Comments on: Mt. Diablo Trustee Cheryl Hansen jumpstarts school closure transition plans

By: Esperanza Townsend

Esperanza Townsend — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:39:57 +0000

Thx for the brill blog.

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:23:42 +0000

I would like to clarify that Rose Lock did return my call on Friday, March 4 at about 6:30 p.m. Unfortunately, I had left for the day and I wrote this blog post remotely, so I was unaware that she had called.
My only reason for noting that I couldn’t reach Lock and Lawrence was to explain why my story didn’t include the district’s response to Hansen’s proposals.

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:54:39 +0000

I should not neglect to also credit Gary with an emphatic emphasis that site administrators are NOT to be at Principal meetings and other off-site administration meetings during school hours as has been occuring up to 3 or 4 times a month. While this will burden site administrators with longer days, it does put the safety of the children first.

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:32:36 +0000

When the board looks at the SASS costs, it may also want to evaluate the effectiveness of the new dept.
As has been pointed out, the department has not met its own goals stated in the “Annual Cycle of Inquiry” to provide a midterm report to the board in January.
There has also been no report about progress toward an updated list of goals and objectives for next year, which the Cycle of Inquiry anticipated would come to the board in March: http://esb.mdusd.k12.ca.us/attachments/0107ee84-be6d-4cb8-b939-58f7e85eec6c.pdf

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:31:55 +0000

@Theresa And once a new document is distributed to the Board, public comment on that document should be reopened once it is made available for distribution. Otherwise, its another ‘shoot from the hip’ last minute document hidden from the public.

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:16:41 +0000

Parent: Hansen wanted the list of post-retirement contracts to show the public. Superintendent Lawrence apologized for not providing it in the agenda materials. If the trustees get the information in closed session, the public remains in the dark.
Similarly, Mayo said the board was given detailed boundary maps for the closed schools that included street names. It is unclear why the district isn’t providing the public with the same level of information, which is not protected under closed session disclosure laws.
Finally, the bylaws the board reviewed specifically stated that “Any documents prepared by the district or the board and distributed during a public meeting shall be made available for public inspection at the meeting.”
Willie Mims was correct that the district should provide a complete copy of the agenda packet for public inspection at the meetings. It used to do that routinely, before it switched to the Electronic School Board system. Also, the school closure plan distributed to the board by Rose Lock should have been made available to the public.

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:16:24 +0000

What does it take to develop a Strategic Plan ? Here is what one Northern California district did to get their Strategic Plan — there is no reason that MDUSD cannot begin this process immediately:
By a unanimous vote, the ****** Unified School District Board of Education adopted a five-year results-based strategic plan at a special meeting June 23 that also celebrated the six months, 12,000 combined hours, and dedication of more than 300 volunteers that went into developing the plan.
“If you don’t know where you’re headed you won’t know how you’re going to get there,” said parent *******. “The collaborative thinking between staff, students, parents, and community was a huge benefit. The strategic plan is what San Juan Unified needs to align the efforts going on in our schools each day to ensure that each student can and will learn.”

The strategic planning process began in January of 2009 when the 30-person Planning Team, composed of members representing the diverse stakeholder groups in the District, met for the first time. Using a consensus model of decision making, the group was able to reach 100 percent agreement on a list of core shared beliefs, a new mission representing the community’s loftiest aspirations for the District, objectives, strategic parameters that will guide implementation of the plan, and seven unique strategies designed to achieve the objectives and mission.

More than 280 volunteers then took over and met on Monday nights between February and May to design operational action plans for each of the seven strategies identified by the Planning Team. Participation on Action Teams was open to anyone who stepped forward and attracted students, parents, community members, teachers, staff, and administrators to be part of the groups. The Action Teams also used a consensus model of decision making that required everyone in the room agree before an item would become a part of the plan.

“At a time when much of public education is trapped in fiscal crisis, ******** Unified’s Board of Education and community have chosen to focus on improving teaching and learning and creating better futures for our students,” said *************** Unified Superintendent Dr. **********. “Our strategic plan will enable us to focus our limited resources and truly educate and inspire our students to succeed and contribute to the world around them.”

A similar planning process will be instituted at each of the District’s 70 schools in the next four years to create site-based plans that align to the District’s new strategic plan.

By: 4Students

4Students — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:51:24 +0000

Doctor J,
Wish this was Facebook and I could “like” your comments!
Also I “like” the speaker who complained that the meeting should have been in a larger room! Most of us won’t go because we know it will be jammed! Gary gets credit for putting it online and thanks to whoever removed the crying baby so those online finally could hear the board members. Even then we couldn’t hear Julie Braun Martin who spoke too quietly.
Also I “like” Theresa and hope Times gives her space to cover all the issues raised.

By: changepls

changepls — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:47:10 +0000

I was very disappointed in Eberhart and Whitmarsh. Their body language was so disrespectful when Cheryl Hanson was speaking. Facial expressions are 80% of communication. The trustees should be open to all suggestions, agree to disagree but stop throwing your body back in your chair and giving ugly faces back and forth, you are elected adults.

Traveling ban will apply to Board members too. Can not wait for the written report on SASS budget savings and the consultants’ compensation.

By: Parent

Parent — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:29:58 +0000

Doctor J,

You are incorrect about the list of retired employees. Whitmarsh stated that the board already was given the list during a previous closed session. Obviously grand standing by Hansen.

Mayo also took Hansen took task for not working with staff to get answers prior to the board meeting.

Can Hanson every speak for less than 5 minutes. She loves to hear herself say the same thing over and over.