What would you do? Response from RCSS...

During a recent assignment in Research Methods, self-reflection was required for one part of the assignment.

I am challenged during this course because many of the required reading assignments are in printed books...got it, no problem implementing the Adapt, Implement and Overcome attitude is something I can do. The required text books are in My Library using Google Books but the views are "No Preview Available" and "Limited Preview" and the books have some type of online supplement which are annotated in the notes. During the self-reflection process I came across a document that challenged me to return to school...again.

I believe this response from the Richmond County School System was the straw that catapulted me into grad school. What would you do if your school board responded to written questions like this? Were the questions to difficult? Isn't this information that anyone associated with a school should have access too? Have you encountered this type of response from the school board and school administrators? I followed RCSS protocol to appear on the agenda, had silent support from many parents, students, administrators, and educators but when the board meeting was adjourned, I had two principals ask me, "What are you going to do when the board doesn't respond?" At first I was shocked that school principals would ask me this but I responded that we will cross that bridge if/when we come to that point. I truly believed that the school board would answer all of the questions...I can remember being at Butler High School that day when the principal brought me the written response from the board...more than 60 days after the questions were submitted to the board.

When RCSS hired Dr. Dana Bedden, this document was presented to him during one of his first Meet and Greet sessions yet 3 years later no updates and the document resides in the public record of the RCSS repository.

So here it is from 2007...

Response from the Richmond County Board of Education

Your comments on the response (or lack of) and whether or not it would have prompted you to do something or accept the status quo are appreciated...or select of the Reaction buttons below this post.

Is your school in the news?

So the Augusta Chronicle publishes, Report ranks local schools among worst Graduation rate for black males is sixth lowest in the nation by Greg Gelpi 11/2/08. He cites the original source: Schott Foundation for Public Education report Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education for Black Males.

The Richmond County School System has yet to make AYP in the years that AYP results are recorded and available through the net (2001). GA Dept of Ed provides data reports and AYP results. Regardless of the negative publicity, we decided to be one part of the solution, get to the source of the issue, and bring solutions and recommendations to the table.

When my daughter received her diploma in May, her school had a graduation rate of 48%. These results were updated to 60% after summer school results were submitted for the recalculation. Many people want to point the finger, play the blame game, talk the talk...but where are the practitioners?

I am happy that our school board selected Dr. Dana Bedden as the Superintendent of RCSS. He has his critics, but I challenge the critics to step forward and volunteer in the classroom/at the school, rather than throw negative comments through the online newspaper. I empathize with him as I know he did not expect to inherit a system in the shape that it was in.

The external audit of the system documented many (but not all) issues the district has from lack of technology, lack of technology skills of the people in the system, the need for reorganization, and other issues addressed in the Performance Review of RCSS. The recently updated System Technology Plan has some quirks that need to be worked out.

I have been to the school board on a couple of occasions. Initially, to present letters to each board member inviting them to the school for a Meet and Greet. Not being from here, not understanding the downfall from elementary, middle, and high schools and not exactly who all of our board members were with the district lines.

Once to present a list of questions collected from the parents I had met as I became a participative parent at my daughter's high school. To this day, half of those questions have not been answered. But the written response from the Richmond County Board of Education can be found on the BHS PTSA Accomplishments website and Part of the Solution blog.

We published pictures of the school that seemed to be left to neglect. We took pictures of us when we attempted to start the Butler Beautification project. We went back to the board to ask for the projected plans for the school because we applied for and received a Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant for $5000.

So are you doing what you can for the schools in your district? You can rely on the media and AYP reports...but at what point do you say, "Enough already, what is going on in my own neighborhood? What can I do to improve the situation?" Many people want to help but are not sure what to do. Even if you are not a parent of a student at the local school, the schools are a part of the community. We will pay for these students in the school house or in the jail house.

The recent article published by Gelpi brings out the comments, yet the article published on 11/1 titled, Students will watch action from CNN studios has no comments. The trip, arranged by Superintendent Dana Bedden and CNN reporter Soledad O'Brien, will allow the broadcast class students to experience the history-making election. The trip is being paid for by private donations.

To everyone who is making the difference in the life of a child or a group of neighborhood children...Thank you!!! What goes around, comes around and if we don't participate in the lives of the children...those children will remember when they have to make the decision about who rocks your rocking chair...after all it is the circle of life.

RCBoEd raising taxes again

One of the many things I am sharing knowledge with my daughter (and my mother who is now a GA resident) is how the local school board raises taxes without tightening their own belt a little more. As a property owner in RC but not always a resident due to military moves and job that required me to be a road warrior teaching soldiers I did not pay as much attention to my property taxes as I would with my personal finances. I do not know why and I won't worry about it now. But this time the school board and the county commission are proposing tax increases. So I attended one of the three public hearings and a crowd of seven people was present. Out of the seven one was the Augusta Chronicle reporter.

The meeting was opened, a gentleman addressed the tax issue concerning adults over 65 and was quickly shut down as the board addressed the concern as an issue that needs to be taken up with local legislators. Then I took my turn at the microphone. Stated my name for the record and reminded the board that I am not here on behalf of the Butler HS PTSA...just as a concerned tax payer, a grad student, and a parent of a soon to be freshman at ASU. I collected a few comments and emails from individuals who knew I would be attending and requested a link or form be placed on the RCBoEd home page where individuals who could not attend the public hearings could still submit recommendations.

Most people are not aware of their assigned school board member because you may vote for a school board member in your voting district but then your students attend a school which falls under another school board member's district. I also requested that the textbook budget be reviewed for an opportunity to purchase laptops for every student in the district. Because we are a military town, many property owners may be deployed or could not attend the three scheduled meetings but many people are concerned with a school system not making AYP coupled with a graduation rate of 48%, 57%, 62% depending on who publishes the numbers.

I share this link with individuals who are concerned about the budgets (salary & travel) for any of the educational districts, universities, state agencies, technical colleges, and universities. The link for GA Department of Audits and Accounts: https://www.audits.state.ga.us/esa/index.html . This link will take you to the memorandum stating the GA DoAA requirements and require the user to select the "I Understand...Proceed" button. Multiple reports can be pulled from this collected data, so users can compare and contrast positions, school districts, job titles, etc.

The Richmond County School System is not even close to being participants in Classroom 2.0, Students 2.0, the Horizon and Flat Classroom Projects (or the many other wonderful initiatives) because the system is in a state of Paradigm Paralysis. There are people who want to move the school system into the digital world but the number of digital inequities, coupled with the anti computer attitudes of those choosing not to migrate is frustrating.

My hat is off to Dr. Dana Bedden for surviving his first year in the Paradigm Paralysis in Richmond County. Requesting the audit and implementing some suggestions (but not all) and his discovery of the $13.4 million shortfall. I thank him for taking this job, Greg Gelpi from the Augusta Chronicle, and the school board members who make for great research material in my assignments. Nothing like real world application to make educational theories stick. I support Dr. Bedden's efforts and continue to support the students who will eventually become the leaders of Augusta. While I do not support the tax increase because actions exist that could be implemented to reduce the budget and I do not believe in throwing good money after bad. With the tax increase...will we see an improvement in the graduation rate or implement pay reductions for leaders making 3x the starting salary of a new teacher?

I am not a parent who sits on the outside looking in. During the last two years, I took one day off per month from my job and volunteered at the school. I substituted 2x, revitalized the PTSA, connected the parents, students, teachers, and community partners through MySpace, web site, and newsgroup, attended football games for two losing seasons, met Wycliffe Gordon and worked with him as he donated $1000 for the PTSA to host a county wide talent competition, met an awful lot of people who tried to drag me into a paper based world as I reminded them of my digital native status, attended every Saturday school to assist in whatever was needed, provided gum and mints to all students arriving at Butler to take the monthly SAT, and many other events to minor to list here.

As a Google girl, I volunteered at the local library and conducted Google products and scholarship workshops. There are many passionate people in Richmond County concerned about education, but are too busy to speak their mind, intimidated by the past decade of bureaucracy by a lame duck superintendent, jaded by a bureaucratic process that requires parents to jump hurdles to retrieve an answer to specific questions, or those who just do not know where to turn.

Based on the turnout of the two public hearings, the board will hold their 3rd and final public hearing on Monday, July 28, 2008, 4PM. The board will reconvene at 4:30 to pass the vote which will increase our taxes for the second time in one year.

It is said that the sweetest revenge is living good...so I will continue to live the best that I can, while seeking to improve my weaknesses and capitalize on my strengths and remember that school board members have students in the system and that in the end...everyone has to answer to a higher power.