There are a lot of complaints about BOE and everyone has their own opinion on what might "fix" the problems, real or imagined. I'd really like to hear the ideas, wishes and visions of everyone here. Please don't give one sentence suggestions. Include a little background and strategy. I'll start by offering some of my own.

We have schools evenly distributed in all regions. Expansion of services should take place at those locations. Five $5M additions are cheaper than one $25M school. How? the existing facilities conserve for the life of the school on support services. As a bonus we do not then face angering hundreds of people unsatisfied with the re-districting associated with either a new or closed school.

Back around 1970 WashCo. faced a huge issue over changing from an appointed BOE to an elected one. The idea was to make the board members more answerable to stakeholders. Has it worked? I personally feel it's been a complete failure! Many voters do not vote in the BOE races and many more do do not take the time to research their choices. Some ex-teacher, parent or PTA chairperson may be totally devoted to the children and what we need, but a board member must also know how to administer a 3000 person workforce and multi-million dollar budget. When the WCTU is the strongest and most influential political group in the county any candidate with a disenting voice is destined for the bottom of the election results. With the BOE autonomous, BOCC is reduced essentially to budget oversight (and lets not go there!). There are presently so many people involved that finger pointing becomes the best way to dilute any personal responsibility for a particular decision. I suggest returning the BOE to an appointed board, making BOCC responsible for them and their actions.

The present philosophy of basing all curriculum and instructional decisions on "standard" assessment test scores does not address the needs of the children, only the standing of the system among peers. This is a difficult idea since I do feel there must be some way to assess if we're meeting the children's needs but the present system seems to actually be doing the opposite. The tried and true report card - along with a teacher prepared to defend scores - was and still is THE WAY to assess if we're getting through to a kid! If some child is struggling, rather than assess his needs and accept his weaknesses we give him a crutch. Some way to disguise his true lack of ability. Our ONLY concern should be what is best for the children. What prepares them for what they will deal with in life after school.
Of course I understand the link between assessment and funding. That does not mean we have to accept that nothing can be done. Is there a way to better address the teaching of the necessary skills? Is there actually some standard that every child of a certain age matches? Can we actually assume that a child born in August is of the same intellectual and maturity level as one born in November the year before? OF COURSE NOT!!! Our whole social system is based on individuality yet we accept an educational system that try's to turn out clones based on some "standard."
We have hundreds of good teachers who recognize this flaw in the system and refuse as much as possible to adhere to it. They are still trying to reach out to those struggling kids and get them over their individual hurdles but they (the teacher) are also assessed by the same scores and the level of their careers is so determined. Hence we are slowly weeding out these non-conformists by attrition.

OK, that's enough! Remember this is a "wish list." Please add yours and your reasons for them.

Excellent topic Aldo. I agree that some change needs to be made in the make-up and/or authority of the BOE. Times have changed significantly, and now we have a $220 Million operating budget that is overseen by some people who have never had any professional exposure to budgets or finance in their lives. There needs to be a considerable change in this whole process if it is to work properly.

First, people need to realize that the people in the BOE oversight positions need to be highly trained professionals and not just retired teachers. The real problem though is that these positions only pay about $5,000 a year, and with very few exceptions on the existing board, we get what we pay for. To do this job right and provide adequate oversight, these positions require a full-time commitment. There are not too many highly trained professionals that are going to quit their current job so that they can go work on the BOE for $5,000. So first off, I would recommend changing the salaries for these positions to be something in the $50,000 per year range. With the right people in office, we could probably get by with only five (5) members instead of the current seven (7). People will scoff though at the idea of paying more for these salaries, but if they are going to be responsible for over $220 million and millions more in construction funds, they need to be qualified to provide this oversight. Would anybody want to go to a doctor or dentist that is paid $5,000 per year? Certainly not. So why would we want to entrust $220 million in tax dollars to a group of people who are really not qualified.

Two fairly recent examples of votes that didn't make any financial sense are as follows. First, last year we tried out an automated phone system that would call parents in the event of something like snow days, late starts, early dismissals, etc. This system, which is called Alert Now, was contracted for on a trial basis cost of $25,000. Anyone with kids in the schools will remember this system calling us at 4:30 one morning to tell us that school was called off on the PREVIOUS Wednesday for snow. It then called us about an hour and a half later to tell us that there would be no school on that day. In followups, the school administration said that they had not initiated the 4:30 AM call and later the Alert Now folks said that they didn't initiate the call either. So apparently someone else had access to the system with personal information for about 21,000 students. School officials then said that they would not be using this system anymore for snow delays or cancellations (one of the main reasons for its use). They said that the system would be good for other alerts though and that they would continue the trial. Personally, we received about six more alerts for other things during the spring, and five of them had nothing to do with our kids. So this system was pretty much a failure. So what did our elected officials (BOE and BOCC) do? They voted to not only keep the system for another year, but to almost double the fee to $48,000 per year. This was itemized in the budget that was presented last spring, but apparently nobody questioned it.

The second example is for something that just the BOE voted on. In an effort to provide better instructional videos to the students, the BOE voted to spend over $160,000 (with a recurring annual expense of $50,000) for a video on demand system. Basically, teachers could log into a web site and select instructional videos to show the students. These videos could then be viewed on a video projection system in the classroom. The only problem is that the vast majority of the classrooms in the county don't HAVE video projection systems that are hooked to the teachers' PCs. So the vast majority of students will not be able to benefit at all from this. The money could have been much better spent buying a DVD library for each school. These could have been shown on the TVs that ARE in each classroom. Was this alternative even discussed? Absolutely not. So we've pretty much wasted $160,000 this year and are going to waste another $50,000 per year in the future maintaining a system that was supposed to benefit all students but will actually benefit relatively few.

Now there are more examples of waste that are out there (spending $85,000 for a few cars to monitor road conditions during show storms - I kid you not), but the bottom line is that there is not sufficient oversight of how our tax dollars are used with the current BOE selection process. We need qualified people in these positions instead of having people who 'can' serve in these positions (mostly retirees of the school system).

Thank you both! You hit upon some of my pet peeves with the whole school system.

I have problems with the 'security' of our schools:

For example, they put in cameras at the front doors of all schools to stop person(s) who are not there for a reason from entering, i.e. for security. However, the side doors are easily opened from the inside to allow anyone to come in or exit. There are no cameras on the exit doors, which would stop this security risk and the 'skippers' .. However, this cost the taxpayers over 80k to implement just for the front doors.

There are no real hall monitors. Only the HS's have a person at a desk as you enter the school and they just sit there and watch you sign in. Every time I walk thru a school I am amazed at the number of wandering and sitting 'students' in the hallways w/o passes or any real reason for being out of class. I have asked the kids where they are headed(as I walk to the office) and they just yell down the hall to their friends to come join them...like it is a recreation area..Its no wonder there is a 'disipline' problem.

I was at two schools the other day and observed the students pulling student records for the secretary or asst. person at the desk. So, if we are all so worried about privacy, how come 3 students were allowed to pull files and look thru them to see if they had some type of note in their files. This does not seem very 'secure' to me. In fact, one of the students who was looking thru the files was waiting for his mother to meet with the asst. principal.

The other problem I have is promoting teachers to administration. They have no ability to put the kids who are going on a field trip bus in an alphabetical list, but we put them in charge of handling the school as Asst. Principals and admin. people. Or we put them on the board. Therefore these positions should not go to coaches and alike, they should go to business people. Someone who can manage money and use logic.

So my wish list includes some oversight plan to review and evaluate items like the automatic calling system and determine if they should be kept. Many times the answer from a business standpoint is a resounding NO! but the program is kept anyway, as if it will magically improve.

In other words, I would get rid of alot of the bureaucratic bullsh##t in favor of just teaching the students the three R's and then literature and calculus in HS..

I strongly disagree that the BOE positions should be higher paid. They are the link between the voters and the full-time, well paid administrators we already have who are supposed to be making management decisions. BOE's job is simply to see that the direction of the system is in concert with the wishes of the constituency. Where they seem to be missing the boat most is in not DEMANDING such performance from their employees. Board members seem to be more interested in dodging responsibility for anything with the slightest controversy attached to it.

The bus driver/wrong bus incident is an example. They refuse to discus it for "personnel reasons." BS! There is absolutely no reason not to fully disclose EVERYTHING that took place that day except the names of the personnel involved! Personally (as I wasn't affected myself) I don't give a damn WHO was involved, all I care about is what happened and what was done to assure it doesn't happen again. It would also be reassuring to know what sanctions resulted from the incident. It's not necessary to tell us who they were taken against, simply what they were. This does not violate anyone's privacy! What's troubling is why the local media haven't demanded the same.

We don't need full-time staffing of the board or higher pay to attract members. The primary attraction (theoretically) should be a devotion to the children and what best serves their needs - within the confines of what we can afford financially. Those full-time administrative staff we already pay dearly for should be delivering the nuts & bolts work they're paid for instead of the BOE micro-managing every decision.

As to "security" it's a bad joke. First off, absolute safety is impossible. If you don't believe me watch one of the currently popular TV shows about Max. Sec. prisons. Sure we can do our best but the bottom line is you cannot keep a whack-job from acting crazy. A nut intent on attacking a school, be it student or outsider will find a way. As for security cams, just ask anyone who's ever had the monumentally boring task of monitoring such devices. That said the entrance cams presently used can be effective if properly utilized. Whenever I go to my daughter's school I'm never questioned, just push the button and the door unlocks. Now of course I'm well known and recognized by the regular staffer but more than once I've gotten to the office to find that she isn't there! Instead there is someone else, sometimes a "lunch lady" whom I've never seen. As I suggested a year or so back during the fervor following the Amish school shootings, the solution is to move the office of every school so that all people entering MUST pass through before reaching any other part of the facility.

The most sure way to provide "security" is to go even farther toward jail-type security measures, a direction I personally feel we've gone too far in already.

The observation on non-staffers having access to files is troubling. I know this was a well entrenched practice years ago but given today's tightening of practices and even laws on such things I'm surprised it's still practiced! If it's not illegal it's certainly unethical.

These are MY views and opinions. Please don't be offended or discouraged and keep em coming. Such discussion and exchange is what brings consensus on workable solutions!

I have a cheap solution to this issue: Have the state troopers call in w/the road conditions--believe me, they always know if the roads are bad! Or, set up to contact certain persons in the outlying roads to get up and look out the window..if they are trustworthy, they'll tell you if the roads are in good shape. My HH is out the door at 4:00am--he knows if they are passable or not..



When I first moved here from Texas, I was shocked that the front wall of the office was not the back of the second set of double doors to allow the people in the office to see exactly who entered the school. At SHHS the office is down the hall..and up or down a flight of stairs...So, yes, move the office to the front...

Hey, just an interesting new fact. The WC school system just released its enrollment figures for this year and the net increase is only 125 students. This amounts to am increase of just 0.5% or less than three (3) students per school on average. What ever happened to the "supergrowth" situation that they said we were in? To accomodate the increase of 125 students, the budget increased by about $27 million, or a llittle over $200,000 for each of the new students. Now I know that there are increases that are not tied just to enrollment growth, but when enrolmment was rapidly increasing, all we heard about was the need for more and more money. Now that the increases aren't so large, we should have a significant surplus this year right? See how the HM handles this in tomorrow's paper (after the BOE meeting tonight). I bet not a single board member mentions the basically non-growth situation this year. They took the $700,000 surplus that was supposed to be spent on the Special Education students last year and put it towards the new arts school. Guess where any left over money will go this year?

This is why I think we need to have a more professional board to provide adequate oversight, and we'll have to pay for that. The majority of the members now think that they work for the superintendent instead of the other way around. She throws them a bone now and then or makes their spouses' working conditions within the school system better and she gets whatever she wants. Rumor has it that a relative of one of the current BOE members will be appointed to run the new arts school. Who would have ever seen that one coming????

I hope the lack of some phenominal growth figure doesn't surprise anyone. If you really want a surprise check the enrollment figures for the 1970's and compare them to today. We had more kids with fewer teachers and classrooms yet they all survived it. Now maybe everyone will understand why I'm so against building an additional high school. IT ISN'T NEEDED!!!!! If in fact additional space is demonstrated to be needed (or reliably projected) it should be built where its needed, that is at the existing school where the need is.

The (plausable) accusations about relationships between board members and rewarded family members is deserving of investigation by the local media and the county's ethics commission and if proved, the member pushed to resign OR the effected employee fired as well as the superintendent immediately fired. Anyone want to make any beats on it actually happening though?
Speaking of "relationships" allow me to step off topic and suggest checking the county administrator's web page, specificly the chart demonstrating flow of responsibility. He (the county administrator) and his wife (the financial officer) are two of only three people directly answerable to the BOCC - but in appointing Mr. Murray they saw no conflict in the situation!

Drevin, I do agree that $5,000 is a measly sum in this day and age for any position of responsibility. I'm not necessarily opposed to raising the salary somewhat but I maintain that it is the professional managers employed by the BOE who's responsibility it is to come up with and implement the day-to-day business of the system. If they don't they need to be replaced with people who will. Alas, the "good ole boy system" doesn't work when you can't call an elected official and get a favor!

Aldo--



Where can we find these stats? I was in the largest class in 'history' according to every school I ever attended...I had almost 1,000 in my graduating class of 1980 in SA, TX. and over 300 when I attended a HS in Ct. We had an average of 30-32 kids per classroom w/1 teacher & no 'aides'.

So maybe all this hoopla & angst is all just 'created' by those with an agenda.

For what it's worth, I don't think we'll have any meaningful oversight of the BOE until we have professionals in place (elected or appointed) who are not under the direct supervision of the superintendent. I agree Aldo that the many professionals within the WCPSS should be enough to provide this oversight in an idealistic situation. However, if these people want to keep their jobs, they had better produce information that shows the system and the superintendent in a very favorable light. Almost every document that is produced in terms of performance contains only selected information. Anything that is unfavorable is ignored. The same is true with the financial aspect of the system. Any ridiculous spending is just swept under the rug because nobody questions anything. How many 7-0 votes have we had?

To adequately monitor this system would require full-time professionals completely independent of the superintendent. The qualifications for these positions have dramatically shifted from an educatonal background to a business background. Unfortunately in our current system, we have an elected BOE consisting of too many retired teachers who are just not qualified to provide adequate oversight. To interest qualified professionals, we have to offer professional-level salaries. If we don't, again, we are more than likely going to attract people who 'can' fill the positions instead of attracting people who are qualified to fill these positions.

As a followup to one of my previous posts, there was no write-up in the Herald Mail about the relatively insignificant enrollment increase in Wahington County schools this year (reported at the last BOE meeting). The funding for 'supergrowth' has continued though, and it should be noted that this year the school system added 88 new positions when there were only 125 additional students. This is the kind of lax oversight that I am referring to. If we had hunderds less new students that anticipated this year, where is the mention of a surplus or the lack of need for these 88 new employees? They'll just keep the extra money and put it towards their #1 priority - the arts school, just like they did with the excess $700,000 in Special Education funds.