SHS Media Specialist

On Friday, I received a phone call from Dewoyne Daye, SHS Student Body Vice-President. Dewoyne was concerned because one of the two media specialists at SHS was being transferred to Third Creek Elementary because the individual at Third Creek was retiring. He said that there were no plans to replace the specialist at SHS and that would mean a reduction in services at the High School. Dewoyne was particularly concerned in that this would mean that the library would no longer be open before and after school. He pointed out that many SHS students do not have access to computers at home and that they use the computers in the library before and after school to complete various class projects. Dewoyne also mentioned that the media specialists assist students and SHS staff in many other ways and that one media specialist at the high school would not be able to complete all of these tasks.

Dewoyne also informed me that at Statesville High currently enrolls 30% of the I-SS High School’s Hispanic population, 44% of the system’s African American population, and 19% of the system’s Asian population. SHS also has 14 different subgroups, which is more than any other high school in the system. In addition, SHS has the largest exceptional children’s population of all the high schools and Statesville High School has been declared a Title One/at risk high school.

Dewoyne asked me about the raises that were given to those taking the interim positions when Mr. Johnson was named Interim Superintendent. We talked about how that money could have been used for student programs and for funding positions such as the media specialist at SHS. Dewoyne said that everyone who works for I-SS should be looking out for the students' wellbeing but that is obviously not happening in this situation.

I think that the administration should be able to find money in the budget to keep these two media specialists at SHS and to hire a specialist to replace the individual at Third Creek. The students at SHS deserve the full support of the administration. I have already sent an e-mail to Mr. Johnson and to Mr. John Rogers in this regard and I am asking the readers of this blog to do so as well.

I received the following reply from Mr. John Rogers.

Paul,

All of the high schools except Lake Norman has lost a media specialist due to budget cuts. It was time for West Iredell and SHS to give up a media specialist. Keith Williams and I have worked closely with Mr. (Larry) Rogers concerning this issue. The plan at present is for both ladies to work at SHS and Third Creek.

This will keep both women at the high school a certain number of days per week. A major issue was the time in the morning and afternoon for students to work in the library on the computers. This will stay the same at the present. One major concern is for an experienced person at Third Creek. We are working on it.

Thanks for your interest and Merry Christmas!!!

Baldrige Award Received

According to the I-SS web site, a delegation of just over 50 administrators, teachers, Board of Education members, and students recently traveled to Washington, DC to attend the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award ceremony. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke presented the award and Vice President Joe Biden congratulated the recipients. Apparently President Obama was not present.

Click on the link below to access the article on the I-SS web site.

I-SS Accepts Baldrige Award

Update:

Click on the link below to download the video of the Baldrige Award Ceremony. (There is a lot of rhetoric but there are also some excellent selections played by the Air Force Band.)

Baldrige Ceremony Video

WIHS Advisory Meeting

I attended the Advisory Meeting at West Iredell High School last night and I must say that I think that this one was much better than the one at Statesville High. The procedure was the same but the presentation was a little clearer. Of course, the presenters have now had the opportunity to go through the process several times and I had gone through it once before.

However, I think the biggest change was in the group of participants. At the first meeting, my wife was probably the only teacher in attendance and there were a significant number of Central Office administrators present. At this meeting that ratio seemed to be reversed. I did not know most of the people in attendance but from the comments of those present there did seem to be a significant number of teachers at this meeting. The comments seemed to be more related to students, teachers, and classrooms.

There were two School Board members in attendance as well. John Rogers was there and he told me that he had been to all of the advisory meetings except one. Charles Kelly was also there. He told me that he had attended a couple of the other Advisory Meetings.

At the end of the meeting Mr. Johnson stated that they hoped to have the reports from all of the meetings posted on the school web site in a few days. I am looking forward to seeing the overall report. Click on the link below to access the I-SS web site.

Iredell-Statesville Schools

Ron Clark Academy

CNN.com has an excellent report about the Ron Cark Academy in Atlanta. The academy uses non-traditional methods to energize students and to encourage them to learn.

In the report Ron Clark states: “It all involves with the teachers. You can talk about the state government. You can talk about principals, superintendents. It all comes down to finding passionate people who want to teach. We have to give teachers more freedom, trust them more, and allow them to use their own creativity to fire up their students in the way they know they need to be.”

We need a superintendent who is going to be like Ron Clark. We need a superintendent who will encourage teachers to use their passion for teaching. In the report there was no talk of Baldrige principles. The Baldrige model, as implemented by I-SS, does not give teachers the freedom and trust that they need to be creative in their classrooms.

Click on the link below to access the CNN report.

Ron Clark Academy

Strategic Plan Survey Available Again

I checked the I-SS web site and noticed that the Strategic Plan Survey is live once again. As I did in a previous post, I am recommending that everyone take the time to complete the survey. We are being asked for our feedback on the goals that will determine the direction of the School System for the next year. You may not feel that surveys are important but the survey was mentioned at last week's Committee of the Whole meeting and at this week's Board Meeting. The administration needs to hear from students, parents, teachers, and others. Otherwise it will continue to be business as usual. The administration likes to cite data so let's give them some real data that reflects the wishes of everyone interested in the quality of our schools. Click on the link below to access the survey.

Click Here

Where Is The Humanity?

One of the items discussed at the public meeting with Mr. Johnson was that fact that as the I-SS implemented its version of the Baldrige Plan there was a decrease of humanity in our schools. For example, it was mentioned that since administrators had to spend so much time dealing with all of the Baldrige requirements that they did not have the time to get to know the students as well as they have been able to get to know them in the past. It was also stated that at one school, there were a number of students who identified one of the teachers as the principal.

I recently received an e-mail from a teacher who talked about the importance of the human element. The teacher has told me that I may share the contents of the e-mail with the readers of this blog. I am including the message here.

Hi Mr. Klaene.

Someone at my school made a comment. I believe it holds a lot of truth and is worth sharing.

She said,

"When we began using the terminology "stakeholders and customers" to refer to our parents, teachers, and students, the heart and humanistic characteristics of teaching and learning died."

I thought the comment was profound. These titles are cold and impersonal- which is much like the atmosphere in our schools and classrooms. The words "stakeholder and customers" have slowly but surely sent the clear message that education has joined the corporate world - where lives get shattered because of numbers, and possibilities for individuality and enrichment are stifled at the hands of those in control. Now our education system is diseased by this business mentally.

Someone should mention to our school board and our administration that words are powerful - we would like to be acknowledged again as the humans we are. We can be customers at the Wal-Mart when we purchase a broken, mechanical item. But in school, please let us be teachers. Let us be students. Let us be parents. Let us be a community. Recognize us as givers and seekers of knowledge. That just may be a huge step toward improving morale.

I-SS Teacher

I-SS Administrators Get Raises - Teachers Get More Headaches

The following is Janey Munday's letter to the editor that was published in today's Record and Landmark under the heading above. She also sent the letter to each of the members of the School Board.

As a concerned taxpayer of Iredell County, I am writing to you with concern about the raises that certain administrative personnel received. During this difficult economic time when everyone is being asked to do more for less, I feel that it is a slap in the face of our dedicated teachers when raises are given at the central office. Teachers in grades 4-12 are being told that their class size will increase and that TA's will not be available to help. Not only will these teachers have more students to teach, but will have an increase in paperwork, phone calls to parents, and discipline issues to deal with. Unfortunately, they are not being given a raise of any sort to compensate for the extra work that will now be put on them.

Central office staff who are asked to do more should be held to the same standards as the teachers. If they don't feel that they can do their job without more money, then I am sure that there are plenty of people in the unemployment line who would be more than happy to give their jobs a try. With or without these people, school will go on and learning will take place. The same cannot be said about teachers.

Sincerely,

Janey Munday

I-SS Welcome Back Video

Do you want to see the I-SS video welcoming everyone back to school? It is available on the I-SS web site. Click on the following link to view the video.

NEW VIDEO: Welcome Back to School

Note: The video has been removed from this post. I have been asked not to use items from the I-SS web site but rather to place links to the site.

I also hope that all students, teachers, teacher assistants and other I-SS employees have a good school year.

Report on the Committee of the Whole Meeting

I attended the Committee of the Whole meeting this evening. Even though Dr. Holliday had previously stated that he would be at the meeting he was not. I guess he left the building right after the reception in his honor. Mr. Johnson was there to take over the duties of the superintendent. The meeting started with a presentation from a couple of students who participated in the AIG Summer Camp. They showed a video they made while at the camp. This was followed with a presentation by the principals of each of the middle schools. They each spoke of some of the student successes that occurred during the last year. There were a number of positive achievements at each school.

There was some talk about this year’s budget but without a finalized budget from the State there was still a lot to be resolved. Please see my previous post about the NC budget.

The rest of the meeting dealt with a number of routine matters such as updates on current and upcoming building projects. Dale Ellis gave his personnel report. He mentioned there were some transfers and retirements but mostly referred to the information that was given to the Board members and did not mention specifics. Mr. Johnson talked about a proposed change to the school policy relating to the destruction of EC records stating that it would make it clearer how such records were to be handled. He also spoke of a proposed change to the school’s attendance policy that would allow parents to submit a child’s absence excuse on line using the school’s web site. It all ended with the Board going into a closed session.

Committee of the Whole Meeting

The starting time for the Monday's Committee of the Whole Meeting has been changed. The meeting is now scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the ADR Education Center. As I mentioned in a previous post, I encourage all concerned citizens to attend this meeting. Don't worry about wearing red, white, and blue, but please take the time to show the School Board that we want all I-SS teachers to be free to use any educational method that enables students to excel.

Dr. Holliday's Other Blog

Many people are familiar with Dr. Holliday’s blog that is available on the I-SS web site but while searching on the Internet I happened to find another blog written by Dr. Holliday. This blog is hosted on the American Society for Quality (ASQ). I want to thank the person who referenced the ASQ web site in a comment to my blog post Baldrige Award, Bought and Paid For. That person was relating a comment about Baldrige that was part of one of the discussion boards on the ASQ site. That led me to Dr. Holliday’s blog, which is on a different part of the ASQ web site. Here is a link to Dr. Holliday’s ASQ blog.

Leadership in Continuous Improvement

Dr. Holliday’s first post on his ASQ blog is dated September 17, 2008. In that post Dr. Holliday makes the following statement.

First of all, let me be clear. Iredell-Statesville Schools is a Baldrige district. We have been recognized at the state level with awards and at the national level through Baldrige National site visits. Recently we were notified that we would receive a site visit toward the end of October. I will blog about our experience with state and national site visits.

In a post dated, February 4, 2009, Dr. Holliday makes the following statement.

I am always amazed at educators. We are always looking for the silver bullet. What I know to be reality is that there are no silver bullets. If you want to improve education, you must improve the teaching and learning process that creates the results for student achievement. I watch as many school systems are always launching a new initiative. I see some new curriculum. A new on-line assessment system. A one-to-one lap project. A new software program. Incentive pay programs. The list is mindless and very expensive. But most of all, in the end, how does anyone really know whether something worked or it did not work.

These seem like two very contradictory statements. First, Dr. Holliday emphasizes his Baldrige initiative as if it was the silver bullet and then he turns around and says there are no silver bullets in education. If there are no silver bullets in education, why did Dr. Holliday force I-SS to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to implement the Baldrige plan? Why did Dr. Holliday force all I-SS employees to march in goose-step to his dictates? Why was it always his way or the highway? Or perhaps, do you think that Dr. Holliday is starting to see the errors of his way? I don’t think so. Dr. Holliday’s ego seems to be too big for him to ever admit he was wrong.

We will all have to remain vigilant as I-SS goes forward without Dr. Holliday. We have to make sure that the Baldrige bullet is safely discarded before it does any more harm. I-SS has to find a new focus and that focus must be on the students. As I have mentioned before, I do think we will see some changes once Brady Johnson officially takes on the role of interim superintendent. However, as has been mentioned in some of the comments to other posts on this blog, Brenda Clark seems to be intent on keeping things as they are now and Mrs. Holliday may continue in her administrative position. As I, and others, have mentioned before, we cannot let our guard down. The contact information for each School Board member is in a previous post on this blog. Call, write, or e-mail the Board members and let them know that we want a school system that values all of its employees and one that enables each student to excel.

Record and Landmark Editorial

The following is taken from the editorial titled I-SS Making Strides that was printed in Thursday's edition of the Statesville Record & Landmark. Unfortunately it is not available on the paper's web site.

The article starts with the statements:

Iredell-Statesville Schools officials aren't completely satisfied with the district's showing in the Adequate Yearly Progress report for 2008-09.

That's the right and politically correct thing to say, but the results - combined with rising SAT scores and graduation rates - provide another sign that I-SS is moving in the right direction.

The article then ends with the following statement:

Parents, teachers, and taxpayers should expect Mr. Johnson and other top administrators to continue on the course set by Dr. Holliday until the school board advises otherwise.

Yes, I-SS has had a number of successes over the last few years, but as has been pointed out in this blog, many of those successes have been in spite of Dr. Holliday's initiatives rather than because of them. As the records have shown, Dr. Holliday has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer's dollars to implement his version of the Baldrige plan. A plan that has alienated many students, parents, teachers, teacher assistants, and other Iredell Citizens.

As many people have commented on this blog, Mr. Johnson is known to be an honest and professional man who has the student's best interests at heart. I personally hope that Mr. Johnson is given the freedom to change the focus of the administration away from the superintendent and toward the students.

I suggest that we thank Mr. Johnson for agreeing to take the interim position and offer him our support.

My e-mail to the Board Members

I-SS Board Members

I know that the task ahead of you to find an interim superintendent and a permanent superintendent will not be an easy one. I am asking that you approach this as you have with other tasks, and that is with the best interest of the students in mind. In addition, I am asking you to make this process as open as possible. Students, parents, I-SS employees, and the citizens of Iredell County should all be allowed to participate in the selection of the interim superintendent as well as the permanent superintendent.

All I-SS students and employees have to be given the opportunities and the support needed to achieve true success. This can only be done in an atmosphere of encouragement, transparency and accountability. We must find a superintendent who not only brings a different approach to education but who is also open to the suggestions of others.

The Baldrige approach has brought some success to the school system but it also had a number of disadvantages. First, it forced teachers to instruct all students with the same methodology. Students are not cogs on an assembly line. Teachers have to be free to find an approach that works for the students in their classes. Second, there was no openness to other ideas. Teachers were discouraged from trying different approaches. Teachers were discouraged from going to conferences and meetings in their subject areas. This led to frustration for the teachers and for the students. Lastly, there were thousands of I-SS dollars spent to implement and maintain the Baldrige plan. This money was taken from other programs and initiatives that could have benefitted the students. Thousands of other schools have achieved great successes without using the Baldrige plan and I-SS can do so as well.

Paul E. Klaene

Share The Good News

Many of us have been trying to point out some of the things that Dr. Holliday and his buddies are doing that are detrimental to the Iredell-Statesville School System. We know, as others have stated, that there are a lot of good things going on in the schools. I am asking everyone to take a moment and share some good news about the schools and about the students. Perhaps your child had an excellent teacher last year, maybe you know of a student who took some time to help another student, or possibly there was a school custodian who took on extra tasks that he or she was not required to do. I am sure that there are many good stories that could be shared with everyone. Please leave a comment that tells of your good school experiences.

Meeting Report

Tuesday night's meeting was great. As with the first meeting, there was a limited turnout. It has been brought to our attention that people are not aware of the group. However, there were mostly new faces with new information and new energy. It has become obvious that there are many people who are not only unhappy with issues in ISS, but who are also willing to use their time and resources to bring change for the benefit of our children and teachers.

The cumulative amount of documented information of issues that have become available as a result of concerned citizen input has been amazing.

Public support of our teachers has been identified as one of the top concerns of citizens. The teachers are the ones who spend time with our children. They know best what our children need. They have been educated as teachers and know how to do their job. Unfortunately they are being bogged down with testing, assessments and data gathering. And it appears that, regardless of Holliday’s “open door policy” their opinion is not wanted unless it supports the administrations agenda. The teachers are afraid to speak out and we are in the process of finding the best way to eliminate that problem. We want to hear from our teachers.

ISS officials continue to work numbers to support their own agenda. They are supported as well by outside factors for reasons unbeknownst to me.

Last night a fellow gave the dates and particulars about a poll that ran in the Record and Landmark. The information they were gathering was public opinion towards the Baldrige program. The results from these polls usually appear in the Record and Landmark, however the results from this particular poll never did. He gave a call to the Record and Landmark and was given the results over the telephone. If I remember correctly, there were less than 50 people in support of Baldrige and over 700 against.

In my opinion, the R&L no longer reports the news, but rather supports their position through one-sided commentaries. This information given by the gentleman last night about the poll supports my opinion and also my opinion that the R&L places Holliday on a pedestal.

Another concern that has been repeatedly expressed by citizens is that the ISS Board of Education seems to give Holliday whatever he wants in recent years. It has been brought up that next year will give us the opportunity to replace some of the people on the board. Also, a new law comes into effect December 1, 2009. SECTION 1. G.S. 14-230 makes it a misdemeanor for a school board member to willfully omit, neglect or refuse to discharge any of the duties of his office. Violation will result in indictment and removal from office. This will make it tough for many of our representatives on the school board since they consistently ignore school board policy.

The end of a dictatorship in our school system appears to be in sight. There is still much dedication and hard work that must be done. Parents who have tried to address issues within the school system know that being stone-walled is a commonplace school system tactic. The efforts of a concerned citizens group certainly will not be met with open arms either.

The date of the next meeting will be posted on the ISS Report as soon as we determine the location. The date is tentatively set for Tuesday July 7, from 7 pm. To 9 pm.

This post was written by Larry Coover.

Look at what is important.

Coming from Michigan I have seen a lot of heartache but I am amazed at what the state and counties are doing here. Last year most people at the central office were given outrageous raises (a raise of more than I make in a year). Then they turn around and say how they do not have the money to educate the children of this county. What is going to happen is that parents will see the lack of support to schools and their child’s education and want to go somewhere else. Money is thrown around at pointless positions that really do not help better the teachers or students. Stop providing people on the top of the chain so much because honestly, they are just passing their jobs on to someone else. A $35,000 raise in one year is unbelievable when you are talking about cutting teaching jobs. Most teachers only receive a $600 to $1000 raise a year. I do not even make $35,000 in a year, and that is how much administrators get as a yearly raise. Who are we truly helping with that? Making $80,000 in a year working for the school system is very well paid. Even a teacher who is in the classroom teaching the students and preparing these students to be our future will not see that kind of pay EVER. This is showing schools and parents that their children are less important then the head office, when truly we should be finding out ways to help the students be prepared for the real world. Completing a weekly PDSA and taking time out day after day to graph data is just taking away from instructional time which has already been cut. We wonder why we are so underperforming compared to other states: this is why. The Central Office treats the people that really make a difference with little respect and expect them to do better with less time, materials, and pay, yet more responsibilities and bigger classes. I have seen teachers making schedules, counseling students, buying their own materials to enhance teaching and all they are told is that they are not doing enough. Look above the teachers and determine what is truly important to this county. Do we want our students to be able to compete in a growing world where more education is becoming a necessity? If so, we are not showing them or preparing them for what they truly need. Really look at what is important before you look at the bottom of the totem pole. If it were not for the teachers no student would be successful. I cannot tell you the last time a student said someone at the head office taught him or her to be successful and prepared for the future.

This post was written by a concerned parent.