the
incidents to the superintendent’s office beginning last spring.
Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Ethel Manuelito learned of the
incidents last September and began an investigation. The parents
also reported the incidents to SDE during the accreditation visit in
October. At this time Ethel’s investigation was already underway.
The police reports stayed in the superintendent’s office until December
when the district’s investigation was due. Ethel’s investigation
has been delayed due to the teachers’ fear of retaliation. These
teachers may be fired if the school board decides they were guilty of
failure to report child abuse. As of the date of the article
Crooker was still on the job.
Accreditation
report: Last board
meeting the administration told the board, “We’re doing fine.” See
for yourself. MCFUSE has posted the findings on our website.
At www.mcfuse.com go to GMCS then Current
Issues.
Central office
changes curriculum position policy: In a January 8 newspaper story the administration
criticized the State Department of Education for not writing our
district’s curriculum. Last February the previous administration
criticized SDE for offering to write a statewide curriculum. Not
shared with the press was SDE’s written recommendation that Grant’s
curriculum be studied to help our district. Currently GMCS
teachers are expected to individually write their own curriculums.
Corrective
Action update: The
State Department of Education’s January 15 reports show that JFK needs a
7th grade science teacher and that Thoreau Mid recently hired
two new teachers. Professional development in classroom management
or a mentorship program is still needed at Church Rock and David
Skeet. Skeet still needs to hire a permanent sub, replace a
long-term sub in SPED, and replace a second grade teacher that recently
quit.
6 January 2003
Central Office
Absent:
Manuel Shirleson
Acting
Superintendent: Karen White
Terminations: Loretta Tso, teacher, Washington ES.
Resignations: Five teachers, a physical therapist,
two speech language pathologists, three cooks, five educational
assistants, a materials clerk, a custodian, a secretary, and a
registrar. The board stated it was normal for teachers to quit,
but why were so many classified employees resigning? MCFUSE
believes the board should also be concerned about high teacher turnover.
Where our
classroom money goes:
The operational fund that pays teachers and buys classroom supplies will
be used to send local Hispanic leaders to an educational conference on
Hispanic students. Bill Bright made the open invitation with a
request that the media report this “free” trip. Each teacher lost about $700 this year when the salary schedule was
reduced 2.5%. A shortage of operational funds was the reason
given by the district.
Where our
classroom money goes, part two: Chantal, Esther, Ed, and Bev are going to Phoenix from 28 Feb to
2 March for a conference on brain compatible practices in curriculum and
instruction. No comment.
Baldridge
training starts: State-mandated
leadership training for central office and school administrators begins
this week. Of 89 school districts in New Mexico, GMCS is the only
district directed by SDE to have this training. Last summer Tom
testified before the State Board of Education of the leadership crisis in GMCS, and the need for professional help.
This report can be seen elsewhere on this website under GMCS, Current
Issues.
District auditor
takes potshot at Gomez:
The auditor criticized former Superintendent Gomez for “robbing Peter to
pay Paul” when spending money. Graciously, the administration,
board, and union refused to participate in this criticism. In
previous years the auditor never criticized the superintendent when he
was present.
Accreditation
report and breaking state law:
Concerning the state’s accreditation report, the school board was told
by Ms. White, “We’re doing fine.” Dr. Tempest noticed problems
with bilingual education and asked about those. The administration
did not have public copies available as required by state law.
Also, Tom had asked the administration the Friday before to bring an
extra copy to the meeting, and this was not done. A copy was
“lent” out during the discussion only when Tom raised a point of order
on state law. (The State Attorney General has cited the school
board in violation of state law regarding public meetings early this
school year. Mr. Bright is also under investigation by the State
Attorney General concerning an alleged Open Meetings Act violation.)
“Pink Palace”
still growing: If funds
are approved to build onto GJHS, EDC will be moving to the Tech
Center. This will keep students from having to walk across parking
lots to attend classes, and will make EDC more accessible to Central
Office.
Teacherage rent
review: Under
questioning from Tom it was revealed that the administration is planning
a “rent revenue” review for the new teacherages once the board agreed to
the terms of the bond. Words like “debt service” and “market
value” were bandied about. The board, apparently unaware of this
rent review, then made several speeches about
how it was important to keep rent low. (It was 11 months ago that
the board made similar speeches about giving teachers a pay raise, then
followed through last May by voting to lower the salary schedule by 2.5%.) Ms. Descheny asked that the teacherages
not be restricted to “certified” teachers. (At least a third of
the district’s teachers are on waiver.) Mr. Bright called for a
vote, promising to discuss this “later.”
Better testing: Ed has arranged for a University of
Minnesota assessment study that could result in learning how to more
fairly administer tests to Navajo students. Ed is working this in
coordination with the Dine’ Division of Education in Window Rock.
This will be done at no cost to the district, and may be a leading
national study in the area of minority assessments.
Between
board meetings
Middle college
high school: UNM-G
administrators denied raiding local district funds and students in a
January 7 radio interview on KYVA/KTHR. Former Superintendent
Gomez’s primary concern was that students would drop out of high school
to attend the MCHS. There has been some evidence that this has
happened, violating the charter school’s promise that it would not
“compete” with the local school district for students.
School Board
election: Christopher
Harry Morris and Adrian Sloan (sp?) have signed up for the Tohatchi to
Navajo District 1 position as write-in candidates. Mavis Price
remains the only candidate for the District 3 Thoreau to Ramah
position. MCFUSE partly attributes this poor turnout of candidates
to public dissatisfaction with the school board. Also, the
district made minimal effort to notify the public.
Corrective
Action summary: The
State Department of Education’s December 15 reports show that full-time
subs are still needed at Skeet and Church Rock, a good job opportunity
for someone with a couple years of college. Both schools got
dinged for classroom management skills. Skeet had only 5 parents
show for PTO, but 50 showed for a family education night and 50 for
turkey lunch with their kids. Skeet has no PE teacher and is
making classroom teachers take up the slack. They do have a second
principal since the last report. Skeet also receives no JOM funds
from the district. Church Rock was noted for its Navajo Language
class. JFK and Thoreau Mid got hit for not having a written
curriculum, something MCFUSE has been asking Central Office to write for
years. Parent attendance at a parent
night was reported as 50% for one JFK sixth grade team, and Thoreau went
to three chapter houses for their parent meetings, reporting a total of
117 parents met. JFK student attendance rate is 96.7%, Thoreau
94%, Skeet 93.2%, and Church Rock 92.4%. For the complete reports,
click on the SDE link elsewhere on this website.
Eyes on the Board
18 December 2003
Special Report
Absent: NA
Acting Superintendent: Karen White
Between board meetings
School board humiliated. Only one person, Mavis
Price, put in for departing board member Annie Descheny’s
District 3 position, and nobody applied for Manuel Shirleson’s
District 1 position. KYVA reporter John McBreen
reported on December 18 that in his 30 years of covering school board
elections this is a first. Over the last few years teacher
turnover has doubled to 33%, the unlicensed teacher rate has similarly
shot up, and student scores fell to worst in state. The press and
teachers union have called for administrators and school board members
to be held accountable as our district became what one school board
member called “the laughing stock of New Mexico.” Citizens in the Tohatchi area have until December 31 to produce a
write-in candidate for the District 1 position. As of 5:00 PM,
December 18, county officials were unsure what will happen if nobody
declares.
UNM-G College Board. Citizens in the
Gallup-McKinley County Schools area will be able to vote for three
candidates for the newly created five-member board. Running for
Position 1 are MCFUSE Secretary Jeannine Russell, Mellor Willie, Brett
Newberry, and Geoffrey Brown. Running for Position 2 are MCFUSE
President Tom Payton and Bill Bright. Position 5 has GMCS
Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Ethel Manuelito
running against Dr. Rachel Misra and Theresa
Dowling. Position 5 is an at-large position that covers both the
GMCS and Zuni public school districts. Positions 3 & 4 are
both Zuni positions.
District reneges on elementary
prep: Last
year’s school board vote for 3 hours of elementary prep was overruled by
C&I at the December task force meeting.
Chantal called this a “goal” and not a mandate. School Board
Member Bill Bright was present to hear the broken promise told to
teachers, and said nothing. Some schools have the three hours of
prep, and some do not. MCFUSE believes it is unfair to promise
elementary teachers a prep last spring, then
not deliver it when they return in the fall.
Increasing class loads and
unlicensed teachers. MCFUSE wrote our seven Northwest New Mexico
legislators asking that they not support the GMCS legislative agenda
calling for increasing class loads using distance learning. This
policy was presented the December 9 school board meeting. In the
same letter MCFUSE also wrote asking that they support a law preventing
districts from hiring unlicensed teachers before licensed teachers.
Employee Assistance Program: According to the report EAP
contractor Rehoboth McKinley County Hospital provided the school board
on December 9, 100 employees used this program in a 14.5-month
period. At $5,000 per month, that comes to $725 per
employee. MCFUSE’s position is that since the contract is a flat
fee of $5,000 per month regardless of how many employees are seen, the
contract would be more efficiently administered if more employees were
aware of the program. The contractor’s responsibilities in
briefing employees at each school should have been enforced by the
administration.
Eyes
on the Board
9
December 2002
Thoreau
High
Absent:
Annie, Shirleson
Acting
Superintendent: Karen White
Note:
This is a long but important report. The board wants to increase class
sizes, plus cover up administrator accountability on EAP, and start the
process to hire a new supe. Meanwhile five teachers bailed, plus one
retired mid-year, and another was terminated.
Truancy task
force: Karen briefed that parents can be fined and jailed for
student truancy, and alleged that the DA won’t enforce the law.
She said she volunteered to serve on a state administrator committee
formed by the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators to lobby for
a better truancy law. (Note: NMCSA is basically an administrators
union.) Bright wants truancy added to the district legislative positions
agenda for 2003. He proposed a model used in Deming that is
non-punitive.
Employee
Assistance Program: RMCH’s reps briefed that they are doing a
good job providing mental health counseling for employees. They
twice stated they were not required to go to schools and tell employees
about this free service. A package RMCH handed out claimed they
visited Gallup High, Thoreau High, Thoreau Elementary, Central High,
Lincoln, Indian Hills, Juan de Onate, Smith Lake, and Tohatchi
Elementary.
Blame game points
to Paula: Tom pointed out that the EAP RFP called for school
visits. Tom asked why RMCH did not call the principals, and why no
central office administrators followed up on this contract. Tom
stated that this district was a stressful place to work, and that many
employees could have benefited from this service. Tom said what
should have been a helping hand was turned into a fist for principals to
threaten employees with. Karen answered that Paula Garcia did a
poor job of setting this program up, and this mistake would not be
repeated. Previously central office administrators were blaming
principals for denying RMCH access to their staff. Karen also said
there is a new RFP out now.
Corrective
action: Most everything is going well, according to Chantal.
GMCS will meet with the Navajo Nation and align its calendar with tribal
and federal holidays.
Stagecoach
principal: Karen will appoint Tim Nelson as acting principal
for the rest of the school year, and then hire someone fully qualified
over the summer. Esther will be pulled back full time to central
office. The problem is one of licensure. Stagecoach teachers
asked why other principals were hired on waiver, but not Tim.
Karen cited NCLB and corrective action concerns. JR noted his
concerns for excessive waivers. Karen said no more principal
waivers would be given.
David Skeet
assistant principal: James Castlebury (sp?) was hired 3-0.
New central
office administrator: The after school/summer school program
coordinator is Ray Macias, approved 3-0. This is a new position
and according to Chantal is not funded out of operational funds.
MCFUSE watches administrator expenditures of operational funds as this
reduces employee pay. This is especially critical as this school
year the board reduced employee salary schedules 2.5% while the
district’s unit value was actually increased.
SDE mandated
training for central office: Tom pulled this off the consent
agenda for discussion. On September 13 SDE mandated that central
office managers seek professional help to learn how to do their
jobs. According to Karen, ours is the only district with this
mandate. The district selected a contractor for Baldridge
training, approved 3-0. The cost of this training is
$26,510. Karen claimed that she prevented the state board
from privatizing our four corrective action schools by selecting
Baldridge. When Tom asked her source, she cited “hallway rumors”
in Santa Fe. In reality, the state teachers unions have been
openly fighting the privatizing of New Mexico schools for many
months. NMFEE is the leading advocate in New Mexico for keeping
public schools public. NMFEE President Christine Trujillo is also
a state school board member, and is on public record numerous times for
strongly opposing privatizing public
schools.
Board ignores
unlicensed teacher problem: Samford read the GMCS 2003
legislative priorities list to the board. Tom pointed out that
these are good, but do not address quality education. They appear
to be written by an accountant. He asked that the problem of
unlicensed teachers be addressed, noting that many excellent teachers
are on waiver, but that the practice has been abused over recent
years. The state averages one out of twenty-five, while GMCS has
gone from one out of five to about one out of three. Tom stated
that he knows of licensed teachers who can’t get hired here because
principals are hiring unlicensed teachers first. He suggested the
legislative agenda state, “Support requiring districts to certify they
attempted and failed to fill positions with qualified employees before
seeking waivers from requirements.” He suggested the board also
develop a policy addressing this issue, and stopping principals from
this action. Karen defended principals, stating they need the
freedom to choose unqualified teachers over qualified teachers.
Board votes to
increase class sizes: The district plans to increase class
sizes by using distance learning computers. Tom said increasing
class loads of teachers will stress out teachers and water down the
quality of education the students receive. The board voted 3-0 to
lobby legislators to change state statutes to allow GCS to increase
class loads.
Superintendent
search schedule: Ethel handed out a package of proposed procedures
to select the next superintendent. She suggested the union be
represented in the process. There will be up to 30 people on the
interview committee. The board voted to accept her package.
MCFUSE will distribute copies of the package at the December 14 members
meeting. Bright stated that not hiring a headhunter saves
$60,000.
Between
board meetings—two equity issues:
Ex-convict job
market. Food Services and Transportation do their own
personnel work. Sometimes the rules are different than for other
employees. In the first case MCFUSE learned of, records at central
office show that no background check was required, the pay was jimmied
so taxes were not deducted, and mileage was paid for travel to county
schools. So where could you see an ex-convict employed at our
schools this year? Try Crownpoint Elementary, Crownpoint High, Red
Rock, Smith Lake, Thoreau High, and Turpen. MCFUSE believes
ex-convicts should not be given hiring preferences and extra pay other
employees do not receive.
Principal “above
the law.” A teacher applied for a transfer after the school
year started. The transfer would save her a two-hour commute and
enable her to spend more time with her baby. The principal denied
the transfer, and then two days later accepted his own across-town
transfer, a move he had requested. MCFUSE believes that principals
should abide by the same policies they set for their employees.
Retraction:
Remember the corrective action school principal who kicked out the after
school Indian club? Eyes on the Board reported that the school
took money for after school buses from NIYLP, and then booted the
kids. The principal asked for a retraction concerning funding for
the buses. According to the principal, NIYLP had not yet paid for
the buses that payment was due second semester. The kids were
kicked out first
semester.
18
November 2002
Ramah
Elementary
Absent:
none.
Acting
Superintendent: John Samford
(Karen
on vacation)
EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EAP)
(Or:
how to spend $5K per month on employees without telling employees)
JR and Annie
demanded answers regarding this “hidden” program designed to provide
counseling services for employees and their families.
The Business Office
has extended the contract at a cost of $5,000 per month without a school
board vote. Samford was told to answer Tom’s question on this
contract extension, but he refused, skirting the issue and discussing
the need for confidentiality of clients.
Theresa Mariano
briefed that the contractor had made 16 training visits to schools,
principal meetings, and counselor meetings.
Tom pointed out that
the contract called for training at every school (we have 34), and that
employees were missing a valuable service because the contractor failed
to perform. Also, there is a blame game going on within the
administration with some blaming principals for locking out the
contractor and others blaming central office for not administering the
contract.
Annie demanded that
employees be immediately informed of this service.
JR demanded a
complete report by next board meeting.
MCFUSE wants to
know: who is ACCOUNTABLE for this mistake? And why won’t he
or she or they just STAND UP AND SAY SO??
TASK FORCE UPDATE
Some principals
respected their employees enough to accept volunteers, some principals
picked “mini-me.”
Watch for the word
to come down in favor of a little democracy in the employee selection
process. Allegedly this was the original written edict from
Karen.
Eyes
on the Board
12
November 2002
Central
Office
Absent:
none.
White
is out --- False minutes --- Secret supe selection committee --- “SDE loves
us” --- Tom speaks for teachers --- Chantal on the road --- Open forum to
return? --- Secret Task Force to solve all teacher problems --- Annie blown
off --- Backroom Bubbas redistrict school board --- Behind closed
doors: ex-con hiring cover-up
White is out
Annie stated that the board
agreed at the October retreat to have Karen White’s role of acting
superintendent terminated on Nov 30.
False minutes
Tom asked to have the October 21
minutes corrected to reflect what really happened regarding the secret
superintendent selection committee. The minutes omitted a concern of an
Open Meetings Act violation, and substituted JR’s name for Bright’s regarding
this violation. Bright agreed to let the truth be printed.
Secret supe selection
committee
Annie protested the board’s
meddling in writing the questions for the superintendent selection committee,
citing the potential for MCFUSE criticism. She stated the selection
committee should be allowed to select the new superintendent without board
interference.
“SDE loves
us”
That was what the Accreditation
Team said, according to Chantal. They loved the professional
development, ELL programs, mentorship program, teacher retention, and
classroom walk through (CWT) program principals recently started.
Tom speaks for
teachers
Tom told the board that the
mentorship program is a paperwork burden for new teachers. The
principal CWT program also adds to teacher stress levels, and will help drive
teachers out of the district. Tom also stated that nobody is talking
with teachers, and only the union can be depended on to “tell it like it is.”
Chantal on the road
Annie then directed Chantal to
visit every school and talk with the teachers. Tom pointed out the
problem with retaliation. Annie acknowledged that retaliation against
teachers was rampant, and directed Karen to draft a policy to help prevent
it.
Open forum to
return?
JR asked for a return to open
forums now that the old superintendent has left. This was after a
Stagecoach teacher spoke up for the hiring of their principal.
Secret Task Force to
solve all teacher problems
White promised problems of
morale, the calendar, and salaries will be solved. White stated
district teachers get paid more than most places. Tom pointed out that
the names of this secret Task Force that represents teachers should be told
to teachers.
Annie blown off
Samford and White refused to
tell Annie who developed the modified B school board redistricting
plan. (Tom had protested at a previous public hearing that Samford
should reveal who was with him when this plan was drawn up.) Tempest
stated he wanted to move on and not reveal the names of the secret committee.
Annie insisted on being told as it affected her district. White and
Samford refused to speak. If any of the “Backroom Bubbas” were present,
they also stayed silent. Tom explained in detail the sloppy nature of
the original plans led him to believe that someone in central office
manipulated the plans to “guide” the Districts 1, 2, 3,and 5 board
members. This manipulation included not sharing information at public
hearings.
Backroom Bubbas
redistrict school board
The board then voted 4-0-1 to
accept the Backroom Bubba plan. Annie abstained.
Behind Closed
Doors: ex-con cover-up
At the end of October MCFUSE
told Personnel and the press that an ex-con was working at one of our
schools. The person was promptly fired. Evidence indicates at
least one central office administrator falsified records to prevent Personnel
from learning of the employment. Under the Inspection of Public Records
Act, MCFUSE will examine district budget records. The administration
has delayed public access until November 22.
Eyes on the Board
4 November 2002
Central Office
Absent: Annie, JR,
and Shirleson (lack of a quorum caused postponement of the meeting to
November 11th, 6PM, Central Office)
WORK STUDY SESSION
Astroturf
GHS’s Bill Miller
presented his proposal to spend the $350,000 the district originally
promised to the city on athletic field improvements at Gallup
High. This will include buying Astroturf for the soccer and
football field. He passed around pictures of prairie dog holes as
part of his justification.
White explained how
she was able to disapprove the city deal without school board approval
by refusing to sign the contract with the city. The school board
will have to vote later to disapprove the deal with the city.
Teacherages and February’s general obligation bond issue
Representative
Patty Lundstrom and Senator Lidio Rainaldi were effective in getting a
bill passed to expand bonding capacity for the district to get money for
new teacherages. With low interest rates, it was recommended the
board later approve this effort.
As part of
“selling” February’s bond issue to the public, the district’s financial
consultant recommended encouraging teachers to register to vote.
Ironic for MCFUSE as all past union attempts to encourage voter
registration among teachers have been strictly forbidden by the
administration.
Press conferences
Bright wants to
have post-school board meeting press conferences. The press liked
this idea because some of the board members are hard to reach during the
week.
Tempest asked if any
progress was made on a previous administration promise to work with the
Navajo-speaking radio stations. The answer was no.
Street talk—Posted: “This School Off Limits to Indians and Unions”
MCFUSE learned that
central office today kicked the National Indian Youth Leadership Program
(NIYLP) out of one of the four corrective action schools. The
school uses NIYLP funds to fund part of its busing in support of its
after school program, but has made the school off limits to NIYLP staff
members and students. NIYLP must now seek a location off of school
property for its meetings. Sounds similar to what happened to
MCFUSE. First teachers are kicked out, now students. Who
will be next?
Eyes on the Board
21 October 2002
Central Office
Absent:
Annie
REDISTRICTING
Tom was successful
in getting the Board to consider another Modified Plan B that eliminates
the gerrymandering Bright’s District 4 was doing into Tempest’s east
side. Tom first explained how Plans A & C were designed to
fail by splitting communities of interest three times for Plan A –
Mexican Springs, Crownpoint, and Thoreau – and by pitting Bright against
Tempest in Plan C, a major mistake in redistricting rules.
Tom also pointed
our how Plan B’s gerrymandering jacked up Bright’s total population to
13, 848, over 1,000 higher than Tempest’s District 5. Tom
explained how the house district 9 battle that pitted Patty Lundstrom
against Leo Watchman was decided in court, and how the judge saw
anything over 1% as too much variance in total population.
Upon hearing all
this, JR ordered Samford to contact Research & Polling and develop a
simple east west split along Second Avenue without any
gerrymandering.
Voting will be at
the next board meeting.
Note: before
the Board meeting Tom asked Samford as part of the official public
hearing who had come up with the Modified Plan B that gerrymandered the
downtown area east of Second Avenue into Bright’s district.
Samford refused to answer. Tom reminded him that he was a public
servant, and that ours is an open government, not a secret one.
Samford said it was a committee, but refused to identify who was on it,
saying only that the decision came out of his “office.” “Backroom
deals” have been challenged in other school districts and found to be illegal.
SECRET CITIZENS COMMITTEE
TO PICK NEW SUPE
As part of the
Superintendent Search Committee Process, Karen White stated that at the
School Board Retreat it was decided each School Board Member was to
select two constituents to serve on this committee. White asked if
the Board Members had the names ready. Manuel said he had three
candidates, and only had to narrow it down to two. Bright stated
he had already selected his two and gave the names to Doreen.
Bruce said he had two in mind, and JR stated that he had made no
selection. The names of these “secret citizens” was not revealed.
Tom called a point
of order, pointing out that this was a violation of the Open Meetings
Act. Last Board meeting it had been stated by the administration
that at the Retreat there were no decisions made, that it was
information only. As public officials, the Board is required to
make policy decisions in public. JR pointed out that he had made
no selections. The other Board Members had, however, with Bright
going as far as submitting his names.
Bright then called
for an end to the discussion, stating he didn’t want to be at Crownpoint
all night. The Board voted 3-0-1 for this new type of selection
process to be adopted. Manuel was the abstention.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Teachers from
McKinley County and bilingual/TESOL teachers will get hiring preference
on a “tiebreaker” status over other teachers seeking initial employment
with the district. Vote 4-0.
OCR AND HARASSMENT
INVESTIGATIONS
Monitoring of these
areas will fall under Personnel, and directors will take turns doing
these investigations. Principals felt that having the Assistant to
the Superintendent do them was unfair to them, and Ethel pointed out
that having someone outside the chain do them would be fairer to the
students. Vote 4-0.
PARENT-TEACHER
CENTERS
A parent stated
that she wanted Parent Centers in the schools so parents felt
welcome. She cited other schools that have these. She asked
for TVs, food, computers, etc. She stated she was high on drugs
and needed a drink. It was unclear if she was joking.
Bright supported
the request, stating that these Parent Centers could be combined with
teacher lounges.
AFTER THE MEETING
A “secret task
force” of handpicked teachers – one per school – has allegedly been
assembled by the administration. This was revealed to MCFUSE when
a Crownpoint teacher and longtime task force volunteer approached Tom
and Jeannine after the meeting. Looks like IBPS is dead.
Bright went on
McBreen’s Live Line the next morning and stated the reason why he
changed his mind about giving the city $350,000 for Astroturf was
because he learned that the city was using effluent water (recycled
sewer water) to water Mickey Mantle Field at Veterans Memorial
Park. MCFUSE did some checking, first with a local environmental
activist and then with the city. Effluent water is not being used
for the baseball field, and routing a pipe to do so is much too
expensive to be considered. Note: The release of
all public documents relating to the Astroturf deal was kept secret by
the administration when MCFUSE formally requested them last summer under
the Inspection of Public Records Act. These documents should have
been a cost benefit analysis and a joint use request to Santa Fe.
Eyes on the Board
15 October 2002
Central Office
Absent: Dr. Tempest
Accreditation Team Meeting
Ed Monaghan gave a presentation that noted
that Native Americans FEP scored higher academic growth than all other
ethnic groups.
Ed also advocated for a bigger role in
implementing data results in the classrooms.
Ed discussed the 9-week assessments being
developed by teachers; and STAR Reading, Math, and Early Literacy
assessments. He also said our lessons must be more culturally relevant.
Under questioning, Ed admitted that he was
already planning on changing the Power Standards next year when another
state assessment appears. (Note: the current Power Standards
are basically McGraw-Hill “Essential Learnings” written to prepare for
the CAT-6 we took last year and will take again this year.)
Ed also admitted that the Power Standards
don’t line up very well with state standards, scoring a low 20%
alignment rate with Language Arts and Social Studies standards.
Chantal Irvin made the point that Power Standards are not all teachers
teach.
Ed also admitted that cultural indoctrination
of new teachers was weak, and Chantal said the district is aggressively
working toward fixing that. Chantal is also funding for more
Indian Education Committee involvement, hoping to use the members as a
bridge to the chapter houses. Attendance is a major concern.
Community Input:
Tom expressed concern of changing standards
again next year, stating this adds extra work and stress for
teachers. He also said we need a curriculum. He gave an
example of how Edison Schools writes a curriculum for their teachers
that have the standards imbedded into it.
Another teacher spoke up about the need for
teachers to concentrate on teaching curriculum instead of writing it.
A parent said if teachers have to write the
curriculum, they should be paid extra for it, and it should be on a
voluntary basis.
One parent dinged other parents for not being
involved, and most of the rest of the parents lauded praise on the programs
their schools had.
Jeannine introduced herself in English,
Spanish, and Navajo, and stated that she chose to move here to live in a
culturally diverse community.
SDE Input: The team leader stated she
sensed a “wind of change over Gallup,” but asked where were the parents
who were not there? She stated parental involvement was the
key. She also said she was glad to see the district recognizing
cultural diversity.
Board Meeting
Annie pulled some controversial items off the
consent agenda and moved them to the next meeting. One was the
$350,000 Astroturf capital outlay issue. Where that money now goes
will be discussed next meeting.
Ben Chavez presented the latest DOT bus
inspection. Unlike SDE’s no-notice inspection, this was
scheduled. Bad brakes failed 17 buses. Still, the pass rate
was 77%, just below the state average of 80%.
The two afternoon security guards will stay on
city buses. (Note: these guards were added last year at Bill
Bright’s urging after MCFUSE organized parents to go public on school
bus violence and drug use.) Ben wants to add guards for Tohatchi,
Thoreau, and Crownpoint, but will need funding.
Karen presented highlights from the Board
retreat. One item of interest was going to foreign countries to find
teachers. Tom asked if these were third world countries, but nobody
answered.
Eyes on the Board
7 October 2002
Central Office
(Postponed to Tuesday, 15 Oct)
Absent: Board on “field trip” to DC.
BETWEEN BOARD MEETINGS
ASTROTURF
On 2 October the
Independent reported the City Council announcement that the Gallup
School District would not be giving the city $350,000 for Astroturf for
city baseball fields. This forces the district to spend the money
on our schools.
The Administration
and School Board did not comment in the article, but according to city
official Larry Binkley, they at first denied knowing of the
matter. MCFUSE checked the minutes. Four of the five Board
Members were present at the February meeting as was the Business
Office. Bright made the motion to buy the Astroturf for the city
to “save water,” Bruce and JR supported it, and only Annie voted
“no.”
Since February
MCFUSE has been fighting the district’s decision to give away this
money. MCFUSE argued that busing our high school team across town
to use these fields would incur extra costs. MCFUSE also
challenged the claim this would save money. Using the New Mexico
Inspection of Public Records Act, MCFUSE requested a copy of the
Business Office’s cost benefit analysis to support the administration’s
claim that this was cost effective. This written request was
denied.
On a curious note,
the actual cost of the Astroturf was not $700,000 as the administration
and city had claimed. The actual cost was $336,000. This
raises the question of whether the original intention was to have the
school district pay for all of the Astroturf.
REDISTRICTING
At the Thoreau
Public Redistricting Hearing on 1 October no School Board Members showed
up to hear citizen concerns. At the last Board Meeting in Gallup,
a city Board Member had criticized the public for not attending.
John Samford, the Central Office point of contact for redistricting, was
also absent.
A new plan was
presented by Karen, a “Modified B” that still boosts White citizens in
District 4 by crossing into the east side, but does so less
blatantly. This boost is about 450 instead of the 500 in the
original Plan B. Modified B crosses Second Avenue and takes in
Precinct 39, the downtown housing area around Cathedral. Modified
B also leaves District 4 larger than District 5, but not as
greatly.
At the meeting Tom
suggested that not “gerrymandering” into the east side would not
lengthen the boundary line, not cause a disparity in populations totals,
and not dilute the minority vote, all violations of government
guidelines as published in a Central Office handout to elementary school
parents. Tom later called Research & Polling, Inc., to discuss
these problem areas. Their representative agreed that Tom’s suggestion
would all work, but Samford must first request it.
The original Plan B
had taken in Precinct 45, the area south of GIMC and around UNM-G.
Prior to the 1 October meeting Tom wrote a letter of concern to the
State Superintendent with info copies to the President of the Navajo
Nation, JR, Annie, and the Presidents of 28 local Chapter Houses.
Tom gave Karen a copy and will make copies available at the next union
meeting on 12 October.
Eyes
on the Board
23
September 2002
Central
Office
(Special
meeting)
Absent:
Annie, Manuel
Special board meeting to accept or reject SDE
mandates for four corrective action schools. (Note: The
first SDE mandate was a management consultant for central office, one
that SDE approves of. Other mandates include establishing better
relations with the Native American community.) State mandates
accepted 3-0.
A plan to hold redistricting hearings in the
county was approved, with maps of county divisions provided.
Chapter house officials will not be sent copies of the two city
Districts 4 & 5. The meeting dates are Tuesday, October 1,
Thoreau High at 5:30 PM; Tuesday, October 8, Tohatchi Elementary at 5:30
PM; and Monday, October 21, Crownpoint High at 5:30 PM. Meeting
length is restricted to 60 minutes for Thoreau High and Tohatchi
Elementary, and 30 minutes for Crownpoint High.
School
Board redistricting—MFUSE concerns about city District 4
At the last board meeting Bill Bright voiced
his preference for Plan B in School Board redistricting. Dr. Bruce
Tempest concurred. Research & Polling, Inc., the company hired
to devise the three plans, recommended Plan A. The Board failed to
vote on the issue when Annie Descheny pointed out that the county was
not adequately informed of the issue. JR Thompson and Tom Payton
also called for better notification of voters. Annie suggested
contacting the chapter houses, JR wanted Debbie Castro to take charge of
this, and Tom wanted the district maps advertised in the Independent and
Navajo Times, plus flyers sent home with students. Bill stated
they could vote in Crownpoint at the 21 October Board meeting, and Bruce
remained silent on the issue.
The three district options are Plan A which
divides Gallup in half east/west with Second Avenue/Hwy 602 being the
dividing line. Bill’s District 4 is the west side, Bruce’s
District 5 the east side. Plan B also divides Gallup east-west,
but makes some twists and turns to move the southwest part of the
hospital neighborhood into District 4 as well as the housing area behind
UNM-G. This adds more people to District 4. Plan C divides
Gallup in half north/south along I-40 and the Santa Fe RR with District
5 to the south. As this would pit two incumbents against each
other, it is traditionally the least preferred.
According to Research & Polling, Inc., the
legal guidelines for redistricting dictate that district total
population figures remain close to the same as much as possible.
Also, plans must not dilute minority voting strength. “Communities
of interest” must also be preserved. Boundary lines must be as
short as possible, and districts kept compact.
Besides twisting and turning the border
through the hospital and UNM-G areas, total District 4 population
numbers of Plan B also varies from Plan A as illustrated below:
Choice “A”
Hispanic:
4,202; 29.9%
White:
1,508; 10.7%
Native
American: 7,859; 55.8%
Choice “B”
Hispanic:
4,400; 31.8%
White: 2,051; 14.8%
Native American:
6,819; 49.2%
Total population figures for Plan A are 14,073
for District 4 and 13,715 for District 5. For Plan B, District 4
is 13,848 and District 5 is 12,844. These figures include the
above total population numbers for Hispanic, White, and Native American,
plus the smaller numbers of Black, Asian, and 2 or more races.
Eyes on the Board
September 16
Central
Office
Absent:
Manuel Shirleson (note: Annie walked out again -- this time when the
subject of redistricting came up.)
·Salary 2.5%
rollback. Samford briefed he wants to stop paying teachers for unused
sick leave. He also wants to cut increments. Tom told the board
Samford was on KYVA and admitted that he projected teacher salaries assuming
zero teacher turnover, and that if Samford would be realistic there would be
a lot more money in the budget for employees. Bill asked that if money
is found – Samford promised mid-October – would the pay raises be
retroactive? Samford refused to acknowledge the words “pay raises” and
instead said reimbursements for insurance increases would be retroactive.
·Special board meeting
on 23 Sep at 6PM to accept or reject SDE mandates for four corrective action
schools. (Note: The first SDE mandate was a management consultant
for central office, one that SDE approves of. Other mandates include
establishing better relations with the Native American community.)
·Sharmyn Munoz is the
new Central H.S. principal, vote 4-0.
·John Hartog
transferred to Red Rock as principal, vote 4-0.
·Chantal gave a
thorough briefing on the new revised EPSS’s for schools, to include
technology and standards-based report cards. (Note: MCFUSE
previously protested the adoption of standards-based report cards when the
administration proposed a 121-grade report card for all elementary grades
based on a Los Alamos second-grade experiment. This card was tried and
abandoned as labor-intensive and impractical by Los Alamos. Annie had
supported MCFUSE’s protest to abandon this report without full staff
coordination. Bill had stated in this previous school board meeting
that technology should SAVE work, not MAKE it. MCFUSE agrees.)
·Bruce will represent
GMCS on the soon-to-be Education Foundation Board, a Larry Linford and Bill
Bright effort that promises to bring new money to the district. A
public meeting will be held on this, date TBA.
·School board redistricting
was disrupted when Annie protested that the public was not notified,
especially in the rural areas. Annie threatened to tell Navajo parents
to keep their kids home on the 40th day to disrupt the budget if
this issue is not brought before the parents. (Note: this was a
Martin Luther King, Jr., tactic during the 60’s to force better education for
black children. To be effective, the children must be disenrolled
before the 40th day count. Merely being absent will have no
effect.) Annie suggested that the chapter houses be told about this,
and JR suggested that Debbie Castro get involved in this effort. About
this time Annie walked out. Tom suggested that they follow the example
set for state legislature redistricting, and advertise the proposed districts
in the Independent and Navajo Times, plus send home flyers with the
students.
Eyes on the Board
3 September 2002
Central Office
Absent: None (note: Annie walked
out when the subject of the teacher salary schedule rollback came up,
commenting that there should be no teacher raises until student scores came
up, and that only teachers that raise scores should receive
raises.)
Personnel Evaluation Handbook approved on
consent agenda without discussion.
School Corrective Action Plans approved for
September 4 meeting with SDE. Watch for a MCFUSE summary.
Annie commented that the Church Rock Chapter had lots of concerns, and
that they may cancel the lease of the school if the state takes it
over. Annie also expressed concern that the Church Rock principal
was invited to the special planning meeting at the Church Rock Chapter
House, but did not attend. The principal stated she was there for
half an hour but there was no meeting. Annie also asked that the
Indian Education Committee be informed and approves of these
plans. Note: IEC is the largest representative body of
parents in the district.
Redistricting of school board. Handouts
of the complete briefing will be available at the 7 September Saturday
10AM Members Meeting.
Teacher salary 2.5% rollback. Bill went
to bat for teachers, asking for clarification on how a budget increase
can result in a salary rollback of 2.5% for teachers. Samford
admitted that up to $550K might be added to the budget, but argued for
the increasing health costs of the 61% of employees who buy the
district’s plan. This could cost up to $412 per year maximum for
teachers, justifying the salary rollback that MCFUSE estimates to be
about $700 for teachers not “maxed out” on the salary schedule.
Tom mentioned that for the past two years the School Board approved
legal teacher salary schedules that were overridden by the
administration. Last year newly-hired teachers were cut up to
$1,000 on a secret salary schedule MCFUSE exposed and the School Board
then eliminated. This year the School Board approved no change to
the salary schedule only to have the administration decrease each cell
2.5%. Issue tabled for future action.
Baldridge. Another management consultant
proposal, this one probably pretty good but at an estimated cost of
$77,000. Karen White expressed concern about the cost given the
health cost issue, and asked for information about grants funding the
initiative instead of operational monies.
Truancy. Bill quoted a news article
citing our district one of the worst. Karen shared that pouring
money into truant officers didn’t work for Farmington. A committee
to study the issue will be formed.
Eyes on the Board
26 August 2002
Central Office
Special Session
Absent: None
Administrator personnel actions
Assistant to the Superintendent, Karen White
hired 4-1 with Annie voting no. Karen will also serve as Acting
Superintendent.
Chantal Irvin hired as Assistant
Superintendent, C&I, 4-1 with Annie voting no.
Annie expressed her hope that Karen and
Chantal would be able to answer questions from the board and not have to
say they didn’t know as predecessors did.
Legal issue
The Board went into closed session with the
district’s attorney Frank Albeita to discuss strategy on the Corrective
Action status of Church Rock, David Skeet, JFK, and Thoreau Mid. Present
were the affected principals and various Central Office
administrators.
Eyes on the Board
19 August 2002
Central Office
Absent:
Annie Descheny
1.
Administrator personnel actions
No action on Acting
Superintendent
No action on
Assistant to the Superintendent
Genevieve Jackson to
Title VII & JOM Coordinator
Bernadette Espinosa
to Asst Principal, Church Rock
One or two more
administrator positions to be hired in support of After-School/Summer
Programs. Position(s) to be grant funded, not one penny of
operational (classroom and teacher salaries) money to be used.
2.
Church Rock Academy--Week 3
Enrollment up to 221
(300 normal)
95% enrolled in
after-school program
42% reading at or
above grade level
Landscaping in
Open House next week
Parents signed
contracts to read to kids and keep attendance at 97%
3.
District teacher vacancies—Day One
44, down from 65 last
board meeting
12 schools filled, 8
have only one vacancy, 8 have two, others have three or more
GJHS leads with 7
openings, GHS 6
4.
Job Corps Proposal Okayed
Approved with JR’s
abstention
JR voiced concerns
about the past history of inner-city gang members being dumped on the
rez as was done in the 60’s, and encouraging a rez exodus by training
for city jobs only.
Job Corps
spokesperson assured local job market determined training, such as auto
mechanic and home-building skill shortages. Bill locked in this
promise with assurance that community advisors would be in place
throughout the program.
5.
Vandalism--Crownpoint HS hit twice
Front-end loader
driven into doorway. Contractor left keys in ignition.
One of two vandals
caught breaking skylights
6.
Street Talk
Salary contracts
late due to new computer program glitch
Salary rollback of
2.5% still in effect
Eyes on the Board
5 August 2002
Central Office
Absent: Manuel
Shirleson
1. Administrator personnel
actions
5
August actions (all votes 4-0):
·Assistant
Superintendent of C&I Dr. Carla Lewis resigned effective 4
September.
·Carmen Wounded Knee
hired, Principal, Tohatchi El
·Bart Stanley hired,
Principal, Tohatchi Mid
·Richard Fourzan
hired, Assistant Principal, GHS.
·Ken Williams
transferred to Assistant Principal, GHS.
26
July actions:
·Newly hired
principals Anita Bryant and Greg Rockhold resigned.
·Teresa Mariano
transferred to Personnel Director. Annie voted no.
·Benny Roanhorse
transferred to Principal, Navajo Mid. Annie abstained.
2. Budget increase trimmed
The
administration stated that the unit value (“dollar value” of average student)
increase received this year will be trimmed back. Last May SDE
announced that the unit value was increased $25. The administration did
not publicly disclose how much of an increase to the budget we received this
year. Normally an increase in unit value would raise salary
schedules. This year the school board voted to decrease salary
schedules 2.5%.
3. Calendar change
The
first day of school was changed to 19 August, and the April in-service day
was made a school day.
4. Administrator “all
call”
District
principals attended to hear APS School Board Member John Emery explain his
“four superintendent” idea recently implemented in APS. This is a
possibility for our district as the search for a superintendent begins.
APS has a business person, two academic people, and a “marketing guy” to share
superintendent duties. They are all paid equally, and voted among
themselves to determine who acts as the superintendent. The school
board directly supervises all four. If done here, Gomez’s and Angelo’s
salaries would be added together, divided by four, then added to the salaries
of four existing administrators.
5. Church Rock Academy
Everybody’s
happy with the new school, according to the administration. First day
attendance was 170 and expected to increase. Note: Last
year enrollment was about 300.
6. Teacherages
A
bond is necessary to support teacherages. This will bring in much
needed capital outlay money.
7. Street Talk
The
city council’s $700,000 Astroturf project was out for bid at the end of
July. GMCS gave $350,000 of capital outlay money to the city so high
school baseball teams can use city fields. MCFUSE learned of the
$350,000 transfer from city officials. The administration failed to
answer a 9 July MCFUSE written inquiry under the New Mexico Inspection of
Public Records Act.
Eyes
on the Board
15
July 2002
Central
Office
Absent:
none
Gomez resigns
Principal personnel actions
Indian Hills gets new building
JFK’s “no fail” report card
Add another central office administrator
Street Talk
1.
Gomez Resigns
Assistant
Superintendent of Business Services John Samford read Superintendent Robert
Gomez’s letter of resignation. The letter stated he accepted a job in
California in order to be closer to his family. It also stated his
accomplishments such as the Zuni capital outlay lawsuit, staving off OCR
charges of racism, and creating a tech center. Board approved 5-0.
2.
Principals
Larry
Baker, Tohatchi Mid, resigned effective immediately due to family illness.
In
a 1 July special session, Peggy Taylor was hired as assistant principal at
Gallup Mid and Ken Carmichael was hired as principal at the new Navajo
Mid. Taylor was hired by Bright, Shirleson, and Tempest; Carmichael by
Shirleson and Tempest, Bright abstaining.
3. Indian
Hills
A
recent PSCOC meeting funded a replacement for Indian Hills Elementary
School. Pueblo Pintado and Ramah High Schools were presented but not
funded.
4.
“No fail” report card
JFK
Middle School will replace D’s and F’s with “no credit.” Students
falling below a C will lose their electives and be enrolled in a remedial
class to bring up their grades.
5.
New administrator recommended
A
new central office position of Teacherage & Safety Director was
proposed. The administration had some concerns about where to place the
position, and the board wanted to know where the money was coming from.
Decision deferred until next meeting.
6.
Street Talk
On
July 3rd the Independent ran an article revealing that our
district is one of the few in the state that will be reducing the employee
salary schedule, and this in spite of the fact that the district will be
receiving a budget increase. Business Office manager John Sampson
attributed the need to reduce pay to the district’s large size. However,
the article pointed out that the state is looking at creating large districts
to save money, not reduce it. MCFUSE note: since MCFUSE’s
inception in 1975, this is the first pay cut ever dealt to teachers, about
$700 per year for most returning teachers. This is especially confusing
because the legislature actually increased school budgets of at least $25
more per student.
The
July 11th Albuquerque Journal carried an article about former
Newcomb HS Principal Larry Dean Cunningham having his $25,000 Milken Award
withdrawn based on the recommendation by SDE. Cunningham was removed
from his job February 20th for undisclosed reasons. Local
School Board Members Bruce Tempest and Bill Bright recently hired Cunningham
to be the principal at Thoreau HS. The July 12th Independent
ran an article explaining how Superintendent Gomez told the school board he
personally did a background check on Cunningham, but could not get any
information. Gomez did not produce any evidence of having done this
background check, and none is on file in Personnel as required by school
board policy. Officials at Cunningham’s old district stated nobody from
GMCS had contacted them for a job reference. The article further stated
that Cunningham denies losing the Milken Award and still claims he does not
know why he was dismissed.
Eyes on the Board
17 June 2002
Central Office
Absent: JR Thompson, Annie
Descheny
More money for principals
Less money for teachers
Dress code changes
Street Talk
More principals, more money
Two
new principal positions were created, one at Navajo Mid and an assistant at
Church Rock Academy. Gallup Mid’s Karen Vann transferred to the Church
Rock assistant position. A Gallup Mid teacher was hired to fill her old
position. Grants sent us a third principal—Greg Rockhold will be at
Tohatchi Elem. Mary Washburn (sp?) returns from Australia to work at
David Skeet.
Teacher pay cut approved 3-0
The
budget is still not finalized, but the 2002/2003 teacher salary schedule will
remain 2.5% lower than the 2001/2002 schedule. MCFUSE’s Payton pointed
out to the board this was a pay cut. John Samford claims this is not a
pay cut, even though it will cost each teacher about $700 in the lost
step. Payton pointed out that the district will be reimbursed by the
state for each returning teacher’s extra year of experience. He also
stated that this was a “thumb in the eye” of local legislators who voted to
give teachers an 8% raise for 2001/2002, not intending it to be reduced 2.5%
the next year. Bill Bright asked if other districts were doing the
same. Samford estimated about eight others were. There are 89
school districts in New Mexico. Payton pointed out that some districts
are giving raises. He asked Samford if he had any recollection of the
district ever cutting teacher pay before. Samford again denied that
this was a pay cut. MCFUSE believes this may be the first time a GMCS
school board lowered teacher pay.
Dr Lewis’s dress code
No
shorts, no “skorts,” no spandex pants. Sweaters and turtlenecks
okay. Skirt length rules determined by individual supervisors.
Street Talk
·MCFUSE completed an
informal investigation of the three out-of-district principals hired at the
last board meeting. Serious concerns were identified, enough to
question if board hiring policy is being equally applied to all principal
applicants.
·Flaws in the
district’s background investigation procedures became evident in a June 13th
Independent news article. In the 2-0-3 hiring of Dean Cunningham as
principal at Thoreau High, J.R. stated he abstained along with Annie and
Manuel because he lacked information surrounding Cunningham’s February 20th
permanent suspension from Newcomb High and Middle School. Gomez, on the
other hand, stated he looked into those concerns “and found they weren’t of a
substantial nature.” Part of the problem, according to CCSD
Superintendent Linda Besett, had to do with low test scores and the loss of
completed course data that prevented 16 of 79 students from graduation.
·On June 14th
MCFUSE met with SDE to protest proposed changes in the SDE accountability
regulation that fails to address central office accountability and allows the
administration to involuntarily transfer up to half the students. For
example, suppose Crownpoint Elementary becomes a “model” school.
Central office can order the involuntary transfer of up to 49% of its
students to Smith Lake, Thoreau, etc. If these transfers are done after
the 40-day count, neither school will be held accountable for the transferred
student’s test scores.
June 4 update: KYVA's John McBreen reported
that the vote to hire Dean Cunningham as the Thoreau HS principal passed,
even though only two of five present members voted "Yes." The
administration is interpreting the three abstentions to mean the most
"Yes" votes wins even though it is a minority of the quorum.
Eyes
on the Board
3
June 2002
Central
Office
Departures and
arrivals
33 Retirees
Navajo Mid
“Church Rock
Academy”
Employee dress
code
Standards-based
report cards
New employee
evaluation forms
Navajo Pine
teachers may be “fired”
Absent:
Annie absent for the first Executive Session and the work study
session.
Administrator
Departures: Angelo DiPaolo, Assistant to the Superintendent, retired;
Craig Pirlot, Gallup Mid principal, retired
Note: Edmund Lano,
federal programs, was originally scheduled to be terminated, but this changed
to a teacher transfer after an Executive Session, then changed to Tabled
after a second Executive Session called by Annie who missed the first one.
Onate: Wendy Perry
from Lincoln, vote 3-0-2 (Annie and JR abstaining). Hired.
Thoreau High:
Recommended: Dean Cunningham from Newcomb, vote 2-0-3 (Manuel, Annie,
JR abstaining). Not hired.
Tohatchi Elem: TBD,
no recommendation from the administration
Tohatchi Mid:
Recommended: Larry Baker, out-of-district, vote 5-0. Hired.
Turpen:
Recommended: Transfer Matt Jopek from Church Rock, vote 5-0.
Hired.
33 Retirees
Many of them the “Best of the
Best of the Best” (thanks, MIB): Mary Trujillo, Richard Trujillo, and
the inimitable Bruce Potts. Bruce gave a short speech, “From Chick
Farrel (sp?) to our present EDC,” he survived it all. Other MCFUSE retirees
were not present.
Navajo Mid, 6-8th
grades
This will be a group of
portables next to the high school football field. The cafeteria and gym
are all that will be shared with the high school, and the kids will be on
different schedules. Another administrator will be hired. Bruce
Tempest asked why the teachers did not know the sixth graders would be going
across the street to the high school. Gomez claimed they were told but
that they must not have been not paying attention.
“Church Rock
Academy”
That’s the school’s new name,
according to Central Office. Annie expressed concern that the parents
at Church Rock are not discussing the fact that the school is being changed,
and that they may not even know about it. She requested a copy of all
parent-meeting minutes. MCFUSE will also request a copy for
review.
Employee dress
code
Basically, the dress code policy
we all received before the end of school year was from GJHS. Also,
contrary to what that letter stated, it is not official until the board
approves it. At our last members meeting, MCFUSE members were all in
favor of it, so that was briefed. Sharon Stalcup presented some
problems regarding short skirts, low cut blouses, etc. Looks like it
will be fine-tuned and adopted this summer.
Standards-based report
cards
MCFUSE briefed that according to
the Los Alamos teachers union, their 121-grade report card our district may
copy bombed, teachers and parents both hated it, and it is being
terminated.
The administration wants to go
100% K-12 on standards-based report cards. MCFUSE and Bill both
suggested that if it can be done smartly, i.e., like Edison where technology
SAVES WORK instead of MAKES WORK, then it is worth considering. Oakes
promised this would be the case. Historical note: Oakes said the
same thing with a standards-based lesson plan a few years ago. That one
flopped early in the school year.
New employee
evaluation forms
“Teachers will be happy with
it,” is what the administration promised. Also, all classified
employees are getting a new evaluation form similar to the one teachers
have. No employees coordinated on these new forms.
Navajo Pine
teachers may all be “fired”
Part of a chapter house
resolution called for Navajo Pine to be a “model school.” Bill Bright
interpreted this to mean they want done to their school what central office
did to Church Rock. He called for immediate action.
For teachers, this means:
You are dismissed, and must reapply for your job. If you are not hired,
like at Church Rock Academy, you may be involuntarily transferred. You
will work a longer day without compensation, a longer year with
compensation. You will work all additional duties without a stipend,
but may get a $3,000 bonus if student test scores meet a Central Office
goal.
For parents, this means:
You must sign a contract, the breaking of which may involuntarily transfer
your child to another school in the district. You must work fours hours
per month in the school without pay, your child must have 97% attendance,
your child must read 30 minutes a night, and you must attend all
parent-teacher conferences. Failure to comply means your child may be
transferred.
Eyes on the Board
20 May 2002
Navajo Elementary
Pay raise reneged
Fired principals
Central office
rehires
Church Rock update
Navajo parents mad
Street talk
Absent:
Bill Bright, Annie Descheny
Pay raise reneged
All employee pay for next year
was frozen. The step increase originally proposed by IBPS member John
Samford at the Stagecoach school board meeting will not take place. The
board had voted 3-1-1 at Stagecoach to accept the recommendation to give
employees a step increase but no other raise because no budget increase was
projected. For example, a teacher moving from step 7 to step 8 will now
receive the same pay he or she received at step 7. Also, a new teacher
at step 7 in August 2002 will receive the pay of the previous year’s step
6. No logical justification for this cut was offered.
Fired principals
Tammy Mancebo from Turpen and
Brian Bass from Navajo Pine will not be rehired next year.
Central office
rehires
All assistant superintendents
were rehired 3-0 with the exception of Dr. Carla Lewis. She was rehired
2-1 with J.R. Thompson casting the lone no vote.
Church Rock
update
The new principal has still not
been hired.
Navajo parents mad
Filling the cafeteria of Navajo
Elementary, many parents expressed anger and concern over the decision to
move the sixth graders to the high school when the new Navajo Elementary
opens next year. The parents called for a new middle school at
Navajo. Superintendent Gomez explained the process of prioritizing
building needs on the Master Plan.
Street talk
Gomez admitted in a live radio interview on May 22nd
that last November’s false report of child abuse incident was “a component”
in the decision to not rehire the Turpen principal.
In the same interview, Gomez
stated he was “disappointed in the one board member” who voted against
rehiring Dr. Lewis.
Dr. Lewis’s recent failed
initiatives include the 121-grade elementary report card, adding 45 teaching
minutes to the high school, making elementary teachers stay about an hour
after the students leave, terminating one third of the Navajo liaisons,
cutting health assistants to a four day workweek, and adding health assistant
duties to school nurses. MCFUSE publicly opposed all of these. On
the plus side, she proposed and obtained prep and music/PE teachers for all
elementary schools. This has been a MCFUSE top priority since 1997.
The New Mexico Open Meetings Act
was violated for the third time this school year when school board members
began speaking in muted voices the public could not hear. MCFUSE called
a point of order, stating that the State Attorney General has already noted
the other two violations, and this third one will also be reported.
MCFUSE asked that the administration not erase the tapes until a state
investigation is completed.
Why weren’t the citizens of
Navajo informed earlier of the decision to move the sixth
graders?
Eyes
on the Board
6
May 2002
Tohatchi
Mid
Prep for
Elementary
Assistants and HS
left alone
Most Principals
Rehired
35 Licensed
resignations
Smith Lake versus
Young Jeff Tom
Street Talk
Absent:
Annie Descheny, Manuel Shirleson
Prep for Elementary
Elementary
teachers will enjoy three 60-minutes preps each week as the school board
voted on the consent agenda to approve prep. Gomez complained about
press coverage claiming teachers were unhappy, and Payton pointed out the
only objection the union had was unnecessarily extending the duty day.
After the Independent ran an article on April 29th interviewing four union
officials, the school board killed the unnecessary extended duty day portion
of the plan. Payton also stated elementary prep was a number one union
lobbying priority for the last four years. The news of the prep was
obtained in a discussion with Bill Bright and Bruce Tempest after the
meeting. MCFUSE will verify their statements by reviewing the written
consent agenda later this week.
Assistants and High
Schools Left Alone
In
the same April 29th news article, union officials argued against
adding uncompensated teaching time to high school teachers and also extending
their duty day for no reason. The board voted to leave high school
schedules as is. Similarly, union complaints against cutting health
assistants to a four-day work week were also effective in the board voting to
keep all or most health assistant positions untouched. The board voted
to keep all or most liaisons as well.
Most Principals
Rehired
Teri
Cron of David Skeet will transfer to a non-administrator position, Bruce
Hopmeier of Thoreau High resigned, and two principals were left off the
rehire list pending evaluation: Tami Mancebo of Turpen and George
Kitchens of Tohatchi High. Eight principals received two-year
contracts: Bond, Butkovich, Casuse, Crooker, Hoy, Irvin, Pirlot, and
White. Gomez told the board all of these principals were from
non-probationary schools. Lets see if the board figures out on their
own which two aren’t (no hints!).
35 Bail Out
27
licensed personnel resigned, 8 retired. It’s starting early this
year. Hopefully the board’s actions on prep and high school schedules
will slow this down.
Young Jeff Tom
…addressed
the board asking why he was not allowed to speak at Smith Lake’s graduation
this year. Parents had requested the Navajo Nation Council Delegate as
a speaker, and Principal Chris Hansen had disapproved the request citing
Tom’s recent conviction of vehicular homicide in tribal court. Hansen
argued his right under school board policy, and J.R. expressed concern of the
administration usurping the will of the parents. And you think teaching
isn’t political?
Street Talk
--MCFUSE
finds it ironic that the school board and a truckload of administrators used
operational funds to take off for a retreat in Santa Fe to discuss the
shortage of operational funds. Duhh!
--
At the April state school board meeting NM State School Board Vice-President
Marshall Berman read MCFUSE’s letter exposing the administration’s plan to
“shell-game” low performing students out of Church Rock’s model school after
the 40-day count next year. Ed Monaghan told Berman MCFUSE was wrong,
and low performing kids would not be involuntarily transferred. Payton
then called Berman to personally discuss how the administration plans to do
this via mandated parent involvement as a condition of enrollment.
--Last
weekend our state federation endorsed Bill Richardson for Governor, Patty
Lundstrom for House District 9 Rep, and Fannie Atcitty for District 5 State
School Board Member.
--The
buses are still busted, security on them is still needed—the two promised the
school board have been dropped, some newly hired teachers still get paid
$7,000 more than veteran teachers, and the district reports teacher turnover
fluctuating from 25% to 33%. And the beat goes on….
Eyes on the Board
15 April 2002
Tohatchi Middle School
Prep for Elementary --- Assistants Take
Cuts --- Church Rock Teachers Canned --- 12 Teachers Chopped --- Tohatchi Mid
Parents Blown Off --- Bye-bye Richard
Absent: J.R. Thompson
Prep Plus Longer Day
Dr Carla Lewis presented her plan to give
every teacher a prep. Elementary and Middle will get a full 60 minutes,
High School will keep its 90 minutes. Everyone will work a full 8-hour
day, for example, 7:50 to 3:50. (When we had a union contract, Elementary
worked 6.5 hours and Secondary worked 7 hours.) High School teachers
will get another 45 minutes of instructional time added. The music, PE,
and Navajo teachers needed to make this work at Elementary will come from
federal funds.
More Cuts
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act
forbids using federal funds for nonacademic personnel. At risk funds
will have to fund these areas. Hence seven liaisons cut, plus two
health assistants and twelve Elementary tutors. Health assistants will
work a four-day week. SFA Facilitators lose ten days off their
contract. All schools lose their Title VII, VIII, and JOM allocations.
Note: These above plans were not voted on.
Annie moved it be discussed at the upcoming Retreat. JOM suspense to
Navajo Nation is 30 April.
Church Rock
The board voted 3-0-1 to reconstitute
CRE. All teachers must reapply for their jobs. Annie
abstained. At the last parent meeting 29 attended. Interpreter
Leonard Haskie stated the parents had a good sense of humor about the plan.
12 Teachers Denied Re-employment
The most any one school had were
two. MCFUSE will continue to lobby the legislature for legal protection
against arbitrary firings.
Tohatchi Mid SIPT Books Cooked
According to parent Nadine Bitsie, the
parents voted 21-2 for field trip funds, the principal later stated Dolly
Begay disapproved them, but Dolly claims she did not. Dr. Lewis will
investigate and report in writing. MCFUSE will report on the results.
Recruiter Richard Johnson Retires
The last two years Johnson was noted for
starting both years 50 teachers short, muffing the Turpen phony child abuse
incident, trying to fire a Navajo liaison without notice, and bashing Gallup
as a bad place to live in the press.
Street Talk
Dr. Lewis’s claim that Elementary teachers
love her 121-grade report card was refuted by MCFUSE on KYVA/KTHR.
Teachers at ten schools were contacted, and none had seen it or particularly
liked it.
The buses are still busted, security on
them is still needed, some newly hired teachers still get paid more than
veteran teachers, and the district reports teacher turnover fluctuating from
25% to 33%.
Eyes on the Board
1 Apr 02
Central Office
Dr. Lewis Unchained!! More
paperwork and uncompensated duties for teachers next year…
1. School Board Attendance
Licensed
Personnel—Another big loss
On
the Road Again—another DC trip
Classified
employees canned
Distance
learning questioned
Central
Office Elementary
Lewis
whacks traveling teachers with trip reports
Lewis
whacks elementary teachers with new report card—121 grades per student
Lewis
whacks teachers with uncompensated sponsor duties
IBPS
steals MCFUSE ideas
Potpourri—miscellaneous
comments
Between Board Meetings—Ed
and Gomez buffalo Church Rock parents—JR running for state school
board—Gomez “mistruth” corrected on radio—Next year’s school computer
allocations
The
Ostrich Report—What board doesn’t do sometimes more harmful
1. Attendance
Present:
Superintendent Robert Gomez
JR Thompson, President
Dr. Bruce Tempest, Vice President
Annie Descheny, Secretary
Bill Bright, Member
Absent: None
Manuel Shirleson, Member
2.Licensed Personnel—One hire, seven resignations, four retirements
plus Onate principal. SHEILA SIEVERS is retiring, a MCFUSE leader of
many years in many capacities. Sheila was lead budget expert for the
union, finding money to fund prep for elementary teachers (won in
arbitration, rejected by school board), Dorothy’s number one confidant, and
one of the main federation members to keep Tom somewhat on track.
Congratulations on your acceptance into law school!
3.On the Road Again—This time it’s Dolly Begay to DC April 20-21.
4.Classified
employees reviewed for next year—of 989 reviewed, 7 not recommended for
re-employment.
5.Bruce asked for a report on distance learning,
noting that we spent a lot of money on it and there should be some
accountability at least in the form of a summary report.
6.Church Rock parent meeting briefed by Gomez.
He admitted he wished it went better. Parents did not understand the
presentation. Annie heard there was a problem with interpretation,
demanded a better interpreter. She suggested Leonard Haskie. Couple
more meetings planned. (No mention made of the shell game the district
plans for CRE slow learners—transfer them to Indian Hills, Thoreau, and Smith
Lake after the 40-day count so there scores wash out of the system. The
school board is in the dark on this, and most parents don’t know about it
either.)
7.Dr. Carla Lewis wants teachers limited in attending
conferences—no more than two per school at one time. Plus she wants
them to make written trip reports and report back to other teachers.
She wanted Gomez to have authority to override this policy, but Annie nixed
it, claiming Gomez couldn’t be trusted not to play favorites. Bruce
suggested that central office administrators also be accountable and make
similar trip reports, noting there are a lot of central office trips.
(Backfire! Lets watch and see if Bruce’s idea gets nailed to the
backburner.)
8.Lewis presented the “elementary mastery report
card” from Los Alamos. She proposed it or something similar for next
year. It has 19 “life learning” grades and 102 academic grades aligned
with standards. MCFUSE pointed out that there will be no time for
teaching while students are testing to fill grades in all these squares each
quarter. Lewis said, “It will not be burdensome to staff.” Bill and
Bruce supported the new report card that gives four grades ranging from
Beginner to Extending. Annie spoke up for teachers and students,
stating that teachers need to teach more and test less.
9.Not content to leave teachers alone, Lewis had Chee
Dodge Principal Danny Smith brief her IBPS ideas on welcoming new
teachers. If the board approves this at a later date, returning
teachers will have to act as sponsors to incoming teachers—help them find a
place to live, get a post office box, etc. This work will be uncompensated
and done without release time.
10.Danny
went on to brief that someone in central office should be concerned with
retention. (Nice to know someone is listening to MCFUSE.) He then
briefed his plan to train new teachers in Navajo cultural awareness.
Annie asked if he talked with any Navajos about this, he said no. (In
1999 MCFUSE talked with the Dine’ Division of Education. They
recommended we adopt a program similar to what Ganado was doing—a one week
orientation paid for with federal funds. Teacher turnover in this
isolated part of the reservation was lower than our district’s 25%; DDE
attributed this partly to this program. MCFUSE proposed it as part of
collective bargaining—you guessed it, door slammed.)
11.Potpourri— After Gomez passed out various monthly recognition
awards, Annie proposed some way of putting a few dollars in teacher pockets
as a form of recognition. Even if it was only $15 or $20, she stated
teachers should be appreciated. Bill proposed that all teacher SFA trips
stop, Annie disagreed, recognizing the value in teachers meeting with
teachers from other SFA districts. Carla again lowered her voice when
speaking to the school board, preventing the public from hearing what was
being briefed. (The last time was at Church Rock when she pushed
through the harassment policy, even though many Navajo speaking parents in
the district were denied the opportunity to learn about it. This
incident was reported to the State Attorney General as a violation of the Open
Meetings Act. The state concurred that the audience should be able to
hear the
meeting.)
12.Between
Board Meetings
üThe administration went to Church Rock Elementary
to present its plan for reconstituting Church Rock into a model school.
At no time was any parent input accepted into the plan. Before the end
of the briefing about 70% of the people walked out. Dr. Monaghan did
state that Church Rock had progressed, but failed to indicate how much,
leading people to believe that only the model plan could save Church Rock
from a takeover by Edison Schools. (Church Rock’s probationary points
are now lower than five other GMCS elementary schools and tied with three
others. This moved them from last of twenty schools to tied for twelfth.
Ed dismissed the remarkable progress of the students and teachers as not good
enough.) Neither Ed nor Gomez explained how students who do not test
well will be involuntarily transferred midyear to Smith Lake, Thoreau, or
Indian Hills. This fact came out when third grade teacher Ed Murphy
insisted Gomez answer the question, pointing out that he had refused to
answer it to the staff.
üWally Davis is stepping down from the state school
board, and JR Thompson is running for the position as is local county
commissioner Ben Shelly. Ben is known by MCFUSE for recommending to the
Eastern Navajo Nation Council to not support teacher efforts to keep
collective bargaining in 1999. When the issue came before the school
board, JR abstained, refusing to support school board members Joe De La O,
Annie Descheny, and Manuel Shirleson in their anti-union move. Also
running is Fanny Atcitty (sp?), of which little is known by MCFUSE at this
point.
üRegarding Gomez’s previous radio comments about his
right to fire teachers without giving a reason: MCFUSE went on the
radio explaining that No, Mr. Gomez, state law requires you to cite a cause
when recommending a teacher for discharge. The text of state statute
chapter 22-10-7 A (2) was sent to all school board members with a comment
about how providing false information to the public has a negative effect on
the district’s image.
üMCFUSE recently obtained a copy of next year’s
computer allocations for each school. This is the list Annie asked for
on February 4th. Samford charges a buck per page, but we’ll
send a copy to members, principals, and anyone who asks for free
13.The
Ostrich Report (or “We Need a Bigger Bucket of Sand”)
üBusted buses— not discussed: SDE’s finding that two thirds of our school
buses should not be on the road and that GMCS has the worse safety record in
New Mexico. (When a busload of kids crashes into a speeding freight
train, maybe then it will be discussed.)
üElementary prep—Gomez’s claim that the teachers want him to decide how to “fix preps”
remains unchallenged by the board. MCFUSE’s plan is simple: give
elementary teachers a prep, and leave the high schools alone. (And yes,
Virginia, there is money in the budget to do this.)
üSchool busdrug use and violence is still okay as the board again refused to
address this item.
üSome newly-hired teachers are still making up to
$7,000 more than previously–hired teachers with equal experience and education
as the board again failed to keep their promise to remedy this
inequity.
üTeacher mismanagement. High turnover (1/4), low experience levels,
and the high rate (1/5) of unlicensed teachers were again not discussed.
18 Mar 02
Central Office
“Teachers deserve more money. This isn’t giving them any.” School board
member comment about IBPS report on teacher salaries, 18 March 2002.
1. School Board Attendance
2. Licensed Personnel—4 to 6 loss.
3. On the Road Again—Viva Las Vegas—AGAIN!
4. Busted school buses—Gomez two quarts low.
5. Zero salary hike—or: Samford’s tax bracket too high.
6. Church Rock takeover—School board removes wax from Gomez’s ears.
7. New school—Central Office Elementary
8. Wah-wah—more SDE whining from the Supe.
9. Between Board Meetings—Gomez gets it wrong— Gold toilet flushed—Two-thirds
of buses redlined by state—Fired Turpen teacher still in the
news—Gubernatorial candidate learns of dangerous buses
10. The Ostrich Report—What board doesn’t do sometimes more harmful.
1. Attendance
Present:
Superintendent Robert Gomez
JR Thompson, President
Dr. Bruce Tempest, Vice President
Annie Descheny, Secretary
Bill Bright, Member
Manuel Shirleson, Member
Absent: None
2. Licensed Personnel—3 resigned, 3 retired, 4 hired, plus Tohatchi Elem
principal retires. Mary and Richard Trujillo from Thoreau High and Thoreau
Mid were two of the retirees—sad to see two of the district’s best teachers
leave…Happy trails!
3. On the Road Again—David goes to Raleigh, NC, 19-20 March. Dolly goes to
Denver, 21-23 March, then Vegas, 3-6 April…just in time for the Flying
Elvis’s, Idaho Chapter.
4. Busted buses—they’re just low on windshield fluid, or at least that’s what
Gomez told the school board as he confused two separate inspections. He told
the board about a recent state transportation department’s planned
inspection. The newspaper article and McBreen radio interview referred to the
no-notice inspection from the state department of education that found two
thirds of our buses too dangerous to drive. The same inspection also found
one out of five buses to have bad brakes. MCFUSE President Tom Payton
explained this to Gomez after the meeting. No guarantee he understood.
5. Zero salary hike—teachers and other employees will see only a step increase
next year, according to employee representative John Samford. John spoke for
the interest-based problem solving (IBPS) team as he presented a report for
school board approval. Annie protested, asking, “Why are we approving this?
Teachers deserve more money. This isn’t giving them any.” Annie went on to
protest that approving this may block any chance for a raise should money
become available. The IBPS plan passed 3-1-1 with Manuel, Bill, and Bruce
approving the salary freeze, Annie voting no, and J.R. abstaining. Besides
being an official employee representative on the IBPS, John is also the
assistant superintendent of business services. John makes $74,374 a year, up
from $65,442 two years ago when he started on the IBPS. The average teacher
makes $34,335, up from $32,107 two years ago.
6. Church Rock takeover—Gomez is still pushing his magnet school idea, except
now he is back to calling it a model school. Once again, Annie asked if he
talked to parents. Once again, the answer was no. That makes three times
Annie asked that parents be talked with, and three times Gomez said no. (Too
bad this ain’t baseball.) This time Manuel, J.R., and even Bruce suggested
that Gomez talk with parents. Gomez’s plan for the new “Central Office
Elementary School” was deferred upon a 5-0 vote until Gomez talks with the
parents—oh yeah, and shows where he’s going to get the money.
7. Central Office Elementary—the new model-magnet-model school that Gomez
wants to replace Church Rock—will have some interesting rules. Direct quotes
from the plan to reconstitute (that means fire everyone and only hire back
whoever):
a. 45-60 minute daily prep
b. 8.0 hour day
c. paid on a daily rate for 200 days
d. all extra assignments to be shared by staff w/o extra stipend
e. performance pay of $3,000 if school performance goals are met (Annie
raised a concern: “We have some good teachers that should be recognized, not
just at one school that the state is getting ready to take over.”)
f. Great Teachers Never Sit Down During Instruction
g. Dress code: khaki pants/skirt and polo shirt or equivalent (teachers and
students).
h. SFA, Fred Jones, Saxon Math
i. Students must attend school 97% or more
j. Parents must support 30 minutes of reading per night at home
k. Parents must attend teacher conferences each 45 days
l. Parents must contribute four hours per month to school activities.
m. Revising report card to standards based (remember this? Instead of one
grade for math, teachers must give five. MCFUSE helped kill this two years
ago—and probably made some salesman mad).
8. Wah-wah— This time it was about SDE’s involvement in our tuition
arrangement with Arizona. Another crying towel issue in the ongoing feud…
9. Between Board Meetings
·At the 4 March board
meeting Gomez claimed it was the teachers union that lobbied against the bill
to allow districts to negotiate their own dental and vision insurance. On 9
March MCFUSE asked NMFEE President Christine Trujillo if this was true. It
was not. According to Christine, NEA-NM was also innocent of lobbying against
this bill. MCFUSE sent a letter to all board members informing them of
Gomez’s false statement.
·Plans for the
Technology Center Director’s $200,000 private restroom mysteriously went
“bye-bye.” Two of the central office sources changed their stories after a
reporter from the Independent showed up at the Technology Center to
investigate the project. H’mmm….wonder who could have tipped off the press?
·On March 13th the
Independent ran an article on two thirds of our school buses being redlined
by the state director of transportation. Our buses were determined to be the
most dangerous in the state, and this problem is at least several years old.
The administration claimed that because of our bad roads we have bad brakes
on our buses.
·Fired Turpen teacher
Mike Warren remained in the news as Millennium Media’s John McBreen continued
to report on the wrongful firing. Superintendent Gomez went on the air to
claim that in New Mexico he can fire any teacher anytime without telling them
why.
·Gubernatorial
candidate Gary King visited with MCFUSE teachers and friends on March 14th at
Liquid Assetts. As part of the members meeting, he learned that two thirds of
our school buses were grounded by SDE’s transportation director.
10. The Ostrich Report
·Elementary
prep—Gomez’s claim that the teachers want him to decide how to “fix preps”
remains unchallenged by the board. MCFUSE’s plan is simple: give elementary
teachers a prep, and leave the high schools alone. (And yes, Virginia, there
is money in the budget to do this.)
·School bus violence
and drug use is still okay as the board again refused to address this item.
·Some newly-hired
teachers are still making up to $7,000 more than previously–hired teachers
with equal experience and education as the board again fails to keep their
promise to remedy this inequity.
·Teacher
mismanagement. High turnover (1/4), low experience levels, and the high rate
(1/5) of unlicensed teachers were again not discussed.
Interesting School Board Quotes
“We’ve got to turn those teachers around. Our kids need quality teachers.
That’s my statement. Don’t question it, just write it down.” February 19th
2002.
“More and more I’m thinking I’m just a rubberstamp.” February 19, 2002.
“I’m tired of being the laughingstock of New Mexico.” September 4, 2001.
“When are they going to start teaching?” September 4, 2001.
4 Mar 02
Central Office
“More and more I’m thinking I’m
just a rubberstamp.” February 19, 2002.
School
Board Attendance
Licensed
Personnel—3-3
On
the Road Again—Big shots fly south for the winter
Elementary
Prep—Teachers want Gomez to decide
Local
Docs Want More Teacher Money
Church
Rock Fight
Navajo
Prez Slow Learner
Gomez
Shuts Up Tempest
More
Bad Teachers—Ed briefs Junior High and NMHSCE
Annie
Blasts ED
Between
Board Meetings—Girl raped at Gallup Junior High—Teacher attacked by
student--Two-thirds of buses redlined by state—Bye-bye prep time at high
schools—David’s $200K toilet—PTO burns teacher at stake.
The
Ostrich Report—What board doesn’t do sometimes more harmful.
1. Attendance
Present:
Superintendent Robert Gomez
JR Thompson, President
Dr. Bruce Tempest, Vice President
Annie Descheny, Secretary
Bill Bright, Member
Absent:
Manuel Shirleson, Member
2.Licensed Personnel—Two resignations, three new hires. Gallup
High Teacher Extraordinaire Bruce Potts retires. We’ll miss ya!
3.On the Road Again—Snowbirds Gomez, Carla, Bev, Esther, and Dolly will
be in Phoenix, March 7-9. Bev is also going to Tucson, March
17-20. Larry Linford will be in Washington, DC, March 16-23.
4.Elementary Prep—Gomez said that the IBPS couldn’t reach a consensus,
and that they wanted “us” to decide—“us” being central office and the school
board. One brave elementary principal offered to discuss this issue,
but Gomez immediately told her not to. He said this would be presented
next month. Gomez stated the teachers had animosity when one group gets
something and another doesn’t, and that they were in the last four minutes
and agreed upon a solution when everything broke down
5.Teachers lose more
money—Local dentists and optometrists showed up to listen to District 5 Rep
Patty Lundstrom and GMCS lobbyist Steve Kennedy provide a legislative
update. Patty was successful in getting the legislature and governor to
sign the more lucrative HUD funding for teacherages—a good idea Gomez
initiated based on his conversations with Arizona school officials.
However, the city/county/school district plan to opt out of the state’s
dental and vision plan while keeping the medical was shot down. Several
doctors showed up to badmouth Davis Vision and Concordia, and stated they
won’t go with them. Kennedy and Gomez blamed lobbyist Paul Broom and
the teachers union for killing it. MCFUSE asked if there was anything
presented that supported the insurance industry’s claim that Gallup doctors
charge more? Kennedy and one doctor said no. MCFUSE sent an
e-mail to our state teacher “fedrep” after the meeting to verify the insurance
industry’s alleged claim that Gallup dentists and optometrists charge
more. MCFUSE’s concern is that if we get the okay for central office to
buy dental and vision insurance, will it be more expensive to pay for the
higher rates our local doctors allegedly charge?
6.Church Rock—JR and
Annie blasted Gomez because parents are being left out of the decision to
turn Church Rock into a magnet school. Annie asked what has been done
to contact parents since the last board meeting on 19 Feb. Gomez said
he talked with one community person who was supposed to set up
meetings. He also said he planned to talk with Church Rock teachers.
7.Navajo President
Kelsey Begaye met with district officials last Thursday. Gomez stated
that he thinks he finally understands the impact aid issue. The “word
on the street” is that the meeting digressed into another Marx Brothers
shouting match—just like our school board meetings.
8.Dr Bruce Tempest
asked if he could add an agenda item. Gomez said no. Bruce said
he has been trying to get this item on for some time. Gomez said next
time.
9.More Bad Teachers—DrEd Monaghan once again blasted teachers
for not following central office’s Writing in Focus program. This is
part of the reason why our older kids aren’t learning. This time Ed
spread the blame out and whacked all teachers, but again focused on middle
school. Ed stated that if all middle schools were like Gallup Mid, we
wouldn’t have this problem. Ed also briefed that only 45% of sophomores
passed the NMHSCE, down from about 67%. He blamed Santa Fe for raising
the standards. At previous school board meetings it was briefed that
the NMHSCE is written at an eighth grade level.
10.Annie
asked Ed what he was doing to help the students. Ed said he visits
schools to present specific improvement plans based on his research, and that
he was going to Crownpoint the next day.
11.Between Board Meetings
üA 15-year old girl was allegedly raped in a Gallup
Junior High class while the teacher stepped out for a coke. See the 14
January Independent, two star edition. The administration promised not
to sweep this under the rug.
üThe word on the street is a student attacked a
teacher at Gallup Junior High when the teacher tried to break up a
fight. MCFUSE is researching to find out how many days the student was
suspended—rumor has it 45. Also, was a police report filed, or was this
swept under the rug?
üOut of 33 buses inspected by SDE during the week of
January 14, 23 were placed out-of-service for safety violations. Seven
of the buses were grounded for brake problems. Out-of-service
violations include bald tires, broken lights, seats, etc. One bus
remains out-of-service as of 25 February.
üHow do you placate elementary teachers who want a
prep? Cut the prep for high school teachers in half, and call it
equity. That’s what the IBPS team is proposing. Now everybody has
equal low morale. Why not just give elementary teachers a real
prep? MCFUSE showed them in the 1998 budget how this was doable.
üOn February 27th MCFUSE visited the site
of the Technology Center Director’s $200,000 private restroom. The
restroom will be adjacent to existing restrooms, but will have a special wall
built to restrict access by common employees. MCFUSE will investigate
the details of the design and construction materials to learn why the cost is
so high.
üThe David Skeet Elementary PTO Meeting on 28 Feb
filled the gym. Two parents spoke out against the teacher previously
reported in the Independent. Several community leaders spoke out in
favor of treating the teacher fairly, letting him tell his side in a fair
investigation. One community leader said that parents need to accept
more responsibility for their children. Many people attacked the principal
as being unfriendly, uncommunicative, and incompetent. Gomez tried to
placate the crowd, but Annie fired them up by calling for the principal’s
transfer. Payton asked that the professional process be used, not the
political process. He also pointed out that hearsay shouldn’t be used
to fire anyone. Ethel Manuelito also spoke, and it was decided she
would reinvestigate the allegations.
12.The Ostrich Report
üSchool bus violence and drug use is still okay as
the board again refused to address this item.
üSome newly-hired teachers are still making up to
$7,000 more than previously–hired teachers with equal experience and
education as the board again fails to keep their promise to remedy this
inequity.
üTeacher mismanagement. High turnover (1/4),
low experience levels, and the high rate (1/5) of unlicensed teachers were
again not discussed.
Interesting
School Board Quotes
“We’ve got to turn those teachers
around. Our kids need quality teachers. That’s my
statement. Don’t question it, just write it down.” School Board
Member, February 19th 2002.
“I’m tired of being the
laughingstock of New Mexico.” September 4, 2001.
“When are they going to start
teaching?” September 4, 2001.
19 Feb 02
Juan de Onate
“More and more I’m thinking
I’m just a rubberstamp.” GMCS School Board Member, February 19th,
2002.
School Board Attendance
Licensed Personnel
On the Road Again—Viva Las Vegas
CTBS Scores Kept Hushed Up
Another Church Rock Miracle Midnight
Solution
$200K Bathroom for David
Parent Boycott of Skeet Elem
Annie sends Ed to PTO Meetings
Annie Fights Nepotism
Mid School Teachers Need More
Paperwork
Wah-wah
Between Board Meetings—Teacher fired by rubberstamp
board----Dr Ed pulls a Clinton in test cheating scandal.
The Ostrich Report—What board doesn’t do
sometimes more harmful.
1. Attendance
Present:
Superintendent Robert Gomez
JR Thompson, President
Dr. Bruce Tempest, Vice President
Annie Descheny, Secretary (left early)
Bill Bright, Member
Absent:
Manuel Shirleson, Member
2.Licensed
Personnel—One resignation,
six new hires. Danny Smith transfers to principal slot at Chee
Dodge.
3.On the
Road Again—Freshly
returned from its February 6-9 Las Vegas trip with Gomez, theboard
approved out-of-state travel for another junket—this time to Washington DC,
April 19-24. Also, Gomez to New York City, April 2-6. (4 Feb
actions)
4.During the
Gallup Mid SIPT Annie blasted Gomez for waiting a full year to report to the
board individual school CTBS scores. Central office administrators
stood by in silence as they let the principal explain the process of
reporting to the board.
5. The
latest save-Church-Rock-hat-trick is to turn it into a magnet school.
Gomez said we could try to work with the community, maybe mandate they spend
more time with the kids. He listed a bunch of other central office
ideas. Annie suggested he might want to talk to the parents.
Gomez said he already talked with two, and the board needed to act
fast. Motion passed 4-0.
6.The board
voted 3-1 to “rubberstamp” a list of 20% money. Included was
$200,000 for Tech Center bathrooms. Only Annie objected.
7.Annie
mentioned that David Skeet Elementary School parents are talking about
boycotting the school.
8.“How many PTO
meetings have you attended?” asked Annie of Dr. Ed Monaghan. Annie
expressed her concern that Ed attends them in the future, pointing out that
communication between central office administrators and parents was a major
problem in our district.
9.Annie spoke
out against nepotism when discussing the 2 mil project list and the
administration’s frequent use of the phrase “district wide” when documenting
expenditures. Annie asked for specific, by-school expenditures as a
safeguard against nepotism. She had eight items pulled off the list
pending school board review of the expenditures. The list was then
approved 4-0.
10.Mid school teachers need to do more
paperwork to make sixth grade children read better, according to Ed’s report
on CTBS scores. Ed did not look at factors such as transition to a
secondary level school, substance abuse, violence, lack of hearing authority
support, dropout figures, unlicensed teachers, unfilled positions, teacher
experience levels, and teacher turnover when documenting the decline in sixth
grade reading levels. He recommended teachers do more data analysis,
document more Writing In Focus editing skills, prove they are implementing
language arts standards, and learn how to teach reading. JR concurred,
stating that the administration has “got to turn those teachers
around.”
11.Wah-wah. Gomez read another long letter criticizing
SDE, this time for wanting to implement a state curriculum. Bill Bright
referred to this as part of the “ongoing feud” and Gomez cried unfair.
Gomez’s letter argued for local curriculum development. Does our
district even have a curriculum? Last time MCFUSE asked, central office
handed over a copy of the standards and said, “Same thing.”
12.Between Board Meetings
· On 12
February the board met to discharge a Turpen Elementary teacher who refused
to file a false report of child abuse. The board admitted in an
interview with the Independent that they just did what the administration
wanted. For more details, see “How to Fire a Teacher” elsewhere on this
website.
· Both
KYVA and the Independent reported the latest cheating scandal on state
assessments. This time it was Gallup High and Thoreau High, and the
test was the New Mexico High School Competency Exam. By reversing the
test sequence, students were able t