Friday, July 20, 2007

Let’s Talk Shade Structures!

Back in the fall of last year when we were told that our school was going to be forced to convert to a Year-round schedule, we made up our minds that we’d research the subject as well as we could to see if there was any way to get our school taken off the list.  We felt that we had a very compelling case against the conversion,  so it was time to get to work on our strategy.

One thing we felt was misrepresented in the press was the TRUE COST OF CONVERSIONS.  What was printed in the newspaper as the “cost of conversion to year-round” was basically the cost of the teacher’s track-out carts (which was approximately $65,000)  As we dug deeper, we found that the cost of these carts was just a SMALL FRACTION of the true cost.

I’m happy to share our calculations with anyone interested, because it was close to $800,000 which is obviously a HUGE discrepancy.

But, one cost that was not included in the cost of conversion was shade structures to go over the school playgrounds.  We couldn’t believe that the school system was not considering putting shade structures over all of the playgrounds at the 19 Elementary schools being forced to convert to a YR schedule.  We all know how hot playground equipment can be in the North Carolina sun.  After a child slides down a hot slide or feels the burn of hot monkey bars on his/her hands, you can be pretty certain that he/she won’t be playing on the hot playground equipment for a long time.

I know that as an adult I am miserable being outside in the hot summer sun without a swimming pool nearby—-even just standing still.  Most children won’t stand still or seek shade when it’s recess time—-what they want to do is run and play with their friends, and this could really cause some problems.  (heat exhaustion, dehydration, and sunburn to name a few)

In the short time I’ve been involved in looking into shade structures, it appears that some schools are well on their way to getting these for their schools.  Unfortunately, from what I’ve been told (and I know that I could be wrong) it sounds like the school system is refusing to pay for these, so the funds have to be raised by the PTA at each school.

I thought that soliciting corporate sponsorships would be a great way to raise the necessary funds, however I was told that the Wake County School System will not allow corporations to fund these types of items.

What are other Year-Round schools doing in regards to shade structures?

Does anyone know if it’s true that the School System won’t allow corporations to pay for shade structures?

Does anyone have advice regarding grant applications?

THANKS for your input!

Friday, July 13, 2007

Recent Changes As A Result Of The Year-Round Conversions

Having just completed week #1, I will summarize just a few things that have happened at Leesville Elementary as a result of the conversion.  I’d really like to hear what is being experienced at the other year-round schools.

SPECIALS TEACHERS ARE BEING STRETCHED TO THE LIMIT:  We now only have 1 PE teacher, 1 Art teacher, 1 Music teacher, and our Dance and Drama program has been cancelled.  (before the conversion we had 2 PE teachers, 2 art teachers, and 2 music teachers)  Now, the remaining specials teachers are going to be teaching the entire year without a summer vacation or other breaks during the year except during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break.  When some students are “tracked out”, others will be “tracked in” so the specialists have now become 12 month employees without teaching assistants or breaks.  This appears to be a situation that could lead to FAST burnout.  Is anyone else in a similar situation?
PROGRAMS HAVE ALREADY BEEN CANCELLED:  Our 4th graders take an annual overnight trip to the beach and participate in the “Sound to Sea” program.  The entire grade has a long unit on barrier island habitat, and then in November they take an overnight bus trip to The Trinity Center for a great learning experience.  The students get to interact outside the classroom setting, and the practical learning that takes place is wonderful.  Unfortunately, we found out today that due to several factors associated with the year-round schedule and the cost of the trip, we will not be taking the overnight trip this year.  This is something that the fourth graders have been looking forward to for as long as they’ve known about it, and finding out that it won’t happen this fall is very disappointing.  We will be taking a day trip to the beach instead, but to my 4th grader who has been anticipating this overnight trip for the past 5 years, it’s not the same. 
CLASSES HAVE BEEN BROKEN APART AND STUDENTS REASSIGNED TO OTHER CLASSES AND TRACKS:  Due to the low enrollment numbers, we have already had to “cancel” one 2nd grade class on track 2.  I’ve been told that these students will be either put into the other 2nd grade class on track 2 or moved to another track.  I’m not sure what will happen to the teacher assigned to this class, but sadly I don’t think this is the only group of students and their teacher who will be forced to do something different than expected this school year.
Have any of the other schools recently converted to Year-Round had similar things going on this week?

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

A Feeling Of Uncertainty

With the year-round school year having completed day 3, people are experiencing and feeling many different things, and it all depends on your individual situation.

To my elementary school kids, their actual school routine is pretty familiar.  They’re going to the same school they’ve always gone to, they have the same principal they’ve always known, and they know lots of children at school.  Other than the fact that they know their brother and sister are spending the day at the pool and playing tennis, it’s been a relatively easy adjustment for them.

As their parents, we’ve tried to make the new school year exciting for them.  Although saying goodbye at school on Monday brought out a lot of emotions after I watched them walk into the school, I know they’re at a place we all know and love, so that part is easy.

Tuesday night was our first swim meet since school has started.  We waited out the storm, but at 8:00 PM the meet was cancelled and rescheduled for tonight.  (It sounds like most of the league was in the same situation)  Everyone got a normal night’s sleep, and tonight we made the trek back to Cary.  After delaying the start for almost 2 hours, we were able to get one event in before the storms took over again.  This means we won’t be able to swim the meet, but the kids all get another pretty normal night of sleep.  SO, the problem of late Tuesday night swim meets won’t be much of an issue this season except for our last meet which is next Tuesday.

For my older children, they are enjoying their “normal summer routine”, but they do miss their siblings.  My boys have been tennis partners the past few years, and today was the first tennis match that they didn’t play together.  We typically see a movie on Tuesday afternoon with our swim team, and yesterday both of my older kids felt guilty that their younger siblings were in school while they were able to enjoy a movie.

At this point, I’m actually concerned for our teachers more than anyone else.  We’ve already lost so many excellent teachers due to the conversion.  We have quite a few current teachers who are also parents of children in the school system.  The numbers at our school and many others are much lower than anticipated.  Our principal is retiring, but he has agreed to stay on until October.  He’s handling this situation as calmly and professionally as he has handled everything in the past.  HOWEVER, when he pictured retirement in his mind, I’m certain this is not what he thought he’d be doing during his last 4 months at school. 

I understand that there is a feeling of uncertainty amongst the staff at our school because of our low numbers, and I’m guessing many of the other 22 schools being converted are in a similar situation.  Will we have to collapse tracks?  Will we have to move families to different tracks?  Will classes have to be combined?  None of these things have officially been discussed. (at least to my knowledge)  But, all of these situations could lead to teacher layoffs.  With the traditional calendar, our school was overcrowded, but no one really minded because we all loved the school and teachers so much.  The students and staff were thriving, and the teachers weren’t in danger of losing jobs.  It doesn’t sound like everyone feels real “secure” right now.

There was also mention in a News & Observer article this week that said “...school leaders say they might revert some to a traditional calendar…“.  Who are the school leaders that said that?  What schools are they looking at?  How soon might the conversion(s) back to traditional take place?  Hearing such a vague statement brings out even more questions and more uncertainty regarding the current situation.  Our school was so opposed to the year-round conversion that there is now a great deal of speculation that we may be one to convert back.  But, would this happen soon (after 10th day numbers come in)?  Mid-year?  At the end of the year?  Right now there are a lot of rumors flying around after reading that article.

So, how is everyone else doing this week, and are you experiencing the same low enrollment issues, questions, and uncertainty that we are?

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Support School Calendar Choice

Well, I’m here to provide the “Support Traditional” side to the entire Year-Round conversion situation.  Before I go any further, I’d like to clarify that while I support the traditional school calendar for my family,  I am certainly not anti-Year Round.  I just feel that the school calendar should be a FAMILY choice.  I wouldn’t tell someone which calendar is best for their family, and I don’t think someone should be able to tell me which calendar is best for mine either.

I’m a parent of 4 children in the Wake County school system.  We chose our current house due to it’s proximity to a 3 school “campus”.  The Elementary School, Middle School, and High School are all physically connected, and we walk to and from school on a very regular basis.
My main concern with the year-round conversion is that by converting our Elementary School to a year-round calendar while leaving the Middle School and High School on a traditional calendar, my family will be split.  (I’ll have 2 at the elementary school this year and 2 at the middle school)  We are a very close family and enjoy doing things together AS A FAMILY—-this includes “big things” (such as vacations) and just as importantly it includes the little “everyday activities”.  I feel fortunate that I can stay home with my children, and we stay very busy doing things together.  We enjoy the long summer, and stay so active that my kids don’t experience “summer boredom” that I hear about.
Just for a little background information, when our elementary school was initially on the conversion list, many of us didn’t take it seriously because of our unique 3 school campus setup.  Our Middle School was on the initial conversion list and then taken off, so we just assumed that the Elementary School would never be forced to convert. 
A small group of a few concerned and committed parents grew into a huge group of concerned and committed parents who set out to show the School Board that we did not NEED to convert to a year-round calendar to handle the growth in our area, and we also did all we could to prove that we did not WANT it.  To see 450+ people at a PTA meeting raising their hands in opposition of the conversion was a pretty AWESOME sight.  But in the end, because there was no Plan B, the conversion is going through.
I was not involved in the Wake Cares lawsuit, although I have a great deal of respect for those in the Wake Cares organization.  Like me, they felt that their suggestions, solutions and options had fallen on deaf ears.  They felt compelled to fight the conversions for all of Wake County’s families, which I greatly appreciate.  Unlike me, they were willing to take the next step—-I was not willing to subject my family to the ridicule that they have unfairly received as a result of their efforts.  As we all know, Wake Cares was successful in the courtroom, but the conversions are still being forced on the 22 schools.
I feel that the school calendar should be a CHOICE.  I am certainly not afraid of change.  I actually think that change can be a good thing when it’s something you have chosen to do.  Making the actual change from traditional to year-round is not threatening in the least.  I have moved 13 times in my life, and change does not bother me at all.  I just do not like being forced to have my children on different school schedules, ESPECIALLY when I know that the conversion of our school did not have to happen.  It will be interesting to see actual enrollment numbers once school gets started.
A few of the different arguments FOR the conversions came to mind as I left our “Meet the Teacher” day on Thursday.  Those who were pushing so hard for the conversions mentioned that they “don’t want their children eating lunch as late as 1:30 in the afternoon”.  Another argument was that “children should have class inside the building and should not be forced to have class in modular and mobile units”.  WELL, my daughter will be eating lunch at 1:40 PM AND my son will have class in a modular—-and this is WITH THE CONVERSION.  These things did not bother me before, and they still aren’t an issue.  However, these 2 arguments were used as being “unacceptable” and supposedly the year-round conversions would solve those problems.  Obviously, this is not the case at our school—I’m curious to hear about the other 21 schools forced to convert this year..
If you dig enough into the research, you can find LOTS of studies that “prove” a traditional calendar education is superior to year-round.  BUT, you can find just as many studies that “prove” a year-round education is superior to traditional.  Honestly, it all depends on what you are trying to “prove”.  In my opinion, it comes down to what is best for YOUR family, and only YOU can make that decision. 
We’re moving forward, and for the sake of my kids I have to be positive about the year-round schedule.  Regardless of whether I think it’s good/bad or right/wrong, in 2 days I’ll have 2 children in school and 2 still on summer vacation.  I’m not thrilled about it, but I choose to remain cautiously optimistic for my children.
ANY THOUGHTS???
(I’m sorry for the long post.  I’ll do my best to keep future posts much shorter.)