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.

Michigan ACLU Says AAPS Plan to Charge 7th Hour Tuition is Illegal

Today, in a letter to the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education and Superintendent Pat Green, the ACLU said that charging for seventh hour tuition would be illegal. They also reference an important lawsuit around education that I had never heard of, but that involved the Ann Arbor Schools back in 1970.

The letter reads, in part (click on the excerpt to read it full size):

Read the complete letter here.

Guest Post Interview: School in Singapore

You might remember that I'm participating in the 2013 Blogathon (a post a day in June). There are certain "theme" days and today's suggested theme is a Guest Post Swap with another blogger who is doing the blogathon. In my case, I found Dominique Goh, who lives in Singapore and is a primary school teacher, to be my guest poster. (I am her guest poster as well!) Dominique blogs at dominiquegoh.com. I decided to do a short Question and Answer interview with Dominique, and here it is. 



1. You teach primary school in Singapore. What grades/ages does that cover? How large are your class sizes? Do you have one group of students and teach all subjects to them, or do you teach a particular subject and students rotate? Does school go year-round?

I cover from grade 1-6 (or as they call it here Primary 1 to 6), the kids are from 7 -12 years old. At present the classes are 30 per class for the lower levels however from  Primary 3 onwards there is streaming and the top end classes may pack up to 40 students in the class with varying number of students in the other classes. We teach by subjects and the students are the ones that rotate and go from class to class. I teach English, Maths,Science and Music. It depends on which subject combination is given to you at the start of the year as in certain years I did have physical education and art classes to teach also. 

School goes all year round with breaks as follows: 1 week in March, 4 weeks in June, 1 week in September and 6 weeks in Nov/Dec. The start of the school year is in January and it ends in November.

2. I think the main languages in Singapore are Chinese, English, and Malay. At what age to children start learning languages in Singapore--how many languages, how often--are they expected to reach fluency in their non-native languages? (Anything interesting about language learning would be great!)


Most kids start to learn language from birth. They are expected to learn a minimum of two languages as it is compulsory here. English and your mother tongue. For us as we are Chinese we learn both English and Mandarin at school.  Both are treated as 1st languages here and for my own family we introduce the kids to more then a few languages from birth as we use English, Mandarin and Cantonese at home.
My aim is to raise a multilingual toddler/kid so I have been introducing them to other languages like Japanese and Korean. I intend to introduce them to French when they are older and they too get to hear and learn basic Malay as many elders around us speak Malay.  
I believe that it is important to have the kids introduce to the different languages as early as possible as they will be the least resistant to learning something new. Exposure is the key to getting them interested in languages.

3. Singapore is a small, urban island. Do children in Singapore access nature/natural environments? If so, how? Are they taught environmental education? 


Yes we live on an island but there are many pockets of greenery around as the place has been landscaped by the urban architects... there are many parks and even nature/jungle areas still around on the island.  In fact in the area where I am living in there is a bike trail that cuts throughs a greenery corridor and even to the wetland areas.  The school schedules trips to various parks or even the offshore islands around Singapore to see the different  plants/animals in their natural habitat.  We do have a great focus on being environmentally friendly with Earth Day celebration in school. 

4. I think the educational system in Singapore is pretty different from the U.S., and more centralized. How do people become teachers? What kind of training do they get? Compared to other jobs, are teachers paid fairly well, medium, or poorly? Is it a well-respected job? 

To be an educator in Singapore you first have to apply for the job with the Ministry of Education. Upon passing the selection test you have to undertake a Post Grad Diploma in Education from National Institute of Education before you are qualified to teach. Upon passing out you are bonded for 3 years and posted to a school to teach. Teachers are paid fairly well however unless you assume higher leadership positions it would be hard for your pay to be equal to those in the corporate sector. It is not as well-respected as before due to the degrading of society and its moral values however it is a relatively safe occupation as in guns and other weapons etc. are not allowed for civilians on this island and so there is no chance of massive shoot outs/killings in school. 
Hope that I have answered your questions.

Here is my bio.
Dominique Goh, Singaporean elementary school teacher, professional blogger and mom of three. Catch her on her blog as she shares about her experiences with her kids, education, cooking and baking. The photos are by Dominique Goh.

Ann Arbor Schools Budget: Summary, Thoughts, Feedback

The Ann Arbor School Board is scheduled to vote on the AAPS budget at the Wednesday June 12th meeting. In this blog post, I try to share as much background information as I can--including posts I've written and articles others have written, as well as school-provided background information.

Remember, you can still contact the Board of Education with your concerns and ideas: boe@aaps.k12.mi.us.

Remember also, that even if they don't cut something (say, for example, high school transportation, reading intervention, or seventh hour) they will need to make up the cuts somewhere else.

Before you take a look at all these links, let me reiterate my opinion that the issue that will affect the most students negatively, and likely lead to reduced student enrollment most directly, is cutting high school transportation. I hope the board decides that is not a wise decision and chooses to preserve high school transportation.

Ruth's posts (not including posts about state funding decisions):

Paying for Seventh Period? (May 29, 2013)

Are We Operating in a Data-less World? (May 16, 2013)

But Is It Working? (April 28, 2013)

Budget Forums: Three Down, One to Go (April 18, 2013)

Ann Arbor Chronicle:

Column: Disparate Impact of AAPS Cuts (June 7, 2013) by Ruth Kraut--yup, yours truly :)

AAPS Trustees Get Draft Budget (April 24, 2013 Board Meeting) by Monet Tiedemann

AAPS Mulls Redistricting to Save Costs (December 19, 2013 Board Meeting) by Jennifer Coffman--keep your eyes on this for next year.

Annarbor.com 

Most if not all articles are by Danielle Arndt

Principal's Union Contract Negotiations

Teacher Layoff Notices (Note: a lot more teachers get layoff notices than will actually be laid off due to specific credentialing and to seniority)

School Board Tweaks Proposals (Cuts to high school busing, 7th hour tuition proposal)

School Board to Pursue Forum Suggestions

Class Sizes, Transportation, Seventh Hour Priorities at Budget Forum

Morning Only High School Busing Proposal

Surviving the Budget Cuts ($5,000 school board food line)

$5,000 School Board Food Line Item (survives)

AAPS Budget Forum

Surviving the Budget Cuts

Paying for Layoffs: Unemployment Insurance

Revenue: School Billboards

Budget Report Brighter ("Only" 8.67 Million Dollar Deficit!)

Administrator's Budget Proposal

Budget Forums

All notes taken by school board president Deb Mexicotte

BOE Budget Forum #1

BOE Budget Forum #2

BOE Budget Forum #3

BOE Budget Forum #4

Ann Arbor Schools background information:

2013-2014 Budget Projections (April 24, 2013)

2013-2014 Proposed Budget Reductions (April 24, 2013)

2013-2014 Potential Budget Reductions (February 27, 2013)

Find budget reporting (by quarter) here.

2012-2013 Budget Proposal (May 23, 2012)--useful as a comparison, perhaps

[By the way--take a look around the Board Docs. There is lots of good information there!]

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.

Need New Reading Material? Take a Look at My Blogroll, Part I

Today, I'm posting about the education blogs on my blogroll. Next Sunday, look for all of the assorted other blogs on my blogroll. Note: these are not in any particular order.

National Education Blogs

• Diane Ravitch--she posts a lot of information about public education around the country. There is a lot of good stuff but it can be hard to keep up.
• @ The Chalk Face Knows Schools Matter--this is two blogs merged into one. I used to really like Schools Matter. I don't like the format of this "wedded" blog as much but there is a lot of good information. But I love their mission: to defend public education and oppose the so-called "reform" movement.
• Modern School: A public school teacher blogs about education, science, youth, and labor. Lately this blog has had a lot of information about labor. If you're interested in teachers' and administrators' unions, this is a good place for you to look.
• Assorted Stuff: This blog is written by an east coast educator/technology person. After I read a post of his, I often wish I'd thought to write about it first. He also has a nice education blogroll (even though I'm not on it :)
• Eduwonk: Some might find this education policy blog slightly too conservative (I think the author would describe it as centrist). However, he writes short pieces that point to interesting policy discussions at the national level. Mostly, the author links rather than editorializes.
• Title IX blog: Honestly, this is one of my favorite blogs. Title IX had a major impact on my life, and probably yours as well, and if you are interested in gender equality issues in schools at all levels, this is worth your time. The authors track stories from across the country. (Go ahead, do a search on the Title IX blog for Ann Arbor. We're in there.)
• Electric Educator: John Sowash posts from Oakland County, MI so I guess I could count him as a "local" educator--but the topic he blogs about is technology, particularly using Google programs, in the classroom. That information is useful no matter where you are in the country. He teaches at a private Christian school in Oakland County.
• School Finance 101: A thoughtful blog from Bruce Baker on school finance issues across the country.
• Honestly, I think this overview post on school funding is a must read.
• A "Fuller" Look at Education Issues: Dr. Ed Fuller looks at K-12 and higher education issues. The blog is rather data heavy, and often focuses on Texas, but it offers a good template for some ways data could be used to investigate "education reform."
• Scrap the MAP: Solidarity with teachers opposing the NWEA MAP test. Ann Arbor could learn a lot from them.
• Students Last: I just discovered this blog. It is kind of like the Onion for educators. If you like satire, if you liked Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, this blog is for you. Just look at its tagline: "If you care about education, we would like to encourage you to stop." You would laugh, except it's a truth that hurts.

Local Education Blogs

• k12christinestead.com: Kudos to AAPS School Board member Christine Stead for blogging regularly. Christine follows state education policy closely and is a good source for that information.
• Saline Superintendent's Blog: Scot Graden posts fairly regularly (and I think there are some related blogs from some other Saline administrators that are not on the blog roll). Scot's posts are generally fairly positive and short--if you live in Saline you definitely should be reading him!
• Okemos Parents for Schools: This group is loosely affiliated with Michigan Parents for Schools and I like their web page. 
• Oakland Schools: Lead blogger is Jean McLeod, and I think this group is also loosely affiliated with Michigan Parents for Schools.
• Education Matters: I just discovered this blog by a Van Buren Schools school board trustee. Martha Toth doesn't blog all that often, but this post about charter schools is quite good.

Funny Common Core Video Raises Serious Questions

I found this video extremely funny. The author/editor of the video, R.N. Gutierrez, titled this:
Why We Need Common Core--I Choose "C."

In the comments, Gutierrez writes:

People have asked me why I "make fun" of Think-Pair-Share. I actually like and use TPS. My purpose for including it was not to poke fun of the strategy but to point out that many students have difficulty when it comes to critical thinking or thinking independently. I feel that because many schools must teach to the state test, especially low performing schools, we “feed” our students information (and perhaps maybe scaffold too much), and they aren't given a chance to truly analyze and apply it.

[Note: A Think-Pair-Share activity has a student think on his/her own, then pair up with someone, discuss/share, and settle on an answer--which is then sometimes shared with the rest of the class.]

I thought this video was very funny because it pokes fun at our overtesting mania and teaching to the test. 
Where R.N. Gutierrez and I disagree is that he or she thinks that the Common Core will solve this problem, and I think that the Common Core will exacerbate this problem. 

[Note: At its simplest level, Common Core is a "core curriculum" that is aligned nationally. And of course, proving that one is aligning to the Common Core requires new and different tests.]

Anyway, it's food for thought. 

Fantastic Summer Music Opportunity for Washtenaw County Students

I have known about the Ann Arbor Public Schools Summer Music Program for a couple of years, but this is the first time I've noticed (and maybe it's the first time it has happened?) that it is open to all Washtenaw County students in grades 6-12 at all levels of instrumental music. What a great opportunity! (I know some of the teaching staff, and have a lot of respect for their musical and teaching talent.)

Details:

Skyline Drumline Photo. Taken from Skyline web site at
http://skyline2.aaps.k12.mi.us/bands/percussion.html. 

Dates: Class dates vary, between June 24 - July 25, 2013 with July 4th off!
Classes meet 4 days per week (Monday - Thursday)
(Class dates and times vary, see class descriptions!)
Locations: 2 Sites: Huron High School (2727 Fuller Road), and Scarlett Middle School (3300 Lorraine)
Fee: Early Bird: $175; after 6/15: $185.
*Multiple class and family discounts available!
(All fees due by June 28th)
*If your child enrolls in a second class, or if you have multiple children registering for classes, there is a $25 discount per class, in addition to Early Bird discounts, if applicable.
Make checks payable to: AAPS Music Dept.; memo: Student Name and Summer Session #Deliver to:AAPS Music Dept.2555 S.State StreetAnn Arbor, MI 48104Questions: Contact Frederick Smith: Program Facilitator at 734-994-2017 x35419, or email smithf@aaps.k12.mi.us

I'm not going to type in every class, but suffice it to say that there are jazz classes: jazz band, drumline, big band. There are also regular band, wind and percussion, and orchestra classes. There is even the possibility of instrument rental! For low-income AAPS students, there are scholarships available.

Read the rest 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)

Sequester Affects Back to School Funding for Low-Income Families

I saw this in the Friends in Deed Newsletter:

BACK-TO-SCHOOL NEEDS FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES 

Because of the much publicized 2013 “sequestering” of some planned federal budget expenditures, states are reducingfunding for some helping programs. Michigan recently announced cuts in back-to-school clothing allowances forDepartment of Human Services cash recipients. In previous years, low-income families on state cash assistance received
$75 per school-age child to use for new school clothes and shoes. That help will not be available to those families this upcoming school year. 

To address the potential impact of this decision, clothing donations are urgently requested.
DHS will be referring clients to local clothing closets. FID recommends that you take your donations of good condition used clothing to one of the following places:
Brown Chapel, Ypsi, 734-482-7050

House By The Side Of The Road, Ann Arbor, 734-971-2550

Emmanuel Lutheran, Ypsi, 734-482-7121 

YPS Foundation ReSale Shop, Ypsi, 734-714-1829 

Call ahead to check on the days, times and locations that donations are accepted. 

DHS is also collecting school supplies for distribution to local students. Donations of backpacks, paper, pens, pencils, notebooks, folders and other needed supplies can be dropped off at the DHS office in Ypsilanti. Email Greg Pordon at pordong@michigan.gov.

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.

Did You Ever Think About Getting An Exchange Student?

My first introduction to exchange students was in high school, when my friend Melinda went on an exchange to the Philippines. When she came back she had lots of great stories, and she brought me, as a gift, a set of boxes that I still have.

I've been contemplating the idea of getting an exchange student for several years, and now we've officially decided to go ahead and take the plunge! For now, I'm not going to say any more about our exchange student, but in case you want to know more about exchange students, here is some information.

There are two exchange programs working in Washtenaw County: One is AFS USA (formerly the American Field Service), and the other is YFU-USA, or Youth For Understanding.

Interesting factoids

Youth For Understanding began in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area. It started as a cross-cultural exchange with Germany in the years following World War II, with the idea that if German youth had a stronger relationship with the rest of the world, that would improve the chances of peaceful relationships in the years ahead. Now they work with students from all over the world.

American Field Service started as an ambulance/field hospital service by the American Colony in France during World War I. Between World War I and World War II it offered graduate level scholarships. AFS began the intercultural exchanges that are familiar to us immediately following World War II--but they began by working in many more countries. Now they work with students from all over the world.

Now both programs work in many countries around the world. We are working with YFU, but it might just be because we found them first.

Interested in finding out more? Here is some contact information:

Youth for Understanding: http://yfu-usa.org/

AFS USA: http://www.afsusa.org/

Here is a story on Chelsea Update about exchange students coming to Chelsea.