Reflections on Ypsilanti Community Schools, Year 1: Take the Survey

It was--and is--a BIG DEAL.

Last year, Ypsilanti and Willow Run schools consolidated into Ypsilanti Community Schools, and it has been a year of firsts.

It's time for a little reflection. If you are a teacher, staff person, parent, student, community member with some thoughts about the district, I'm asking you to share your thoughts and ideas--the good, the bad, and what can be improved.

Take the survey! I will share results, probably sometime next week.

NOTE: You may have noticed that I removed the YCS logo. The district was concerned people might think this survey was endorsed, or organized, by the district. It isn't. It's organized by me alone. To share what the community is thinking. I hope there will be a wide cross-section of responses. 



Consider subscribing to Ann Arbor Schools Musings by Email!

Top Ann Arbor Schools Musings Posts of 2013

Starting with the most popular post from 2013, and working my way down the list...

1. Who is the Broad Foundation and Why Do We in Ann Arbor Care? (May 6, 2013)

In which I explain the association between then-superintendent Pat Green and the Broad Foundation.

2. The (financial) costs of (NWEA) testing in Ann Arbor (Sept. 22, 2013)

In which I discuss the hard costs, and soft costs, of NWEA testing--to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Plus there are a lot of great links to other information about the NWEA test.

3. Principal Principles, Perspectives, and Publicity (Nov. 24, 2013)

Sulura Jackson at Skyline High School graduation.
Photo from a2schools.org.

Why did Cindy Leaman leave Pioneer High School for the new Ann Arbor Virtual Academy? Did Sulura Jackson, former principal of Skyline High School, plagiarize?

4. Superintendent Background Research: Richard Faidley (July 9, 2013)

I think this was the first profile I did for superintendent background research during the recent hiring of the AAPS Superintendent. Richard Faidley didn't make it to the next round.

5. State Board of Ed Roadshow Gives (A Lot of) Food for Thought (March 12, 2013)

Julie Roth wrote an excellent guest column for me using the perspective of a "non-teacher, non-educator, non-union Parent Stakeholder."

6. Ypsilanti Community Schools: Meditations on Employment (June 10, 2013)

Willow Run Flyers logo (old)

Ypsilanti High School Phoenix logo (old)

In 2013, we said goodbye to Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts, and hello to the consolidated Ypsilanti Community Schools. The Ypsilanti and Willow Run consolidation of schools led to the loss of some staff positions, the loss of some staff compensation, and the loss of both the Ypsilanti and Willow Run teachers' unions. Plus I tell a fun family story.


7. AAPS Superintendent Pat Green Resigns. What Do You Think Of That? (April 11, 2013)

When AAPS Superintendent Pat Green resigned, I did a survey. The links to the results are in this post.

8. Finalist for Superintendent Background Research: Brian Osborne (July 9, 2013)

Brian Osborne was offered the AAPS Superintendent position. He didn't take it, and we got runner-up Jeanice Swift. So far, she appears to have embraced the position.

9. Funny Common Core Video Raises Serious Questions (June 8, 2013)

I like this video so much (and I need some pictures in this post) that I'm putting it right in here!



10. Are You Following the NWEA MAP Controversy In Seattle? (Feb. 6, 2013)

In Seattle, teachers refused to administer the NWEA MAP test. Read more recent updates at the Scrap the Map web site.




Consider subscribing to Ann Arbor Schools Musings by Email!

Ypsi Community Schools Begins: FOIA Tells Part of the Story of the Beginning

Today, Ypsilanti Community Schools begins, and we say goodbye to Willow Run Community Schools and Ypsilanti Public Schools. 

First--Good Luck, YCS!!

Second--Employee hirings are continuing. Some employees, and some community members, have had concerns about the hiring processes, as I have mentioned previously (here, here, here, here, and here).

So Cameron Getto, a one-time Ypsilanti Public Schools board member, put in FOIA requests for information about the teacher hiring process. He is sharing the results.


You can read Cameron's full analysis in this file. I am just quoting a little bit from the Executive Summary.

We submitted a Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] request to the Ypsilanti Public School District [YPSD], Willow Run Community Schools [WRCS] and the Washtenaw Intermediate School District [WISD]. The estimates for the cost of the documents varied wildly, ranging from over $1,700 from WRCS to less than $500 from YPSD. Ultimately, YPSD revised their cost estimate downward to $143.45, which is the set of documents we obtained. We thereafter withdrew the requests to the WISD and WRCS.

I find the variance in FOIA fees to be interesting--presumably they were all drawing from the same information.

The documents provided in response to this FOIA request establish that the statements
made to teachers by Robert Galardi, and to the local press by Scott Menzel, concerning the hiring process in early May 2013 were not accurate. Given the close and intense involvement these individuals appeared to have in this process, it would further appearthat the inaccuracies were communicated with an intent to mislead for the purpose of minimizing the importance and significance of the deviations from adopted board policy. This conclusion is based on the following facts:  

• The process identified and adopted by the Unified Board of Education on February
28, 2013 (see Board Minutes) for hiring teachers actually required the use of student
and teacher references (see Appendix C to "Community Advisory Group
Recommendation" dated February 28, 2013).  

• No formal decision was made by the Board of Education to change its approved use
of student and teacher references. 

• Multiple district administrators affirmed multiple times the commitment to use these
references and colleague/professional references in the hiring process in emails
distributed district-wide. 

• If an informal decision was made to disallow letters of reference, those responsible
for hiring continued to communicate to teachers that references would be considered
throughout the vast majority of the hiring process. (Emphases added.)

The rest of the executive summary goes through piece by piece of the FOIA'd documents. That is a good thing, because there are something like 171 pages of documents!

You can read the documents yourself. Cameron Getto has thoughtfully put them in a dropbox file that can be downloaded. Download them here.

And please share the materials as well.
We want Ypsilanti Community Schools to get off on the right foot, and to my mind that "right foot" will rest on the premise of a) being transparent to the community and b) following their own guidelines.

Read the executive summary, download and read the FOIA'd documents, and then tell me what you think in the comments!

 

Mascot Meditations

The other day at work:

Person 1: "I was an Eberwhite Tree."

Person 2: "I was a Huron River Rat."

Person 3: "That is the silliest mascot name."

Person 4 (Me): "I love that name!"

This is a garnet. Pretty, eh?
Mascot for my high school.
Photo courtesy of Glenn Klein under a
Creative Commons license. http://bit.ly/14vLZNb

I have always preferred mascot names that convey the sense of place, or that say--in some small way--we are unique, we have our own identity. As it happens, at my high school, our mascot was not a mascot at all. It was a garnet, a semi-precious stone. I was told that when the school was excavated, a large garnet--too big to move--was found in the basement. I don't know if that's the true story, but I always liked the image of the garnet in the basement. (There was a big rock that was left in the basement of my house growing up as well, which might be why I found the story believable.)




The sense of place is why I love the Eberwhite Tree mascot. After all, Eberwhite Woods is right there. It is why I was so disappointed at the choice of Eagles for Skyline.

I have loved the name the Willow Run Flyers, with the nod to Willow Run's history as a bomber plant and an airfield.

And although I can live with the new name of the Ypsilanti Community Schools Grizzlies (and I appreciate the feeling that they should pick a "new" name), the new school district is really rising from the ashes of the old, so wouldn't the Ypsilanti Phoenix be more appropriate? Or--even better--the Phoenix Flyers? Phoenixes do fly. . . at least in fantasy novels. Oh well.

In any case, the Huron High School web site has a lovely write-up about how the Huron student body became the River Rats--find it below.

MASCOTDuring 1967-68, a new Ann Arbor High School was being constructed and there was a problem. The school that was to be Huron did not yet have a mascot.

Before the school even opened, Ann Arbor High students who were not going to be relocated to Huron came up with the nickname "River Rat". They used the name as a joke to refer to their newly rivaled classmates who would attend a school built on the
Huron River and near an old medical waste site. But the Huron students turned the joke around, and they, too began referring to themselves with pride as River Rats.

One of the versions of the River Rats logo.
Found online at: a2schools.org

 Administration felt differently about their issue of the River Rat. Huron's first principal, Paul Meyers, had an especially strong dislike of rats after bad experiences with them as captain overseas during World War II. So the nickname was ignored for the most part, and when Huron's construction finally completed, "River Rat" did not appear to be in the running as mascot.

When Huron was opened in 1969, its mascot was intended to be the Huron. However, this mascot did not draw much enthusiasm or support from the students, and shortly after its opening, Huron had a write-in student ballot to determine a few choices for a possible alternative. Several of the more popular choices, including the Highlanders, the Hawks and the Indians, were put on a ballot during the student elections that year. The River Rat never made it to that ballot. 

However, none of the listed mascots could muster up fifty percent of the votes and student kept writing in "River Rat" instead of selecting a given choice on the ballot. Huron went several years without a mascot, during which time local newspapers started referring to Huron sports teams by the old nickname. Baseball players became Bat Rats and wrestlers became Mat Rats.It was the media that validated the name River Rats.
Over time, the name eventually stuck and became ingrained in Huron's history.

Taken from About Huron on the Ann Arbor Public Schools web site.

Ypsilanti Community Schools: Meditations on Employment

Ypsilanti Public Schools and Willow Run Schools have had their last days of school. While teachers, administrators, and custodians finish up their end-of-year projects, the districts are literally winding down until, on June 30th, 2013, at midnight, they cease to exist. And magically (no, not really--it's a lot of hard work), a new district is born. 

[The magical thinking language kind of reminds me of a funny family story. My daughter and I were visiting my sister's family when baby #2 decided to grace the scene. The baby was born in the middle of the night, and my daughter, age 4 at the time, said "And in the morning Aunt Liz was really surprised that the baby had been born!" As if it took no effort at all...]

So here are a couple of thoughts. The Ypsilanti Courier reported on Saturday that the new school district will have a 190-day calendar. Most school districts in Michigan have a 180-day calendar. According to the article,

School days at the new district will be half-an-hour longer. The school year will be 14 days longer for students and 27 days longer for teachers. (Emphasis added.)

The district is going to explore a year-round school calendar (a.k.a. a "balanced calendar"), although for this year they will have a standard academic calendar, and Scott Menzel, WISD Superintendent, is quoted as saying,

"In order to raise the level of achievement for our students in Ypsilanti, we need more days," said Scott Menzel, superintendent of Washtenaw Intermediate School District, which has helped the districts with the consolidation process. 

I'm not convinced that this is what will raise the level of achievement for students. I'm not convinced that it won't, either.

But in this post, at least, I'm mostly interested in something else: employee compensation. The article says,

These changes will increase the district's expenses, due mostly to increased costs from hourly employees.  But Menzel said the joint board of education has budgeted for this.

Earlier in May, teacher and principal salaries were set by the board. According to a May 3, 2013 Ypsilanti Courier article, new teachers in the new district would be hired at $40,000 (at the lowest), as compared to starting salaries of $32,000-$33,000 in the current Ypsilanti and Willow Run districts.

In the future, teachers' salaries will be assessed through a combination of experience and performance/skills evaluation. It doesn't look like seniority will play a role. Remember, the YCS (officially, the "joint") board meetings, minutes, and information can be found here. The discussion of teacher compensation can be found in this board packet.

I really encourage you to go look at the teacher compensation discussion, but I thought I'd share this little snippet:

Teachers currently employed by Willow Run Community Schools and the Ypsilanti Public School District will start their employment with Ypsilanti Community Schools at the base salary they made during the 2012‐13 year. . . Their salary for 2013‐14 will be their salary for 2012‐13. . . If a teacher is placed in a classification and their current salary is less than the lowest salary of that classification, they will be placed at that lowest level of that classification and will earn that salary during 2012‐13.  If a teacher is placed in a classification and their salary is more than the highest salary of that classification, they will be placed at a sub‐level of the highest level in that classification but will earn their 2012‐13 salary.

And that sounds great, especially for teachers at the bottom of the pay scale. . . right? Until you realize that teachers who are getting $45,000 this year will get the same salary next year, AND they get to work 27 days longer. Hmmm. By my count, that's a significant pay cut.

Teachers at the new YCS do not have a union (yet). In fact, many of the union leaders were not hired back. I can't say if that's connected or not. I also don't think anyone knows what will happen if/when the teachers at YCS do form a union--at that point, they and the district will have to agree to terms and conditions. I don't know how much they will look like the terms and conditions under which YCS will begin operating.

As it happens, Krista Boyer, the head of the Ypsilanti Public Schools teachers' union, wrote a lovely piece on her (occasional) blog about the end of the Ypsilanti Public Schools, and she's given me permission to use it.

Krista writes,

This school year has kept me jumping.  Through hoops, through flames, through trials and tribulations that I never had imagined would come to pass, and now it's coming to an end.Normally at this time of year I am excited to see the end of the school year in sight, but this year every day that ticks off the calendar marks a "last event" for me, and it's earth shattering, poignant, and heart breaking all at the same time.My school district has merged with another, and I have found myself on the "maybe" list for being rehired.  While I had mentally prepared myself for the fall out of being union president, I wasn't prepared emotionally.  Even a little bit.  I am pretty sure my heart, and quite possibly my spirit is irreparably broken.I had been warned that the being laid off process is similar to the stages of grief, and in fact I have found that if is not just LIKE grief... it IS grief.

Read the rest of Krista's post here.

School Aid Budget Exposed: Implications for Washtenaw County

So the School Aid Budget has passed the state legislature, and I guess the best thing we could say about it is that "Things could always be worse." Well, they could be--every school district gets an increase of "at least" $5/student. Woohoo!

The House Fiscal Agency has analyzed the per-pupil increases local schools will see next year. Note how much higher the increases are for the charter schools over the school districts. Note how our most struggling and consolidating districts, Ypsilanti and Willow Run, get the same increase as Ann Arbor. Note how two of our local non-profit charters (yes, most are for-profits) have below-average increases compared to the other charters (and for one of them, compared to the school districts as well). And yet--not a single district or charter school--not ONE--will keep up with inflation this year, because the luckiest schools will get a 1.57% increase, and the least lucky (yes, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Willow Run--you win the lottery!) will get a .02% increase. Meanwhile, inflation is estimated at 1.9%.

Read an excellent (as usual!) explanation of the school funding mechanism and implications--along with an "infographic"--from Michigan Parents for Schools here.

School District	Amount of Increase (“Net Change without Prefunding”)
Ann Arbor	$5
Chelsea	$11
Dexter	$9
Lincoln	$67
Manchester	$21
Milan	$64
Saline	$14
Whitmore Lake	$64
Willow Run	$5
Ypsilanti	$5
Average District Increase	$26.50 (this is not weighted by number of students; if it were, it would look worse)
Charter Schools	Amount of Increase
Arbor Preparatory High School	$58
Ann Arbor Learning Community	$58
Central Academy	$57
East Arbor Charter Academy	$58
Eastern Washtenaw Multicultural	$58
Fortis Academy	$58
Honey Creek	$20
New Beginnings	$58
South Arbor	$110* (I’m not 100% sure this is correct because it is so much higher than anything else)
South Pointe Charter	$58
Washtenaw Technical Middle College	$42
WSC Academy	$58
Average Charter Increase	$57.75 (this is not weighted by number of students)

The Evolution of Ypsilanti Community Schools, Part II

You may want to first read The Evolution of Ypsilanti Community Schools, Part I.

People are wondering some other things as well.

3. At a recent combined board meeting, the head of the (I heard this second-hand, but I think it was the) Ypsilanti custodians' union got up to speak to the board about the fact that they had been told that while teachers and administrators would get benefits for themselves and their families, the custodians, paraprofessionals, office staff, and more would only be able to get individual health benefits. 

According to a May 13, 2013 report in the Ypsilanti Courier, 

Menzel said the most significant difference [in terms of employment] is that some employees won't be eligible for spousal or family coverage. While teachers, administrators, and several other groups of staff members will receive options for single, spousal, or family coverage, other groups, such as paraprofessionals and custodial staff, will only be offered single person coverage.

And although this may be correct (based on other conversations I've had), I didn't get that from reading the minutes for the May 9, 2013 meeting, which state:  

Approval of Terms and Conditions Recommendation for Benefits
Scott Menzel, Washtenaw Intermediate School District Superintendent, provided a presentation that included the following information: Trustees Raglin and Myers served on the Terms and Conditions Committee, how the consulting firm McGraw-Wentworth was chosen, overall benefit concepts, investigating other benefit plan designs, review of current benefit plans, the McGraw-Wentworth recommendation was to stay as simple as possible as Ypsilanti Community Schools is launched and have all employees participate in a single program of benefits that may include some benefit choices and some optional employee paid plans, all benefit plans and levels should be available to all employees, the district has to follow the Personal Protection Affordable Care Act (PPAC), employees must work 30 hours per week to qualify for benefits, implementation of a new hire waiting period for employees not previously a part of either district, set a clear limit on duration of benefits extended due to disability, establishing the cap structure, plans outside the cap, offer optional life insurance arrangements that allow employees to purchase up to $100,000 coverage, a flexible spending account for health care and dependent care will be available, offering employees that enroll in the High Deductible Health Plan the ability to deposit pre-tax income into a Health Savings Account (HSA), the new district is opting for a fully insured plan. In conclusion, Superintendent Menzel thanked staff members and Trustees Raglin and Myers for the many hours spent working on the recommendation.

A motion was made by Trustee Raglin, supported by Trustee Myers:
That the Unified Board of Education adopt the attached Terms and Conditions
Recommendation for Ypsilanti Community School employee benefits. Action Recorded: 5/Yes; 0/No. 

Read the items referred to as the "attached Terms and Conditions Recommendation" in this board packet. I don't see where it recommends that some groups get individual coverage only and others get family coverage. If you see where it says that, can you point it out?

4. In fact, I have specifically asked WISD Supt. Scott Menzel and Emma Jackson (WISD Communications Director and former Ypsilanti Public Schools communications staff person) about compensation (both salaries and benefits) for custodians, paraprofessionals, office staff, etc. I got this answer back from Emma Jackson: 

Compensation for support staff employees is still being constructed and has not been approved by the board of education. 

Well, at least that explains why custodians and paraprofessionals are complaining that they haven't even been interviewed. 

[Update 6/5/2013: A person emailed me to say that she believed that those same custodians and paraprofessionals will have their benefits end on 6/30/2013, while teachers' benefits will continue through the summer. If that is true, that is another difference.]

What it does not explain is:

1. Why haven't many of the non-teaching staff been interviewed?
2. Why haven't salary ranges, minimally, been set?
3. Is it true that certain job positions will not get benefits for their families? Has this been approved by the board? Is this morally defensible? [Let's set aside, just for the moment, the fact that most of the paraprofessionalss and custodians have salaries that are low enough that their children, at least, qualify for Medicaid.]

The Evolution of Ypsilanti Community Schools, Part 1

As the weeks wind by, and numerous "lasts" at the Willow Run and Ypsilanti schools pass, I'm hearing numerous complaints about the development of the Ypsilanti Community Schools. 

Now you might think that this really has something to do with the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's Five Stages of Grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. You might think that people are so sad to see Ypsilanti and Willow Run schools go, that they are having trouble moving on. But I don't think so. 

Consider the fact that the people of Ypsilanti and Willow Run voted for the consolidation. I don't know if I would have, but they did--and that vote is a significant sign that there was a common belief that it was time to consolidate.

Yet today, if I had a dollar for every time somebody told me, "If I'd known X was going to happen I wouldn't have voted for consolidation," I'd have enough for some fine dining experiences. 

I've talked to numerous people who desperately want the new Ypsilanti Community Schools to be successful. And yet, at the same time, since they are so unsure of what the future holds (and since they do not like some of the decisions made by the board) they are making plans to send their own children to other school districts, to charter schools, or to private schools. 

I know that the new board, and the current/forthcoming superintendents, have a tough row to hoe. The consolidation is a big job with a very short timeline. Given that, there are bound to be mistakes made. Yet those very mistakes, at the same time, cut into the likelihood of the survivability of the district. 

Examples:

1. I was told that while the YCS board was meeting regularly, meeting minutes were hard to find. I asked the WISD where to find the minutes. First I got this response from Scott Menzel: 

Until July 1st, there aren't separate minutes for YCS.  Ypsilanti Public Schools and Willow Run Community Schools are operating independently and post minutes (I suspect these are available on each of their websites).  The boards convene joint meetings when discussing matters related to Ypsilanti Community Schools and each district should also have those minutes recorded as a part of the record for the individual district.  Once the new district starts, minutes will be posted on the district's website (ycschools.us).

So there is a bit of a legal fiction here, because of course YCS doesn't exist yet, but the two boards (which are the combined appointed board for the new district) are in fact making lots of decisions that will affect the new school system. The good news is that when I asked again (because I actually had looked at the web sites and couldn't find the minutes, I got this response: 

You indicated you were looking for the minutes for the joint board meeting (decisions made pertaining to YCS) and those can be found on the following site:
https://www.ypsd.org/district/board/board-meetings-jan-dec-2013/ 

(So apparently they are not on the Willow Run or WISD web sites, but at least they are somewhere! I suggest that you bookmark the site. The discussions/decisions affecting both school districts are called "joint meetings.") 

2. I've also heard lots. . . and lots. . . and lots of complaints about the teacher hiring process. Perhaps you have heard them too. Maybe you read the annarbor.com article about how slow the WISD has been in getting information about their scoring process to teachers. Now, everybody knew that they couldn't hire all of the teachers (or all of the anybodies) back. Nonetheless, people are raising concerns that the system was in some way rigged. Why does this matter? Beyond the basic issue of equity, there is a lot of concern that certain people (say, for example, active union members) were kept out even though they were excellent teachers. I have never seen any of these teachers teach, by the way, so I am in no way weighing in on the hiring decisions per se, but I do know that hiring issues can potentially lead to a lot of expensive and time-consuming lawsuits. For instance, I've heard outrage about the fact that Krista Boyer (Ypsi Public Schools union president), Matt Kazmierski (Ypsi Public Schools Band Director and DTE 2013 Educator of the Year), and Aaron Rose (Ypsi High School principal) were not rehired. About Aaron Rose, on the Ypsilanti Community Schools Supporters facebook page, the authors wrote today: 

More bad news: The well-liked and exceptionally qualified Aaron Rose applied for principal, assistant principal/AD, and assistant principal and has been turned down for all three. Given the remarkable job he has done working with a skeleton administrative crew at the high school, the award he was given by students and staff, and what our prior superintendent admitted was little help from him providing stability at the high school, this comes across as a particularly shortsighted and arbitrary decision by the district.

And the Ypsilanti Community Schools Supporters are school boosters!
[Are you wondering why all of my examples are from Ypsilanti and not Willow Run? I know a lot more people there!]

People are wondering--why was an outside athletic director hired when most people seemed to like both the Willow Run and Ypsilanti ADs?

OK, so people are wondering...

Look for Part II tomorrow.

More on the Ypsilanti/Willow Run (YCS) Teacher Situation

Update 5/4/2013 9 p.m.:

From the Ypsilanti Community Schools facebook page, from an anonymous Willow Run teacher:

I am a Willow Run teacher who was not hired back, although I met the criteria. I am a little shocked because I have always had very high evaluations and good feedback from other teachers, students and families. I was upset that none of my references were contacted after spending so much time getting them together. This preparation took hours and I am highly insulted. I am also upset because Emma Jackson was quoted saying that counselors would be available in each building. No one was at my building, and when I asked my principal he said he could call one if I needed it. (Emphasis added.)

Update 5/3/2013 6 p.m.:
@_KrystalElliott: Ypsi Community Schools offers positions to 171 of 258 teachers, 32 receive "call back" notices. 55 not offered positions

And one of those not offered a position was the Ypsilanti teachers' union head, Krista Boyer--from all accounts that I have heard an excellent teacher. Did that have anything to do with her being the head of the union?

In this post (which I will probably be adding to) I am just taking information from different things I've been reading over the past few days, many of which are rather troubling.

1. From the Ypsilanti Community Schools facebook page: 

We have been forwarded yet another email from Bob Galardi, this one dated May 2, 2013:
"During this week I have received several inquiries about reference checks. A decision was made early in the process that we would not use references for selection. We thought we would check references for candidates that we were going to select. This is typically when references are needed. After further review we determined that reference checks on current employees would not be a productive use of our limited time. Because of the nature of this process we are not selecting unknowns - we know the employees we are selecting. It is almost as if we are transferring employees from one department to another and in that case we would not contact a reference."

This is, of course, a complete contradiction of his emails sent on March 21 & 22 and April 19. Moreover, this shows that the district is not the least bit interested in receiving input from the community when making these hiring decisions and that the district has no respect for the time and effort community members put into these recommendations. Listening to the community is, in Mr. Galardi's words, "not a productive use of our limited time." [Emphasis added.]

2. From the Ypsilanti Community Schools facebook page:

Excerpt from April 19 email from Bob Galardi: 

"We will begin contacting references of top candidates next week." [Emphasis added.]

3.. From the Ypsilanti Community Schools facebook page: 

This is an excerpt from a "Crisis Management" document emailed on May 1, 2013 from the district's administration to staff, explaining that references were to be included in the 20-point score on which hiring decisions were based:
"HOW DECISIONS WERE MADE
1. No current administrator or Board member of YPS, WR, or WISD, served on the interview committees. External consultants (comprised of retired educators and administrators) followed a process that was aligned to the teacher commitments that were adopted by the board. The process resulted in a score in four areas (application review, references, interview, and classroom visit) with a maximum of 20 possible points. . . . "

Mr. Galardi's explanation sent late last night appears to be false. While he justifies failing to contact references by stating that "A decision was made early in the process that we would not use references for selection," the above excerpt contradicts this, as does his own email from April 19. The above excerpt confirms that just two days ago, the district sent an email specifically stating that references were to be used in the hiring process. We now know they were not.
Mr. Galardi's explanation sent late last night appears to be false. While he justifies failing to contact references by stating that "A decision was made early in the process that we would not use references for selection," the above excerpt contradicts this, as does his own email from April 19. The above excerpt confirms that just two days ago, the district sent an email specifically stating that references were to be used in the hiring process. We now know they were not. (Emphasis added.)

4. From the comments section on this article on annarbor.com (I know! the Comments section!):

What Danielle failed to quote is that the teachers received an agenda at their "crisis" staff meeting this week with a sentence that read, "Most likely, everyone will be handling a message that will be shattering", and that Ms. Lisiscki's email stated, "Please be aware that if you withdraw your application for employment, you will be deemed to have waived any right to challenge the hiring process or hiring decisions." This is the REAL hidden agenda. The administration knows that the hiring process was shady at best and that many will have a lawsuit to file against the unfair hiring process that followed very few Human Resource guidelines and regualtions. This is also why another message was sent yesterday stating the number of teachers who will receive "maybe" letters has increased drastically! They will send out many "maybe" letters today so that they will not be challenged and FOIA'd to death by the "no" letters they had originally planned to deliver. This will also give Menzel the opportunity to tell the press that they handed out very few "no" letters, trying to make them look like good. Ypsi Schools recenlty attended a job fair, looking for teachers. My question, if the people who receive "maybe" letters today, end up not getting called back (which is most likely their scheme) and then the new district hires external teachers, what can "maybe" teachers do about it? Lawyers get ready! It is absolutely a shame how the 3 superintendents and the hiring team at WISD have manipulated, scared, and demoralized these fine teachers who have given their blood, sweat and tears to work in an urban district that has become increasingly high stress and low achieving over the years. (Emphasis added.)

5. From the comments on the same annarbor.com article: 

Maybe A2.com and Reporter Arndt will keep a close eye on if Ypsilanti Community Schools hires "Teach for America" employees to "replace" the experienced teachers of both of these soon-to-be former school districts. There's a suspicion that this is what Menzel and Crew (including that so-called un-elected Board of Education) is trying to do. 
"Teach for America" teach are paid a bottom basement rate, only are required to have a bachelors degree in ANY subject to teach, are not unionized and are used by various "charter schools" corporations to keep wages low and unionization out. Now, Ypsilanti Community Schools are supposed to be a "public school district" but their actions over the past year acts like "corporate top down" structure more than anything else.
Maybe at the press conference this afternoon Reporter Arndt can inquire if Menzel and the rest plan on hiring "Teach for America" employees. (Emphasis added.)

6. From the comments on the same annarbor.com article:

First, Danielle Arndt (article author) writes in the comments: 

The current breakdown of teachers in both districts was not readily available. I was told by Scott Menzel this information is being prepared for tonight's press conference. So I hope to be able to answers these questions for readers in this evening's report. I do know, and it was included in an earlier article, that about 330 internal candidates in total from both districts applied for spots. (Emphasis added.)

Then, a commenter says: 

If you would ,like information regarding projections go to the consolidated schools website and look at their consolidated budget funding for teacher professional development and it show that 240 teachers will be allowed 15 days of professional development over the summer. The question remains who will these teachers be if they have a large amount of "Maybe" offers dependent upon enrollment. Based on that document it seems they have already made decisions based on enrollment and enrollment trends. Are the teachers who are given maybe letters going to have priority over external applicants? If the district begins to accept external applicants then we can only assume that they are going to fill positions that the "maybe" internal applicants could be filling which then harkens other questions about the purpose of this process and if it was really designed to retain current good teachers. (Emphasis added.)

Teacher Terminations, the Ypsilanti Community Schools, and Staff Appreciation

Hiring and Firing

Friday is going to be a hard day in Ypsilanti and Willow Run.

Teachers. . . all those teachers who were pink slipped earlier this spring. . . will get their final papers, which will tell them if they've been hired; not hired but could be hired later if student numbers permit; or not hired ever.

And you might think, "Well that's too bad, but it's prudent of the new district to not hire too many teachers back, because who knows how many students will join the new Ypsilanti Community Schools." Sure, I understand that. It is prudent. Although originally I had heard that 80% of the teachers would be re-hired, more recently I have heard that it will be a much smaller number.

Unfortunately, late breaking news that I have gotten says that the new YCS district did not follow its own process in hiring teachers.

From the Ypsilanti Community Schools Supporters facebook page, I learned that:

An email from Bob Galardi on March 22, 2013 to teachers said:

References - We will be reviewing over 250 applicants. Some applicants have submitted numerous references. Our plan is to contact references personally. We can't call everyone you have listed. With that in mind we will contact three (3) per candidate. We will use select three from the references on your application unless you wish to specify three you'd like us to contact. 

However, numerous teachers are now saying that not a single professional reference of theirs was contacted.


Teachers are also saying that they were not allowed to submit letters of recommendation during the interview process.

What does all this mean? If these claims are substantiated, I would guess that it means the new Ypsilanti Community Schools will find itself in a morass of litigation, and that is not a good way to get started.

Also--apparently tonight--the night before these notices are going out--there was a special meeting on ideas for how to help the teachers through this. Really? The night before, and YCS is just now convening a meeting on how to help the teachers?

In a great irony, Staff Appreciation Week is next week.

Readers: 

Many of you are at schools where the PTO or another group has a plan for staff appreciation. (At Ann Arbor Open, at least one plan involves providing a lot of pies to the staff.) You can participate.

Alternatively:
Take this opportunity to write a note to a teacher telling them what you like about their work (or about them as people).
Take this opportunity to write a note to a custodian, front office staff person, principal, or other staff person.

And in Ypsilanti and Willow Run on Friday and next week especially, remember--a kind word will go a long way.