Oh my, if you haven't read it, you need to head over to SurfKY and read the summary of last night's Hopkins County Schools Board Meeting.
According to the report, the school system is expecting to receive $51.7 MILLION dollars for the 2012/2013 school year. They received $10 MILLION more for the 2011/2012 school year. Wait. Let me do the math.
The Hopkins County Board of Ed received $61.7 MILLION bucks to run our county schools this year. And exactly how did they spend all that money? Because they didn't spend it to hire an appropriate number of Kindergarten teachers at Southside Elementary this year, where my daughter was a Kindergartener. Yes, all three Kindergarten classes were over the recommended capacity for students. I'm not 100% sure, but I think I read that for classes to be over caps, an approval must be made by the schools Site Based Decision Making Council.
If you want to put your waders on, you might be able to believe that by the time the school knew there would be such a large Kindergarten enrollment for 2011/2012, it was already too late to hire a "quality teacher" for the year. Uh, no. Schools are aware of the number of students for the upcoming school year in the spring before classes begin. So, the Board of Ed would have been aware of a classroom caps problem at Southside more than six months before those Kindergarten students every stepped foot onto the campus.
And for all you teachers who didn't get hired for the 2011/2012 school year, well, I hope you take comfort in knowing that you were not a "quality teacher". Give me a break! There were more than enough unemployed and adequately trained teachers, and enough time for the Board to find and hire an appropriate number of teachers for those Kindergarteners.
The Board of Ed created a position called Licensed Educational Interpreter and allocated a salary of $29,378. I found it interesting that there's only a $2,000 increase in pay for someone who has earned their Master's Degree. What did it cost you to earn your Master's Degree? And, really, what I want to know is what in the world does a Licensed Educational Interpreter do? And why do we need one?
{{Hindsight: that yearly salary would depend if the positon is 185 days or full year; that figure is for 185 days.}}
Now, lets look at the invoices the Board of Ed paid this week. They paid $29,830.93 for Storm Damage. I thought the damages reported were minor. Minor damages cost nearly 30 THOUSAND dollars? Man, I'm glad I didn't live in that part of the county. Then, they spent another $10,386.23 on the Hopkins County Career and Technology Center. You know the one, it's the building that's sinking into the ground just off the Earlington by-pass. But, my favorite has to be the $61,346.58 Greenhouse that the Board of Ed financed. Can someone please let me know what this greenhouse looks like? Because for that kind of money, I think it should be something quite spectacular. And, allow me to back track a minute. The Board of Ed spent enough money on the greenhouse to pay the Licensed Educational Interpreter's salary for over two years. Seriously?
{{Hindsight: Does the school system not have insurance that takes care of damages a la Mother Nature? Was the greenhouse paid for by a grant of some sort? Anyone know what percentage of students would be utilizing that greenhouse during the school year? If I was an English teacher, I'd be asking where is my $60,000 building.}}
I've heard that several teachers and staff in the special education department have recently received their "pink slips". That means their position has been eliminated on the basis that it isn't needed anymore. As in, there aren't enough students to require their services. I guess we should consider this good news. Because, if the school system can cut employees from special education, there must be fewer students needing special education services. Right? Probably not. I would love to see how many students received special education services during the 2011/2012 school year (I'm thinking somewhere around 1,500) and then I'd like to compare it to the number of students who will be recieving these services for the 2012/2013 school year. I'm betting that the number isn't going to change too drastically.
{{Hindsight: Why isn't there a formula set by the Kentucky Department of Ed to determine the appropriate staffing needed for the number of students enrolled. Having a guide would keep the guess work out and would make each school the same through out the county.}}
As a newcomer to the school system, I'm just beginning to follow the goings-on in our public school. But, really, spending over $61 THOUSAND bucks on a greenhouse seems wasteful to me. I can not justify spending that kind of money for a greenhouse while ignoring the need for more teachers in our schools. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. And please don't misinterpret this as me saying that the students at North didn't deserve that greenhouse. But, I am guessing the school had a functioning greenhouse before and would have made do without a new one.
{{Hindsight: who wouldn't want to use funds to educate students as a whole?}}
My daughter is hearing impaired 24 hours a day. They put her in a hearing class with speaking teachers... Where she hears only a percentage of what's being said and taught. This interpreter will be there for only part of the time for my daughter and part of the time for other few hearing impaired children... Take ur hearing child. Send that child to a deaf school and expect that child to watch all the sign language and wonder what's goin on... What's being taught and that child only understand a small percentage of what's being taught.... Very little help at all. That's what it's like for my daughter. And this new position will hopefully give her a little help so she isn't falling completely through the cracks. It's UNinformed unaware people like this who keep the children with special needs from getting what they need.... Like an ostrich sticking it's head in the sand.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting your comment. Do you have an Advocate from Protection & Advocacy for your child due to her hearing impairment? Do you feel that having an interpreter for only part of her school day is adequate? How does the school system help her navigate through the rest of her day, when the interpreter isn't available? If you don't have an advocate, or have never heard about Protection & Advocacy, it might be worth your time to get in touch with them. Here's their website with contact information: http://www.kypa.net/drupal/?q=taxonomy/term/107 It's a free service, and they are there to help you help your child. Please note, the school system NEVER told me that P&A existed. I had to learn it from other parents who had had issues with the school system. I'm genuinely glad that the school system hired someone to assist your child. But, what I'd be asking myself right now, if my child were hearing impaired: is the school doing enough to ensure that my child is receiving a Free Appropriate Public Education? There's a school for the deaf, near Elizabethtown (I think), but not everyone can just pack up and move to a new area. We, as parents of children with special needs, have to depend on our schools to do what's best for our kids. Do you ever feel like your daughter is being abandoned by the school system? Thanks again for your comment! Come back and comment anytime!
DeleteI really wish you would do more research about things before you start "blogging" about them.
ReplyDelete1. The special intrepreter position is critical to students with hearing impairments so that they can have a chance at an education. You complained about your child being in an overcrowded classroom. Just imagine if they were still in an overcrowded room and had so many little noises running through their hearing aid that they couldn't concentrate or learn anything!!!
2. The greenhouse funding is from a Perkins grant allocation that North wrote for and was awarded! They will be doing experiments & research in agriculture! Although it must be listed as a line item in the overall budget the funding source is not your "tax" dollars.
3. The special ed teachers will be given contracts over the summer as soon ad SEEK funding is secured. It isn't allocated until June so every year this type of temporary "layoff" occurs.
I really don't have time to dive deep & explain each of your issues, but I do know that you should do a little homework before you start bashing the school system. They need support. They need volunteers. They DO NOT need untrue rumors infecting their reputation. Our kids are dependent on this system!!!!! At least I know mine are -- I have had a good experience so far with both of my children in the Hopkins Co Schools.
I am assuming you are not familiar with blogging. I'm not a reporter, this is not a newspaper. It is a personal blog with my personal information and opinions. I don't HAVE to do more research to express my opinion. Just like you don't HAVE to read any of the "misinformation" I am writing. I don't support Rush, but if he just said things that made everyone happy no one would be listening to him. I made the blog public, but I didn't invite you to read it or share it or discuss it. In fact, I'm curious to the "how" of you getting interested in it in the first place! I guess my facebook friends have a greater interest in my simple life than I thought! But, I do thankyou for taking the time to read my rant and for commenting back. The school system does need the support of the community, it's a two way street. Families of students in school need the support of the school system MORE than the school needs the community's support. I hope if just one person read my post and decided to go to the next school board meeting, I've done something good for our kids.
DeleteNow, onto your comments...I'm breaking it up due to size constraints.
I don't think I said I went to the school board meeting, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that I read about it on surfKY. So, everyone reading the same thing I read, probably also asked, what's a Licensed Educational Interpreter? If the school system would have made the title, Translator for the Hearing Impaired, I would have been standing up at my computer giving a standing ovation. Now, since a mom also commented about that, I am asking how ONE person can meet the needs of more than ONE hearing impaired child in our school system? I guess this goes back to the clique: we don't want our students to become dependent on one individual. Well, you know what, I'd hate to know that my daughter was left to fend for herself in a classroom for any part of her day. Oh, wait, my daughter has been left to fend for herself! She's not hearing impaired, but she is delayed and does need the support of a person full time to see that she recieves her FAPE. Please note, my daughter has done extremely well this year in Kindergarten. I have always pointed that out when I've been talking about the issues we've had this year. Her resource teacher and CIA have been wonderful to her, in spite of the situation they were placed in. Remember, Special Education is not a place, it's a service.
DeleteOnto the Greenhouse. I'll have to reread, but I don't think I used the words "tax dollars" anywhere in my post. But, I do know that I mentioned that the funding could have been from a grant. The grant may have been openly discussed in the meeting, but it wasn't mentioned in the surfKY report. Kudos to the teachers who pursued the grant. I hope other departments take the initiative to apply for grants for their departments, as well. I'm sure the students will benefit, and I stated that I wasn't saying the kids didn't deserved their greenhouse. But, seriously, what kind of experiments in agriculture can high school students be doing? I'm old school, and I'll admit that times have changed, and if I could go back in time to my high school years, I would have chosen a different ciriculum path. (I've certainly never used those four years of spanish class). But, when I was a student, Ag classes were not taken by the students on the Common Wealth path. Am I releived to hear that the funding came from a grant and not from our tax dollars, you bet I am. Now I'm just wondering...if there are people willing to give $60K for greenhouses, where are the people willing to give $60K to special education?!
DeleteOk, now to the CIAs and their pink slips. So, if I'm reading your comment correctly, every year our school system has a temporary layoff. I'm going to have to google SEEK funding, because I've never heard of it. I fail to see how laying off employees is beneficial to the employees. I can see how it might be a benefit for the school system. Just like I told Ms. M at preschool registration, I'd never want to work as a teacher and have to wonder if I'll have a job next fall. Do these layoffs occur for non-Special Ed CIAs? And do the laid off CIAs know that they will be rehired later in the summer? I'm guessing that the school system can't guarantee the position will be rehired.
DeleteAnd, please, don't get me started on Volunteering in the school system! When you get time, I would like you to point out the "untrue" rumors in my post. It's true that the kindergartens at Southside are over caps this year. It's true that I was told face-to-face when asking about the over caps issue, that I was told it was too late to hire a quality teacher. I realize you may not have been there for that conversation, or maybe you've slept since then? It's true that the CIAs got pink slipped. I'm happy to hear that you've have a good experience with your children in public school. This, as I've said, is our first year of public school. I am not going to pick my daughter up on her last day of school and look back and think, wow, what a wonderful year she's had. You didn't mention if your children have special needs. My daughter does have special needs. Did you know that the school system can refuse to provide doctor recommened supports and services to children with special needs? Did you know that families have to fight in court to acquire the supports and services their children need? If you'd like me to say that the school system is just over flowing with support for the students in our county, well, I guess it'd be a good idea if you can hold your breath for a long time. I would give anything to have a child who didn't need anything special from the school system. Then, I could sit dumbly by while other families struggle with getting the appropriate support for their special needs kids. Afterall, ignorance is bliss. And I would be happy to be blissfully ignorant.
DeleteThank you, again, for taking time to comment. I invite you to come back and comment anytime. I also invite you to leave your name, rather than posting as "anonynmous". You can also find my direct email at the top right of the page.
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