An excerpt from todays Republican-American story….
A select group of parents who met with school officials last week to give their comments and recommendations learned that the scheduling pattern for next year is still undecided. The parents group is expected to meet again tonight to continue discussions.
Martinez ( HousatonicPrincipal Jose Martinez) confirmed Monday that the question of which model will be used is still unsettled. He said this process is different from what he has seen in other schools.
“Every change of schedule I’ve been in … or visited has started with a team of teachers. Parents and students are brought in along the way. This is different. There is not as much involvement by the teachers in its development.”
He also believes the process has been a bit rushed and would benefit from another year of study.
Martinez said a leadership team of department heads and other faculty members is in place. The representatives from the schools who came to speak said leadership teams were part of the scheduling process. At Housatonic, “the teachers are not directly involved right now,” he said.
Thank you, Dr Martinez for your input. I believe that we (parents) have your back.
Dr. Martinez has been paying for this all day… Take a look at the proposed budget
http://www.region1schools.org/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=34538203
and the nice raises for the superintendent and the assistant superintendent. Find out how much you are paying for “consultants ” to do “nonevaluative observations” when we have plenty to do class observations in-house.
Dr. Martinez has made no secret of his displeasure with the decision-making process where the schedule is concerned, at least to faculty, dept chairs, and the leadership team. That he has finally shared his frustration with a larger audience is an act of courage few outside of the high school can appreciate, and he is to be commended for finally letting his voice be heard.
Equally unsurprising is that he’s already received push back from central office admins. Ms. Vogel and the BOE, it would appear, have forgotten the conclusion reached by the last NEAS&C committee to visit HVRHS: that the building principal’s autonomy to run the high school in the manner he sees fit is not to be interfered with by central office administration. I suspect they will be receiving that message again soon enough, as the NEAS&C process is once again underway.
Those generous administrative salary increases, premature given Ms. Vogel’s inability to generate strong buy in from anyone but the BOE, are easy enough to explain, phantomedu. The Board was clearly looking for big change when it chose hire Ms. Vogel. At the same time, its members have been almost belligerent in their unwillingness to educate themselves about those conditions that would allow for changes this substantial to successfully take root. Pay the decider enough, and you’re exonerated of the need to be well-informed. In this case the expert’s track record hasn’t justified her salary. Instead, her salary is designed to bolster the impression that she is, in fact, an expert.