Owens brings fresh air - Save the date: Sept. 23rd

Direct from the 9-R Website

The Durango School District website is running a very exciting announcement. Who wouldn't come be part of such an event? Thank you, Dr. Owen and staff for a bold invitation. This community is ready!

"Public education is trapped in a pattern of conflicting demands and difficult dilemmas that cannot be overcome by reforming unworkable systems. Only through a radically new approach of creating complete strategic systems can educational leaders create and maintain a system of learning that is worthy of all our students. On September 23rd, 2008, teachers, parents, students, and the community are all invited to a basic Strategic Planning Awareness Session to introduce our district to the Strategic Planning Process.

We will be exploring the need for change, discussing planning philosophies and the process of Strategic Planning and the most effective method of implementation. The Strategic Design allows for school districts and communities to facilitate their own plans, to extend the process throughout the schools, and to sustain continuous creation.

To develop this strategic plan, the school district needs parents, students, and community leaders as a whole to be involved; in other words, we need public input to be successful.

At this time, an evening session is planned for the community beginning at 6 p.m. on September 23. For more information, please contact the Public Information Office at 247-5411, ext 1440."

Day One: New beginnings

Welcome to Durango, Mr. Owen!

We applaud your choice to relocate your family and your life's work to our energetic and vibrant community. We hope you will quickly discover how many ordinary citizens here with extraordinary talents hold a desire to contribute to the public education system.

Most people would give their eyeteeth to participate in a robust civic life, if they could first envision one, and then see their way in. Democracy comes alive when "official leaders" welcome the "unofficial and ordinary leaders" all around them. It makes a huge difference to share the heavy lifting - a privilege and a responsibility that comes with the territory of democracy.

This community looks forward to working with you on behalf of the next generation and their collective future.

"Good leadership is not a matter of getting everyone to follow you. Good leadership is helping the group or community make the best out of each individual's contribution. A good leader organizes or catalyzes a partnership of thought and action that cultivates and harvests each member's unique contribution for collective understanding and success. The best leaders are like the best teachers and parents: They enable their groups to independently nurture and utilize their wisdom and resources."

Tom Atlee, “Deep Democracy and Community Wisdom“

9-R Budget Hearing came and went

There's a lot happening right at the end of the year and as usual, attendance at 9-R's budget hearing was sparse. Three people testified on June 10 - Mimi Thurston, Vickie Gallegos and Bliss Bruen. It's a $39 million budget. Surely more attention should be paid.

The 9-R website still isn't terribly user friendly but to hear testimony and download the budget summary - a very thin document given what $39 million looks like - first find Board Docs
Choose "Enter Public Site" - find June 10th and go to "Hearing."

Next Tuesday night, June 24, the board has to approve the 2008-09 budget. Billed as "preliminary," it typically changes very little between June and October when the final "count" of students is taken.

Now is the time to speak up, if you have any thoughts at all about how you'd like to see $39 million spent.

While the board president a few years ago described it as a "moral document," 9-R consistently keeps budget information and budget hearings under the radar. We remarked that they made no mention on their website, nor any Education Brief and thus should not have been surprised to find almost no one in attendance. This is in contrast to the City of Durango which had a full house at its last budget hearing. Kudos to them.

The new superintendent plans to involve the community in creating a strategic plan which will allow for much more insight (and oversight). You should be interested to know that the District plans to place a mill levy or bond on the 2009 ballot. Before going to the voters, the board must demonstrate it has thoroughly explored other alternatives. That was the tone of the public's contributions and to their credit the board was attentive. They were working with the same slim documents available on the website.

RE: questions asked: superintendent's reference to "declining grants" in her introduction was explained as costs going up and grants staying steady - then why state it that way? Are we getting the whole story about federal grants? Word around town says 9-R is required to pay back funds resulting from mistakes of past years. It's much better to come clean, if that's the case. Again, voters increasingly demand transparency and tend to understand when honest mistakes are acknowledged.

9-R's expanded afterschool program, Kids Kamp's financial challenges - the superintendent says overruns will be taken care of by raising fees and better collecting from parents. The suggestion for a conversation about getting more partners and support... whether it might not be worthy of some level of subsidy was ignored in her response. Given that afterschool care was suddenly thrust on parents last year with the Friday early release time, this isn't just "babysitting." And it's been a huge task to get up and running.

Big news in the budget narrative is that we are getting a second high school -via the transformation of Durango Academy into a "Big Picture School" in 2009 ... as an alternative "at-risk" school. When did we get to discuss this? But more important, if the board approves the budget as presented what commitment does this mean they are making for Durango Academy as it moves into its third and fourth years? Tracking the money of the past two years at some $600,000 a year, what should we expect in 2009? Will there be minimums set for the number of students served? Most important, why this model and not another? We've waited a long time for a second high school and a community process might well have found support for an entirely different model.
The budget approval is the first step in launching this new entity. There are questions still to be answered about this and also about whether sufficient resources are being allocated for DHS to succeed as it creates four new schools within its school. For more on that read June 8 story in The Oregonian: "After four years, Portland and Hillsboro academies find no more progress than the big high schools they replaced"
The task of creating small schools inside a big large school may have its own problems.

Last chance for public comment is next Tuesday, June 24, at 5:30 p.m. at the Adminstration Building on 12th Street, across the street from the Durango Public Library. Walk up the steps and board room is straight ahead.

Welcome, Dr. Owen

Wonderful news: Dr. Keith Owen has accepted the offer from our Durango School Board to become our new Durango School District superintendent effective July 1st.

Congratulations are in order for him and appreciation for the board members and their steadfast commitment to including the public in the search process.

Dr. Owen was well received at the recent public forum for his fresh ideas and abundant energy, his leadership as an elementary school principal and developer of a remarkable reading program, and most recently, as Chief Academic Officer for the Pueblo School District.

Read more at the Durango School District website.

Are the stars aligned for a community conversation?

Could the flap about “honors robes” be the spark that finally gets us talking? Perhaps, but only if district dynamics change. Is that likely? Well, for one thing, whoever becomes 9-R Superintendent July 1 will be charged with opening up some doors. "How would you go about restoring trust?" has been the central question posed to every candidate.

What if we were to get ahead of the curve and start now instead of waiting for the next leader to save us?

What if we were to step back, hold our thoughts, and give Principal Lashinsky a decent chance to be heard? While she is almost certain to reinstate the honor robes, let's not miss an opportunity to get to the heart of a larger picture. This is an opening to hear more about the paths of all our children on their way to graduation.

Let’s hope negotiations with Dr. Keith Owens succeed. Owens achieved spectacular results as an elementary principal in Pueblo. Stressed with that community's far more challenging obstacles, Owens appears to have helped all sides meet around a table for public talk. It sounds like the real thing. As a result, Pueblo developed a new strategic plan - with goals that required big changes in district structure. Asked at our public forum what had needed to be sacrificed for Pueblo's big changes, Owens replied they'd had to “sacrifice a system designed to reward adults with one designed to benefit children.” If Owens is hired, we can expect changes, including a fresh look at Policy Governance. Hopefully, that will translate into more democratic arrangements for all of us.

If we can count on change coming, why not help jump start it now?

First, let's agree: Principal Lashinsky has inherited a challenging civic environment, not of her own making.

Second, let's catch our breath, hold our thoughts, and give her a chance! Rushing to judgment before she makes her case is hardly fair. She will address voices of disappointment and frustration. She has to, because she needs our support for the full plate we've given her. Implementing DHS's small learning communities next year is not going to be a piece of cake.

With letters from more than just the parents of honor students, clearly, Lashinsky's decision has hit a nerve. This is about more than graduation traditions for top academic achievers. This is our town's take on the larger question of an American culture becoming increasingly anti-intellectual.

What do we have to lose? We can always go back to being really mad, but alternatively, we might end up with a much clearer picture of who we are and what we are willing to contribute.

Links:
April 24, 2008 9-R Looks at Grading System
April 17, 2008 Honor robes out for graduation
Students with perfect GPAs protest principal’s decision

Dear (9-R?) Anonymous

Interesting data from yet another "anonymous" yesterday, suitable for "9-R E-Notes" but off topic here, where no one has been discussing graduation rates. Comments here focus on the persistent 9-R leadership problem once again growing acute - all prompted by Herald coverage of Mary Barter's recent actions to reprimand a 9-R Board member who, yes, is outspoken and yes, "rough around the edges" - by his own admission. However, that doesn't give anyone a green light to intentionally manipulate a situation to discredit him, does it?

Unfortunately for all of us, Barter's apparent "rush to judgment" could be interpreted as an opportunity to publicly confirm some unsubstantiated rumors that she reportedly leaked to key community leaders in 2005 -rumors that have been recirculating since November when Lynch joined the School Board. What's most unfair about rumors is the way they put someone in the position of being assumed guilty until proven innocent. In that context, the board's vote to pull the discussion item about Mr. Lynch's "behavior" from Tuesday's agenda should raise eyebrows. (The agenda item's language was posted verbatim in comments a few days ago here)

What prompted the board to table the discussion last Tuesday? Only one member voted to keep the discussion on track. She was right to do so. An open discussion at that time would have provided the transparency needed for all concerned, (board, public, parents) to know what's been going on. Given that it might have led to Mr. Lynch's vindication, why was it tabled? Did the arrival of last minute information contradict Mary Barter's version of the truth? Is it possible that Barter could knowingly have misled the board about the supposed "disruptive conduct" at DHS. Lynch has made himself an easy target with his atypical board demeanor – a far cry from what some once described as the “clubby congeniality" that led board members to defer to the Superintendent Barter as their “eighth board member.”

But things have actually been different with 9-R's new board. They do speak up from time to time. Not as often as some would like, but questions of substance and concern have been asked that would never have seen daylight in the past. Last year, some key board members paid a price for pushing the envelope by persisting in getting unfiltered information about the culture at Durango High School. (Recall FOIA requests by media and community to access that information one year ago? Things went to hell in a handbasket pretty quickly in the confusion that resulted.) The air has never cleared. On March 2, commenting on the difficulties of the current search process, a Herald editorial noted that "deep divisions" within 9-R persist, exacerbated by "a culture of secrecy."

The board is again working in less than ideal circumstances. They did not invent this culture - they inherited it - but now they are the only ones who can change it. More than a few people are upset about Superintendent Barter reprimanding an elected official. Can anyone envision City Manager LeBlanc issuing a "reprimand" and threatening legal action against a City Councilor? More likely, wouldn't he or any other local leader first initiate a conversation with the full Council? Who's ultimately in charge of the way 9-R is run?

What is particularly disturbing is the pattern in which Mr. Lynch's actions again seem to have been blown out of proportion. For what end? In 2005 the unsubstantiated rumors about Mr. Lynch's character leaked to a key community leader were later denied. But as rumors, the charges developed a life of their own. We suspect these were also used at some point to influence the Board in a private Executive Session. It is our understanding that only a judge can obtain access to the recordings of an Executive Session. Will that ultimately be necessary? We hope not. Would an apology make any difference at this stage?

Barter has stated publicly that "this is a community that thrives on word of mouth." Who are we becoming as a community, if we quietly retreat in the face of what looks very much like an abuse of power? At the least, we must raise questions and insist that the board gather all the facts, and only then make a determination based on full input, not word of mouth.

A year ago, after much public acrimony, the board committed itself to playing a more active and visible role on our behalf. We hope they will find their way now in restoring trust, transparency and openness.

What is needed is honesty in all public dealings, nothing less, as they address board and superintendent roles and behaviors. It is possible they could eventually be facing a dangerous liability situation. Whether a lawsuit results or not, a very sad situation has been allowed to develop on this superintendent's watch. For someone with the skills and savvy that our superintendent possesses, it's puzzling and troubling to witness.

So, Ms. or Mr. "anonymous" - why not request a durangoschools.org blog to discuss 9-R's phenomenal success with the achievement gap. For now, on this site, we are hungry for a community conversation about modeling of higher standards of public behavior. This latest incident with Lynch only makes changes in 9-R leadership and its relationships more urgent. With the superintendent search process in full swing, we wish the board and committee members the best!

Time to reinvent, not reform?

“The current public education system at the K–12 level is broken. Can it be fixed? No, says Tough Choices, Tough Times, it has to be replaced. This is more than a wake-up call. It is a call to arms," says Albert Simone, President, of Rochester Institute of Technology, of a controversial report that Colorado's educational professionals have been working with for over a year.

The education bill released last week that was supposedly convened in response to this report misses the mark, ignoring the fact that students are "born with different gifts, cherish different ambitions, set different goals for themselves," says local emeritus education professor Jurgen Herbst.

Two Colorado educators - Rona Wilensky in the Denver Post – and Herbst in the Durango Herald – are critiquing the new bill - known as CAP4K - for failing to deliver on the systemic changes of 'Tough Choices. ' Read Herbst's "One Size Does Not Fit All" ( Durango Herald 3/23/08)

Both educators point out that children come to school with vast differences. "There are large differences between preparing all kids for post-secondary education and preparing all kids for college classes."

Wilensky's concern is "when we raise the bar without increasing supports, we set students up for failure. If this were just another bureaucratic exercise it wouldn’t matter, but when real live students will be disenfranchised by the hyper-academic focus of the post secondary and workforce readiness program … the human costs of this misguided public policy become more apparent."

Herbst argues that not every student should be preparing for an academic higher education. He sees students not as "passive recipients of educational goods, but as curious, questioning inquirers" worthy of a system where "teachers as true educators respond to the interests of their students with imagination and enthusiasm and lead them to become imaginative, inquiring individuals."

What do you think? Is K-12 broken? If so, can it be repaired or should we be thinking "reinvention?" Is that even possible?

Look at "One Kid at a Time: Big Lessons from a Small School" if you’re interested in reinvention. Deborah Meier, educational visionary and founder of many small schools recommends it to see how “preparing young people for the 'real world' works best when it is intensely caring, relevant, community-focused, and tailored to the limitless varieties of our children's passions and concerns. "

Students and teachers from Durango's Community of Learners Charter School interviewed Deborah Meier in Boston in 1999 at her Mission Hill School, a place that could be characterized by those same words. The Durango education community is once again ripe for reinvention, and should not have to “make do” with reform.