Comments on: The state’s school closure advice

By: Pissed Off Glenbrook Mom

Pissed Off Glenbrook Mom — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:59:47 +0000

Whatever happened to our kids comes first. Why should our kids pay for the districts mess. They shouldn’t have too. It really amazes me how the district runs things….. I think they make things up as they go. There is set rules and procedures that they need to go by but these fools either are blonde at heart or they just don’t know where to get them from. Usually there tucked away on a shelf in a fairly large black binder.
If the board has that much authority to be able to take away kids schools so quickly and so easily I would like to think we as the community should be able to have some sort of say and have the power take them off the board and boot them to the curb like now. We probably should give them props for working so quickly on trying to close this closure deal. You would think with all the lives they’ll be messing with that they would have a heart and the brains to really take it slow and really look at the entire picture from every angles thru different peoples eyes and really see the outcome of their decisions. Especially our kids. See how they really feel about all this. Right now I can tell you this much all this crap is creating a lot of insecure, stressed out kids. And to top it off even more the board decides to split them into three different schools and throw them into another middle school to really make them feel even more insecure, unprotected not safe. Wow. What goes around will come back around different time different place. So really think about your final decision and make sure its the best one for everyone involve in your decision. Because it will come back to bite you in your butt, if you do the usual district way of doing things and that is the half ass way. Think about it why are in this situation yes the half ass ways the district is running crap. Time to remove the dodos and hire people that do the job by the way it suppose to done. The right way without the extra benefit some people seem to get for sitting on their ass.

By: Wait a Minute

Wait a Minute — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:23:19 +0000

Yes Retired Taxpaying Citizen, it reminds me of the old shell game or a bait and switch by a sleezy salesperson.
I second your opinion that he should resign.
That more then anything right now might bring some credibility back.
Unfortunately, narcissists aren’t known for bowing out gracefully as Libya is finding out right now.

And yes Realia, an investigation by the OCR is never a good thing for a district.

By: Retired Taxpaying Citizen

Retired Taxpaying Citizen — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:03:50 +0000

I am outraged that a public official like the MDUSD board president, on his own, is trying to claim a million dollar grant for a closing school by giving another school the same name. This is the most unbelievable breach of public trust at a school board level I have ever heard of. This individual needs to resign immediately!

By: Realia

Realia — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:51:12 +0000

OCR swept through the district last year (one result is an increased reluctance to suspend students for offenses district policies and the Ed Code state require suspension); this can only make things worse for the district – and its students and site employees.

By: Wait a Minute

Wait a Minute — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 20:22:06 +0000

Talk about a potential game changer on closing schools.

I’ll tell you what, if the Federal Office of Civil Rights investigates the MDUSD because of parent(s) complaints (as is reported that at least one Glenbrook parent is requesting) that they are targeting low income areas for school closures, Lawrence, Eberhart and the others will wish they only had to deal with a local Grand Jury inquiry by the time its all over.

When OCR comes in they REALLY investigate and they have the resources to do so!
They also tend to stay for years sometimes depending on the severity of the problems.

This could be the reason for this attempt to stop at only 2 schools

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 19:22:25 +0000

Actually, I asked Superintendent Steven Lawrence about this guide. He left me a voicemail message saying the district printed it out at the beginning of the process, but decided not to convene a “7-11″ committee because it didn’t think it would dispose of the closed sites. I don’t know if he shared the guidelines with the board.
If the district does move forward with disposing of the sites, it will be legally required to form a “7-11″ committee, Lawrence said.
However, Lawrence told the Parent Advisory Council in January that he had been in discussions with DVC about the community college’s interest in leasing the Glenbrook site, if it closed.
Trustee Cheryl Hansen is very interested in finding out the value of Willow Creek. Given the district’s dire budget straits, it is somewhat surprising that Lawrence didn’t give this any intitial consideration, since the state notes:
“If maximizing revenue from the sale or lease of surplus schools is integral to decisions regarding which school to close, then, of course, a property appraisal and assessment of the interests in and proposed uses for the property are vital.”
In general, it appears the district gave its School Closure Advisory Committee a much smaller scope than the state recommends.
The state points out that repurposing closed sites for other programs minimizes the cost savings.
It also points out that moving some special education programs that require adapted environments can add to costs (such as the Westwood Deaf and Hard of Hearing program, which requires special acoustical environments, according to some Westwood staff).
“Insuring that there can be safe walking routes for the displaced students to the new school” is another factor that many Glenbrook staff and parents have said should have been considered before closing their site.
Also, district staff took a calculated risk by interjecting the recommendation of the superintendent’s council after the committee had done its intitial work, but before it made its final recommendation. The state advises district staff to let the committee do its work independently, but says staff can amend the recommendation when it presents it to the board.
In addition, the state recommends “a series of public hearings” at the closed sites, as well as those expected to receive new students. The district held one board meeting each at Northgate HS and Mt. Diablo HS (which were not recommended for closure), one at Glenbrook MS (after the board had already voted to close it) and several at Monte Gardens (which has been removed from the recommended list). No meetings have been held at Holbrook, Wren Avenue, Silverwood or Westwood elementary schools or other affected sites. The state’s description of these meetings makes it clear they are not “board meetings,” but community meetings meant to inform individual school populations about recommendations. Such meetings have not taken place at all in the Mt. Diablo district, which could explain some of the public “rancor” that now exists.

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:45:59 +0000

The incompetence of MDUSD administration is that they didn’t even know about CDE “Best Practices Guide”. don’t we pay the Supt and his Asst Supt’s over a million dollars a year to know these things ? but alas, after Tuesday night’s Board meeting, how many MDUSD administrators will be heading down to Monterey for the conference next week ?

By: 4Students

4Students — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 17:16:33 +0000

They recommend the task force include municipal governments. With 20/20 hindsight that would have made sense, to discuss questions about traffic, roads, bus lines, Concord Naval Weapons Station development, the Coast Guard, etc. But MDUSD has so many cities and other interest groups that it becomes impossible, doesn’t it?