And while we wait...

I was surprised by the turnout at today's fairness hearing. I know some were not able to get away from work and others were tied up with other things. I made it there just before the Judge entered the room but not soon enough to get on the list to speak in minor opposition to certain aspects of the proposal. Mrs. Nicole Edler presented in my opinion some very compelling reasons for CHOICE among Magnet Schools in Jefferson Parish and hopefully this, along with all the letters and emails from some of you, has given Judge Kurt Engelhardt some cause to pause in ruling in complete favor of the proposal. This is what I would have said today:

A lot has happened in the 21 months since we began a campaign to see a fair and equitable Jefferson parish school desegregation plan be delivered by the school board attorneys to the plaintiff, Mrs. Lena Dandridge - Houston. My daughter got a puppy, my son his driver's license, I lost more hair and made new friends. I put a fence around my house and was offered to work with a demolition contractor. I participated in my Fraternity's playground restoration projects and brought to families hope and joy where there was little during the holiday season. My daughter earned awards in chess and music, my son a college scholarship. I taught children respect for themselves and their elders and how to analyze and annotate DNA sequences. I acquired equipment for my university for teaching and research and have recommended some research programs for funding and some for resubmission. I attended the funerals of family and family friends and recommended students for admission into college and professional schools. I watched children become inspired by proteins in 3-D and cheered and supported participants in a run/walk to cure cancer. I attended birthday parties, honorary celebrations with celebrities and supported political candidates who were successful and some who were not.

A lot has happened in the 21 months since we began a campaign to see a fair and equitable Jefferson parish school desegregation plan be delivered...none of which would have happened if I were not allowed to CHOOSE to cross the Mississippi River!

Let's pray for a fair and equitable decision by Judge Engelhardt for all involved...soon.

IMO...The New Plan

Yes, disruption of the progress of children in a stable working environment is not good. The right thing to do, since change is inevitable, is to effect the fewest number of children. As for the concerns at Hazel Park, Mrs. Kovack and Mr. St. Pierre have taken the right approach by giving students and parent at Hazel Park the opportunity to continue through their programs while making this transition to a Magnet School. In this way no children are adversely effected. Demanding high achievement will only foster greater success among our children and benefit the community overall in many positive ways.

Pass it on...

This may be our last opportunity:

Public Hearing On Proposed Plan For Schools for Advanced Study

The Jefferson Parish School Board will hold a special meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at the School Board Room at Bonnabel High School to conduct a public hearing on the Proposed Plan for Schools for Advanced Study prepared pursuant to paragraph 6 of the Consent Order in Lena Vern Dandridge, et al, vs. Jefferson Parish School Board, United States District Court N. 14-801.

Equality in magnet schools

Being as both of my children attend Metaire Academy, I was excited to hear at the co-op meeting that Julie Quinn has managed to get the Legislature to approve a $40,000 grant for the playground. My kids play on this playground every weekday, so this benefits my family directly.

I did stop to think about Gretna Academy and Ruppel, which were in Superintendent Diane Rousell's plan to function as the two elementary magnet schools on the westbank, and presumably still will be when she submits her new revised plan for a board vote at the October school board meeting. My thoughts revolved around whether either of these schools received such funding for their own playgrounds.

It is possible they have, and the news just hasn't hit the information pipeline yet. Or they might have received such funding for other programs MAAS already has, or for necessities they may lack. I just wonder if these westbank schools have a friend in Baton Rouge as Metairie Academy does, and if not, how do they get one? A Julie Quinn doesn't come along every day, particularly for the westbank parents who are stuck with ever half-baked idea the board comes up with.

The school board will ultimately get to pass every motion they wish regardless of whether parents agree or not, because we have no voice and we have no vote when it comes to the board's tiresome motions. The magnet school parents are pretty insignificant in numbers; the district parents, however, are plentiful. While magnet school parents may not be able to change the world, or even the vote, perhaps those district parents who are dissatisfied with the schools their children have been moved to, will remember the school board's attitude when it is time to vote on something that parents can control- the school board members.

The difficult and complex process continues...

It would seem apparent that the efforts of our School Board and those of Dr. Diane Roussel in constructing a proposal to educate our children would be most productive if the lines of communication remained opened and accessible to the parents and teachers of our parishes Magnet School System. Even though there was some misunderstanding among parents during the past two months regarding the distribution of grades at the middle school and high school levels, eventually the "light" came on and now the structuring of a new Magnet School Proposal begins again.

As we recover from yet another storm all is quiet but no doubt Dr. Roussel and others have gathered the parental petitions and recommendations sent in August and are busy preparing what may be the final proposal, like it or not, for Board approval. This will likely be the plan to go before Judge Kurt Englehardt in answer to concerns for fairness in addressing the Dandridge Consent Order on the first of November. Time for vetting this issue is running out. Of course, the Board could quickly make a unilateral and final decision without community input...however, doing this has not turned out for the best so far.

Congratulation! Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies for your diligence and fortitude in the face of what could have had a crippling effect on your record of success. I certainly hope the Judge will allow my daughter and all others like mine from the Westbank of this parish to apply.

Marion

More insight from the all seeing eyes...

Schoolyard Shuffle Angers Jeff Parents!

Mr. Broach wrote a interesting article published today in the Times-Picayune.

In the spring of 2005, Jefferson Parish public school officials pulled a fast one.

With no public notice, the School Board waived its usual rules and abruptly decided to shift one of its new magnet schools, Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy, from an Elmwood office building to the campus of T.H. Harris Middle School in Metairie. Board member Martin Marino touted the move as a good way to accommodate the growing enrollment at the science school and make use of extra space at Harris, which, coincidentally, is in his School Board district.

Parents had other ideas. Shut out of the decision-making, scores of them just as abruptly erected a wall of opposition. Within three weeks, the School Board backed off and, for the time being, left the science school in Elmwood.

You might think the School Board, supposedly a bunch of astute politicians, would have learned its lesson. Yet board members have been at it again in recent weeks, trying to shift classes -- even entire student bodies -- at three more East Jefferson schools. In the process, they again have unwittingly illustrated the natural growing pains of trying to improve public education and the hazards -- easily foreseeable -- of altering schools without first soliciting public opinion.

Any fundamental change is difficult. Jefferson began discovering this in 2003 when the School Board hired Diane Roussel as superintendent with a promise to improve public education in a parish where it had stagnated for years. Along the way, the creation of magnet schools has proven to be enormously complex and fraught with controversy.

But some of the growing pains are of the School Board's own making. Such as making major changes without testing the political waters first.

A reasonable case can be made for closing Riverdale High School and dispersing its dwindling enrollment among other conventional high schools on the east bank of Jefferson Parish. High school classes, and the eighth grade, for the top-achieving east bank students could then be moved to Riverdale's campus from their current home at Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies, where Old Metairie neighbors are wary of growing enrollment. Haynes would remain a magnet middle school and take on the fifth grade now housed at Metairie Academy for Advanced Studies.

But in endorsing those moves last month, the School Board failed to consult with its constituents.

Had school officials held parent and community meetings on the proposal and made some adjustments based on the input, chances are they would have won some support and spared themselves much of the current controversy. Parents like to know what the plans are for their children's education. Some might even have suggestions. Nowhere is that more apparent than with magnet schools, which have a way of engaging parents like no other public schools.

But the Jefferson School Board didn't do this, and only now is the school system starting to hold community meetings.

Roussel can't be blamed for the misstep. Her job is executive: to run the school system and, with broad direction from the School Board, try to improve it. It's the job of board members, the elected officials, to take the pulse of the public.

More growing pains are likely as this school system lurches from mediocrity to what should be excellence in one of the richest and most populous parishes in Louisiana. Some of the pain is the inevitable result of trying something new.

But some, like moving schools wholesale across town without parental input, can be easily avoided if the School Board would do its job right.

. . . . . . .

Drew Broach is the East Jefferson bureau chief. E-mail dbroach@timespicayune.com or call (504) 883-7059.

Sometimes its good to know you are not crazy. What do you think?

Jeff Parish School Board gathering momentum for "Reconstruction"?

I was fortunate to attend the JPSB meeting Wednesday afternoon, August 13th, 2008. It was a more pleasant experience than past meetings I attended. The meeting moved smoothly through agenda items and the board members (for the most part) made their points quickly. This allowed for parents and representatives from Riverdale High School, Haynes and Metairie Academy's the opportunity to express in the assembly their feelings and analysis of the JPSB Plans to restructure these and other schools in the parish.

It seemed that many of these parents are beginning to realize the consequences of the Dandridge consent order which itself is a consequence of segregation in Jefferson Parish. My heart goes out to these parents. I only hope this realization inspires discussion within these families about the deterioration of the culture and atmosphere in the South after Reconstruction. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

I'm sure we appreciate the superintendent encouraging input from parents through the Magnet School Survey. One would hope that this course of action would have been taken regardless of the Federal Court's oversight. I thought my responses to the survey might have a different perspective than most so I've included them below now that the deadline for submission has passed.

A curious observation before the meeting began today...did we PRAY? Hummm...those were the days.

Academically Advanced Magnet School Plan Survey..my responses…

Staffing:

I think the superintendent and her staff are best to know how to distribute staff. I find the teachers at my school committed and concerned for the development of their children. As a teacher I know commitment weighs more than certification because it is a selfless and often thankless job. Few certificates measure a teacher’s level of commitment.

Grade Configuration:

I think the grade configuration is typical. I was in an elementary school which housed 1st through 8th grades. My high school began with 9th. There is nothing wrong with the division proposed. It however creates a greater demand for facilities to house these different divisions. I’d prefer one school for elementary (K-8) and a second for high school (9-12) typically fed by the elementary.

Curriculum:

Communication is key, but also a common curriculum will insure that all students have the opportunity to adequately prepare for their next level of education. There are means that I shared with my principal that allow administrators and teachers to communicate with each other in real time with little effort and at very low cost over the Internet. With gas and traffic the way it is this I think is a wonderful way to build community within the school system to the benefit of all the children in the parish. Technology is scary to many but this type of transition is happening and our children need to know it exists and how to use it responsibly.

Principals:

There is little comment to be made about this. I am experienced with only one principal and have been very pleased.

Sports:

It is good that the children’s eligibility and accumulated service hours not be affected by this transition. I hope this applies as well to all competitions, i.e. academic games, debate, honor societies, music.

Names of Schools:

- East Bank High School
- West Bank High School

I think naming schools would be a nice competition for the students who will have to attend these schools.

Additional Comments:

Everyone is aware, though I have heard no one say emphatically, that enrollment on the Eastbank has declined for no other reason but as a result of the storm. The recovered enrollment now reflects people who were able to return, rebuild and reestablish themselves in their homes and businesses. Good timing on the part of the plaintiff in the consent order in exposing the desegregation order when the demographics in all of New Orleans now resembling the 1970s. I know the consent order is justified and the JPSB plan is warranted. I am a product of segregation. I know it is meant to be punitive so not everyone will like it. I think that under the circumstances today we have a great opportunity to advance our educational performance in Jefferson Parish, provide opportunities to some (not all) who would not have had it, and certainly become a role model for large, racially and economically diverse communities around the country. I just want these efforts to impact our children’s education in as small a measure as possible.

In order for teachers to be effective and students to be served I think it is very important to keep the class sizes at their lowest possible levels. If the proposed configuration will increase the number of sections housed at each grade level and the student/teacher ratio is maintained at 20/1 then this is in the best interest of our students. Presently, a class size over 30 is UNACCEPTABLE. I know this transition may result in disruptions, but the proposal for the 2009-2010 school year should not require any class to be above the maximum number of students allowed.

I know resources and personnel are strained, as is funding. This is always the case. Let’s make a strong effort to keep the numbers low, and if necessary, turning students away only as a last resort.

Dr. Roussel, you have a very difficult task in managing students as well as parents and guardians who have little time or inclination to participate in the adequate education of their children. This effectively makes it more difficult for those of us who know education is vital to our children’s survival and are daily engaged in their success in school. I pray you stay vigilant and leave a legacy for your successor to build upon. I pray also that my colleagues and I whose perspective may differ, will find a willing and caring heart not only for our own children’s well-being but also for the children who desire to share in the benefits of a free education in the 21st century.