Comments on: Mt. Diablo district defends charter information

By: Charter New Course

Charter New Course — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:08:35 +0000

Doctor J,
It’s someone new in town, saying “who also regularly criticize the district would be going insane if the district shrouded what they do in secrecy.” The Grand Jury regularly criticizes the district, we are not insane just mad, and the district is shrouded in secrecy. Superintendent Newsletters have been cryptic, few and far between. Did you notice that post was sent the same time as the other one?

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:56:26 +0000

@CharterNewCourse, Agent Hotchner has not confirmed SB as the author of that post.

By: Charter New Course

Charter New Course — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:00:39 +0000

Doctor J,
Does Anon #8 also sound like Sue Brothers?

By: anon

anon — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:56:34 +0000

I think its ironic that the district releases information that clearly shows that there will be a significant financial loss to the district and the people who complain are the same people that demonize the district when they are not 100% transparent. There is no reason for the district to communicate to the “charter organizers” that there would be a negative financial impact to the rest of the district since that fact does not impact the decision on whether or not to approve the charter. With the state budget the way it is, it would be a epic failure if the district didn’t share with the community that there is about to be a huge financial chunk taken out of the rest of the district to fund the CVHS charter.

I think that state laws should be changed so that other schools and students are not impacted when one school wants to go charter. If that were the case, the CVHS charter wouldn’t be an issue. I don’t know why my students should have to have reduced funding so that CVHS can go charter.

Where is the charter plan? How can a community decide to support or oppose a charter that has not been vetted yet? Those of you that are on here and seem to support the charter and who also regularly criticize the district would be going insane if the district shrouded what they do in secrecy. Where’s the outrage?

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:06:21 +0000

Theresa, Speaking of PLC, I wonder how many MDUSD members will be attending the Las Vegas junket on June 6-8 for PLC ?

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:59:46 +0000

Anon MDUSD Mom of 2: You are correct that people have been complaining about a lack of discipline and a lax “culture of learning” at CVHS for a few years.
In June of 2009, I wrote a story about a freshman girl who was suspended in May 2009 from CVHS after videotaping a paper ball fight in her math class. Parents and students had complained all year about chaos in the classroom, but they said nothing was done until the video was sent to then-interim Superintendent Dick Nicoll.
The story created an uproar and prompted many other parents to contact me regarding concerns about the environment at CVHS.
The staff had been trained in a program called BEST — Building Effective Schools Together — which stresses positive reinforcement for good behavior and consistent consequences for breaking school rules. But it appeared that this program was not consistently implemented schoolwide.
In August 2009, I wrote a follow-up story that stated:
“This year (2009-10), Clayton Valley and some other district schools are supplementing BEST with a reform that challenges teachers to work together in ‘professional learning communities,’ where veteran teachers coach their newer peers in classroom management and lesson planning.
The program requires teachers to identify struggling students early and try to connect them to school, rather than waiting until the first semester is over and punishing them for failure.’”
Based on the CVHS charter movement, it appears that the Professional Learning Community is not working as well as administrators hoped it would and that BEST is still not being implemented consistently.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 31 May 2011 04:16:26 +0000

Mdusdmomx4 — My point wasn’t about “who started it”. Theresa asked whether “dueling releases” was the way to continue the discussion, and I felt it was not. But that is how MDUSD decided to respond. It is up to the district, if they really care about the CVHS concerns (and not just the prospect of lost funding), to reach out to the people who are disatisfied with the school. That has been the problem for too long, on too many campuses: MDUSD responds only when there is a threat of lost revenue or bad publicity. They don’t seem to feel, fundamentally, that they ought to be in a continuous dialogue with their customers (parents and students). As an organization, they just don’t get it.

As far as the conversion folks not having “all of their ducks in a row”, if you haven’t ever been involved in getting something like this off the ground, you may not be aware of how much preparation it takes to “do it right”. You have to start somewhere, and that means building up the organization, the information, and the funding from scratch. Frankly, I admire the work and preparation that the teachers and the rest of the community have done to bring it this far. Other MDUSD schools are watching, and learning, from this experience. Finally, I don’t understand at all your comment about “we can always go back to MDUSD”. That is simply the reality. If the charter effort fails, the school would go back to the monopoly that controls it now. What did you think would happen? Fortunately, the experience of numerous conversion charters in S. California suggests that there is every reason to believe that a conversion charter at CVHS can help that school, and that community, be MUCH more successful in educating their students.

By: Anon Mdusd Mom of 2

Anon Mdusd Mom of 2 — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:58:23 +0000

Mdusdmomx4
If they don’t have the support they need from the teachers then your concern is moot, the charter can’t happen. I am not sure we know enough to determine if they have their ducks in order or not. They have over a year before they would take on the charter responsibilities on a daily basis. The communications they have posted seem well-written and well thoughtout. I can understand why they need to get the process started, it is a lengthy process especially if they need to appeal MDUSD’s decision, which is likely.

I can’t speak for Jim, but my take on blaming the district is because they are putting the CVHS charter on the defensive. They are trying to stir up the community. Regardless of what they may say, MDUSD does not support the charter. Gary’s comment on his blog makes that clear.

I agree with Jim from the standpoint that the District should work with any proposed charter. Maybe MDUSD doesn’t have all the answers and could learn something that could benefit all the kids in the District. Their anger, and what I perceive as arrogance, will be what will keep change from occurring in MDUSD.

Why aren’t they asking why parents/teachers are so disappointed that they would go to these lengths? When Walnut Creek parents fought to leave MDUSD several Board members looked back in hindsight and were critical of the Superintendent’s lack of attention to the issues at Northgate. Why haven’t they learned from that event, isn’t it similar?

If you are a parent why not wait and see how it unfolds. It could be a great thing. If you are part of the administration or Board why not reach out and work with Clayton Valley, after all it is about what is best for the kids and what we have now really isn’t working for many.

By: mdusdmomx4

mdusdmomx4 — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:03:39 +0000

Jim, it was the Clayton Valley Charter that posted the Dueling release. Curious why you blame the District, why not start where it began, the CVHS Charter Organization. This greatly concerns me if these teachers at CVHS are leading this Charter conversion, they do not have all their ducks in a row, they did not have the $10,000 (they had to borrow) and I heard they do not have enough teachers on board either. It appears that they are moving too fast and are not completely organized. Why not slow down and do it right and have the money needed to begin with. Not the way to start something and I am not convinced yet. I also read on one of the blogs that teachers and or parents stated, well if we don’t succeed, we can always go back to the MDUSD. Wow, another great concern on the organization.

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Mon, 30 May 2011 03:25:59 +0000

FYI, I have just posted notes from two interviews with Sue Brothers, the newly appointed CVHS principal.
She says she is willing to work with teachers to improve the school: http://www.ibabuzz.com/onassignment/2011/05/29/new-clayton-valley-hs-principal-says-shell-be-responsive/.