Comments on: Mt. Diablo HS teachers lay out reasons for ‘No Confidence’ vote in principal

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:11:20 +0000

Ben: Were you satisfied by McClatchy’s response to the vote of No Confidence during the faculty meeting? Do you intend to raise this issue at the Monday board meeting?

By: Ben Oluskydiver

Ben Oluskydiver — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:15:13 +0000

Response to comment # 6
I am one of the teachers from Mount D who has spoken at the Board meeting
and
I am telling you that I am being evaluated this year.
and
I am not gambling!
We are not gambling!
It is that serious!
HELP/
What are they trying to do to our school?
The scores have been going up since 2008.
I dont understand
must be my English
a.topal

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:39:49 +0000

So far no one from SASS has been identified as being Kate McClatchy’s SASS “coach”. Rugani only stated that “supervision” of principals remains with Lawrence and Asst. Supt. Lock. It is also unclear whether that “coach” was ever told by Sachs or by Lock of the QEIA non-compliance.

By: Anon Staff

Anon Staff — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:33:50 +0000

MLA is a documenting and citation style commonly used in colleges. I do not know who specifically ran the two-day workshop but my guess is that it was part of the DataWorks contract, a major benefactor of our previous years of QEIA funding.

I am not familiar enough with SASS to give a fair opinion. Was Principal McClatchy poorly coached or is she just a poor Principal? Either or both may be true.

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:02:34 +0000

I have just added a new blog post comparing the CVHS charter movement to the MDHS vote of No Confidence: http://www.ibabuzz.com/onassignment/2011/12/20/tale-of-two-schools-both-took-drastic-actions-after-alleging-failed-leadership-in-mt-diablo-school-district/

By: Theresa Harrington

Theresa Harrington — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:11:43 +0000

Anon staff: What is schoolwide “MLA?” Also, who delivered the model for school reform at the two-day workshop?
Do you believe the Student Achievement and School Support Department — which is tasked with coaching principals to make them more effective leaders — has been successful at MDHS?

By: Realia

Realia — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:34:28 +0000

@ Anon Staff (#96). That last sentence could read “McClatchy’s crazy leadership.”

@ Doctor J (#109) After watching McClatchy’s horrid speech, imagine what it is like to be a teacher listening to that voice droning on for hours during countless faculty meetings.

McClatchy clearly did not write that speech; it was not written in her voice at all. Her lack of intonation suggests she had little-to-no idea what she was reading aloud. And check out the body language – she simply couldn’t stand still. Maybe she was nervous about upsetting the superintendent by not reading “her” speech very well. And to think she was supposedly an English teacher at one time.

By: Anon Staff

Anon Staff — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:33:44 +0000

T. Harrington: We adopted the PLT model three years ago but have had forms of the PLT/PLC model for over ten years through our existing academies. The model implemented at MDHS is all over the place. There is a desire to have teachers work with departments (many teachers are in multiple), between common courses (most teachers have multiple), and across curriculum through the academy model (some teachers have multiple or none). It’s like a spider web of responsibility that ultimately renders itself almost useless.

Additionally, we have WASC action committees that have mandates over areas of the school. McClatchy and the administration, however, do not utilize the model to foster cooperation, but rather to deliver their messages about the school, the opinions of the staff be damned. Committees with supposed autonomy are quickly over-ruled when they digress from the McClatchy agenda. To be fair, some good work has been done in the areas of recognizing student achievement and implementing school-wide MLA. It will be interesting read this year’s MDHS WASC report and comb it for truth.

Staff members have begged to streamline the PLT model at MDHS, to focus on all activity through the academy models, when applicable to a teacher’s specific schedule. All efforts to improve the model have been ignored or attacked. McClatchy even recently challenged the entire staff to get on board or quit. Those weren’t her words exactly, but that was the gist of her statement to the staff at a meeting.

At the beginning of last year, efforts were made to begin McClatchy’s tenure on the right foot. A model for school reform was delivered to department heads at a two day workshop. The basic message of the meeting was to focus on one or two items and that the STAFF must create the model; they deliver the model, therefore must design it. Clearly the message was not received by the Principal, causing this degradation of the entire school.

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:10:10 +0000

Kate McClatchy is going to eat these words she spoke to the Board on Oct 25, 2011 against CVCHS. She discusses the importance of school finances, her great staff at MDHS, and the great progress they have made. As she stumbles through her pre-written speech [by whom is ?] please watch Supt. Lawrence beam with pride. qik.com/video/45353427

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:13:04 +0000

@#108. That is why they hired the SASS Director of Secondary just as an interim so Sue Brothers would have a landing spot — that’s a no brainer. However, it would not surprise me that if the charter is approved on Jan 11, that either SB will move to SASS at the semester, or that SB and McClatchy will switch so that SB can try and prevent another muitny.