Author's Note: Often, when a writer starts preliminary research, he/she already knows the ending of the story to be written. That hasn't been the case with Au Clair and AdvoServ. I embarked on this journey thinking I was developing an archive of the abuse that occurred in a series of for-profit schools and organizations entrusted with state and federal funds to provide care and quality of life to those with severe disabilities, especially autism, a developmental disability very close to my heart. I wanted to ensure that Janaia's death was the last to happen in a Delaware Advoserv home and that, even though I didn't know her, I didn't want her death to be in vain and her life buried in that very special way institutional deaths in Delaware are obscured.
And then Kizam! The story takes on a very curvy life of own. At least 43 times as confusing as it should be.
From this point forward, the posts may take a little longer to put up, the result of what will take hours to verify the data that exists around Ken Mazik and his empire.
Keeping Count?
Unconventional Methods of Interventions
1. Death
2. Whipping by Riding Crop
3. Wrap Mats
4. Chair Restraints
Warning: The content of this podcast is not for the faint of heart.
http://www.wnyc.org/story/uncovering-how-one-company-profits-people-disabilties/
http://www.wnyc.org/story/uncovering-how-one-company-profits-people-disabilties/
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Au Claire Abuse and Neglect Exceptional Children Heather Vogell Treatment Bethany Hall Long ICT DeDOE AdvoServ,
Death Autism Mechanical Restraints Markell
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Camera Catches Shoving Match with Group Home Worker Before Teenager’s Heart Stopped
A video shows a healthy 15-year-old going into her bedroom at a for-profit AdvoServ facility. Thirty-two minutes later, she had no pulse. Nobody’s saying what happened.
by Heather Vogell, ProPublica, Nov. 2, 2016, 7 a.m.
Since the fateful September night Janaia died, ProPublica journalist Heather Vogell has been the only reporter to successfully secure comments about Janaia's death from any of the AdvoServ five employees in her room where the disabled teen lay dying.
One worker who was in the home that day, Tosha Skinner, told ProPublica in a brief interview that Janaia was subjected to a “wrap-up behavior” intervention shortly before she stopped breathing. Skinner was present but didn’t participate, she said. It’s not clear what Skinner meant by “wrap-up behavior.” For years, AdvoServ has used “wrap mats,” which resemble full-body straitjackets, on some of its clients. Critics say such mechanical restraints traumatize patients, and most residential programs no longer use them. Delaware bans such tactics in most cases, and Maryland officials have instructed AdvoServ for years not to mechanically restrain children or teens.
ProPublica was able to provide a slide show on the use of Wrap Mats in another story on Advoserv in 2015. The images that follow belong solely to ProPublica and we are grateful they've been published them to educate the public as part of awareness of the various forms of mechanical restraints, the use of which many states are trying to eliminate despite the AdvoServ Lobby. https://www.propublica.org/article/advoserv-profit-and-abuse-at-homes-for-the-profoundly-disabled.
Did a wrap mat kill Janaia? For it's part, AdvoServ told reporter Vogell that there were no wrap mats in the house.
An AdvoServ spokesman said last week that no “wrap up” procedure involving mechanical restraints was used on Janaia that day. There were no wrap mats in the house, he said. https://www.propublica.org/article/advoserv-profit-and-abuse-at-homes-for-the-profoundly-disabled.
Of course, this statement raises one potentially very important question? Are there any Wrap Mats in the state? Could there be one maybe five minutes down the road at the striking Au Clair Estate? There are a lot of places to hide a mat on a farm...
Steel your stomachs for the following graphics. And whatever you do, do NOT imagine that it's your child lying on the mat.
Keeping Count?
Unconventional Methods of Interventions
1. Death
2. Whipping by Riding Crop
3. Wrap Mats
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Chapter Two:
In December 2015, ProRepublica published an article called Unrestrained by Heather Vogell.
As a journalist Vogell went deep into the world in which AdvoServ operates. What she found was a stomach churning 40 years of child abuse, covered up in some cases by AdvoServ itself or the agencies that send children into their care.
While evidence of abuse of the disabled has piled up for decades, one for-profit company has used its deep pockets and influence to bully weak regulators and evade accountability
It must have been serendipity that drew Kenneth and Claire Mazik together. Ken was a clinical psychologist with a graduate degree from Temple. Claire, psychiatric nurse, had risen to the rank of Superintendent of Nursing at the Delaware State Hospital where both worked.
Ken Mazik had a vision. It stemmed from an encounter with one of his patients at the Hospital. He shared this story with the New York Times in 1975:
“Then, one day,” he recalled, “I tested this kid, couldn't quite figure out what was wrong and rescheduled him for the next week. In the meantime, he pulled his eye out. I mean it. He actually reached in and pulled out his own eye.“Well, I couldn't believe any child could be that self-destructive and my guilt was just enormous. So following My usual pattern, I overcompensated. I threw myself into autism. (http://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/30/archives/filly-winning-a-fortune-for-a-struggling-school-filly-winning-a-for.html)
In 1969 that overcompensation paid off and the pair opened the Au Clair School for Autistic Children in a 28 room mansion with its recognizable steep-pitched roof in Bear, nearer to Kirkwood than anywhere else. With $40,000 the Maziks purchased the fading Standardbred farm formerly owned by a New York physician in what was once valuable Delaware horse country. Today, you'll find far more McMansions there than stables there. But, the mansion with pitched roof still stands proudly - if only the walls could talk.
Au Clair School became a private school for the children no one else wanted. According the New York Times, Mazik claimed the cost of caring for and educating just one of his patients was $14,000/year. He admitted the hardest, most severely disabled children who had already been kicked out of other institutions. Within a year, Mazik had 30 boys living at Au Clair, whom he treated with his own severe form of severe intervention.
Some years back I sat with a father whose then-adult son had lived in Au Claire for a while as a boy. He called Mazik "unconventional," but claimed he was able to make progress for kids where all kinds of conventional interventions had never worked before. I wondered and worried.
Yet, in 1979, the News Journal would run a story chronicling the complaints made against Mazik, such as hitting children with a plastic bat, dunking them in a dirty pool, and whipping a student with a riding crop.
The Riding Crop
Mazik originally envisioned residents developing vocational skills through farming and raising small animals. It was a miscalculation. He quickly learned that small scale farming was not profitable and that the farm equipment was dangerous for the population of children he was treating and teaching.
Ken and Claire set out to find another field to expose their clients to - and settled on harness racing. In 1971, Au Clair began to acquire horses. Claire claimed she wanted a teaching object and the school purchased a trotter named Tug Fire (New York Times.) Tug Fire paid his own bills, but didn't bring in the funding that the Maziks needed to operate the school. That call was answered by a sleek horse with delicate legs called Silk Stalkings. The Maziks combined their salary for one year, a total of $20,000, and snatched up the horse, largely written off by more aggressive owners because of those same delicate legs.
Silk Stalkings turned out to be an amazing pacer. "In two years of racing, she has won 22 times, never finished out of the money, earned $351,438—more than many Americans make in a lifetime of work—and Au Clair, the Maziks' school, is struggling no more." Ken Mazik was in heaven, dreaming of selling his story rights and building his newfound wealth. He used the racing profits to pay down the note on the mansion, purchase a nearby 50 acre farm and buy two brood mares. Silk Stalkings who passed away in 2003 (the same year Claire died) earned her place in harness racing history. There has never been a more endearing story - a horse turned benefactor. Sadly, for Mazik, no one ever bought the rights to his story although Claire was featured on a segment of 60 Minutes. If they had, maybe the horror that would become Advoserv would have been adverted.
By 1978, the Mazik's marriage was in trouble. In 1983, the News Journal chronicled their financial battle:
...Mazik is suing to get money from his ex-wife. Ramunno said Mazik could get $500,000 as a result of the suit filed in Court of Chancery in Wilmington against Claire Mazik. Claire Mazik is the lone director and officer of Au Clair Syndicate Inc. The syndicate's property includes Silk Stockings, the broodmare Au Clair, and a share of Nero, one of the most prized harness stallions in the nation. Ramunno said of the suit, "A lot of money is involved. I suppose it's close to $1 million. My client owns 49 percent of Au Clair Syndicate, but he's being treated like he owns 1 percent." Allen M. Terrell, attorney for Claire Mazik, said "We feel the suit is without merit and intend to vigorously defend." In a property settlement at the time of their divorce in 1978, Claire Mazik was given 51 percent of Au Clair Syndicate and became the president and sole director. Kenneth Mazik was given 49 percent of the syndicate and majority interest in Au Clair School for autistic children at Bear. His former wife holds a 49 percent interest. Silk Stockings is now one of the most valuable broodmares in the harness-racing industry. In his suit, Mazik contends that the syndicate his wife controls has amassed large profits over the last three years and should have declared dividends or a distribution, but didn't. He charges that Claire Mazik has refused to hold stockholders meetings, open her books or supply specific information on finances or business dealings...In attacking Mazik's operation of the Au Clair School, Claire Mazik makes similar charges to those Mazik made against her. She says Mazik has used money from the school for his own benefit while failing to declare any dividends and refusing to open the books or hold annual meetings. Her suit says Mazik violated government regulations and she asks that the school be placed in the hands of a receiver. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/161087680/
Silk Stalkings was on her way into retirement in 1979 when the Mazik's divorce was finalized. Claire turned to developing an acumen for acquiring and breeding winning horses rather than focus on the Au Clair School operations. That fell to Ken, who also purchased his own stable and Silk Stalkings' first foul.
As the marriage disintegrated, workers at the school started to question Ken's heavy-handedness with his patients. They brought their concerns to the Wilmington Morning Journal (now the New Journal.) It seemed Mazik had a new purpose for his riding crop - whipping children. Mazik acknowledged in the story that he had struck the boy, but said it didn’t constitute abuse. The employees who complained were disgruntled, he said.
The New York Times revisited this incident in 1997:
Mr. Mazik himself, in the late 1970's, acknowledged beating a mentally retarded boy with a riding crop in front of several staff members. That was one of the incidents at Bear that he defended as therapeutic after staff members complained to the Delaware authorities and the local newspaper that he was abusing children in his care. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/04/us/deletion-of-word-in-welfare-bill-opens-foster-care-to-big-business.html.
I hope you're keeping count - that's two unconventional yet therapeutic methods for caring for children with mental health needs:
1. Death
2. Beating by Riding Crop
Next Up - Chapter Three
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Hall of Fame - A Horse Named Silk Stalkings
https://www.harnessmuseum.com/content/silk-stockings
Biography:
silk stockings
Year of Birth: 1972
Inducted as a: Racehorse
Immortal: Yes
Elected as Immortal: 2007
Year of Death: 2003
Gait: Pacer
Record: p, 2,1:58.2; 3,1:55.2
Earnings: $694,894
Sire: Most Happy Fella
Dam: Maryellen Hanover
Sire of Dam: Tar Heel
Biography:
Little did anyone expect that the small, spindly legged yearling wearing hip number 33 at the 1973 Liberty Bell Sale would one day turn into a world famous racehorse. In fact, what convinced Ken and Claire Mazik to purchase Silk Stockings had little to do with her pedigree or conformation and a lot to do with what they considered to be a divine message. Always perceiving 33 to be a holy number, Claire Mazik was not at all surprised when their sale catalog kept falling open to the page displaying Silk Stockings’ information. The Maziks had come to the sale to acquire a horse for the Au Clair School, a small institution they owned and ran in Bear, Delaware which focused on the education and care of autistic children. Having limited funds to support the school, they hoped that a racehorse would not only provide entertainment for the children, but also a chance to gain extra funding.
Silk Stockings was bred by Bert V. James of Windsor, Ontario and was trained and driven by Preston Burris, Jr. of Smyrna, Delaware. Her new owners, the Maziks, Instantly grew attached to “Silky,” viewing her as a child filled with potential. She told Hoof Beats: “We staked her to everything…Just like with a child, you want to give them every advantage to be great if they are.” And she did not disappoint. She began to show her talent within her first racing season. Winning divisions of the Hanover Filly Stakes, Battle of Saratoga, Pocahontas, a heat of the Almahurst Farm Stake and six New York Sire Stakes, Silky closed 1974 with an 18-12-4-2 record and a total of $144,110 in earnings. She was voted the 1974 Two-Year-Old Filly Pacer of the Year.
Continuing to train hard, by the start of her second season Silky had outgrown her small, weak looking frame and reportedly grown to be a respectable sixteen hands. She started the season strong at Brandywine with a time of 1:57.4f which set a new track record for sophomore fillies of either gait. Less than two weeks later she set another track record, this time at Goshen Historic Track, for all-time, all-sex, all-gait. Silky only picked up speed from there, setting seven more track records, eight world records, pacing nine 2:00 miles, and achieving her best time of 1:55.2. She also took the Monticello O.T.B. Classic, which was the largest single purse in history up to that point, the Adioo Volo and the Jugette. By the end of 1975, Silky had achieved a 24-15-5-3 record and earned a total of $336,312. Due to her consistency upon whatever track she raced, she proved herself as the season’s champion on all track sizes and was voted the 1975 Three-Year-Old Filly Pacer of the Year and Pacer of the Year. In the closest contest in over twenty years, Silky lost the title of Harness Horse of the Year to Savior by three votes but was proclaimed by The Harness Horse magazine to be the “New Queen of Harness Racing.”
Foot problems shortened Silky’s third season, but she was still able to match her previous record of 1:55.2, pace seven 2:00 miles and set a track record at Wolverine Raceway and a world record at the Meadowlands for four-year-old pacers on a mile track. Her 1976 season closed with 12-8-1-0 record and a total of $89,552 in earnings. By this time Silky’s fame and popularity had managed to reach beyond the limits of the sport. She became a public-relations icon, featured in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping and television’s 60 Minutes. The Maziks even began planning a full length movie focusing on Silky’s amazing story. The anticipated movie drew enough interest from the community that Northwood, New Hampshire schools celebrated “Silk Stockings Day” in order to let the kids watch her be filmed at local Rockingham Park. Unfortunately the movie was never completed.
In 1977 Silky continued to impress her fans by pacing four 2:00 miles and setting two world records for aged mares, one of which she did on film at Rockingham Park without a prompter and with a stiff wind against her. Tragically, Silky’s racing career came to a sudden halt when her foot was injured beyond repair during a shipping accident. She was forced to end her season early with a total of $124,920 in earnings and was retired to breeding under the care of Carter Duer at his Peninsula Farm. She produced five colts and five fillies, two of note being Temujin p,3,1:54.3h ($633,284) by Race Time, and Lady Longlegs p,2,1:58.1 ($258,149) by B.G.’s Bunny. After a difficult delivery in 1995, Silky enjoyed her retirement close to Claire Mazik at Boxwood Farm in New Jersey. She passed away at Boxwood on October 3, 2003 at the age of thirty-one.
Claire had passed away earlier in the year in June.
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This is not a story for weak constitutions. It is vivid and brutal. And happened here, in Delaware.
Chapter One
The following descriptions of Janaia Barnhart's death come from a dreadfully under-reported story in the News Journal, http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2016/09/15/child-dies-under-care-delaware-facility/90415106/ and an investigation performed by ProPublica, https://www.propublica.org/article/camera-shoving-match-group-home-worker-before-teenager-heart-stopped
Back in September, something horrifying happened in Bear, Delaware. A happy, beautiful child named Janaia bounced her way down the stairs of her AdvoServ group home, following a resident advisor with a large black bag. Video footage caught the employee shoving Janaia and Janaia shoving back. The two disappeared into Janaia's bedroom, where a closet door was opened to obstruct the view of the camara. Four more workers would eventually rush into the room and a full 32 minutes later, paramedics would find the girl, naked, on the floor, with no pulse.
Janaia was rushed to AI DuPont Children's Hospital in Wilmington where doctors could not determine why a seemingly healthy child had gone into sudden cardiac arrest. And two days later, Janaia died. Her heartbroken mother who had hurried from Maryland the moment she heard her child was in medical distress sat with the girl's body for five hours. As time ticked by dark bruises began to appear on the girls body, and a nurse confirmed that bruises commonly become more distinct after death. The most disturbing injury was the one on Janaia's chest that looked like some sort of puncture wound.
As of November 11, 2016, almost a full month after the child's death, an autopsy had yet to be released to the Janaia's family. And no one has convincingly explained away those 32 minutes.
Janaia's care had been entrusted to AdvoServ and she lived in a little white house on Kirkwood St. Georges Rd. It there that she experienced the onset of an acute medical condition according to the Delaware State Police. She was transported to Christiana Hospital and then quickly sent to AI DuPont. In the wake of her death, AdvoServ released a statement offering grief counseling and support to anyone who may need it.
This is what Advoserv portends to provide:
When I first started doing research into AdvoServ, I wondered why I had never heard the horror stories. Let me back up. I have heard horror stories, two or three, through the years we've lived in and out of the autism community. Fast forward into recent research and there is a body of evidence that supports AdvoServ's blatant disregard for the lives many of its residents served in homes that dot the East Coast. And that neglect begins right here at home in Bear, Delaware, just down the road from Janaia's little white house on the site of the unassuming Au Claire mansion.
Chapter One
The following descriptions of Janaia Barnhart's death come from a dreadfully under-reported story in the News Journal, http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2016/09/15/child-dies-under-care-delaware-facility/90415106/ and an investigation performed by ProPublica, https://www.propublica.org/article/camera-shoving-match-group-home-worker-before-teenager-heart-stopped
Back in September, something horrifying happened in Bear, Delaware. A happy, beautiful child named Janaia bounced her way down the stairs of her AdvoServ group home, following a resident advisor with a large black bag. Video footage caught the employee shoving Janaia and Janaia shoving back. The two disappeared into Janaia's bedroom, where a closet door was opened to obstruct the view of the camara. Four more workers would eventually rush into the room and a full 32 minutes later, paramedics would find the girl, naked, on the floor, with no pulse.
Janaia was rushed to AI DuPont Children's Hospital in Wilmington where doctors could not determine why a seemingly healthy child had gone into sudden cardiac arrest. And two days later, Janaia died. Her heartbroken mother who had hurried from Maryland the moment she heard her child was in medical distress sat with the girl's body for five hours. As time ticked by dark bruises began to appear on the girls body, and a nurse confirmed that bruises commonly become more distinct after death. The most disturbing injury was the one on Janaia's chest that looked like some sort of puncture wound.
As of November 11, 2016, almost a full month after the child's death, an autopsy had yet to be released to the Janaia's family. And no one has convincingly explained away those 32 minutes.
Janaia's care had been entrusted to AdvoServ and she lived in a little white house on Kirkwood St. Georges Rd. It there that she experienced the onset of an acute medical condition according to the Delaware State Police. She was transported to Christiana Hospital and then quickly sent to AI DuPont. In the wake of her death, AdvoServ released a statement offering grief counseling and support to anyone who may need it.
This is what Advoserv portends to provide:
Our mission is simple. Our results are compelling. AdvoServ serves the needs of children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and severe behavioral challenges...From the northeast to the sunny south, AdvoServ’s clinically-proven treatment programs offer behaviorally challenged children and adults a new start...AdvoServ’s residential, educational, transitional and treatment strategies are customized to help individuals overcome their behavioral challenges and lead a successful, meaningful life. http://www.advoserv.com/I didn't realize that death was a treatment strategy when this story first crossed my facebook page.
Unlike the murder of a typical Howard High School student last school year which continues to dominate delawareonline at every opportunity, the NJ has published nothing more about Janaia, a special education student, who lived in a little white house. Nor have we heard of any investigations into AdvoServ and its practices. The stories of the deaths, the violence, the filth, the sanctions that came from other states, Maryland's decision to withdraw all of the students it placed in AdvoServ's Delaware homes. These stories deserve to be told and Delawarean's need to follow the money and hold our own state agencies accountable.An examination of news reports by ProPublica shows that at least 145 children died at residential programs across the country in the last 35 years from avoidable causes.
When I first started doing research into AdvoServ, I wondered why I had never heard the horror stories. Let me back up. I have heard horror stories, two or three, through the years we've lived in and out of the autism community. Fast forward into recent research and there is a body of evidence that supports AdvoServ's blatant disregard for the lives many of its residents served in homes that dot the East Coast. And that neglect begins right here at home in Bear, Delaware, just down the road from Janaia's little white house on the site of the unassuming Au Claire mansion.
Chapter Two is Coming. Stay Tuned.
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I am compelled by my devout advocacy of special education to spread the hallowed words that will later follow. For now, just read along for the ride - I am a Catholic-turned-Agnostic by the sins of an Episcopalian Preacher. With my Jewish family, I practice our culture, with my Catholic family we practice our holidays in a way that is meaningful for family. I am committed to raising my children with a healthy sense of ethics, that we do not need to believe in a heaven to compel us to commit good acts for our family, community, and world nor should we be frightened by a hell to prevent us from becoming criminals, racists, bigots, misogynists, Trumpets etc. I have found often in my years that the aforementioned often hide behind the cloth.
So I have chosen to be an Agnostic.
Definition of Agnostic - a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.
And yet, last night, I felt compelled by something more than just my ethics to reach out to the good paster Chuck Betters. A divinity penned these words through facebook messanger -
Do I believe my own words? In the small of my heart, in the tips of my fingers, I am certain that if there were a God, any god, Pastor Betters has allowed a grave sin to be committed upon a child and upon that god. Let there be hell. In the part of me that believes we cannot ascertain the phenomena of God, I know a truly ethical violation has occurred between a man and his contract with humanity, that Newton's Laws of Physics has taught me that for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction, and that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only be transferred. And I can trust that either nature or god will out met punishment upon those who would commit crimes against children.
When I awoke this morning, I was stirred early, on this, the one day of the week where usually I tuck down into my blankets and wish my kids self-sufficiency and that my darling husband can meet the needs they present.
This morning, before the church mouse could stir (or rather the house cats) I was at my computer...searching. Researching, really, my next advocacy project (the Otters are thriving, and the Hi-Five Playground is open) meeting the need for short-term mental health ped and aldo beds for children with autism and similar behavioral disorders at our state's premier children's hospital. (I digress, that post is coming at a later date.)
But, I found myself back at my blog with the compulsion to repost the first thing I read today:
So I have chosen to be an Agnostic.
Definition of Agnostic - a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.
And yet, last night, I felt compelled by something more than just my ethics to reach out to the good paster Chuck Betters. A divinity penned these words through facebook messanger -
Pastor, no need to respond, but as a concerned special needs parents, i want to remind you that it was Jesus who said bring the children to me. He didn't say bring the perfect children, the easy children, the lesser disabled children. He said bring the children and meant them all. Did he ever turn a leper away? or a whore? No. Yet, you like a false prophet have turned your back on a child who NEEDED you and looked to find our lord's compassion through you and those you entrusted him unto. You have turned him away from the lord. I am certain that Jesus's eyes are filled with tears.
Do I believe my own words? In the small of my heart, in the tips of my fingers, I am certain that if there were a God, any god, Pastor Betters has allowed a grave sin to be committed upon a child and upon that god. Let there be hell. In the part of me that believes we cannot ascertain the phenomena of God, I know a truly ethical violation has occurred between a man and his contract with humanity, that Newton's Laws of Physics has taught me that for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction, and that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only be transferred. And I can trust that either nature or god will out met punishment upon those who would commit crimes against children.
When I awoke this morning, I was stirred early, on this, the one day of the week where usually I tuck down into my blankets and wish my kids self-sufficiency and that my darling husband can meet the needs they present.
This morning, before the church mouse could stir (or rather the house cats) I was at my computer...searching. Researching, really, my next advocacy project (the Otters are thriving, and the Hi-Five Playground is open) meeting the need for short-term mental health ped and aldo beds for children with autism and similar behavioral disorders at our state's premier children's hospital. (I digress, that post is coming at a later date.)
But, I found myself back at my blog with the compulsion to repost the first thing I read today:
A Special Article For The Longwood Foundation
This article is addressed specifically to the Longwood Foundation, but I am making it public. So if you have the ability to make sure Longwood sees this, please do so.
My son has Tourette Syndrome which comes with several co-morbidities, which are accompanying disabilities. Tourette Syndrome is often misunderstood. It is relatively rare and very tricky. After sending my son to a Delaware charter school, a traditional school district, and another private school, my wife and I were faced with a decision: homeschool. As fate would have it, a friend of ours recommended a homeschool/co-op program called Journey located at Glasgow Christian Academy in Bear. We interviewed and found it would be an excellent choice for our son. Journey is non-inclusive and caters to children with special needs. His first year there was awesome. He felt like he belonged and it showed. He was happier and more at peace with himself.
In August, I received a call from a woman at the Glasgow Christian Academy/Tall Oaks/Red Lion Christian private school conglomerate. My son (until today) attended the Journey Program at Glasgow Christian Academy. The rep from the schools was working on a grant with the Longwood Foundation for the Journey program. I was recommended as someone to help with the grant based on knowledge of special education in Delaware public education.
I let the woman know that the Journey program was excellent, and it was the first time my son felt like he truly belonged in an educational setting. Journey is non-inclusive in that it is just for children with disabilities. Most of these children, for some reason or another, couldn’t make it in public schools. I’m sure you received the application. A lot of the information on that grant application came from me. I pointed the woman in the right direction to look for statistics from the Delaware Dept. of Education. I advised her of the plethora of lawsuits in Delaware because children with disabilities were having their rights denied. But I said these children have been through hell but Journey looked like a place where these children could finally flourish and grow. These are children whose parents can’t afford the $26,000 to send their child to the Pilot School.
I’ve been rough on Longwood in the past due to their funding of charter schools in Delaware. I have always felt that charters either do not want special needs kids or they don’t know how to accommodate them. Not all of them, but enough. One only has to look at their demographics and this is well understood. But I didn’t want my experiences, and those of thousands of other Delaware school children who have experienced at Delaware charters, to take away from funds for the Journey program. It began with a woman who cares very deeply for special needs children and has some of her own.
I advised the grant rep for the schools about the problems with Delaware special education. How a one size fits all mentality in public schools has affected students with disabilities the most. I let her know about the Delaware DOE’s growth goals for students with disabilities on the Smarter Balanced Assessment and how these students would be expected to “grow” the most on a test that is already flawed to begin with. I let her know about the issues with charter schools in Delaware and how some seem to cherry-pick the best and brightest students. But I did advise her she may not want to focus too much on that with a grant to the Longwood Foundation. She thanked me for my help, and I was really hoping the Journey program would get this grant.
No education setting is perfect. I always wanted inclusion for my son, but this program worked for him. It worked for many of the kids involved. Did it cure them of their disabilities? No. Education can’t do that. Did they manifest those disabilities? Sure. That’s like telling the sun not to be so bright in the middle of the day. But after going through a Delaware charter school, a traditional school district, and a regular “Christian” private school, all in the space of five years, not to mention the homebound during the charter school because they didn’t want to give him an IEP, or the homebound after the school district when he got a concussion after eight other physical assaults, this program worked for my son.
Then this year happened. Due to medical issues, the woman who began the program was not able to be there. Teachers and support staff, in and out. my son’s behavior escalating. The support staff was now the teacher. Then the new support staff became the teacher. Then the teacher became support staff when a new teacher was hired. Someone with all this vast knowledge of special education but didn’t know the first thing about Tourette Syndrome, the disability my son has. Then the original support staff came back. Somewhere in the middle of all this, Head of School Dr. Tim Dernlan, the one in charge of these three Christian schools, decided to actually take a look at the program. He met with parents, listened to their concerns, and promised changes. Meanwhile, he is meeting with me about a behavior issue with my son. Which I’ve heard numerous conflicting stories on, but I digress. I encouraged him to look into Tourette Syndrome and advised him if you treat it like other disabilities, you won’t get the results you think you will.
The weeks went by, things seemed to be getting better. My son would have issues but nothing was told to me that constituted issues that were outside of the scope of his Tourette Syndrome. All students in the program had Parent/Teacher Conferences last week and this week. We had ours last Friday. It started off okay until the teacher just started rattling off issues with my son. Things that weren’t told to us earlier in the week, which was always done in the past, but they decided to wait since we were having this conference. At this point Dr. Dernlan recommended my son leave the room to which we all agreed. Then the bomb drop: we don’t want your son back. We can’t service him. I didn’t hold back. Neither did my wife. You have a special needs program, designed for students with disabilities, and you can’t handle my son? Seriously? In my son’s class there are now 3 students, a teacher, and support staff. And you can’t handle my son? When we asked how much he knows about Tourette Syndrome, after hemming and hawing, he said he took a “cursory” glance at something. The teacher had not looked at anything. So you want to sit there and tell me you can’t “service” my son, after we paid their tuition for the whole year, and you aren’t willing to do more than do a “cursory” glance at my son’s disability? Or see valuable information and recommendations for the classroom, which should be infinitely easier with a student to teacher ratio of 3:2? Are you kidding me? Furthermore, neither the Head of School or the teacher bothered to even look at his introductory interview profile which would have told them valuable information. My wife and I were not happy and we spoke loudly and uttered some very not nice words. Furious parents of special needs children will do this when they are presented with no choice options.
Since this happened, I wrote about what happened with my son on Facebook. The Pastor of Glasgow Church immediately came on my Facebook page to defend the Head of School vigorously without a care in the world for my son. In his defense of his Head of School, he never uttered any words about forgiveness or “turning the other cheek”, as I would expect from a Christian pastor. Instead, I was subjected to numerous and ongoing legal threats coming from this man. But I will tell my son’s story and what he has gone through. Pastor Chuck Betters and his employees can cast my son out of their mold, but I find that is not a mold I wouldn’t ever want my son to belong to. I find all of this ironic given what Betters had to say about the election earlier this year:
Trump: “When someone crosses you, my advice is ‘Get Even!’ That is not typical advice, but it is real life advice. If you do not get even, you are just a schmuck! When people wrong you, go after those people because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. I love getting even. I get screwed all the time. I go after people, and you know what? People do not play around with me as much as they do with others. They know that if they do, they are in for a big fight.”Here is the bottom line: they didn’t want to “service” my son because he doesn’t fit their mold. They want obedient and subservient kids who listen all the time. You can’t turn disabilities on and off like a light switch. You can’t just tell a kid with the disabilities my son has to stop and expect them to listen. Any special education teacher (if you are truly trained in special education) would know this. In fact, the greatest recommendation for a child with Tourette Syndrome is to ignore the actions or words and not force a confrontation. The child won’t get upset and the situation won’t escalate. There are techniques for these kind of things, but if you aren’t willing to truly understand how to even look for them, then you should not be running a special needs school. Many of the parents who are making the choice to send their children to this program were promised many things. Last year, those promises were upheld. This year? They evaporated.
Jesus: Matthew 5: 38-40: 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”
Special education has a lot of misconceptions. Especially when it comes to the parent role and that of special education attorneys. Many are under this mistaken perception that special education troll parents and can’t wait for them to come to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ask any parent if they would rather sue or have their child have a peaceful experience at school, and you will find they always go for the latter. Transitioning special needs children from school to school is a very traumatic experience for our kids. It isn’t an easy thing. Many assume special education attorneys troll special needs parents and look for a moment to strike at schools. This is a huge misconception. And I’m going to tell you a little secret about these attorneys. Many schools believe complaining about a child’s behavior is their best defense. It is the complete opposite. It is their greatest weakness.
My bottom line is I do not recommend granting the Journey program a grant from your organization. The woman who started this program is no longer there as of today. She had a great program but for some reason upper management decided to change it into something different. I fear for the possibility of the program growing, when the people in charge don’t seem to have the ability or even a need to understand the children that are already there. And to expel students for being who they are goes against the very foundations of a Christian church. Perhaps their other non-special education classes are superb. I don’t know enough about that. And perhaps their head of school is the greatest leader in the world for those schools. But for this program, it is not what it was. It is not even close to the spirit of the original intention for this program.
Pastor Betters has chosen to take a stand against me on this. He is threatening to sue my family for speaking the truth about my son’s experience. I say let him sue. He won’t get much. My family doesn’t have much. But what I do have is a faith in God that He is looking out for me and my family and he has charged my wife and I with being his voice, and those of other children with special needs.
Disabilities are on the rise in Delaware. More than we can possibly fathom. Projections for disabilities in America are astonishingly high with some reports suggesting kids with disabilities will reach 50% in the coming years. In Delaware, we are well over 15% but that doesn’t include students who are not in the public school system or have needs that prevent them from having any education. Our public schools can’t handle it, charter and district alike. It has become a crisis and we are at a tipping point. I would highly suggest that the Longwood Foundation only sends funds to schools that are willing to help all students, especially those with the highest need. We may disagree on a great many things, but I’m sure we can agree money should not be given to organizations who do not deserve it. Private schools are not beholden to any laws around federal IDEA. They can do what they choose since they don’t receive those funds and rely on tuition. So for a parent who is promised the world but that world collapses, it puts that child in a very precarious situation. Thank you. https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/a-special-article-for-the-longwood-foundation/
Elizabeth Scheinberg is a special education advocate who writes when the spirit moves her,
when the twist is tantalizing and deserves an airing, when a great need is unmet, when democracy demands it and sometimes foregoes writing when being mom exceeds any other.
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Update: This morning, I received a veiled threat against the petitioners of the Christina School District who publicly presented their request to the Board of Education at its last meeting for a 6-8 honors program at the H building on the Christiana High School Campus. This threat has been reported to the applicable law enforcement agencies. In an effort to protect these citizens and their rights to participate in our democracy, especially the utilization of the first amendment, freedom of speech, I have removed the link to the petition. While I redact addresses and emails, the petition will be unavailable for viewing. However, It will go back up.
Big Surprise: CSD board approved an honors academy for 6-8 grade at Christiana and they encountered an engineered public backlash. No matter what path CSD takes, they will never be given credit for doing anything right. Someone will always find a reason to criticize them.
The decision to create this Academy did not come from within the board or even the administration. It started with a petition signed by countless residents who wanted to see CSD put those referendum promises into action.
When the resolution was passed last week, it was already the second read. The public had had a month to supply comment. Board members had had a month to do research, gather data, and get feedback. And the administration had had a month to answer questions and prepare the structure of the academy. (It was rather lousy that the two-page action item passed and it was a week before the administration actually started communicating with the public about the new choice option available to rising 6th grades.)
The point I'm making is this didn't just pop up out of nowhere. Yes, it moved quickly by some accounts, but it was one of the more responsive movements I've ever witness by this board. And if you don't believe it, click the link above and check the dates of the 100 + residents who put their name on the petition that motivated the board to make this broad stroke of genius and vote favorably although not unanimously.
Big Surprise: CSD board approved an honors academy for 6-8 grade at Christiana and they encountered an engineered public backlash. No matter what path CSD takes, they will never be given credit for doing anything right. Someone will always find a reason to criticize them.
The decision to create this Academy did not come from within the board or even the administration. It started with a petition signed by countless residents who wanted to see CSD put those referendum promises into action.
When the resolution was passed last week, it was already the second read. The public had had a month to supply comment. Board members had had a month to do research, gather data, and get feedback. And the administration had had a month to answer questions and prepare the structure of the academy. (It was rather lousy that the two-page action item passed and it was a week before the administration actually started communicating with the public about the new choice option available to rising 6th grades.)
The point I'm making is this didn't just pop up out of nowhere. Yes, it moved quickly by some accounts, but it was one of the more responsive movements I've ever witness by this board. And if you don't believe it, click the link above and check the dates of the 100 + residents who put their name on the petition that motivated the board to make this broad stroke of genius and vote favorably although not unanimously.
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Comment Rescue from Kevin Ohlandt, the Vigilante Blogger at https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2016/11/12/christina-moves-ahead-with-6-12-rigor-academy-at-christiana-high-school/comment-page-1/#comment-32277
The following comment is rescued in its entirety. Use the link above to follow the context. It's been quite a boxing match over at Kevin's blog as Christina's yet-to-be-created new 6-8 honors program tries to morph from conception to actualization. The pro: Choice. The con: Choice leaves kids behind. Who will triumph? I have no idea. But, the comment below caught my attention and reminded me of life before choice. Except, there was a never a "before" choice time in Delaware. Well, read the comment. Red is my emphasis, and we'll discuss the ins and outs after the comment further down.
"Why are we ONLY focusing on gifted and talented? This argument to only help them has not helped Delaware public education. Gifted and talented students used to always be integrated with their peers and they did just fine. They are todays millionaires and success stories. Unless they went to private schools. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that choice became a thing. And the long-term results, especially in Delaware, show it hasn’t worked for the benefit of ALL students. That is what I care about. I watch kids like my own get shuffled around because schools don’t know how to accommodate students with special needs because they have their heads up their ass trying to make these great programs. They cast kids like mine off to the side and justify it. It is unacceptable."Choice has always been a thing, a two headed thing. There was never a before-time. Only ever an ever after. And for decades the various formulations of districts across the state benefitted immensely, especially financially, from one choice option. You see, we collect school taxes from everyone. However, for as long as we have had schools, we have had private schools, and as long as we've had private schools, we've had parents choicing out of public education. In fact, in the 1990s we had thousands of students in Delaware who had never set foot in a public education building (except perhaps to compete in sports.) Yet, the school districts received and used school taxes from these student's families. The point being that the funds have never followed the students to Catholic or Private schools (special education placement being the exception.) Each district collected tuition taxes. Some districts were more affluent than others which required commensurate contributions to the education equalization fund. For the longest time, the Colonial School District has been the biggest beneficiary of this fund. Since Markell's been cutting school funding, essentially from the beginning of his 1st term, this fund has been frozen.
The other story - which really deserves a sidebar and not so much a paragraph - has roots in DeSeg, the court rulings that bused city students into the suburbs and suburban students into the city. Around 2000 the deseg ruling expired and Delaware moved to implement community schools. Bush took office and announced that no child would be left behind. So, CSD committed to busing students who used intra-district choice to flee their "failing" (Bush's language not mine) schools and attain their education at one that was more successful. Few grumbled about that choice. And almost no one complained when NCLB became RTTT and the students were remanded back to their neighborhood feeder school. Remember, that was Bush's idea of choice.
So let's go back to the other choice story - the more scintillating one. Tis a bit more fascinating because private school choice had benefitted the districts 100% for decades. So, the 90s came along and the charter movement was catching on. Looking at the waitlists of students whose parents were choicing to private schools, some of the state's most cunning legislative and educational minds engineered a law to appeal to private education parents tempting them to participate a public education experiment - Charter Schools. I can remember the letters to the editor in the News Journal explaining that charter schools were designed to be public schools that utilized the private school model. Imagine getting a private school education for free? And Charter School of Wilmington was born, followed by NCS, and whole slew of others.
The marketing of the original charter laws was remarkable. These were steam engines. The economy was booming in the 90s, jobs were abundant, Delaware still had manufacturing and MBNA was the largest employer in the state. It was a hop on the train or get run-over endeavour. Blinded by the glee and the gleam, few thought about the unintended consequences, especially the financial one. Even districts missed it, it happened so quickly. The mass exodus of private school children (the Diocese of Wilmington has felt this loss tremendously resulting in closing several schools) - at that moment when the housing and job crises hit - into charter schools meant that money the districts had collected for decades and never spent on private school kids was suddenly being sent out of the districts and into the charters. And the sum result was that suddenly, as suddenly as Charter School of Wilmington became a smashing success, districts decided that choice was an evil that needed to be repealed and many doubled down in their hate when they realized that their own students were now fleeing into the charters.
Red Clay was the exception (it's choice diversity has gained a lot of attention on Exceptional Delaware in recent debates) in that it authorized CSW, then Odyssey, and finally College Prep. CSW had a killer lease for a portion of the defunct Wilmington High School building for years. Odyssey transferred its charter to the state to allow it to expand outside of Red Clay. And Red Clay shuttered College Prep last year. And through-out the 90s and the 2000s the children of many a state legislator graduated from CSW. Eventually Red Clay would re-negotiate the lease at Wilmington High and turn it into a profit generating center that was reinvested in the remainder of the building as the district opened Cab Calloway as one of it's two magnet schools.
Yeah, now that districts have to send the money after the child, choice has a bad rap. Parents who utilize the option are villianised for wanting a" private school education at the cost of the public schools." Actually, I think parents use choice to find the right fit for their children as well as for convenience. In terms of reality orientation - very few charter schools are offering private school level educations. A uniform does not a private school make. Heck, one charter school completely eliminated its uniforms this year. And the now closed College Prep, Moyer, and Pencader never rivaled Archmere or Tower Hill. And I get the sense that Reach would not have out-educated Padua or Ursaline just as the now-closing Prestige never even came close to Sallies' record.
The question remains: was choice engineered to benefit all students? If you go back to taxation and private schools, it did indeed benefit all. You either benefitted b/c you could send your child to private school and get the private school education you choose. The kind where you bought into the rules, signed contracts, and realized that if your kid didn't play by the games, they were getting kicked to the curb. Or you benefitted because your district taxed private school parents and got to keep the proceeds.
But, can choice continue to benefit all? Absolutely, but it's a sticky widget. Choice can create pockets of success that can be replicated. Choice can force districts to adopt creativity that leads to stratification of options for each sub-group. And CSD has the petition to prove it. It's a petition of tax payers and parents who want to ensure the sustainability of the district's schools long after WEIC comes and goes whatever the outcome may be. Choice doesn't always mean leaving the district, often it means staying right here at home or in some cases coming home when the charter experiment has produced a personal failure.
If I hear one more time that charters and magnets are taking any particular district's funds, my head may spin because the districts had no problem collecting, keeping, and spending tax dollars paid by private school parents for decades. There is a mindset that it was okay when the districts were the only beneficiaries of choice and now its not.
That's a biased double standard.
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CSD Presser: Red is mine for emphasis. Notice - no mention of a performance task?
New Middle School Honors Academy Announced at Christiana High School -- Applications Will Be Accepted for 6th Grade Students for the 2017-2018 School Year
New Middle School Honors Academy Announced at Christiana High School -- Applications Will Be Accepted for 6th Grade Students for the 2017-2018 School Year
The Christina School District will offer a new Middle School Honors Academy at Christiana High School beginning with 6th grade in the 2017-2018 school year, with a full 6-8 grade middle school Honors Academy anticipated by Fall 2019. The implementation of the Middle School Honors Academy will eventually create a 6-12 grade option at Christiana High School, which currently offers an Honors Academy for students in grades 9-12.
Students applying to the program will be required to complete an Honors Academy application and a Choice application form, and will be selected based on their application as well as their potential for success in a rigorous academic program in grades 6-12 that will include Honors courses, pre-Advanced Placement (AP) preparation, Advanced Placement classes, and college-level coursework.
The Middle School Honors Academy will be located in the H-wing of Christiana High School, and Middle School Honors Academy students will take classes separate from high school students, but will be able to take advantage of the many resources available in a high school setting.
“The Christina School District is very excited to offer this new option to parents and students,” said Acting Superintendent Dr. Robert Andrzejewski. “Our plan is to have the Middle School Honors Academy grow into a middle school magnet program with a focus on rigorous academics that will eventually serve students in grades 6-8. These students will then have the option to continue in the Christiana High School Honors Academy for grades 9-12. Christina has never had an option for families that encompasses both middle and high school. We hope that the excitement around this program will grow and that we will see interest among Christina families in making it a success next year and in the future.”
Applications will be available soon, and Parent Information Nights are also planned in the coming weeks. More information will be posted as soon as it is available on the District website, Facebook page, and in the District newsletter.
Posted on November 14, 2016
Students applying to the program will be required to complete an Honors Academy application and a Choice application form, and will be selected based on their application as well as their potential for success in a rigorous academic program in grades 6-12 that will include Honors courses, pre-Advanced Placement (AP) preparation, Advanced Placement classes, and college-level coursework.
The Middle School Honors Academy will be located in the H-wing of Christiana High School, and Middle School Honors Academy students will take classes separate from high school students, but will be able to take advantage of the many resources available in a high school setting.
“The Christina School District is very excited to offer this new option to parents and students,” said Acting Superintendent Dr. Robert Andrzejewski. “Our plan is to have the Middle School Honors Academy grow into a middle school magnet program with a focus on rigorous academics that will eventually serve students in grades 6-8. These students will then have the option to continue in the Christiana High School Honors Academy for grades 9-12. Christina has never had an option for families that encompasses both middle and high school. We hope that the excitement around this program will grow and that we will see interest among Christina families in making it a success next year and in the future.”
Applications will be available soon, and Parent Information Nights are also planned in the coming weeks. More information will be posted as soon as it is available on the District website, Facebook page, and in the District newsletter.
Posted on November 14, 2016
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At their last meeting, on November 9th, the Christina Board of Education approved the second read for an Honors Academy for grades 6 -8 at Christiana High School. The move has already generated some controversy playing out on facebook pages and blogs. There are those who fear the admission requirements, here they are to ruminate on:
The reality is that CSD has taken the first publicly visible step to make good on their Referendum promises:
There are, however, other fears. I've read comments where members of the public are fearful that this program will put the district in the position of institutionalizing segregation. CSD has been mired in segregation from its onset. Despite this confirmation, the district and board (mine included) has been in a near constant state of inertia. Yes, it's fended off insane reform practices during the last six years. Yet, we've not reached down into our core and listened to every constituent base - parents and voters - who want new appealing programs for their students. And on the few occasions when we have tried something new our own inertia has become a self-filling prophecy of failure.
Case in point - CSD established the first public Montessori program in the state. And then through failure to advertise and communicate with the public, the program implodes in the suburbs. Attrition due to inaction is inertia.
So, now, CSD starts again - putting an honors middle school program in a separate building on the Christiana Campus where adults have already begun proselytizing bullying, inappropriateness of proximity to older students, and swell well of other fears. But, I've seen this campus concept work across western New York, where several rural counties bus all their students to one main campus that spans Preschool through 12th grade. And I've yet to hear a horror stories stem from one of those model examples. Here's an example in action -http://www.publicschoolreview.com/new-york/ellicottville-central/3610530-school-district
We need to move away from our negative crystal ball. Remember the Referendum Return Gathering Theme "Let it Go?" CSD has already taken down the most challenging barrier to this new program by committing to provide transportation - something that is totally missing when a student choices to a different school within the district. This will open doors for higher achieving minority students who can't access transportation to other in-district schools. This becomes a hook to keep gifted elementary students engaged - a trajectory to high school and college. And with any luck, it will attract high achieving students from other districts. Most importantly, it will help keep our brightest students in our district.
Let's talk about what happens to the children left behind after this honors academy is established - which could be my son. CSD is going to have to make some very tough decisions in the next couple of years. While we have two elementary schools in the suburbs at capacity, we have multiple schools in both the city and suburbs where attendance has waned. If, and it's a big if, WEIC ever goes through, CSD will have to close schools - and those affected communities will not take closure lightly. Like every other soon-to-be middle school parent, I have to find the courage to entrust my son to a district middle school where, I pray, he'll find his fit. What I haven't heard, but I am sure there are whispers, is that when a teacher can dial down his or her instruction to a smaller disparity without the worry of differentiating for their gifted students, their real craft will begin to be more meaningful for all. I love my teachers. I want them to be able to extoll their experience and infuse a love of learning into every student. We are not under-resourcing the "children left behind." We are creating a climate where teachers are more responsible for a smaller subset of children within a certain disparity. We are also creating opportunities for individual schools to become centers of excellence within the district. Let them differentiate their programs that allow them reach deeper into special education and English language learners.
What has always amazed me about this district is that we seem to have elementary education under control. We seem to have mastered the majority of it. I'm not saying there are not pockets of disparity. However, by far and away, our elementary schools out shine our middle and high. The question is why? Why do our students matriculate into schools where their outcomes become questionable? I honestly believe it's school size and school hook. Too few adults (the unit generating funding formula is a joke and not CSD's fault) with campuses that are environmentally overwhelming for too many children who are used to the POD education model and who relied on their teachers who check in with them everyday. It's the transition for some, but for others it is the stimulus of the campus itself.
The honors program is a gigantic shove in the right direction by creating a competitive learning system. Not Race to the Flop competitive. CSD for once has decided to deliver what I hope is a the first of a variety of educational options that will appeal to all parents. My vote is for the CSD board to keep going. Don't stop with One magnet program. And, for Christ's sake, please don't let a lack of advertising kill it. It's up to you to breathe life into it. Let's start with a mailer to every parent of 4th and 5th graders, today, so that we know we can CHOICE to it!
Choice Program Option: CHS 2017-18 – SECOND READ
1. Superintendent’s Recommendation: It is recommended that the Christina Board of Education approve the expansion of the Christiana High School Honors/Dual Enrollment Academy from a 9-12 model to a 6- 12 model as a Second Read. Activation for the expansion will occur August 2017 with Christiana High School initiating the addition of a 6th grade student cohort and proposing that by August of 2019 the Christiana High School Honors/Dual Enrollment Academy will service students 6th through 12th grade.
2. Brief Description of Program: • The Honors/Dual Enrollment Academy provides a framework for students to pursue rigorous course offerings, allowing students to have advanced standing when applying for selective college admissions and scholarships • The academy provides a rigorous academic program in 6th, 7th and 8th grade that prepares students to take Advanced Placement and college-level courses. • Students are housed in the same area of the building for core academic classes • Students will be challenged to pursue excellence in academics and leadership in a smaller learning community • Have a unique block schedule that allows for a broader sequence of courses
Admission Requirements: • Students with an interest in admission to the Honors Academy must apply for entry. • Students will submit two teacher recommendations in the areas of ELA and Mathematics. • Students must complete a performance task in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. • Students will be required to sign a letter of commitment to the requirements and expectations of the Honors Academy. • Parents/guardians will be required to sign a letter of commitment to the requirements and expectations of the Honors Academy.
3. Fiscal Impact: $45,000.00 (Title I & II) and $5,000.00 (State/Unrestricted Local)
4. Program Director/Manager: Noreen LaSorsa, Assistant SuperintendentCurriculum, Instruction and Assessment
5. Board Meeting Date: November 9, 2016
Admission Requirements: • Students with an interest in admission to the Honors Academy must apply for entry. • Students will submit two teacher recommendations in the areas of ELA and Mathematics. • Students must complete a performance task in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. • Students will be required to sign a letter of commitment to the requirements and expectations of the Honors Academy. • Parents/guardians will be required to sign a letter of commitment to the requirements and expectations of the Honors Academy.Some folks have expressed concern that the performance task is more like the admission tests used by Charter School of Wilmington. However, it's more akin to how Red Clay manages its two magnet programs. Conrad requires admissions testing and Cab requires a portfolio or performance depending on the program within the school to which students apply. What these two schools in Red Clay represent is diversity of education as well as a deep desire to provide programming for students who are gifted and talented or have already chosen their future field of post K-12 education. The cost of operating each of these programs individually in feeder schools would exorbitantly make these programs unattainable and non-sustainable. By creating magnet campuses for these special interests Red Clay has 1) provided choice to parents and students and 2) stemmed losses to those dastardly charter schools. (Remember, this blog is charter neutral and pro-public education options, although the jury is definitely out on vouchers.)
The reality is that CSD has taken the first publicly visible step to make good on their Referendum promises:
District officials have said the money generated from the tax increase will go toward reducing class sizes, improving school climate, restoring school budgets, designing new programs, paying for increased operating expenses and eliminating the structural deficit. http://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/article_2baa759e-da17-5787-a0a8-e5b137bd9b3a.htmlThat's a step toward rebuilding public confidence in the district. It's also a carrot that appeals to me as a parent. I have a twice-gifted son. He requires a 504 but is gifted and talented. I have deep concerns about sending him to our feeder middle school next year - because I think he'll get lost in the crowd and overly frustrated with the size and complexity of our middle schools. It's a fear that extends to each CSD middle school for me and several charter schools as well. Now, I have a choice and it comes with a bus - which breaks down a major barrier to choice for my family. Furthermore, I can definitely say that CSD might be the right fit for him pending the performance task. But, that task doesn't scare me. He'll either do well or not. That's the thing about my family - from charters to new programs in existing districts - we are not adverse to participating in the educational experiment. Sometimes it works. Sometimes, not so much. We have a fallback plan. We take each year, year-by-year. What is more appealing to me about this new program is that my son might be in the first cohort of a school that will only serve grade six next year and then will grow year-by-year. And it's financial impact is also palatable at only $45,000 plus three academic excellence units. It's a good use of the my rising school taxes. Especially since I'm digging in couch cushions for the coinage to come up with difference between what my escrow collected and the bill actually is.
There are, however, other fears. I've read comments where members of the public are fearful that this program will put the district in the position of institutionalizing segregation. CSD has been mired in segregation from its onset. Despite this confirmation, the district and board (mine included) has been in a near constant state of inertia. Yes, it's fended off insane reform practices during the last six years. Yet, we've not reached down into our core and listened to every constituent base - parents and voters - who want new appealing programs for their students. And on the few occasions when we have tried something new our own inertia has become a self-filling prophecy of failure.
Case in point - CSD established the first public Montessori program in the state. And then through failure to advertise and communicate with the public, the program implodes in the suburbs. Attrition due to inaction is inertia.
So, now, CSD starts again - putting an honors middle school program in a separate building on the Christiana Campus where adults have already begun proselytizing bullying, inappropriateness of proximity to older students, and swell well of other fears. But, I've seen this campus concept work across western New York, where several rural counties bus all their students to one main campus that spans Preschool through 12th grade. And I've yet to hear a horror stories stem from one of those model examples. Here's an example in action -http://www.publicschoolreview.com/new-york/ellicottville-central/3610530-school-district
We need to move away from our negative crystal ball. Remember the Referendum Return Gathering Theme "Let it Go?" CSD has already taken down the most challenging barrier to this new program by committing to provide transportation - something that is totally missing when a student choices to a different school within the district. This will open doors for higher achieving minority students who can't access transportation to other in-district schools. This becomes a hook to keep gifted elementary students engaged - a trajectory to high school and college. And with any luck, it will attract high achieving students from other districts. Most importantly, it will help keep our brightest students in our district.
Let's talk about what happens to the children left behind after this honors academy is established - which could be my son. CSD is going to have to make some very tough decisions in the next couple of years. While we have two elementary schools in the suburbs at capacity, we have multiple schools in both the city and suburbs where attendance has waned. If, and it's a big if, WEIC ever goes through, CSD will have to close schools - and those affected communities will not take closure lightly. Like every other soon-to-be middle school parent, I have to find the courage to entrust my son to a district middle school where, I pray, he'll find his fit. What I haven't heard, but I am sure there are whispers, is that when a teacher can dial down his or her instruction to a smaller disparity without the worry of differentiating for their gifted students, their real craft will begin to be more meaningful for all. I love my teachers. I want them to be able to extoll their experience and infuse a love of learning into every student. We are not under-resourcing the "children left behind." We are creating a climate where teachers are more responsible for a smaller subset of children within a certain disparity. We are also creating opportunities for individual schools to become centers of excellence within the district. Let them differentiate their programs that allow them reach deeper into special education and English language learners.
What has always amazed me about this district is that we seem to have elementary education under control. We seem to have mastered the majority of it. I'm not saying there are not pockets of disparity. However, by far and away, our elementary schools out shine our middle and high. The question is why? Why do our students matriculate into schools where their outcomes become questionable? I honestly believe it's school size and school hook. Too few adults (the unit generating funding formula is a joke and not CSD's fault) with campuses that are environmentally overwhelming for too many children who are used to the POD education model and who relied on their teachers who check in with them everyday. It's the transition for some, but for others it is the stimulus of the campus itself.
The honors program is a gigantic shove in the right direction by creating a competitive learning system. Not Race to the Flop competitive. CSD for once has decided to deliver what I hope is a the first of a variety of educational options that will appeal to all parents. My vote is for the CSD board to keep going. Don't stop with One magnet program. And, for Christ's sake, please don't let a lack of advertising kill it. It's up to you to breathe life into it. Let's start with a mailer to every parent of 4th and 5th graders, today, so that we know we can CHOICE to it!
Choice Program Option: CHS 2017-18 – SECOND READ
1. Superintendent’s Recommendation: It is recommended that the Christina Board of Education approve the expansion of the Christiana High School Honors/Dual Enrollment Academy from a 9-12 model to a 6- 12 model as a Second Read. Activation for the expansion will occur August 2017 with Christiana High School initiating the addition of a 6th grade student cohort and proposing that by August of 2019 the Christiana High School Honors/Dual Enrollment Academy will service students 6th through 12th grade.
2. Brief Description of Program: • The Honors/Dual Enrollment Academy provides a framework for students to pursue rigorous course offerings, allowing students to have advanced standing when applying for selective college admissions and scholarships • The academy provides a rigorous academic program in 6th, 7th and 8th grade that prepares students to take Advanced Placement and college-level courses. • Students are housed in the same area of the building for core academic classes • Students will be challenged to pursue excellence in academics and leadership in a smaller learning community • Have a unique block schedule that allows for a broader sequence of courses
Admission Requirements: • Students with an interest in admission to the Honors Academy must apply for entry. • Students will submit two teacher recommendations in the areas of ELA and Mathematics. • Students must complete a performance task in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. • Students will be required to sign a letter of commitment to the requirements and expectations of the Honors Academy. • Parents/guardians will be required to sign a letter of commitment to the requirements and expectations of the Honors Academy.
3. Fiscal Impact: $45,000.00 (Title I & II) and $5,000.00 (State/Unrestricted Local)
4. Program Director/Manager: Noreen LaSorsa, Assistant SuperintendentCurriculum, Instruction and Assessment
5. Board Meeting Date: November 9, 2016
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With the Executive Office, the House, and the Senate all under Republican control, U.S. Department of Education in a tenacious position. Here's why:
Dept. of Education runs top-down one-size-fits-all system A lot of people believe the Department of Education should just be eliminated. Get rid of it. If we don't eliminate it completely, we certainly need to cut its power and reach. Education has to be run locally. Common Core, No Child Left Behind, and Race to the Top are all programs that take decisions away from parents and local school boards. These programs allow the progressives in the Department of Education to indoctrinate, not educate, our kids. What they are doing does not fit the American model of governance. I am totally against these programs and the Department of Education. It's a disaster. We cannot continue to fail our children--the very future of this nation.
Source: Crippled America, by Donald Trump, p. 50-1 , Nov 3, 2015
Q: Would you cut departments?
Cut Department of Education and Common Core
TRUMP: We're going to be cutting tremendous amounts of money and waste and fraud and abuse. But, no, I'm not cutting services, but I am cutting spending. But I may cut Department of Education-- Common Core is a very bad thing. I think that it should be local education. If you look at a Jeb Bush and some of these others, they want children to be educated by Washington, D.C. bureaucrats.
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Donald_Trump_Education.htm
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