The Echo

My Turn:

Each month, I try to recap the CSD BOE's Public Board Meeting.  As always, this posting is my interpretation of the events of the evening, and does not reflect in any way the views of the Christina School District nor speak for the board itself. These are NOT official minutes.  I do welcome any and all feedback.


The meeting proceeded to the Honor Roll when we awarded certificates to all Students Achieving All 5's on the the DAPA Assessment Test.  The DAPA Assessment is an alternate assessment tool to the DSTP given to some children in special education.  The Board also commended Fostina Dixon-Kilgoe with the Outstanding Art Educator Award.  Students, Holly Firlein, Jessica Palmer, and Anna Dmytrenko, all of Newark High School, were honored for their achievements with the National Merit Scholarship.

Public Comment (As always, I apologize for any names that may be misspelled.)

Harrie Ellen Minnehan spoke regarding the use of ARRA funds to contract a vendor headquartered overseas to perform a district review and encouraged the district to look inward at it's own resources of Problem Solvers and Innovative Thinkers to perform any review internally.

M.J. Pulaski spoke regarding the CLEAR Review and use of ARRA funds and the perceived lack of community involvement in the decision.  She iterated the that better communication and imput from the community was needed and reminded the district that the measures of testing currently performed take teachers away from their jobs of teaching.

Mac Hatcher spoke on behalf of AFSCME.  He discussed the efforts of the district transportation employees to run a clean campaign for unionization.  He felt that the employees had a positive meeting with Dr. Lyles in which the union agreed it would not "trash" the district if the district remained neutral during the efforts. He expressed that AFSCME has an effective legislative lobby that could be helpful to the district, but was upset with the district for releasing "a union busting memo" after the board pledged , at a previous meeting, its adherence to the laws governing unionization.  He exceeded the time allotted for public comment and drew the ire of some board members who attempted to enforce the rules governing public comment.

Eric Carlin, a transportation employee, spoke on behalf of the employees seeking to unionize, reminding the district they live and work within the district and send their children to district schools.  He state that he "felt intimidated that the administration is against the campaign."

Maria Anderson yielded her time to Rosetta Hamilton who read the district-issued memo regarding unionization into the record.

Richmond Jones, another transportation employee addressed the board and asked "how much is it costing for a union busting lawyer?" and informed the district that a Freedom of Information Act request has been filed for those documents.

Claudia Bock, president of the Christina Education Association, spoke regarding the use of ARRA funding and the CLEAR Review.  She lamented past collaboration with previous superintendents and expressed that the the CEA feels it has been shut-out of decision-making processes in recent months.  She praised the district for participating in the Eastside Community Schools project in the city schools.  She read a letter on behalf of Rep. John Kowalko urging the district to withhold voting on the Cambridge Education Contract and Clear Review until after community sentiment, including that of legislators, could be culled.

One Board Member addressed Ms. Bock at this time and informed her that Cambridge was incorporated in Delaware and is an established entity.  Words were exchanged and Ms. Bock and her supporters left the meeting early.

John Robinson, a parent at Kirk Middle, spoke in support of a state-sponsored voucher program.  He stated that he has received a School Improvement Letter for the second year and urged the district that  the need for action is both "critical and imperative. "

Mindy Cox, a CSD parent spoke regarding the CLEAR Review, stating that the district is "neck-deep in data." and asking why stakeholders were not engaged in discussions of the study.  She asked the Board for a policy regarding community input and cited problems encountered by our schools such as classes that are too big, a need for more staff, and technology deficits.

Superintendent Lyles addressed the public to explain that the CLEAR Review is not a study, but a method for developing a consistent standard to measure our schools.

Public Comment Ended.

Following the board's vote to accept the FRC report, Dr. Lyles presented the Superintendent's Report, a review of her first 100 days in Christina, followed by the kickoff of Christina's Strategic Planning process.

Action Items:
A. The Board voted to accept the Administrative Personnel Recommendations
B. The Board voted 6-1 to accept the class size waivers recommendation.  I initiated conversation regarding the waivers, asking the administration to explain the need for waivers vs making smaller classrooms, which ultimately comes back to funding.  The district utilizes teaching units generated by student census on Sept. 30th.  Funding from those units is shared by the state and local funding.  If the district wants more teaching units, the cost of those units, including benefits, must come solely from local funds.  If we utilize ARRA funding for teaching units, we will be unable to sustain those units (pay those teachers) once the funding runs out in the next 1-2 years.
C. The Consent Agenda presented much conversation.  One board member asked for information regarding the web based Educational Resource System, used by our Douglass Distance Education program, Sarah Pyle Academy, and the three district high schools.  This year the district will also subscribe to a K-8 Prescription package.

I pulled C.7.t. , CLEAR Review for a separate vote.  There was much conversation around the CLEAR Review, it's purpose and the funding source.  The CLEAR Review is intended to evaluate all district schools and programs through the same critical lens, to identify where fidelity in implementation is occurring and what our weaknesses are.  Funding for the project comes ARRA funds granted to our district through the consolidated grant application.

Consent Agenda passed unanimously.
Item C.7.t, the CLEAR Review, was voted on separately, passed 5-2.  Mine was among the dissenting votes.  While I value the desire for the review, I feel that we proceeded too quickly in that there are questions around the recommended vendor, Cambridge Education.  Cambridge is incorporated in Delaware, but is headquartered overseas.  I asked the district/board to consider postponing the vote until we could confirm the use of ARRA funds with such vendor as within the scope of our fiduciary responsibilities.  The Board proceeded to vote citing urgency in improving the education of our students. 

The Board proceeded through the remaining items on the agenda with little fanfare. The night wrapped up with a quick presentation by a representative of the Parent Information Center (PIC) of Delaware which has developed Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRCs) in some of our schools this year.  The PIC is a fantastic resource for families and I encourage all to check out their website at http://www.picofdel.org/.

The meeting adjourned.

And that 's the commentary from the bird's nest.

Final Reminder -- These notes do not reflect the opinions of the district or board and are not official minutes!