I will begin this by reiterating one of my convictions. No child whose parents tend to his or her education at home will be harmed in a lousy school. To that I will add that there is no such thing as a lousy school in Duluth.
Having said these things I will also reiterate that we have problems, right here in River City. At the moment it is the fashion in ISD 709 to blithely ignore them in much the same way as the School Board majority ignores Art Johnston and me. But we all keep getting unwanted reminders that all is not well.
When I was on the board in my earlier incarnation as a board member Piedmont Elementary was sort of West Duluth’s version of Congdon Elementary in terms of status and accomplishment. It has changed during and since the Red Plan. It is a lovely school and I gushed about it in the blog shortly after my first tour of the building. But not everyone is satisfied.
One concerned parent sent us a disturbing email a couple weeks ago. I can’t vouch for its accuracy but it is sober and was obviously penned by someone who knows the school well. It is just the sort of red flag that our current School Board and Administration would prefer to hush up. It also highlights what should be the central issue in this school board campaign – the inequities that exist between our eastern and western schools.
To the School Board:
One of my favorite quotes to live by is the following…
“Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.”
This is a time of the year where parents, kids and a community should be gearing up for a positive start to the school year.
Instead there is frustration, sadness and pure uncertainty about decisions surrounding the education of children in our Western Duluth Public Schools.For the past 3 years we had grown the Piedmont Elementary School PTA to record involvement numbers as recognized by the State of MN PTA. We had made a concerted effort to rotate our meetings between the Lincoln Park Neighborhood and Piedmont Neighborhood. It was important to gain a diverse viewpoint from parents in our school. We generally had between 28 – 30 members attend each meeting. This group of parents, grandparents and community members contributed immensely to making our school a better place.
As of today, a majority of this PTA including our President has chosen to leave ISD #709. This saddens me!
When you hear a District Administrator remark, “we lose some and we gain some”, this short-sighted remark doesn’t come close to capturing the residual effect such an exodus is having year after year. The 9 families(21 kids) leaving one elementary school right now were involved parents who contributed everyday to the well being of our school. One of the moms planned and executed our end of the year Health and Wellness Field Day. Another mom leaving volunteered with purchasing and distributing prizes for PBIS weekly behavior drawings. Another family that has decided to leave was our #1 contributor to our top PTA fundraiser.
These are the same families who went door to door to ask for Levy votes.Why are these involved families leaving?
Here are some reasons…– For 2 years in a row there were specific requests made by parents at Think Kids events to better the climate and culture of our school’s out west. These requests were not met and our classroom environment continues to suffer.
– Our teachers, support staff and parents spent over two years developing learning targets, best practices, behavior goals and a technology plan. The results of their efforts were highlighted in a presentation & application slates for a State of MN School of Excellence committee. PTA Leadership supported(in writing) this application and the many benefits provided to our kids! Superintendent Gronseth refused signing and supporting this documentation which highlighted the two years of great work for our kids. The MN School of Excellence application committee did not get to see Piedmont Elementary’s progress as the positive paperwork sat on a desk downtown.
– We have had 4 principals assigned to our school in the past 3 1/2 years.
– A number of our 3rd and 4th grade children viewed a YouTube terrorist video on a larger than life Smart Board, showing a beheaded corpse and a woman being stoned to death. When we had questions, were told that our kids were exaggerating about what they saw. A father requested that the District recall the computer records. It wasn’t until then that the unthinkable was displayed. The actual gruesome images our kids were exposed to aren’t fit for viewing by even the most tolerant adult eyes.
– Transparency came into question once more following several requests needed for accurate District Chromebook inventory. Those numbers speak on their own. We have a Middle School requesting this valuable resource and at the same time, our District is holding contests where the end result is that 6 of 7 additional sets are awarded to the East side schools.
Ironically our District just hosted a staff development “expert” who stated a critical component of closing the achievement gap is dependent on access to technology in learning. Who in their right mind can realistically try to make a case that Qty 207 Chromebooks at Ordean East Middle School vs. Qty 12 Chromebooks at Lincoln Middle School is addressing the achievement gap?– Our former principal gained funding for additional iPads for our student’s learning at Piedmont. She was told by Central Administration that this state of the art technology doesn’t align with the District’s Google Chromebook initiative.
One of our best schools, Myers Wilkins uses iPads for regular learning.Unfortunately these are just some of the reasons for these families losing trust and faith in ISD #709.
For those school board members who have responded already, Thank You! To the few who haven’t, I understand your position. Indecision is a decision.
A recent request for public information (Think Kids – Parent Input and Family Surveys) resulted in a reference to “cost” for such a request. Hopefully you can all understand the much more extraordinary cost that poor decision making can have on our enrollment, achievement gap and our children’s access to an effective education.
As these valuable involved families continue to leave our district, I have a very hard time convincing them otherwise. They, like me have been on the ground level with these phenomenal educators who are trying their very best within a shrinking circle of influence.
It’s not as simple as “we lose some and we gain some” as one administrator remarks.
As an involved parent who has sat down with more than 48 western school staff members consisting of School Leaders, Support Staff, Teachers, Reading Corps and Admin Professionals, I can tell you that their feedback is alarming.
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