If you're at the Durango Public Library and wonder what those parents carrying protest signs across the street are all about, read on. (Sorry this is so long, but it's shorter than searching the Herald.)
Mary Barter was recently quoted as saying she prefers protests to apathy. I find that interesting because I've never met an apathetic parent. The parents I know best much prefer to be engaged with each other on public work.
Those who've been protesting recently, like others in the past few years, assure me that carrying signs in order to have their concerns heard is not their idea of fun, nor of justice. People want to be heard. When they are upset, they don't want to be shut out or shut down; they believe their opinions have merit. What they all really want is for our high school to be an exciting and positive place for every student. And they're not sure DHS is as good as it could be.
It hasn't helped to be turned away recently from the board room because of new "fire safety" rulings, to be greeted with the sight of police officers, or to overhear a broadcast journalist being told that audio taping public board meetings isn't permitted. And now, with the School Board President reporting that he or someone has received threats, those police officers may be here for the long haul.
DurangoSchoolTalk formed a few years ago because people were upset and felt nothing was being done to correct a pattern of denying problems and shutting out the public when real concerns were raised. Concerns from years past persist today and explain the protests outside the 9-R Building; until major changes are made, I predict the protests will continue in one form or another. People want resolution, not just "moving on."
Issues that have lingered, never fully resolved, include:
August 2005 Durango Herald : Consultant: 9-R lacks public's trust "Some district staff members perceive an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, " consultant Robert Tschirki told board members and Superintendent Mary Barter. "It's clear to me that you don't have the trust level that you would all like.”
Lockdown and Drug Dog Search
DHS's May 6th 2005 “Code Blue Lockdown” left teachers and students at DHS frightened and angry but 9-R administrators took their time showing concern. "All the students were scared for their lives. They feared a shooting was under way, especially with the recent shooting downtown," he said, referring to the April 14 shooting of Lori "Star" Sutherland. "They never told us what was happening." While many parents and students spent the week of May 8th discussing what constitutes real security and safety, the District offered no opportunity to gather as a community to discuss feelings and concerns. The superintendent only revealed that there would not be another lockdown until they resume next fall.
“Group takes up cause of teacher – coalition talks of defense fund for Lynch” The 9-R Watchdog Coalition is ready to sink its teeth into what it calls an ineffective school board and schools superintendent. The group grew out of the failure to renew the contract of popular Durango High School shop teacher Padraig Lynch. Now that the hackles are up, it may go for the jugular and Lynch may take legal action to restore his good name.
"Former DHS teacher raised safety issues"
In the wake of the 9-R board's May 10 decision not to renew Lynch's contract, his supporters are charging that the teacher's whistle-blowing led to his dismissal."He wasn't a conformist or the style of person the administration wanted in there," said Doug Zalesky, whose son, Sam, took Lynch's welding class. Zalesky and his wife, Leesa, helped found the District 9-R Watchdog Coalition that has demanded Lynch's reinstatement. "He was a vocal person whose responsibilities over safety of students and continued vocal outcries were met with deaf ears and they finally got tired of it," he said. "Something is wrong," he wrote in an e-mail to the principal dated Oct. 19, 2004. "I test students on parts of circuits and one of the test questions is: What device senses short circuits and stops electrical flow. … I can't with good conscience have the students continually reset the (circuit breakers) to operate equipment. One of them is going to get electrocuted."
Zalesky, who is also chief of the Fort Lewis-Mesa Fire Department, said he was deeply troubled after visiting the welding shop last year.
"I'm not trained as an inspector, but from a fire chief's perspective, my professional opinion was it was an unsafe environment," he said. "There was a hazardous gas situation and it was a dangerous electrical situation. When the breakers trip that often, it's an improper wiring system."
Teacher: 9-R Career education woeful - Jan 11, 2006 Durango High School's career-education curriculum is woefully inadequate, educators told the Durango School District 9-R board Tuesday.
After several years and at least 3 different task forces, many who have served on District committees are concerned that their carefully crafted recommendations will not be fully incorporated and that the students who stand to benefit the most from a thoughtful and well developed career and vocational program will be unnecessarily shortchanged.
Escalante parents, teachers unhappy with recommendation Escalante parents, teachers unhappy with recommendation By Dominic Weilminster Herald Staff Writer A crowd of around 75, including a majority of Escalante Middle School's teachers, gathered in front of the Durango School District 9-R School Board on Tuesday to voice disapproval of the district administration's recommendation for a replacement to retiring Escalante Principal Gene Giddings.
“Parent Groups Stymied By District : Committees push school board and superintendent for dialogue” The length of the school day is a current subject of debate between the Durango High School Parent Advisory Committee, which feels the day is too long for staff and students, and the 9-R Board of Education. However, the committee says it has reached an impasse with 9-R Superintendent Mary Barter and is frustrated at efforts to spark a dialogue on the issue
9-R parents push for private tutors - Jan 25, 2006 Durango parents pleaded with the school board Tuesday to let private tutors into public schools. The impasse has left parents frustrated. One woman, Glenna Woody, said in an interview that she is considering sending her only child, a 13-year-old dyslexic son, to a private school in New York that specializes in teaching dyslexic boys. Another, Anne Spence, told of children holding car washes to pay for their private tutors. A third, Charmin Flowers, recounted emptying her son's college fund to pay his tutor.
Board stops videotaping of meetings
August 17, 2006 The Durango School District 9-R board of directors has voted (5-2) to temporarily suspend the videotaping and broadcasting of its meetings.
Diane Doney, 9-R director of business services, said broadcasting the board meetings has led to "people who come here and grandstand for the camera. ... It doesn't always present the district in the best light."
Career education hopes dashed, charges of unsafe conditions at the high school and improprieties with staff hiring and firing procedures, consultant reports that aren't followed up, whistleblowers who aren't invited back, a district unequipped to teach dyslexic children...but unwilling for parents to use school premises for tutoring, and then six months ago, a "temporary" videotaping ban - that now seems to be coming permanent. Videotapes of 9-R Board meetings no longer appear on DCAT -- nor on library shelves as City Council meetings are. At last Tuesday's meeting, Finance Director Diane Doney seemed to tell the board president that their plans to webcast meetings live will not be happening. We hope the board asks why, because anything that keeps people out isn't helping.
7 comments:
Wow. That's some laundry list of what is wrong with our school district. Although if we had done better research before hiring our Superintendent, we would have found on the web, that she wasn't popular in her old school district either.
Check out: http://wakingbear.com/lawbrkr.htm
The end page says: "On July 1, 1999 she moved on as Durango, Colorado's District Superintendent- for less money but her own Jeep. Isn't that nice? Watch out Durango, you have no idea what you've inherited."
We were forewarned.
Don't they say: "A leopard never changes his spots"?
From the "9-R parents push for private tutor" page -- Glenna did send her 13 year old son to The Gow School on the East Coast, just so he stood a chance of getting into a selective university to match his talents and intelligence. I did change state law by writing endlessly to our wonderful ex-congressman Mark Larson, to include Dyslexia as a Specific Learning Disability in the new ECEA Act for the state, which was signed by Governor Owens on 4th April 2006. Mimi did have to go through Due Process with the school district, (to win and get her child recognized). Jan Holly did quit Durango after 19 years, to give her son his final year at a school that catered to dyslexic students needs up in Colorado Springs. The Merediths did remove their 3 children, and left despite being 5th Generation Durango ranchers, so that their dyslexic children could actually learn to read, unlike Art, their dyslexic father, who was "given" his HSD at DHS despite never being taught to read above an Elementary age level.
Lots of Durango parents simply did the private tutor route and didn't bother with the innocuous Special Ed. scenario, that doesn't actually remediate a dyslexic child anyway. We still have 12th grade dyslexic students with 5th grade reading. It is 2007 isn’t it? Not the 1970’s when Art was there, and educational institutions didn’t really know much about dyslexia. I remember Jared Polis (the then President of the State Board of Education), writing to me, to tell me how is father was dyslexic and wasn’t taught to read…..and I realized that was probably in the 1950’s! Dyslexia is a term coined by Rudolf Berlin of Stuttgart, Germany, in 1887 to describe the inability to read. Remember that…..1887.
Despite the knowledge and expertise available to all of us, nothing changed. All we got was a lot of hot air and PR spin. Now we can actually spin the good news. Several of our wonderful teachers are now being trained to certification level so they can use the same program that my son learned to read under with his private tutor. In only 18 months he went from 4.6 grade reading age to 11th grade reading age, whilst still in 8th grade. Funny how he stayed in the 4th grade range for 4 years now, isn’t it? While the superintendent insisted no children need private tutoring.
How wonderful is that? Baby steps for our school district, but it took Durango parents to change state law, and since 2006 and the state law change, we are finally breaking down the barrier that has been in our pathway all these years.
The National Institute of Health estimates that up to 15-20% of our school children are dyslexic. We only diagnose about 5%, but that doesn’t mean they are not there. That’s easily 800 of our school aged children who need a scientifically proven method of teaching to get out of High School and into College or University. Literacy is just like Monopoly – it gives you the “Get out of Jail Free” card. Over 80% of youth in some prison surveys are illiterate. Wake up and smell the roses! It’s far cheaper to educate our youth, than to let them fall off the beaten track. (Last time I looked, it cost approximately $22K a year to incarcerate our youth).
The funny thing is: nobody recognizes the pain, hurt, agony, passion, determination, tears, and effort it took a tremendous group of Durango children and parents to get this far. And all for naught really, because IF our Superintendent had been as savvy as the Pueblo 60 School District’s Superintendent, we would have had a program in place like them, since 1999, that works for all our children, including our ELL students, free and reduced lunch students etc, etc, and then the next time you read a Herald headline saying we are a leading district in the state of Colorado – you might actually believe it. Pueblo 60 was #2 in the state of Colorado out of 178 districts. I wonder where we lie?
That’s either a pun, or my plain old bad English grammar popping up.
The bottom line: After 7 years of advocating for dyslexic students, the number one problem from the special education teachers I spoke to, was that they were afraid to advocate like parents could, for fear of losing their jobs. How sad is that? We are a small town. We are meant to work together, to create the best environment possible, and yet the very people who know our children academically and what their needs are, are unable to request the correct programs, or schedules, that will work, in order to remediate our children, because of the effect of “fear”.
To the School Board: Please don’t ignore the facts anymore! We have lost too many good people; parents, children and teachers.
Why isn't the school board videotaping its meetings anymore? I used to watch on DCAT, and while it might take a couple of sittings to catch the whole meeting, I liked being able to see what's going on. Now am I to think they really aren't taping because they don't want viewers? Or is it just too expensive? I read that DCAT was willing to let students help. That sounded like a great idea. I have a son who would like to learn video and I know he is interested in how decisions are made.
Parents make the difference.
Knowing our son was not receiving the instruction he so desperately needed we hired a language therapist for 3 1/2 years at $28,000. Oh, but that was our choice. So the Supt says.
He is now 14 making straight A's but his fluency in reading is only at the 5th grade level. He has been without language therapy all year and it shows.
Of course, BOCS and 9-R Admin believed our son was not due any kind of help, this based on his grades. After 1 year of fighting the system and spending up wards of $15,000 we proved our son was deserving of identification for his SLD. Not that there are any programs in the school system for his needs. We are hopeful with the many teachers that are educating themselves in Multi-sensory Instruction that other families will not have to go through what we have. Why does it have to be so hard? Why don't they want to help children and families? Why do we have to research and find the answers for them? DHS is getting a wonderful and needed health clinic. One reason sited was so parents won't have to miss work and take their child to the doctor. Who cared when I was taking my son out everyday for therapy? Who cared that he missed 2 hours of school because of the transportation? Strep tests are good but what about literacy?
When my daughter graduated from DHS two years ago, she was eager to leave and I don't think that's normal. I loved high school and I think she would have too, if the social climate had been different. She spent most of her time at FLC during her last year. If it weren't so serious, the situation at DHS would be a joke, but these are real kids who will not get their teen years back.
DHS's problems are well known and seem to have gotten worse. Both my children were happy at Escalante, and they will be fine as adults, but I worry about their friends whose families couldn't go that extra mile for them when DHS didn't deliver. It makes me sad that our teachers are not listened to because they have great ideas - and I think some of them are just waiting for the superintendent to retire. They are the most important employees in the district, and the school board has no idea of the lives they lead.
The reason there's so many things wrong with our district is because we, as parents and community members, have been shut out. Our voices are not heard. Those who, in the past, have been actively involved will no longer be involved because they are tired of not being heard. In the end, the kids lose because those who would help and lend their expertise to the schools simply won't do it anymore. Instead of working against us, 9-R should be seeking us out and respecting our different strengths. We could make this school district strong and effective, but it won't happen until changes are made.
I don't support the health center simply because I don't trust that 9-R won't try to go behind my back and treat my child or counsel my child or give my child medications against my wishes. I just don't trust 9-R. I find it ironic that kids in 9-R will now have access to birth control, abortion counseling, and medications, but they may not be proficient in reading, writing, or math. Isn't the purpose of our schools to teach academics? How can we continue to let children read below grade level, fail to understand math, and be unable to write a decent paragraph, but we can make sure they have condoms and know where to get a baby aborted? Isn't that crossing the line into parental rights and responsibilities? I don't send my child to school to learn differing values, I send him to school to learn how to read, write, and do math. 9-R is so bent on raising my child, it may be failing to do the very thing it was instituted to do--teach him academics.
Why are dyslexic children's needs not being met? Why can someone walk off the street, apply as an aide for a child with special needs, and get that job with no training or experience in the area of special needs? Why do so many kids fall through the cracks? It's absolutely ludicrous that people have had to send their children to other states to receive a decent education. We must insist that changes are made and that our kids are the number one priority in this district.
There was a boy of 12 being taught to read by a private dyslexic tutor 4 years ago, and 9-R persuaded the mother to dump the private tutor, as they promised her they could "remediate" her child.
The mother did as they told her.
Not long ago, the private tutor saw the mother and asked after the boy. The boy is now 16.
The mother said that her son dropped out of DHS.
I feel gutted.
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