G-Town Talks

In response to my recent blog post challenging our superintendent to enter the conversation with his own blog, Superintendent Rinaldi responds,

I knew it would eventually come to this.  Knowing Kim Moritz as I do, I insisted she include the disclaimer “opinions expressed here reflect the personal views of Kimberly Moritz and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Gowanda Central School District” in her banner.  True to form, she challenges all of us, sometimes when we would prefer to be left alone.  But, now that she has laid down the gauntlet a response is in order.

It is not coincidental that after reading the blog feature in Education Week, I began to envision the benefits of using blogs to spread the superintendent’s message.  But I also learned from the article that blogging is rife with problems.  Would I have to censor comments to avoid salacious or false claims?  If I do censor comments, am I then open to ridicule for not allowing critics to rebut my arguments?  Do I want to debate on-line with disaffected residents who believe our school system is ineffective and taxes are too high?  Do I have a legitimate “voice” and who in the heck wants to read what I have to say?  Where do I find the time in a life already bereft of private moments?  Why invite problems into my life when problem-solving already dominates my work day?  How do I avoid having my opinions associated with the School Board? 

I already am on public television two times a month or more expressing management’s views during board meetings and public hearings.  Each month I write an article for the school newsletter.  I attend school events and am a frequent speaker in the community.  I am not convinced Gowanda needs more of me or that I could do justice to this medium.  Someone needs to convince me there is a legitimate audience for my comments. 

So here’s what I’m thinking now, maybe a “guest column” on G-Town Talks once per month?

I’ve been an administrator in my home district for three years now and 99% of the time I find it to be a huge advantage. It’s been my sense that it actually provides me with a bit more credibility, sort of a “she’s one of us” boost. Since I’m going to work every day trying to make a difference, it’s extremely rewarding to me that it also benefits my own kid, along with my nephews and niece, and  the children of my friends. G-Town means a lot to me and if I succeed or fail professionally, in many ways, it’s my personal success or failure as well.

Today I sat in a meeting with four parents and two teachers. I was there as the principal but the situation we were discussing also involved my son and my nephews. It involved my sister in law, two other moms I’ve known for many years, and one mom I’ve not met before. It involved two teachers whom I hold in very high regard.

I’ve mediated parent/teacher conversations many times. Some have been extremely heated and I’ve always walked away feeling like I’d done a good job. I’ve tried hard to make sure everyone was heard, that they were treated fairly, that all parties could feel supported by me, even if they weren’t happy with the decision.

Today was different in that it was impossible for me to stay in either the role of principal or parent. The two roles converged and as objective as I was, it was a tough place to sit.  It also was a complicated situation in which there was no easy solution. I’ve always thought that my strong personal investment in our school and our kids was an asset. Today it felt more like a liability and I’m left wondering if anyone felt supported by me.

I understood the parent point of view and the deep emotion that comes with raising a child and the commitment to always advocate for our kids, at the same time that we kick them in the butt when needed. I’ve lived the teacher’s point of view and I know with 100% certainty, that while we make mistakes, we are most often well intended.

As the principal, it was hard to sit squarely in the middle. I kept thinking about fairness, support, integrity, honesty–I hope those things carried me through that meeting today and that everyone left better for our time spent talking.

I realized last night at the Public Hearing for the 2007-2008 budget, that there’s some confusion about budget matters within our community. Probably in most communities. Topics that people need to hear more than once to really understand. Things like the library increase that’s tied to our public vote being confused with coming from school taxes. And the idea that things happen at the Board level behind closed doors, when in fact they’re happening at the workshop meetings just prior to the Board meeting and that all sessions are open to the public. Or the outlandish idea that the increase in aid coming from the Governor which understandably increases the budget (even though there’s a less than zero increase to taxes for our taxpayers) might be a bad thing. Who would possibly consider NOT using the increase planned for us to make things more equitable and hopefully, more assuredly, increasing the quality of our education and therefore, our results? And the taxpayer who says that one $48,000 item like an SRO returning to the school could be considered a deal breaker for members of our community.

Seems to me we need a superintendent’s blog. One that can answer each of these questions in a separate, easy to understand post. This would be great PR and a way for the superintendent to get the facts out. I don’t know anyone better to do this than our own superintendent. He’s the guy who explains everything about school finance to me. It’s his thing. He’s good at it. He’s also a good teacher, especially when it comes to these topics.

So yeah, you’re reading it right. I’m calling him out. This community of readers needs that information. After all, that’s largely why we read, because we’re a community of learners who want to understand. Superintendent of G-Town, this is your opportunity, we need your voice here.

Just want to take a moment to thank every teacher in G-Town for the tremendous effort you put forth each and every day. Here’s what I appreciate most:

your creativity, passion for kids and for your subject, energy, willingness to just make it happen, excitement and enthusiasm, quiet hard work, child advocacy, dedication to our success, sense of humor, ability to overlook or forgive my shortcomings as your leader, and your spirit of adventure.

On behalf of the other parents, our community and our students, thank you for making it happen here in G-Town. It’s a privilege and a pleasure to work with you.

And for every other G-Town reader who’s a teacher out there, getting the job done, in case no one else says it, thank you.

Several of our students attended the workshop portion of our Board of Education meeting last night to talk about the organization of the GSA (Gay Straight Alliance). Long time readers of this blog will recall my posts at the beginning of this school year about our kids and their desire to meet as a group.

I thought last night’s workshop was productive, our kids well spoken, and the conversation worthwhile. Our superintendent and Board of Education explained to the students about the different kinds of groups that exist in and around a school. One, the outside groups, like the Boy Scouts and youth basketball, who use our buildings in the evenings. Two, the school clubs which are currently in the teachers’ contract and follow all of the school accountability measures with their student activity accounts. Three, student groups such as the GSA, which are Gowanda students, supervised by a faculty member, with access to all of our “communicative means”, like announcing meetings and hanging up signs. The Board recognized our kids as this third type of group.

Somehow, between last night and today, a different message was found. It definitely wasn’t the one I heard last night. Some of our kids were talking about how the Board denied the club and that they thought they should stage a protest. Two of the kids were even at the meeting with me. How they heard that it was denied, I can’t imagine.

So here we were today, with several students getting all worked up about a group that came together to promote acceptance. I’m stymied because I look back and think that we did everything right. The kids were respectful at all points along the way, their advisor phenomenal, and I think I’ve been supportive of all students.

And guess what bothers me most about this topic? While my students are all worked up about a topic to which most don’t even have their facts straight, and several stand divided and intolerant where they weren’t before, I’m left wondering who’s thinking about mathematics, English, Science, Art, Social Studies, LOTE, and PREPARING FOR THE REGENTS EXAMS?! For the first time all year, I’m sorry we headed down this path because a “debate” is consuming our youngest students and pushing our primary business out of their heads. And I suspect for some, it’s just the latest drama to get worked up about while for others, like some of the organizers, it’s a topic about which they feel passionately. 

Teachers, help me out, this cannot become the focus of our learning in G-Town. What we’re experiencing may be normal in the growth process, but it needs to just be a part of our school discussions, not all of it. The only way I would NOT support this group is if it’s existence became completely disruptive to our educational process.

Let’s get a grip please, there’s a lot more to us than two viewpoints on one group. No one has the right to tell anyone else how to think or feel on any topic, that’s up to each of us, as individuals. If I’m hearing everyone correctly, we need to “live and let live.”

So Will, thanks to you and the fact that you pointed the Education Week reporter our way, we have some word about principal blogs getting into the “traditional” media which should, ultimately, lead to more of my colleagues joining the discussion about education. That means I get access to more great ideas from all of the talented educators working hard every day. Thanks to Jeff Archer for a great article.

Leaders’ Blogs Offer Candid Views on Life in Schools

Welcome to the new readers who are linking from Education Week and who are commenting here. Please consider stepping in, reading, and writing–I have much to learn and you might have the big idea for which I’m searching.

cross posted on LeaderTalk

What if there isn’t a darned thing I can do to prevent some of our high school students from dropping out? What if there really isn’t any way to leave no child behind?

Here are some of my statistics of our G-Town drop-outs from September 2004 through January 2007.

• 40% signed out, 60% just stopped showing up
• 45% are white, 53% Native American, 2% Hispanic
• 49% are male, 51% are female
• 58% of the white students are male, 65% of the Native American students are female
• 40% are aged 17, 30% are aged 18, 31% are in grade 10, 25% in grade 11, and 25% in grade 12
• 33% are passing and on track when they drop out, 53% have major attendance issues
• 77% were retained, 52% once, 43% twice, 5% three times
• 56% live in poverty

What does that data tell me that will truly help me change the course of those students’ lives and get them to graduation?

You can see that 53% of my drop outs are Native American while only 30% of my population is Native American. A significant problem. We have a tri-district “Native Voices” initiative, in which we study our Native American students by meeting with our kids one on one and in small groups, face to face, to talk about their learning. Our mission is to learn more about our Native American students so that we can make our schools the best possible places they can be, working together to understand what works and what doesn’t work.

We’ve worked together as a team, three neighboring districts who all share the students of the Cattaraugus Territory. We are administrators, counselors, psychologists, Title VII support personnel, and parents. It’s been an incredible experience, one ripe with opportunity to improve culture, climate, and pedagogy. 

We’ve realized lots of things that we can do better and our next meetings will focus on implementing change. I think we’ve already made great gains in climate and culture. Our discipline reports and daily attendance support this premise.

But what about those students who remain unaffected by all of the positive changes, who despite us and our endeavors, will choose to leave?

We need another alternative for them. And not typical alternative education that’s just sending our kids who won’t play by the rules to another location, same time, same days, same Bat channel. We need real options for kids who won’t/can’t succeed as we are today. We need a different time, a different delivery mode, a new approach, a real solution, a different system.

So we enter year two of Native Voices, knowing that we’ve figured out some ways to make our schools better for the students we keep. Knowing that we’ve got to find a solution for those who walk. There isn’t anyone who can dispute that every child desperately needs a diploma to meet with any kind of economic success.

Here’s my problem. I’m a change agent. If you’ve read this blog or worked with me, you know this. I’m constantly thinking about what we can do better and I work hard to make meaningful change for our students, faculty, and community. I want our students to succeed and I aim to climb the “rankings”.

But it’s so darned slow. Our results on the State measures are changing only incrementally. We’re a school in good standing making adequate yearly progress, with a 73% graduation rate for all students while the state standard is 55%.  But my personal standard as the administrator most responsible is 95-100% and no “progress is adequate” for the students who are still dropping out.

How long does it take to see significant results? How long does it take until every kid sticks with me until the diploma?