Open Thread Wednesday
It's cold, it's snowy and the kids are home.
What's on your mind?
What's on your mind?
Tuesday Open Thread
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Comments
- snow day
Couldn't fit it into my story today, but I did tweet about it yesterday: The district administration has yet not decided whether yesterday will need to be made up. They're consulting policy and will likely make a decision by Friday.
-Brian M. Rosenthal
Education reporter | The Seattle Times
http://www.twitter.com/brianmrosenthal
If you have an issue with an administrator or educator, you should refrain from sharing your opinion online. You should also refrain from criticising someone by name when you aren't comfortable sharing yours.
Home in Snow
Home in Snow
Look at the SPS calendar:
Inclement Weather Days
The first inclement weather make‐up day is Jan. 27; 2nd, 3rd & 4th days added at year end; 5th day is Mar. 16.
-- Calendar
I totally support your right as a parent to advocate for or against district employees at your child's school.
All I'm saying is that you make it harder for the district to win a case against the union if you have publicly slandered the employee you wish would be gone. Keep it out of the papers. Keep it off the blogs. Get organized, but you're shooting yourself in the foot by creating a situation where there's public media about someone's performance. There are certain protocols that need to be followed to change leadership or fire a teacher, and when you use their names and try to have an anonymous online critique session, you help them build a case to keep their job.
Home in Snow
That said, having gone through similar leadership struggles, I'd document, document, document. Dates of absences, instances of where she said she'd follow up- but didn't, save emails, jot down notes of conversations. That kind of data sent to your Ed Director and Enfield (I cc'd our school board member too) is the best way to get your concerns heard. The more complaints made to the Ed Director and Super, they'll take notice. Chances are they're already documenting as well.
If you have other parents willing to email, grab your ed director, enfield and school board member email addresses and pass those along.
Good luck
--sps mom
But my advice is the same for any parental struggle with an unsatisfactory educator, whether we're talking about someone protected by PASS or SEA. Fight the good fight, but keep it out of the media.
Home in Snow
I have been part of the Bryant community for the past four years. Our child started kindergarten the year Ms. Fox started as the principal, so, admittedly, I had fairly limited interactions with Ms. Robinson, but our family has been very happy with Ms. Fox.
She has been responsive in person, via e-mail and, in our experience has shown good leadership through some fairly turbulent times such as the New Student Assignment Plan and boundary changes, working to accomodate split siblings, implmentation of an ALO program and managing a facility that is regularly over-subscribed and greatly beloved by its families, to name a few.
I have volunteered with Ms. Fox on a committee and seen first-hand how challenging it can be to gather consensus amidst change, but she was committed to facilitation and ensuring that a multitude of opinions were heard rather than pushing a separate agenda.
I am unaware of excessive absences, or a groundswell of unhappiness with her leadership. Your experience is obviously different than mine, Anonymous.
I suggest that you approach Ms. Fox directly with any concerns that you have. I think you might be surprised at her accessibility and candor.
BryantMama
Well said.
The different opinions of those affected are one of the many reasons these discussions should not take place with an overabundance of exclamation points, an anonymous sign off, and via a strand of comments.
Home in Snow
Heads up.
Be advised that district policy allows principals to remove any person at any time from the building. No reason needs to be given. If you do not comply with the order to leave security can be called. If you do not comply with security, the police can be called and you will be issued a No Trespass order.
This has been done in other schools to remove (unwanted)parents and can easily be used to prevent the very kind of conversation you are proposing.
Good luck.
-JC.
http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/this-just-in-legislative-update-per-washington-state-school-directors-association-wssda/
Thanks, Dora!
not sure the charter people are confident they can get the legislation passed this time around, so maybe their real aim is to get the other bills passed first... and will try again when there is a new (republican) governor who will publicly support charters - Gregoire has come out against them
Just a few random musings...
Ben
And hey, this is a blog, people write in all sorts of ways in blogs. It isn't a formal essay.
but you beat me too it, and did it much more politely... ;-)
password problems
Hi All Just wondering as we sit here and enjoy our snow day how our community can bind together and save our school Bryant Elementary from the disasterous leadership the district has assigned to us. Linda Robinson was amazing….. Kim Fox would be happy if every day was a snow day. Our parents records show Fox gone more then 11 days this year already!! How many of those days were Wednesday meeting days or Monday or Friday's. You don't want to know.!!! Save our school. PTSA step up already and let us have a candid discussion that addresses the issues at hand. Our school administrator has one of the lowest marks in the district. She really can't believe that passing the buck on this one is going to erase her empty contribution to our fabulous school and community. PLEASE LINDA ROBINSON come back!!!!!!
Interesting comment. Why ever would we hide our administration behind a cloak of anonymity?? It is exposure that we need not bureaucracy …. And are we to believe that Ms. Fox is claiming that a hostile environment is preventing her from doing a good job…. Our anonymity as parents is our privilege Ms. Fox has a public position is subject to the scrutiny of us, tax payers!!!! As She works for us! If she was fulfilling her obligations at school there would not be a community uprising!!!! Do your homework and just follow up…On simple facts…IE Absences…Climate survey…. Parent survey…. Nothing to hide but our selves for the moment till we can come together as a community!!! Independently many parents are talking about these issues and have been for years!!! Retaliation and bullying are at the core of the problems at Bryant!!!! WOW Honest SPEAK !!! A large open forum is the best place for this discussion to happen!!!
Re... Bryant elementary Home in the Snow… head in the clouds!!!! Yes we need to make our voice heard. Do you not understand the district placed this principal at this school… The district is not going to get rid of her!!! Phil Brockman rubber stamped her work!!! The district wants keep her there. There is no fight not from the district!!! So as parents and community members we need to have a voice!!! Bryant Elementary has suffered enough!!!! What Union are you referring to. Fox is staying at Bryant unless the parents speak up and even then it would be fine if she stayed if she did her job! Is the community aware of how many teachers plan on leaving Bryant or have already tried….Our community is going to be left in a shambles and our school is already run by parents and Brockman….We just want some kind of leadership….. in fact any leadership would be great!!!Fight the good fight just like they did for Joe Paterno!!!!The media is our voice!!! And When the good fight is quiet and hidden good people are hurt!!!! How many more teacher and parents are we going to let get bullied at this school!! If we are all on the same page here let us have an open forum at he Bryant Library at the next PTSA meeting. When conversation opens it will not close!!! Its the opening that is so scary for everyone. Joe Paterno knew for a decade or more…. When the public found out justice was served. !!!! Let the district protect their bullies!!! Goodloe- Johnson left eventually…. Justice will be served unfortunately it will be too late for some teachers and some parents and worst of all lots of children!!Kim Fox is fabulous for a few parents!! No question about it. as for her participation in committees I am aware of only 2 that she is on. At any rate indeed I was very surprised at her candor not with me but with other parents. Fox seemed to think it was her professional responsibility to tell parents they are the worst parents ever. Bullying is an issue across the board at Bryant. It is laudable how Fox handles it. She promotes it, so it is no surprise when we talk to parents that they are concerned for their children. Ask the teachers how the ALO program is going……. The real truth is there we just need to get it out. Its more of a tsunami rather then a ground swell….. But honestly the facts will show that even with the strongest community in the district Zero leadership has its costs…….. It is amazing how our community reflects the commitment of US our children and our parents and so little of the administration… Time to stop the free ride. Is anyone aware of the bonus Principal Fox got for the web site that was set up by parents that Fox has hardly ever visited!!!!!! Just one example of many how credit is taken but not deserved.!!!! I'm very glad your experience with this administration is going well you are one of the select few!!!
Just reposting what was put up before properly ! ANd point well taken. The PTSA needs to have a meeting at Ravenna Eckstein Community Center or some other non district location!!! The real truth will be spoken
Gather evidence, get support and then have your meeting.
I get what you're saying HomeInSnow, but you're asking people to chill out with a fairly generic rationale for doing so. Maybe if you elaborated and connected the dots a little better, it would provide better guidance to posters and commenters beyond the generic/hostile work environment stuff. Any disgruntled employee can and will allege that, btw.
I think an emphasis on facts versus opinions will answer most of your concerns HomeInSnow. And, this being a public forum, people in positions of power should expect the public to talk about them, and lawyers and negotiators know the difference between opinion and fact, as well as the weight and admissibility of each in a due process setting.
So long as statements are factual, accurate, and therefore, defensible, I see no problem in people airing them publicly. The public has a right to know such things, whether it makes it harder to get rid of someone or not.
I fear your warnings will have a chilling effect beyond what you might be advocating for. People can learn the ropes on this blog without being told to be quiet. We should first give them the chance by engaging them and sharing what we know. WSDWG
Oompah
Yes To both the last comments
Silence is never the answer. If the parents can show that the administrator at Bryant is non effective, abbusive, manipulative, etc they should.
It should be very clear from following the rants above but it even clearer when you put in Kim Fox in the search section.
Call Phil Brockman and ask for Kim Foxs attendance it is public record . What days did she miss, were the Monday Friday and Wednesday? Find out exactly how many sub days Fox has requested to cover for her "lunch duty ". The climate survey is already evidence, The SEA has a disturbing amount of teachers who have complained about Fox. The district is aware of this situation. Brockman was at Bryant for over an hour during his last review of Fox. The longest he has ever been there! Perhaps he is stepping up! Phil has an excellent reputation. It would be hard to believe that he is supporting Fox's behavior. Fox is very crafty though. She manages to thank Phil for his unending support constantly. The web site issue is easy enough to figure out as well . Fox who takes credit and gets paid a bonus for the great site apparently has never been on it or only once or twice. There are ways to know who accessed the site we are in Seattle after all. Thus all of the accusations can be shown with out a doubt to be true. This is just the surface. A meeting off of school grounds is a great idea. Fox has already called security before and had a parent removed from the building that confronted her with poor management . The result of that conflict ( racial discrimination) was Fox had to go to sensitivity training. The list goes on and on of concrete evidence that supports the move to request a new admin for Bryant
...and Jon Bridge is chiming in
"Won't somebody think of the children! OMG!!
I'll take micromanagement over absence of management, thanks.
Two of the comments reference a bonus for your principal based on your school's website. I've never heard of such a thing? Where is your information coming from?
SPS Educator
As a former wildcat who stays in touch, the staff at Whittier would welcome that. Have you checked with Bryant teachers on this?
former wildcat
Wake up community! What principal plans in advance to miss these key school and community events and what does this say about there direction and leadership!!!!
coach outlet
michael kors outlet
ray ban sunglasses
true religion jeans
beats headphones
kate spade outlet
chanel outlet
burberry outlet
tory burch outlet
air jordan shoes
canada goose outlet
moncler coats
the north face jackets
the north face outlet
north face outlet
the north face clearance
north face jackets
the north face uk
the north face outlet store
ugg boots
mbt shoes
air jordan 13
bottega veneta outlet
hermes outlet
hermes birkin
hermes belt
mulberry outlet
tommy hilfiger outlet
juicy couture outlet
cheap wedding dresses
evening dresses
ysl outlet
mizuno running
stuart weitzman boots
dansko outlet
surpa sneakers
vans shoes
nike outlet store
cheap nike shoes
0530maoqiuyun