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    Parents Concerned About Transportation and Longer School Days

    By Peter Downs

    Filed Thursday, February 23 at 10:49 PM

    by Peter Downs

    February 22, 2006 -- Superintendent Creg Williams' announcement at the St. Louis school board meeting on February 14 of a "strategic plan" for city public schools obscured another important act at the meeting: parent involvement.

    Six parents of children at Wilkinson Early Childhood Center put a hold on Valentine's Day activities to express their concerns about bus transportation and plans to stretch out the school day.

    Pamela Davis presented a statement from Wilkinson's Parent Teacher Organization on transportation (see the entire statement at www.stlschools.org). After complimenting the drivers, Davis read several proposals for improving the management of the bus system to fix such ongoing problems that threaten children's safety.

    The Wilkinson PTO recommended sending bus schedules out to parents a month before the start of school instead of just days before classes start; conduct dry runs with substitute drivers as well as regular drivers before they start their routes; make sure substitute drivers as well as regular drivers have accurate manifests before they start their runs so they aren't forgetting children or looking to get manifests from principals; stick to schedules so children are not stranded at bus stops; hire and train more courteous dispatchers to answer parents' questions and prod Laidlaw into action.

    "The ultimate customers are our precious little children. And since they are essentially powerless in these situations, we as parents are their only voice. Our priority, like yours, unequivocally, is the safety and security of our cherished cargo," Davis read from the PTO statement.

    "Parents are outraged that they currently wait on hold for upwards of 30 minutes when their child has not been picked up or dropped off. In fact, one parent who made a connection during an evening of the first week of school was furious when told most customer service staff were on vacation. . . .

    "Additional staff during peek hours allows for the opening of more phone lines to report missed or lost children and other issues associated with inclement weather."

    Deanna Anderson, head of transportation for St. Louis Public Schools, chased the parents down as they left the meeting and asked to meet with them later to discuss their concerns.

    As a result, Wilkinson's next PTO has become a citywide event, and has been moved to Mullanphy School. The meeting will be on Wednesday, March 1, at 6 p.m. Anderson, Laidlaw personnel, Director of Recruitment and Counseling Louis Kruger, and Superintendent Williams are scheduled to attend, as are school board members Bill Purdy and Veronica O'Brien. Reporters also have been invited. The meeting is open to all parents in St. Louis Public Schools. Child care will be provided for free.

    Katie Wessling, one of the six Valentine's Day parents, said: "We have gotten their attention now and we need to show that more than just six parents care about these issues. We want to pack that auditorium with parents."

    It was Wessling who read the parents' statement against a longer school day to the school board. "Many parents from a number of schools are concerned with the extension of the elementary school day," she said. "We have concerns about how this decision would affect student academics, quality of life and safety. We have come here tonight to share our concerns and the concerns of the parents who signed the provided petitions." (Read the full statement at www.stlschools.org)

    Wessling pointed out that the school day in St. Louis Public Schools is already longer than in St. Louis County school districts, and longer than the day recommended by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

    The longer day, she said, creates a "pressure cooker" at home that makes is harder to get home work done. "We believe homework would be completed more efficiently if students had more time in the evening hours and the evening wasn’t a pressure cooker of: get home, eat dinner, do homework, take a bath, go to bed," she said.

    "We feel that there should be a fair balance between school life and home for our children," she added. A longer day will interfere with the health care regimen for children with chronic diseases such as diabetes, she said, and it will isolate children from the community.

    "We have one of the top public libraries in the nation here in St. Louis, and our children cannot participate in the after school programs offered by the library because they get out of school too late. These programs begin at 3:30. [Children at magnet schools get out at 4:08] The activities of our public library should not be accessible only by children who attend private school. Go to one of these programs sometime and note how many Catholic school uniforms you see, and then try to find a child from a public school. The activities of the South City Art Studio in Tower Grove Park start at 4—we can’t do those either. Those are just two examples. We encourage our children to be involved in our community, but many of us can’t find time.

    "Adding minutes to the end of our school day will result in the loss of what is already precious little time for children and their families to spend together. We are not talking about time for homework, dinner, baths and bedtime routines, but rather "down time" where kids and their parents and siblings can play a game, read a book, or simply have a conversation together after work and school are done. Fifteen minutes of this time were already taken from us this year; the proposed plan to take more time over the next two years makes a big difference in our family life. It is important to us as parents, and it should be a high priority for this Board, that we get as much time with our children as we can, given our over scheduled and busy lives. . .

    "Another concern we have is the amount of time in these long school days our children spend sitting. Then there’s more sitting time on the bus. We have a rapidly increasing childhood obesity rate in this country. With that comes higher rates of juvenile diabetes, heart problems, and compromised health. Our children should be out playing after school while it is still daylight, not spending more and more time sitting. Dr. Williams saw a problem with the nutrition our children get at school, but the other half of the equation is the physical exercise they need. Some schools are squeezing out recess altogether in an attempt to cram in more and more instructional time. Children who have time to run and play and be healthy will be better learners, and probably will learn in less time than if they are sluggish from lack of activity. . .

    ". . . in addition to the need for family and childhood time, in addition to the fact that these children will be too tired by 4:30 in the afternoon to be absorbing useful information, the idea that our small children will be coming home in the dark makes the plan to add more minutes to the school day completely unacceptable to us as parents."

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    Let the Sun Shine

    By Peter Downs

    Filed Tuesday, February 21 at 9:42 PM

    by Peter Downs

    February 19, 2006 -- Confused, frustrated, feeling a little seasick from one quick reverse after another from the St. Louis Public Schools? The repeated backward and forward of press releases and retractions from school district headquarters after the release of the new "strategic plan" could have been avoided if the school board had simply followed the spirit of Missouri's Sunshine Law.

    On February 14, the St. Louis school board quickly approved the strategic plan without discussion and, as it turned out, without school board members knowing what was in it.

    During the prior five days, Superintendent Creg Williams and leading members of his staff had met with school board members in "small groups" in order to circumvent the Sunshine Law. Missouri law requires that any meeting of the majority of the school board, four or more members, has to be publicized at least 24 hours in advance, and it must be open to the public unless it is dealing with certain limited exceptions such as personnel matters, real estate, or a lawsuit. The strategic plan was none of those, so Williams and his staff met privately with school board members in groups of three or less.

    School board members Bill Purdy and Veronica O'Brien, together with Jim Buford, were briefed on the plan on Monday, February 13. Purdy and O'Brien said their briefing was largely devoted to school changes, such as which elementary schools would become K-8, which middle schools would become junior high schools and which would become high schools, and how school assignment patterns would change.

    School board members thought they knew what was in the plan, but Purdy and O'Brien had the wit to know that the public might have important insights to bring to the table. After school board members Bob Archibald and Ron Jackson hastily moved to approve the plan on Tuesday, Purdy moved to amend the motion to give the school board the right to amend the plan after hearing from the public. O'Brien seconded the amendment. Archibald opposed it until Williams said that he too thought it was a good idea. Archibald and Jackson then reluctantly accepted the idea of public input. It was a good thing they did.

    News outlets, which had been given copies of the strategic plan by the districts public relations office, reported on Wednesday that the strategic plan included mandatory uniforms for all students and year-round school for 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. As the protests from parents and students began flowing in, Purdy and O'Brien denied that such measures were part of the plan they voted on. Soon, denials also emanated from district headquarters. The district's web site then carried a press release touting year-round schools for grades 7-9 and mandatory uniforms, and the public relations office issued a statement denying them. Williams denied them in a press conference, too. On Thursday, school board president Darnetta Clinkscale read a statement to the 8th Ward Democratic Organization stating that year-round school for grades 7-9 was part of the plan, but when questioned about it she then denied it.

    Confusing, isn't it. It is a good thing the school board followed Purdy's and O'Brien's lead and reserved the right to revisit the plan.

    The St. Louis Teachers and School-Related Personnel Union, AFT Local 420, meanwhile gave the strategic plan a tepid endorsement and also called for taking a look at if after parents and employees had a chance to understand it and comment on it.

    In comments made to reporters at Williams' press conference on Wednesday, Local 420 vice president Byron Clemens said:

    "We are cautiously optimistic regarding Dr. William's announcement. We want to see the details. I think that parents and employees will have many concerns and questions regarding year round school, single sex schools and uniforms and the other proposals. We think it is a good idea to bring back some of the programs we already had such as ACT prep, AP courses, dual credit college course and the 9th grade academies at Roosevelt, Gateway, and Vashon before Alavrez and Marsal cut back on many of those programs.

    "We would like to recapture what this district was like before the cuts. . . The St. Louis Public Schools were lauded in 2001 for being one of the top 5 urban areas in ACT scores. Gateway was honored for being one of the top 10 New American High Schools by the U.S. Department of Education. We are pleased that Dr. Williams has listened to Local 420s suggestions and is reopening alternative schools that had been closed and reinstituting In-School-Suspension rooms. We are glad there was a friendly amendment to the plan at the Board of Education meeting inviting stakeholders like parents and employees to the table to work out the details and that we hope that it actually happens. . ."

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    Wilkinson PTO Transporation Proposal

    By Peter Downs

    Transportation Proposal Introduction:

    The St. Louis Public Schools Transportation Department lauds its mission "To provide safe and reliable transportation to all eligible students within the District, and accordingly, the Wilkinson ECC PTO congratulates the Department and Laidlaw Bus Company on what we believe you’ve achieved in carrying out that mission:

    1. Your above-average maintenance of your fleet, and
    2. Consistency in driver personnel – Our children can feel comfortable seeing a familiar and safe face as they board their buses daily.

    Maintaining this spirit of safety and reliability, the PTO would like to offer remedies to shortcomings in the transportation service we’ve experienced over the past few years, and most recently, the past year.

    A. Early Bus Route Distribution to Bus Contractors
    The Transportation system would run much smoother if the bus companies received school enrollment by mid-July. During this 05-06 school year, many parents complained of receiving bus schedules less than one week before the start of the school semester.
    Benefits
    ∑ If this occurs, the bus companies will have ample time to develop and distribute manifests to parents, schools and drivers. Parents would really appreciate this because we are able to make pick-up and drop-off arrangements for their children without losing time from work.
    ∑ When bus companies have manifests early in the year, operators have time to conduct training and dry runs with drivers so they are confident about their routes when their vehicle is full with precious little riders.

    B. Dry Runs:
    Speaking of dry runs, operators should ensure that they conduct dry runs with regular and substitute drivers before the initiation of their route.
    Benefits
    ∑ This could easily eliminate discrepancies that leave children at the stop or at the wrong school.
    ∑ Driving children on the first few days of school would be a lot smoother.
    ∑ And with all the construction going on in and around St. Louis, drivers can anticipate alternate routes in the event of detours, and remain on schedule.
    C. Timely Distribution of Manifests

    We would like to see that permanent and substitute drivers have in their possession at all times and prior to the start of their shift and on board the bus, an updated and accurate manifest.

    Regrettably, in recent months, and on a frequent basis, anxious drivers have arrived at Wilkinson seeking a copy of the bus manifest from the principal.

    Benefits
    ∑ In particular at the beginning of the school year when enrollment, transferring students and relocations are most volatile, drivers can immediately identify which children should be on their bus, thereby reducing the incidence of children being dropped off at the wrong school or wrong bus stop.
    ∑ Secondly, Substitute drivers are more confident about their route and their ability to confirm student passengers.
    D. Drivers’ Adherence to Bus Schedules:
    Your policy requires that students position themselves at their respective bus stop 10-15 minutes prior to pick-up time and as late as 10 minutes beyond pick-up time, which essentially is a 25-minute window.

    Currently, and consistently, by the mere nature of their driving patterns, drivers have caused children to miss their buss, adjust to unauthorized pick-up times or miss their bus altogether. We have testimonies of parents of children (at the beginning of the school year) who arrive at their stop early and nearly miss their bus. As a result, they wait at the stop much earlier than the 10-15 minutes to adjust to the drivers’ pattern. When there is a substitute driver, he/she adheres to the manifest, and as a result, the pre-schooler waits 20 to 30 minutes in the morning. The same goes for the parent who waits for their child in the evening.
    Benefits
    ∑ Reducing the amount of time a child waits for her bus would reduce the risk of him feeling stranded or possibly being abducted. (of course we are aware of how abductors study patterns).
    ∑ Fewer stranded children would increase school attendance – of course many parents are unable to pick up the slack when their child misses the school bus.
    ∑ The parent’s and child’s stress levels are reduced, thereby improving job performance and school performance respectively.
    ∑ And children who receive breakfast at school would do so in a timely manner and not have to sit outside a classroom to finish their meal or miss their meal altogether. (and we all know what studies show about the relation between eating breakfast and academic performance.)
    E. Improved Customer Service and Coordinated Scheduling from the Transportation Department
    In this instance, the ultimate customers are our precious little children. And since they are essentially powerless in these situations, we as parents are their only voice. Our priority, like yours, unequivocally, is the safety and security of our cherished cargo.

    Our relationship with the transportation department and the bus contractors will only be enhanced by well-trained, courteous and responsive personnel who are able to answer our questions and concerns, and spring Laidlaw into action.
    We believe customer service staff can benefit from the employment, enhanced training and utilization of additional dispatchers, especially during peek hours in the morning and afternoon. Parents are outraged that they currently wait on hold for upwards of 30 minutes when their child has not been picked up or dropped off. In fact, one parent who made a connection during an evening of the first week of school was furious when told most customer service staff were on vacation.
    Benefits
    ∑ Quality customer service training prepares staff to address most if not all parental concerns.
    ∑ Additional staff during peek hours allows for the opening of more phone lines to report missed or lost children and other issues associated with inclement weather.
    ∑ Parents and children will feel valued as the result of improved customer response.

    In conclusion, we echo your sentiments of "Safe and Reliable" transportation as outlined in your Transportation Department mission, and to that end, we implore you to consider our recommendations. We would be happy to meet with the appropriate transportation personnel to develop and support your implementation of these and other strategies.

    Respectfully Submitted,
    Wilkinson ECC PTO
    Presented to the St. Louis School Board on behalf of the Wilkinson PTO by Pamela Davis on February 14.

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    Superintendent's Strategic Plan for St. Louis Schools Restores Key Offerings Cut Off by Present Board Majority

    By Peter Downs

    Filed Monday, February 20 at 10:23 AM

    A recent wave of high-fives and hearts fluttering greeted news from Dr.Creg Williams that he was initiating some bold moves to address the age-old problem of school achievement.

    We should congratulate, commend and support Dr. Creg Williams for his leadership in reaffirming or returning successful programs that were discontinued by the board majority. Why it has taken the board majority light years to understand that “big box” high schools are basically warehouses for students is astonishing. While these elements play well in the media and seem to be new, they have been around for a long, long time.

    Programs like:

    • Voluntary school uniform policy established in 1994 will continue;

    • K-8 Schools will return;

    • Ninth grade centers like those of the years past at Beaumont, Northwest and Roosevelt will return;

    • Smaller size specialty schools will return like the old Management Center, Health Careers High, Metro, Lincoln Opportunity etc.;

    • Reconfiguration of middle and high schools to create smaller learning environments exactly like programs already at Beaumont and Roosevelt;

    • In-school suspension centers first established in the mid-70's that were discontinued will be reinstated;

    • District operated alternative schools like King Tri A for difficult students that were closed by the board majority will be reinstated;

    • Reinstated the highly successful MSIP office started by superintendent Dr. Cleveland Hammonds, Jr. and administered by Dr. Charlene Jones;

    • Extended summer school opportunities for 7th through 12th grade that existed last year;

    • Expanding single-gender academies patterned after the existing Meda P Washington School for girls and adding one for boys;

    • Leadership Academy for principals and teachers will continue;

    • Reestablishing a Professional Development Center which previously existed at the Lindenwood school site, which was closed and sold by the board majority;

    • Continuation of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs at Cleveland, Roosevelt, Soldan, Gateway High and other high schools;

    • Athletic programming will continue in the high schools and hopefully with a privately built stadium for use by city students;

    • A renewed focus on and investment in ACT preparation that was discontinued three years ago;

    • Return of the successful partnership program with St. Louis businesses to assist students in gaining access to clinical experiences, internships, and mentoring;

    • Preschool capacity will increase to include three year olds who were denied admission in 2005-2006; and the

    • Community volunteer placement system that was discontinued three years ago will be restarted.

    Most of the "bold initiatives”of the strategic plan are not new. I hope that this plan is simply not a PR election move to distract attention from other major problems that continue to cripple the system resulting from decisions made by the board majority and their battalion of highly paid con$ultants.

    During the five years before Clinkscale the district was moving upward reaching 64 points. However, since Clinkscale, the district is moving downward and at the current rate, in just two more years (3 with Clinkscale and 2 more at the current rate) the district will most certainly be unaccredited. We are now moving in the wrong direction after moving up for the five years before Clinkscale. In almost every major area of school operations, things have gone from bad to worse. Fiscal operations, building maintenance, food service, discipline, teacher morale, public trust, parental involvement, and public support----all have suffered greatly.

    I hope that these initiatives will bring about the return of the 25 accreditation points that were lost while Clinkscale and the current board majority have been in charge of the district.

    Dr. John Patrick Mahoney, Past President of the St. Louis Board of Education (1984—1986)
    Board Member (1983-2001)

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    Maybe the Problem Isn't Reading, It is Boredom

    By Peter Downs

    Much of the criticism of Open Court, etc., dwells on the fact that these approaches do not teach comprehension. As a child, I got comprehension. But reading was still a drudgery. Although I understood what I read, I hardly ever remembered any of it. Why? Because I was told to read certain things, to produce certain acceptable answers based on what I had read, to produce responses that fit specified formats (the much-dreaded book report), and had little to no personal connection to what I had read. This characterized the vast majority of my reading experience from K to grad school.

    What was missing for me was the opportunity to connect reading to my own interests and to the world. This would have made the act of reading not simply decoding and not simply regurgitating what I had read. It would have made reading more explicitly about meaning-making. In my life after my formal education, reading has become an essential and critical part of my identity. Reading literally causes me to invent and reinvent myself on a regular basis. As I read, I engage my sense of self and my sense of purpose as I encounter what I already know and don't know, what I believe and don't believe, and what I aspire to.

    Had this latter experience been part of my earlier experience as a student, who knows where I would be or who I would be now. Maybe I would have remembered more of what I had read in school. Maybe the hundreds and hundreds of dollars I invested in books I skimmed in college would have paid off. Hard to say. But what I can say for sure is that my experience was one of privilege and opportunity. I at least had the money to buy the books and was offered the opportunity to engage them, albeit in a superficial manner. For inner-city children who are "taught how to read" using a scripted program that aspires to nothing more than being able to sound out words, I can only begin to imagine how reading must occur to them. If reading was dull and meaningless to me, what is it like for them?

    Peter Campbell
    Missouri State Coordinator
    Assessment Reform Network, The National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest)
    http://www.fairtest.org/arn.htm

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    Parent Address to the School Board on the Longer School Day

    By Peter Downs

    Filed Wednesday, February 15 at 9:59 PM

    by Katie Wessling and two other members of St. Louis Parents for Kids

    Board Statement for Feb. 14th

    Thank you for hearing our concerns this evening. Many parents from a number of schools are concerned with the extension of the Elementary School day. We have concerns about how this decision would affect student academics, quality of life and safety. We have come here tonight to share our concerns and the concerns of the parents who signed the provided petitions.

    Studies have shown that children are more alert in the morning. Right now the elementary students at every magnet school except Simmons/Marshall are starting after 9 am and aren’t leaving school until after 4. This gives the teachers little of that precious morning time when the students are alert and ready to focus, and instead puts the bulk of the day in the afternoon, when the students are wearing down and are no longer as attentive as they could be. This affects homework as well; we believe homework would be completed more efficiently if students had more time in the evening hours and the evening wasn’t a pressure cooker of: get home, eat dinner, do homework, take a bath, go to bed.

    Now that the school year starts in August, in the late summer the non air-conditioned buildings will be cooler in the morning. Our children cannot learn effectively in a brick oven of a school building at 3 o’clock on an August afternoon. Even in an airconditioned building, the lethargy of a hot summer afternoon in St. Louis is not optimal learning time for our little ones.

    We have included in the packet we have provided to you the schedules of the Rockwood, Parkway, and Pattonville School Districts. The longest school day was 7 hours. No school let out later than 3:52. We contacted the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to find out what the recommended elementary school day length was and they say that 1800 minutes of instruction time each week for children in primary school is recommended. This breaks down to a 360 minute instructional time per day recommendation. The DESE recommendations are included for your convenience. St. Louis public schools already exceed these recommendations; our children are in school 420 minutes a day, even allowing 60 minutes for lunch and recess, which is not likely, we have 360 minutes for instruction. We want our students to be well educated, but not at the expense of their childhood; which leads us to our next concern—quality of life.

    We feel that there should be a fair balance between school life and home for our children. If the day is extended further into the afternoon, there are several reasons why this could adversely affect their quality of life. We’ve already mentioned the time crunch in the evening. Many of our children are not able to be picked up right after school, so those riding the bus get home even later than the others do. Their time crunch is even worse.

    Additionally, some of our children have times they must eat for health reasons, such as diabetes and acid reflux. It is much easier for a parent to adjust breakfast time than it is to readjust dinner and, accordingly, bedtime, to follow the guidelines their health care providers have set forth for them.

    A child’s quality of life also includes taking part in community activities. We have one of the top public libraries in the nation here in St. Louis, and our children cannot participate in the after school programs offered by the library because they get out of school too late. These programs begin at 3:30. The activities of our public library should not be accessible only by children who attend private school. Go to one of these programs sometime and note how many Catholic school uniforms you see, and then try to find a child from a public school. The activities of the South City Art Studio in Tower Grove Park start at 4—we can’t do those either. Those are just two examples. We encourage our children to be involved in our community, but many of us can’t find time.

    Adding minutes to the end of our school day will result in the loss of what is already precious little time for children and their families to spend together. We are not talking about time for homework, dinner, baths and bedtime routines, but rather "down time" where kids and their parents and siblings can play a game, read a book, or simply have a conversation together after work and school are done. Fifteen minutes of this time were already taken from us this year; the proposed plan to take more time over the next two years makes a big difference in our family life. It is important to us as parents, and it should be a high priority for this Board, that we get as much time with our children as we can, given our overscheduled and busy lives. Putting minutes on at the end of the school day makes it that much harder. Conversely, I know of no parent who feels that time in the morning is a good opportunity to spend quality time with their kids; it’s usually chaotic. If minutes MUST be added on, and we don’t think they should, it is in the best interest of families to make the day start earlier rather than end later.

    Another concern we have is the amount of time in these long school days our children spend sitting. Then there’s more sitting time on the bus. We have a rapidly increasing childhood obesity rate in this country. With that comes higher rates of juvenile diabetes, heart problems, and compromised health. Our children should be out playing after school while it is still daylight, not spending more and more time sitting. Dr. Williams saw a problem with the nutrition our children get at school, but the other half of the equation is the physical exercise they need. Some schools are squeezing out recess altogether in an attempt to cram in more and more instructional time. Children who have time to run and play and be healthy will be better learners, and probably will learn in less time than if they are sluggish from lack of activity.

    And finally, as important as all these other concerns are, the safety of our small children is the most important of all. If this school day is extended any longer, think how late it will be before our children get home. A child who gets on a bus at 4:08 when school lets out may not get home until 5 or after. Our principal tells us she has gotten calls from parents as late as 5:30 or 6 asking where their children are because the bus isn’t there yet. Why these buses can’t get children home in an effective manner is a separate issue and you’ll be hearing from other parents about that later, but the fact remains that they don’t, and for much of the school year a child who gets off the bus between 5 and 6 is doing so in the dark. Not all of these children have a parent waiting at the bus stop for them. Lest we forget who we are talking about here, remember that some of these children are as young as 4 years old! If the school day is lengthened, these children won’t be getting home until even later, and that increases the number of days during the year when our children are getting off these busses in the dark. This is absolutely unacceptable to us as parents.

    Even if it isn’t our child getting off at a dark bus stop, we care that any child would be required to do so. A child was hit by a car last week getting off the bus in the daylight. It is even easier for a child to be hit by a car in the dark. It is easier for a child to be abducted in the dark. It is easier for a child to get lost in the dark, for that matter, if he or she is small.

    So, in addition to the need for family and childhood time, in addition to the fact that these children will be too tired by 4:30 in the afternoon to be absorbing useful information, the idea that our small children will be coming home in the dark makes the plan to add more minutes to the school day completely unacceptable to us as parents. With all these reasons why extending the school day is not a good idea, it is clear to us that the only reason it would be done is because of fighting between the Board and the teacher’s union during the last contract negotiations. The teachers agreed to work more hours for higher wages. This was termed a "win win" situation by the Board, but the losers were our children. We hear over and over again that parental input is desired, but we were not consulted before this decision was made, and parenst certainly aren’t parties to teacher contract negotiations. We have no choice but to make our voices heard here tonight. I wrote a letter to Dr. Williams last month asking him what was going to happen regarding extending the school day, and got no response. We expect a response after this, and we expect the best interests of our children to override all others.

    1 comments


    More Bad Food, Jackson Won't Believe It

    By Peter Downs

    Filed Friday, February 10 at 10:50 PM

    by Peter Downs

    February 10, 2006 -- Aramark can't seem to get it right.

    On Wednesday, February 8, teachers reported that Aramark had tried to serve a tray of moldy apples to a self-contained classroom of special education students at Gateway Institute of Technology. The same day, Aramark tried to serve wormy oranges to students at L'Ouverture Middle School, said teachers.

    Teachers brought one of the apples and photos of the oranges to the school board candidates' forum Wednesday evening at Harris Stowe State University. One school board member refused to believe them.

    The St. Louis Public Schools have been dogged by continuous complaints about bad food, and no food at all, ever since the district outsourced its food service program to Aramark in February 2004. The very morning of the forum, a parent a called into a radio program to complain that Aramark had run out of food before feeding all the students at Cote Brilliant Elementary School on Tuesday.

    After Wednesday's forum , school board member Ron Jackson angrily accosted a female teacher in the lobby of the Emerson Auditorium. He accused her of bringing moldy fruit from her home and making up the story that it came from Aramark. The teacher was not cowed and did not back down. As the argument got more heated, John Curtis slid between the two to guide Jackson away before he lost his temper and tried to hit the lady.

    Curtis is a community member who had attended the forum. Another witness was Ralph Banks, who recalled intervening at an education forum two years ago when Jackson tried to start a fight with another critic, George Cotton. Banks said that in that incident, he held Cotton back and led him away from a confrontational Jackson.

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    Dissatisfaction Continues At Euclid and Washington Montessori Schools

    By Peter Downs

    Filed Tuesday, February 7 at 10:40 PM

    By Susan Turk and Peter Downs

    February 6, 2006 -- A group of parents gathered at Washington Montessori
    on Friday morning to express their continued
    dissatisfaction with the school. Parent Delisa
    Taylor, who has had children in the Montessori magnet
    schools for 10 years, said, "It's about us taking back
    our kids' education."

    Taylor had a long list of concerns. The new principal, Mrs. Mary Arbini,
    is not Montessori certified; there is a problem with
    rodents in the Euclid building and the administration
    won't call professional exterminators, so food cannot be
    left out in the cafeteria at lunch time.

    Discipline problems have increased since Arbini came to the school. She
    is suspending pre-schoolers and kindergartners. "That
    doesn't make sense", Taylor said. "The Montessori
    curriculum is self-disciplining. They are not using
    the Montessori curriculum. They are only using the
    Montessori name."

    Arbini also fired the school secretary without any explanation to
    parents or staff and she has not properly introduced
    herself to parents, Taylor said. She keeps all supplies
    locked up, when she is not in the building, teachers
    cannot access supplies.

    Taylor said a group of parents went downtown to talk to
    Superintendent Creg Williams and asked him to
    research the Montessori method so that he would
    understand it. He visited the school in October, but he did not talk
    to the kids or the teachers.

    Taylor's comments mirror those of Montessori parents
    who attended the Parent Assembly meeting in January.
    They said that a group of parents met with Dr.
    Williams at the school on November 30. They were emphatic that
    nothing has really changed since then to correct the
    problems they told him about.

    Parents continue to insist that Montessori teaching is simply not taking
    place. These parents were talking about pulling their
    children from the school. They said they chose
    Montessori because in the past, the teachers and the principal were
    trained in Montessori and the Montessori curriculum was actually used in classrooms.

    Parents say Open Court has displaced the Montessori approach and there has been no Montessori training in the school since 2003.
    They say it has been replaced by Open Court. Open Court and the
    Clear curriculum are for single grades, while the Montessori approach is to have three grades in a class. These parents expressed the desire to drop Open Court and Clear as incompatible with Montessori.

    The parents at the Parent Assembly meeting said that teaching assistants are a key part of the Montessori method, because so much of the method relies on hands-on and individual or small group activities. The teaching assistants were swept out of the school this year, however, as Open Court became more entrenched.

    Parents also complained that the school now lacks a speech teacher, a computer lab teacher, and a Montessori certified administrative assistant.

    Parents also said they feel unwelcome and uncomfortable at school. They said Arbini's response to their concerns has been: "Why don't you send your children to private school?"

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