If Teaching Were A Sport...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this TeachingCenter spoof by Key and Peele...if you are a fan of ESPN's SportsCenter you will recognize a lot of themes (and if you haven't seen SportsCenter, watch it after you watch this).

This reminds me a bit of the bumper sticker quote (apparently by Robert Fulghum), "It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need, and our air force has to have a bake-sale to buy a bomber."




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Mascots: Mastering A Good Name

I didn't see this ad at the Superbowl, but afterwards my husband and son showed it to me. I have a special interest in this because of the month that I spent on an Indian reservation in South Dakota (Cheyenne River) many years ago with the Sioux YMCA.

This ad is about the NFL, but it has great relevance to school sports too.




Discussions of school mascots have been major topics in Washtenaw County. . .  remember the EMU Hurons (name changed to the Eagles)? The Ypsilanti Braves (name changed to the Phoenix before the merger to YCS, and then changed again to the Grizzlies)? The Milan Big Reds (name kept, but Native American imagery removed)?

Mascots: A good name is worth more than great riches.

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The Three Star Holiday: Ann Arbor Guidelines

"The three star holiday," someone wrote me. "Is that really a thing?"

Why yes, yes it is. At least in Ann Arbor.

In Ann Arbor, many years ago (and when I say "many years ago" what I really mean is, "before I had kids in the schools"--I don't really know when this was devised)--the school district came up with the idea of identifying religious holidays (even some obscure ones--or they might be obscure to you--as one, two, or three star holidays). The three star holidays are a combination of most important/most popularly observed for various religions.

Overall, I think the policy is well-written and designed. Where the district has fallen short (or rather some teachers/principals/coaches have fallen short) is in not following the policy.

Which is why, if you have children in the Ann Arbor Public Schools, and especially if you are a member of a minority religion/culture (Muslim, Jewish, Hindi, Greek Orthodox, etc.) I highly recommend that you read the policy. Knowledge is power! Then if there is a problem, you know how to complain advocate. . .

Read the policy here, but below I'm going to paste in the policy for three-star holidays in particular.

Real Life Experience

The Jewish calendar is a combined lunar/solar calendar, which means that there are leap months every two-three years that reset the calendar (so that a fall holiday stays as a fall holiday and doesn't move into a different season). And so Jews are often saying that "the holidays" are early or late. In the fall there are a series of important Jewish holidays--essentially, a month full of holy days.

In Jewish parlance, this year the holidays are "early." In fact, they are very early. They are so early that for the first time since Thanksgiving has existed, the first day of Chanukah is on Thanksgiving! (Yes, by the time Christmas comes we Jews will be done with all that candle lighting, gift-giving and potato-pancake-eating.)

Anyway, I've set this to post on Wednesday, the eve of the Jewish New Year (Rosh HaShanah), and the start of the "High Holy Days" season. For the next two days we'll be celebrating the new year with family, friends, and services. My son will not be in school, even though we will only be on the third and fourth day of the school year. When the three-star holiday policy works, it works very well. When it isn't followed, I can say from personal experience that it is extremely stressful.* (*=Story below the 3-star policy.)

Here is an excerpt from the policy:

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS GUIDELINESI. Holiday observances of major significance to a religious group are indicated on the calendar by three stars (***). The following apply:
School district employees may not schedule any of the following during these (three star) holidays.
   1. Major exams   2. Reviews for major exams   3. Standardized tests   4. Tryouts; for example, teams, plays   5. One-time or major events (proms, graduation ceremonies, homecoming, elections, test simulations, etc.)   6. School district employees shall schedule interscholastic athletic games in a manner that minimizes conflict with holidays designated as three star. Scheduling of an athletic event on a three star holiday must be reviewed by the Superintendent or designee. Board members will be notified well in advance when there is a conflict.   7. Interscholastic athletic practices are allowed
School district employees may arrange for students to participate in one-time or major events on three star holidays if the scheduling of these events is not controlled by our employees. Scheduling of such events must be approved by the building principal and the Superintendent or designee.
Teachers should be sensitive to the scheduling of quizzes longer than ten minutes on holidays designated by three stars (***).
Students will probably be with their families or at a place of worship in observance of these holidays. They will not be in school and/or not have time available to do the required homework. Absence to observe these holidays should be excused, and make-up privileges should be the same as the make-up privileges offered to a student who has an excused absence due to illness.

*Probably the area in which I have seen the most problems is athletics. Take, for example, the year that my son was playing Pioneer baseball, and a game was scheduled for the night of the first seder of Passover. (Jewish holidays start the evening before the day.) The game was not some outside competition. The game was not some league championship. The game was scheduled between Pioneer and Huron--clearly within the district's control, and violating point #6 above. My son (the only Jewish kid on the team) did not want me to rock the boat. He said, "I will just miss it, don't say anything." Apparently, at the last minute, a parent on the Huron team complained. As a result, the freshman game was cancelled--but not the JV/Varsity games. [This was before Skyline existed, and there was a freshman team.]

By far, the most common complaints I have heard about are athletic in nature. Coaches and Athletic Directors--put those religious holidays on your calendar and schedule around them! The second most common complaint? Science labs being scheduled, and then teachers being resistant to letting kids make them up. Reminder: the absence is to be treated in the same way as if a student was out for an illness.

Last year, the NWEA MAP test was given on Yom Kippur. Pat Green tried to argue that it wasn't a standardized test. (See #3 above.) Yes, it is a standardized test. Even if you think it isn't a standardized test, it certainly takes more than 10 minutes to give ! (See the additional guidance above.) My son ended up being pulled out of another class to take this completely unnecessary standardized test. Had I known about that in advance, I would have made a big stink. I didn't know about it in advance, so I couldn't. (This year, Yom Kippur is on a Saturday, but I hope Jeanice Swift will be more sensitive to holiday issues.)

** Another confusing piece of the holiday has to do with which holidays are two-star and three-star. There are Jewish holidays that get counted as "two star" even though according to Jewish law they should be treated exactly the same as some of the "three star" holidays. The reason, per the policy? "A balance between the formal religious standard and the actual contemporary observance of the holiday has been the intended aim of these recommendations." In reality, many fewer people observe these "two-star" holidays to the full extent of (Jewish) law. However, if you are one of those people, know that the two-star policy should protect your student: "Make-up privileges should be the same as those offered for an absence due to illness."

And although my examples of this have all been about Jewish observance, note that the guidelines are the same for the three-star Eid Al-Adha (this year, mid-October) and the three-star Epiphany (the first week in January, right when school starts back up). For those of you who are from other religions, think of these holidays as just as important as Christmas is in the main Christian calendar.

And in my opinion, if you (as a parent) feel that a holiday is important for you, then you should definitely keep your child out of school and let the school know why. The schools are trying to accommodate us, and when we let them know that we are observing a holiday, we give them a reason to continue to try to do so.

And with that, I will wish you a 

Happy and Healthy (Jewish) New Year and a 

Happy and Healthy New School Year! 

Educating About Sports and Title IX: In Video

I have mentioned before that I am a huge fan of the Title IX blog.

It appears that they have been working on a TED Ed lesson about Title IX, including a video and discussion questions.

The video by itself is a good education--watch it now!

Interesting Meeting Choices Monday Night 2/25/13

Ypsilanti/Willow Run residents:

So you know, based on my previous posts [here, and here] that the Ypsilanti/Willow Run school board (the new Ypsilanti Community Schools school board) has an important decision to make on Monday night about the Superintendent choice for the new district. If you can come out and be part of the democratic decision-making process, that would be great. Here are the details:

2/25/2013. 7:30 p.m.. Willow Run Community Schools Auditorium, 235 Spencer Lane. 

Here is the agenda. 

Now, should you happen to be

Ann Arbor residents:

I got an interesting email and flyer the other day, it starts out like this:

“New Jim Crow” Injustice In Ann Arbor:  A case of selecting the most vulnerable and overcharging for a conviction

The cases that are being discussed here is fallout from the fall football brawl that happened the night of the Pioneer-Huron football game. If you recall (the information is all taken from the flyer that is linked to below),

The incident began when Vince Wortmann, an assistant coach at Pioneer shoved Huron
head coach Cory Gildersleeve. Wortmann believed Gildersleeve was physically
threatening Pioneer head coach Paul Test. Some say that Coach Gildersleeve pushed
Coach Test. This melee was started by the actions of the adults, the football coaches.

In spite of inciting what most would call riot-like behavior, only one adult was criminally
charged. Of a large diverse group of players, three students, all Pioneer teammates were
criminally charged. All three students are African Americans. At least two of the
students are economically disadvantaged.

Well now, none of the coaches have charges pending against them (one had some charges that were later dropped), but three of the students have had charges elevated against them, and in fact one of those three was not one of the twelve students that AAPS disciplined.

It's a complicated story, and you can get all the background if you read more here.

And there is an informational meeting on Monday night. Here are the details:

Call to Action
On Monday, February 25, 2013, at 7 pm, please plan to attend a community meeting
hosted by the Ann Arbor Community Center, 625 N. Main Street. We will address
any questions and hopefully have enough people to execute our action plan.

The group planning this (which includes AAPS school board member Susan Baskett) is trying to raise awareness; raise money for the students' defense; and put pressure on the prosecuting attorney.  For more information or to volunteer to help with fundraising and strategy development, contact: 734-478-3338 or baskett1@hotmail.com.

MHSAA Waivers: The Times Are A-Changing (Slowly!)

There is a heart-warming story in today's Annarbor.com about a Pioneer high school girl, Elena Boudreau, who got a waiver from MHSAA to play high school sports even though she has passed the traditional age cutoff. Only two kids in the state have gotten waivers so far, and the other kid is Eric Dompierre from Ishpeming, whose father--Dean Dompierre--petitioned and campaigned to get the Michigan High School Athletic Association to change their rules. I wrote about this back in August--read the Free Press's story here.

[By the way, partly but not only because of Dompierre's story, Sports Illustrated named Ishpeming High School an Underdog of the Year, and you can read the SI story here. And here is the lovely SI photo essay.]

MHSAA has a history of not being able to see the forest for the trees. It took Dean Dompierre two-and-a-half years to get MHSAA to do something that half of the other states in the country had already figured out how to do! Read about another of MHSAA's decisions here that took years and years and years. (This one involves women's sports and Title IX.)

Interestingly enough, in the comments to the annarbor.com story there is a writer named Evergreen who states,

We went through the same thing with our 19 year old autistic daughter Asia and MHSAA in 2000. We had held her back one year entering middle school when we saw the teacher she was to have, would not pay any attention to Asia. MHSAA refused to let her participate in cross country and track in her senior year and she was usually qualifying in the top 6 runners most weeks. We even threatened to slip her in just before the start of the race because running was her number one interest, her number one claim to be a main stream student, and acceptance by her peers.
What finally made it happen was that Coach Steve Porter, who still coaches at Milan H.S. got all the other schools to sign off that she would run but not be counted. Perfect! Asia didn't care about placing, just running and being on a level playing field with class mates.
How important was the running to Asia? She has run EVERY DAY for 15 years averaging about 5 miles a day. She has run 134 races including 5K, 10K, 10 mile, 1/2 marathons and 3 full marathons. The 134 does not include high school where she lettered 4 years in track and CC or Special Olympics which she competed in for 5-6 years at the county and state levels.
We are certainly glad to see that the MHSAA can be educated also! [emphasis added]

Fall Sports: Title IX, Pay to Play

This fall, Skyline High School has a female kicker on their football team! Like so many other kickers, Tori Norris grew up playing soccer, and has played soccer for Skyline. (Boys' soccer is a fall sport, so they can't recruit boy soccer players if they also want to play soccer. Boys' soccer is a fall sport thanks to a Title IX lawsuit that dragged on and on and that I wrote about here. Girls' soccer is a spring sport.) Anyway, read about Tori and the Skyline football team here.

Chelsea has rescinded its pay-to-play requirement for sports. It's going to cost them money, but on the other hand, they are very sensitive to the fact that athletics are very important to a large sector of the community (and as the article points out, that's true for athletes but also true for spectators), and that enrollment in sports dropped by double digits when pay to play started. That is true, even though there were exemptions for people getting free and reduced price lunches. It's rather easy to understand why--people just above the free/reduced price lunch cutoff probably comprise a fair number of the students. When you think about it, the median family income in the country is something like $52,000. (I can't remember the exact amount, but I heard the number the other day.) In other words, half the families in the country make less than $52,000. And yet, a family of four whose income is $50,000 is going to be at 250% of the poverty level. They probably have enough income for rent/mortgage, food, gas, and other necessities--but not a lot left over. [Added slightly later: in fact, it turns out that for a family of five, they will qualify for a reduced price lunch with an income of $49,969.]

“Most students will not ask for help, they just won’t show up,” Vogel said.

Read Pete Cunningham's article.

Olympics Redux

Some people are calling these the Title IX Olympics because there are more women than men competing. Here is what the Title IX blog has to say about that. [Partial summary: Title IX is a US law and the Olympics are an international competition.]

On the other hand. . . the New York Times reports that by the second Saturday in the Olympics, forty years after passage of Title IX, U.S. women won 27 of U.S.'s 41 gold medals, 54 of its 95 total medals. And that is due to Title IX.

You can read about my experiences with Title IX here.

And, I usually hate ads. But I have to admit that I really like the Proctor and Gamble ads--behind every Olympic athlete there is a mom. OK, I know that is not always true--sometimes it's a dad, aunt, uncle, coach, mentor. . . but most of the time it is true. . . and it definitely touches a chord for me even though non of my children will be Olympians. I have put in my time driving kids to athletic practices and events, though. 
Did you catch any of the Olympic race walking? It was amazing. It reminded me that at my high school track meets, in New York, we had race walking. But track meets in Ann Arbor don't appear to have race walking. I wonder why that is?

You might have noticed that my blogging has slowed down a bit. You can blame that on the Olympics too. I'm staying up far too late watching them. Which reminds me, the Paralympics are coming up next. I am looking forward to watching them as well, although the coverage is not nearly as extensive (read about it here). As those of you with children with special education needs know, disability rights is still a frontier that needs a lot of activism.

And that reminds me--the Michigan High School Athletics Association has taken an important step in allowing students with disabilities to access athletics. Because of the advocacy initiated by an Ishpeming parent, and support from lots of parents, teachers, and coaches around the state, MHSAA has changed its rules. MHSAA rules state that if you turn 19 before September 1, you can't do high school sports. And now, we finally have a limited waiver for kids with certain disabilities. This is something that a lot of other states have already done. Many thanks to dad Dean Dompierre, and his son Eric for paving the way for others.

Athletics: Equity and Cost Between Ann Arbor High Schools

Last year, for a blog post I wrote about administrative positions in Ann Arbor schools, I requested data from the 2005-2006 year and the 2010-2011 year. In the post, Administrative Cuts: Easy to Be Hard, I discussed the changes that occurred over those five years.

In 2005-2006, Skyline did not exist, and when it opened, Skyline High School was allocated an Athletic Coordinator (not an assistant principal level position, but a lower-level position), while Huron and Pioneer had Athletic Directors (which are assistant principal level positions).

I was told at the time (which was just before Pat Green started), by Liz Margolis, the AAPS Director of Communications, that the plan was to move to a single Athletic Director/two Athletic Coordinators format, after one of the current Athletic Directors retired. Obviously, this would be a cost savings.

Well, one of the athletic directors just retired.

In an annarbor.com article about administrator-level changes, Danielle Arndt writes,

"Pioneer’s athletic director, Lorin Cartwright, also retired at the end of the 2011-12 school year. Cartwright worked for the district for 32 years, Margolis said. She made $103,690 last year, the top of the pay scale for her position, which starts at $91,965.
An interim athletic director will be appointed next week. Like the high school principal’s position, the interim will carry out the athletic director’s duties for the “foreseeable future," Margolis said. Officials are looking both from within and from outside the school district for a replacement, she added."

I wondered if perhaps Danielle Arndt had misunderstood, and the position was actually going to be filled at the athletic coordinator level.

So of course I had to ask: Did Danielle misunderstand what the position is? Or, if not, what happened to the plan? 

And I got back the answer, "As is common with new leadership, plans change. I understand the plan is being reviewed."

So I asked, "Of course--that is understandable. What is the timeline for reviewing that plan? And what permutations are being considered? Would, for instance, the district considering raising John Young's level to be athletic director, giving the district three ADs?"

Liz Margolis' response: "I am  not sure of the timeline. I know the Pioneer AD position is set for interviews this Friday. I am unaware of any plan to create the position at Skyline as an Athletic Director position but if that did occur ( and I have no idea if this will or will not), the job would have to be posted for applicants. There are different requirements for this person including administration qualifications."

So I asked, "Thanks--so can you find out: a. If there is an actual thought out "plan" regarding the levels of athletic direction at the three schools? And if so, what that plan is?"

Liz Margolis' response: "Based on the posting  I would say the plan is to hire an AD at Pioneer and maintain the AC at Skyline. I will ask Alesia Flye if this has changed."

****

I am still waiting to hear back, but it's only been a couple of days. Based on what I know though, the supposed (new) plan doesn't seem reasonable. My concerns relate to both equity and cost.

The original plan, to maintain one athletic director and two athletic coordinators, was clearly based on cost. Athletic coordinators cost less, so there would be a savings. Other local school districts have adopted this approach--for instance, Plymouth-Canton. At the time (last year), my main beef with this idea was that maybe it should happen immediately, and not at some hypothetical time in the future.

The current "plan," to maintain athletic director-level positions at Pioneer and Huron, but not at Skyline, doesn't make any sense at all. The schools are essentially the same size now. Why should Pioneer and Huron get athletic director positions, but not Skyline? With similarly-sized schools and programs, shouldn't the work be equivalent? Speaking as a (former) Skyline parent, what would be the equity in bringing in a new person to Pioneer at the AD level (and keeping the Huron staff person at the AD level) but keeping the Skyline staff person at the AC level?

My third concern is this: was there an actual, real-life, thought-out decision to scratch the earlier plan? Or was there just an automatic "let's fill the position" reaction when Lorin Cartwright decided at the last minute to retire?  With both Pat Green and Alesia Flye being brand new to the district, did anyone even realize (and share) that there had been a plan to stick with a single Athletic Director position?

How is it possible to read about this sequence of events, and then not laugh at the headline in today's annarbor.com, "Ann Arbor school board to set goals: zero-based budgeting will be top priority." In zero-based budgeting you have to justify the rationale for your expenses. Where is the rationale?

I'm not an expert at what athletic directors and coordinators do, or whether cost or equity is more important in this case, so I can't tell you what is the right decision: three athletic directors at three schools; or one "lead" athletic director, and two athletic coordinators assigned to the other two schools.  What I do know, though, is that a plan with two athletic directors and one athletic coordinator serves neither equity nor cost savings, and should not be pursued.

Skyline High School Math Teacher Doubles As A Track Star

The Olympic Diving Trials were on television the other afternoon and my daughter says to me, "My former* math teacher is competing at the trials. In something long distance--the marathon or something."
"The marathon?" I said.  "Do you think maybe it's the steeplechase?"
She gave me the "I don't know" shrug.
"What's his name?" I asked.
"Mr. Nowitzke."

Note the Skyline blue shirt!

Now the reason I said the steeplechase (do you even know what happens in the steeplechase?) is that I remembered something that happened. . . umm. . . about four years ago.

Four years ago, in early summer, I was invited to sit on a Community High School interview team for a new math teacher. We did three interviews. One of them was by phone. The interviewee had a good excuse, though. He was competing in the 2008 US Track and Field trials for the Olympics. In steeplechase.

So I remembered that. Nowitzke didn't get the job at Community (phone interviews are hard!), but I guess he got hired at Skyline shortly afterward. And at the 2008 trials, he came in 10th in the 3000 meter steeplechase. That 2008 phone interview is my Olympics brush with fame.


Watch the 2008 Steeplechase final here:

Nowitzke was an All-American runner at EMU

I don't think Nowitzke is the only Ann Arborite who is going or has gone to a 2012 US Olympics trial, but I'm pretty sure he's the only Ann Arbor school teacher this year! (He is also an EMU graduate; that's where he ran track and field and cross-country. So sure, Ypsilanti, you can take some credit too.)

This year, Nowitzke returned to the Olympic trials. Unfortunately, he didn't make it into the Steeplechase finals. (See the results here.) The first 14 advance and he came in 21st. Still, in my book it's pretty impressive to make it to the Olympic trials, not once, but twice.

And that's not all that is impressive. In fact, by focusing on the Olympics part, we might actually miss the most impressive part. Being a new teacher is a lot of work. Most new teachers don't have a lot of extra time during the school year. And conversely, many people who go to the Olympic trials don't even hold full-time jobs, because being an elite athlete also requires a tremendous amount of dedication and time. Juggling those two things--being a new teacher and being an elite athlete--is tremendously difficult. 

Corey Nowitzke, if you can do those two things at the same time, you can probably do anything. We expect great things from you! Today, Corey Nowitzke is probably mostly feeling sad that he didn't make it to the final heat in the steeplechase, and he won't be going to the Olympics. You can make him feel better though. Tell Corey Nowitzke that you're proud of his hard work by emailing him at nowitzke@aaps.k12.mi.us.

*Former, in that she is now a graduate of Skyline.
**And by the way, my daughter wasn't completely wrong about the marathon connection. Corey Nowitzke won the Detroit Free Press half-marathon in 2011.

Avoiding Football Cuts: The Back Story

The Title IX blog (which has had a link on my sidebar blogroll for some time) had earlier analyzed Ann Arbor's first round of proposed cuts to athletics--which you might remember from my own post. The authors of that blog felt that only exempting football was likely illegal under Title IX. (I agreed with them, but had other substantive issues with the plan as well. Read about them here.)

Anyway, today they are reporting that:

I recently learned via personal correspondence from someone connected to the matter, that someone filed complaint with OCR to challenge the cuts, and that OCR commenced an investigation. I further learned that the complaint was eventually withdrawn upon assurances from the school district that it would not put that particular reduction plan in place. 

OCR, by the way, is the (federal) Office of Civil Rights, the department responsible for enforcing Title IX.

The finalized plan is described by annarbor.com here, and in that annarbor.com article, Liz Margolis (AAPS Communications Director) is quoted as saying, 

Margolis said the district is confident that, despite eliminating three girls’ sports and two boys’ sports, the district will be satisfying all Title IX requirements.
“The ADs have looked at these as well as Dave (Comsa, assistant superintendent for human resources and legal services) and feel that we’re OK,” she said. “It’s about accommodation and opportunity and we still feel that we fall well within Title IX implications.”

Very interesting.
Thoughts?

Shopping this weekend?

Perhaps you need some winter clothes for the changing seasons? This is a great opportunity to support the Ann Arbor schools as well as practice the "thrifty" (get it? it's a "thrift" shop!) value of reuse.

It's the first-ever "Stuff-a-Bag"Warehouse Clothing Sale 

at the PTO Thrift Shop!

Sunday, September 25th, 2011 from 11am-5pm

The Thrift Shop provides the bag -- plus a huge inventory of "as is" clothing --while shoppers select and “stuff-a-bag" from what's on our warehouse sales tables.

It's only $5 per bag so the more you stuff, the more you save!

With over 1000 bags of unsorted clothing and other apparel in all sizes, seasons, colors and conditions, the tables will be restocked throughout the day -- this overstock must go!

$5/bag – includes the tax! Cash ONLY sales in the warehouse! No coupons or discounts apply. All sales final! And Pilar’s Cart will be on site -- try a tamale for lunch!

Find out more about the Thrift Shop at: www.a2ptothriftshop.org.

And by the way...in separate, recreational news, the Thrift Shop of Ypsilanti will be having a special fundraiser for Rutherford Pool on October 15th, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., 14 South Washington Street Ypsilanti, MI 48197, 734–483-1226, http://www.thriftshopofypsilanti.org/.

Athletics in AAPS: Safety, Title IX, Process

I think this message from Liz Margolis and the Ann Arbor Public Schools is so important that I am sharing it in its entirety. I suggest that you read through to the end, at least in part because that's where I put my comments.

Dear AAPS Families, This message explains high school athletic changes for next year due to budget reductions.  

AAPS High School Athletics  2011/2012

            The Athletic Directors at all respective High Schools in Ann Arbor have been pondering budget reductions.  The economic reality facing the Ann Arbor Public Schools are a result of continued State Budget Reductions. AAPS is reducing the 2011/12 budget by $15 million. Last year the district reduced by $18 million and the previous years reductions of $35 million occurred. Funding from the state continues to impact all areas of public education, in the classroom and on the athletic fields.
            These cost cutting measures translates into fewer resources to effectively operate all of our athletic programs resulting in the elimination of teams/programs.  We can no longer provide adequate resources for all 35 programs and are forced to reduce the athletic budgets.  We will be sharing the following information with parents and students via an email in the next few days. Please review this information. It is very likely that you will get questions from parents. We all need to be consistent with our response. Always know that you can direct any questions to me.

Budget Reductions:
All three high schools will contract with an outside agency (Michigan Rehabilitation Services) for athletic trainer services.  Each school will receive two certified athletic trainers who will provide the services we currently have in place.
Reduction in half time secretary in the athletic office
Coaches who are not employed by the district in another capacity will be paid through a third party management service.  The coaches will remain the same but employed by the outside services.
Ice hockey teams at each school will be responsible for the first $12,000 for ice time rental.  Skyline will implement this system when hockey is started in 2011.

Since 1990, freshman teams as well as the following sports have been added to the Ann Arbor Public Schools Sports Menu.
Men’s and Women’s Bowling (all high schools)
Crew (all high schools)
Figure Skating (Huron and Pioneer)
Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse (all high schools)
Dance (Skyline)
Men’s and Women’s Track received a third assistant coach position
The following programs will no longer be funded by the Ann Arbor Public Schools.

All Freshmen Sports with the exception of Freshman Football.  Safety issues were a major concern with the freshman competing in football at the junior varsity or varsity level, thus we will continue to run a 9th grade football program.
Fall Crew is eliminated.  (All high schools).  (Crew was the only sport to have two seasons funded).
Dance (Skyline)
Cheer (Huron)
Figure Skating (Pioneer and Huron)
Field Hockey (Second J.V. team at Pioneer/Huron will no longer be funded).
Men’s and Women’s Bowling (All high schools).
Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse (All high schools).
One assistant track coach (Huron and Pioneer as Skyline was not yet fully staffed).
Transportation to schools in Washtenaw County with the exception of Football and Track.  (Equipment concerns).

Options for Club Sport Status
A club sport is defined as an athletic program participating in interscholastic competition operated directly under the supervision of the high school building principals and funded outside of the athletic department budget.  Club sports originate only with the approval of the building principal and athletic director.

Requirements to achieve and maintain club status shall include
1.Demonstrate adequate student interest, defined as double the minimum squad size.
2.If the faculty sponsor is not the coach, the building principal and/or athletic director will approve a qualified coach.
3.There will be no minimum number of opponents or contest required to achieve or  retain club status.
4.It is not necessary for all district high schools to offer a given club sport for that club sport to be offered at one of the high schools.
5.Club sports and coaches will comply with all Michigan High School Athletic Association and Ann Arbor Public Schools rules and regulations.
6.Other factors to consider are costs, safety/risk, and Title IX participation.
7. Varsity letters will be awarded by the school and paid for by the club

Athletic Club Team Sign - up
1.     Draft a charter and have it approved by the building principal
2.     Provide the building principal with a proposed budget, which must be approved by the principal – It is recommended that the club become a 501(c)3 organization
3.     Be sponsored by a faculty member
4.     Provide the building principal with an approved transportation plan and insurance plan
5.     Complete an annual program reports
6.     Adequate administrative resources and physical facilities be available
7.     Turn in (4) copies of eligibility list (divided by team)
8.     All club members must have current physicals
9.     All club members must meet the Districts eligibility requirements
10.  All club members must pay an insurance fee
11.  All expenses are to be paid for outside the Ann Arbor School System, for examples;
                        Coaches Salary                                    Rentals          
                        Transportation                                        Awards          
                        Supplies                                                Uniform
FAQs
1. Were all the cuts consistent across all three high schools? Yes
2. Can a Varsity sport that's been cut move to club status? Yes –if funds are raised to support the fees and the requirements are followed. See above
3. How much of the overall school budget is athletics? 1%      
4. Once a team is a club can they go back to funded status? Yes
5. Since the JV coach quit can I fill that spot without having to interview? No, interviews must take place for any open coaching position including open club sport positions.
6. Whose decision was this?
The Athletic Directors were instructed that the school athletic budgets were to be reduced by $475,000. Athletic Directors were asked to assess the reductions and make recommendations to administration. These cuts are just part of the $15 million AAPS is making in response to the decrease in funding from the state.                                              8. If a team is a club do they have to pay the "pay-to-participate" fee? No, if the sport now has “club” designation participants do not have to pay the  “pay-to-participate” fee.
9. How much money has been cut from athletics over the last two years? $1.6 million has been reduced from athletics over the past two years, which  includes all three high schools.

I understand the need for most of the cuts, and some of them--such as cutting freshman sports, now that we have a third high school--make sense to me. But as is so often the case, I'd have to say that I don't agree with the process that was used. Where were parental and student input? I--even as a parent of a current athlete--didn't hear a word about this until today. I wonder if the parents of some of the teams that are being cut (e.g. lacrosse, bowling, figure skating) had been consulted? How convenient to share this after the schools have essentially closed for the summer. 

On the transportation issue, I foresee a lot of problems with cutting transportation to all school competitions in Washtenaw County. That includes schools that are nearly 20 miles away, and will require parents to take time off from work to transport their kids.  The alternative (for at least some kids) is to let them drive their friends.
In the past few years I've had two children get their drivers' licenses. However, between child #1 and child #2 the Michigan rules for younger drivers changed. The new regulations:

Prohibit a driver with a Level 2 graduated driver's license (GDL) from operating a motor vehicle carrying more than one passenger who is under 21 years of age, unless:
    a. passengers are members of the driver's immediate family, or
    b. travel is to or from school or a school-sanctioned event.

Now, admittedly, these student-athletes would be driving to and from school-sanctioned events, so they aren't asking students to break the law. But as a parent, I have to ask the question--would this law have been enacted if it was safe for teens to drive large groups of kids? [Don't be a smart aleck and answer, "Well, maybe, given our legislature!"] Statistically, it's not nearly as safe. Just ask the Centers for Disease Control. Their Teen Drivers fact sheet says:

The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.⁴

Among teen drivers, those at especially high risk for motor vehicle crashes are:

• Males: In 2006, the motor vehicle death rate for male drivers and passengers ages 15 to 19 was  almost two times that of their female counterparts.¹
• Teens driving with teen passengers: The presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers. This risk increases with the number of teen passengers.⁵
• Newly licensed teens: Crash risk is particularly high during the first year that teenagers are eligible to drive.⁴

(My auto insurance company seems to know these facts, too--my insurance is a lot higher than it used to be.) I don't want to be overly melodramatic about this, but on the other hand, I'm not interested in risking kids' lives.

There are some significant Title IX concerns embedded in these decisions. First, I think it's more likely that the reason they are continuing transportation for track is that football is only a boys' sport, and if that was the only sport being privileged by transportation "safety concerns" they felt they needed to balance that with a sport that serves both girls and boys. The track teams are a natural choice because they are large teams, and they have both genders.  

Should basketball retain the freshman teams? They field the smallest teams and often "cut" the most kids at tryouts.

Second, I wonder if the cuts to all freshmen teams except football in any way violates Title IX?
Third, does the fact that they are cutting more women's sports than men's sports violate Title IX? They are cutting 4 women's and 3 men's sports at Pioneer; and 4 women's and 3 men's sports at Huron. (At Skyline, they are cutting 3 women's and 3 men's sports.) Both Pioneer and Huron have been the subject of Title IX complaints in the past--and the district spent lots of money on those litigations.


I also wonder why there were no cuts made to the middle school sports? What about cutting all sixth grade sports? Reducing the number of middle school seasons to three, from the current five?

But most importantly--it's about the process. Why weren't there public meetings, as there were with the rest of the budget, to discuss the proposed changes? I think feedback might have changed the look of this proposal. For all I know, it still could.

Good Luck With That, And More

Good Luck With That
The Ann Arbor school board has chosen Patricia Green to be the new superintendent. From what I read, both finalists seemed qualified. She is going to come in on a BIG new salary (comparable to what they are paying the New York City chancellor of schools, I understand). And then she gets to ask everybody to take pay cuts--when last year or the year before that they already gave concessions. Well, I say, good luck with that...

Trademarks
I was very happy to read this article about Ann Arbor trademarking high school logos. Faithful readers of this blog (the few, the proud!) may remember that last year I wrote a blog post titled Varsity Bear.  At a pharmacy I had found this very, very cute Pioneer bear and I had to take a picture of it. The bear on the left also has a purple P.

Liz Margolis, the district's Communications Director, wrote at the time,
"This is troubling for us in the district and especially at the high schools. The schools see no revenue from these sales. We are working to issue letters to these stores asking for voluntary percentage returns to the schools on all sales. The logos and names are "owned" by the district so the district can seek this return."

So, I'm glad to see some resolution for this issue--not just because it brings the district some revenue, but also because it's not always so easy to buy the perfect River Rat jersey. And I hope that Ann Arbor will SHARE its expertise with other districts in the county. After all, Chelsea and Manchester might want to trademark their logos too. I also hope that we can add the Community High School logo, and the middle school logos. I mean, who wouldn't want a

Rainbow Zebra sweatshirt (Community) or a

Golden Bear hat (Slauson) or a

super cute Scarlett Roadrunner!

Diane Ravitch
She's on fire! So is Jon Stewart. If you missed the pieces on his show last week--one an interview with Diane Ravitch, the other some discussion by Jon about "greedy" teachers, you can find them right here at Assorted Stuff's blog. (I was going to post them myself, but I'm feeling lazy.)

I'll tell you what I really respect about Diane Ravitch--she has shown that she has the capacity to change her mind, and admit--out loud--that she made mistakes. The rest of us (and I freely include myself) could learn a lot from her.


Mike Thompson: Those Durn Public Sector Unions
I always enjoy Mike Thompson's cartoons (he's the Free Press cartoonist) and this one seems particularly appropriate. Click on the link, you won't be sorry you did. (But my friend tells me the comments are vicious--I haven't read them.)