Today I spoke with Tom Field, A/Supt of Schools for Wi. Co. I expressed my displeasure with the fact that the "Questions and Answers forum" was never implemented. Mr. Field stated that he was embarrassed and "assumed" that it had already been implemented and was up and running. He further advised that the Lady responsible for setting it up is presently out of town and that he would make certain that it will be up and running upon her return. We'll see.
I asked him about the paint issue at East Salisbury of which we posted pictures last week as well as the paint chips at Fruitland Primary. Mr. Fields stated that the paint is peeling off of the wall in the gymnasium due to the failure of several mortar joints in the exterior block work allowing rain water to penetrate. They have gotten estimates and just last week the BOE approved to money for the repairs. Mr. Fields didn't know when the repairs would be made but believed it should be very soon. He was unaware of the paint chips at Fruitland but stated that he will look into it and let me know about the clean-up. He will also look into whether or not there has been a lead abatement procedure performed at these locations if required.
I did have conversation with Mr. Field in reference to the High School Senior Proms being held at the Civic Center. To be fair, I am scheduled to meet with Gary Mackes next Tuesday and would like to get his input in the event there are any....uh....misunderstandings which may exist before I post anything. I want to be fair and give both the BOE and Parks and recs. to have the opportunity for input.
I would say this though. Last year approx. $16,000 was figured into the budget to "supplement" the senior proms.....to offset the cost of the Civic Center. It was eventually cut out. I would proffer that with the savings of about half a million dollars which will not be used to supplement the fuel costs of an unnamed local business, our County Exec. and Council should be able to carve this minuscule amount out of this windfall of savings which will, by the virtue of the math, exist when calculating this years budget. C'mon y'all. I know that every department has there hand out for a piece of that pie but can't the kids get a few crumbs for their prom? We'll just have to see.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
28 comments:
Joe, it seems that things are a little lax with the Board of Educ, buildings I wonderful if this laz attitude extends to any other areas? I expressed my concern before with some of the funding issues. The Education Dept. is not just about employee salaries. The student welfare and their education is the concern that needs a little investigation.It appears that we are very top heavy. Look at the number of jobs that are NOT classroom teachers versus those hard working classroom teachers. New administrative jobs are created each year.The rumor is that next year we have 2 mentors for principals. They used to hire principals that knew what to do to start with. Times change and money is spent.Money is tight. The next thing we will hear is that we don't have enough money for textbooks. Same old game.Get rid of a few top people.
Let me set you straight mister. You may drag the mayor and city council through the mud but as a supervisor I do not intend to sit idly and let you corrupt the school system. The parents are happy and proud of Wicomico schools and every facet within. Thank you Mr. Albero.
Dear Mister Anonymous,
This article was Posted by Granddad, not Joe Albero.
G-D:
Admittedly it's ugly, but does the paint situation pose a real hazard?
Are you an alarmist over aesthetics?
BTW - Mackes has got to go -- now!
It seems that Supt. Fields doesn't know what is going on in his school system. You stated he was unaware that the Question & Answer Forum was not in operation and he didn't know about the paint peeling at Fruitland School. Joe, you know more than the people in charge. Are we in trouble?
I'll add, hopefully without speaking for Granddad,
Granddad is an expert and licensed in lead paint removal. I doubt VERY seriously the Board of Education is going to give him a lesson on that subject. Of course there's the possibility of it being a hazard and that's exactly why Granddad asked the question to start with. There is the possibility to be worried.
That being said, no one, (IMHO) is trying to cover this up. They are looking into it and from what I have been told are working to create a swift resolution.
My favorite saying is, "You can't fix something you're not aware of." The BOE is now aware of the problem and if any of you know of yet another School in Wicomico County with paint chipping, it's now time to let us know and it will be researched immediately.
Joe:
Do you really think that the students are going to crawl around eating the paint?
Re: the lax attitude at the BOE. As a board employee privy to many meetings at the departmental, school, and board level, I will say their is a lax attitude. The upper eschelons tend to duck and cover any time a controversy comes up, quick to defer responsibility and then hand over decision making to the parents. You know this happens whenever you hear the buzzwords "get stakeholder himput." The teacher dodge litigation, confrontation, and poor performance from students by passing the kids on to the next grade, and not rocking the boat in their little worlds. The few teachers that do try to implement stricter discipline to regain control do so with a "the office won't back me up on this one" attitude. Finally the school level administrators try to put out fires minute by minute, and try to avoid getting blamed for poor student achievement while try to keep the train moving down the tracks.
First of all, I sincerely hope that Anon 10:31 was being sarcastic.
Having said that, there are many areas of the WCBOE and their schools which ARE okay, some better than okay, and some suck.
Almost any teacher would say that the crowning blow was No Child Left Behind, which is a federal program that was shoved down their throats. Most public school teachers are wonderful people who do what they do because of the benefit to society, and certainly not for the money. It must be like a slap in the face to these dedicated individuals to constantly hear about the additional layers of Administrators being added while they themselves earn just enough to get by, due to budget constraints.
Perhaps the new guy will approach our current status with an open mind and somehow manage to balance what's really important to get this essential job done right.
Poor, poor Grand dad. He really believed that the question and answer forum was going to happen. He truly thought that offering to set that up was not just a way to shut him up and end painful discussions about the ENP program and other issues. Now, months later, the woman who was to do it is conveniently out of town, and I guess no one else in the huge technology department at the Board knows anything about a major change to the website. Months later, you are told someone felt free to ignore a directive from Mr. Field, and he did not follow up on it. Notice the "news" on the Board website is updated almost daily, minutes of Board meetings and work sessions are posted immediately, the new Teacher of the Year has been substituted for last year's, but no question and answer forum has been added. Figure it out.
10:35
It is easier for the Board of Ed. to have a satisfied public when they don't mention the 10% bonus package in Mrs. Sahler's articles, when they continue to add dozens of positions to the central office without informing the public, when they continue to bemoan funding cuts without saying how much money is going to those at the top. Yes, as long as the citizens are not told what is going on at the central office where you are housed, they should be content. Money is tight, and there should be a freeze on creating new positions, and the 10% bonus gift should be stopped. Also, positions like parent/community liaison, professional development coordinator, and school climate specialist need to be eliminated. I think the kids would survive.
10:59
Joe, the administration at Fruitland Primary had to be aware of the paint issue since they park in front of the school every day. Supervisors and other visitors from the Board park in front of the school, as well. Mr. Field himself promised a question and answer forum but didn't deliver. "They can't fix what they're not aware of" has nothing to do with this.
I believe East Salisbury and Fruitland Primary serve a greater number of students from lower income/tax base families. I imagine the schools near higher income/tax base neighborhoods will get painted first. The paint at East Salisbury left something to be desired when my daughter was in kindergarten. She's in college now.
Grand dad, I work at the Board and the person who was out of town on vacation yesterday and today is the assistant superintendent in charge of technology, Mr. Bounds. If Mr. Field told anyone to see that the question and answer forum was set up, he would have told him. Then Mr. Bounds would have communicated with someone in the tech department. No one in that department would ignore a directive from Mr. Bounds and Mr. Field. Grand dad, you did not get a straight answer.
A few days ago, a blogger asked grand dad how he was enjoying the question and answer forum on the Board website. I think that was a reminder to grand dad to check on the situation, and he discovered nothing had been done. The Board counts on people not to check on them. It's been months and without the blogger's comment, no one would have paid attention.
Can you imagine this? Two concerned parents write in to have questions posed to the BOE regarding paint and I (well really Joe) got raked over the coals for...let's see...
Dragging the BOE thru the mud;
Being an alarmist about the hazards of lead paint;
Being naive about the Q&A portion of the BOE Website;
I also find it interesting that a person claiming to be a supervisor for the BOE would have the audacity to speak on behalf of all of the parents in Wicomico County regarding how happy and content they are with all aspects of the schools - especially since the original concerns about the paint came from two citizens of the county.
The level of negativity inherent in human nature never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps the reason our local Govt. AND the BOE have become so insensitive to the concerns of the citizens is the citizens have permitted them to become that way.
Anyway, having said that, I feel that a lot of good can come from this type of communication. I have every intention of giving the time (when I have it) to follow up on these things. I will not be bought or sold. I will let them address the questions the citizens have posed and post their answers. YOU can decide whether or not their answers, or their corresponding actions are valid.
This is not now or will it ever be an attack on any teacher (God knows they have their work cut out for them) OR any member of the BOE. It is a wake-up call saying we the people are watching and things are falling through the cracks. It's about holding ppl accountable. There will always be people out there who want to claim ppl are being attacked just so they stir the shit in the pot of controversy.
And..yes I am accredited by the Maryland Department of the Environment in the abatement of lead paint. I have been to numerous schools over the past 10 years in order to be a lead paint worker, supervisor, and Inspector/Technician. I must have that accredition to do my job. I am thoroughly familiar with hazards of lead paint. Thanks for the plug, Joe.
10:35 pm...."The parents are happy and proud of Wicomico schools and every facet within." My response to that is ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY? Wicomico County schools are HORRIBLE! I moved from Wicomico County to Worcester for the sole reason of improving my daughters eduation. Wicomico County schools are far from anything a parent can be happy or proud of!
I might add that picking up and eating lead paint chips is not the only method by which lead is introduced into the body. As a matter of fact the smaller particles, like dust, are the most likely culprits of lead poisoning.
Grand dad, you are doing community service by asking questions and publishing the answers. I think bloggers who add information about the chain of command, who is out of town, who got huge bonuses, etc, also give us something to think about. The readers will decide what to believe and will be able to see a pattern of conduct.
6:50 was right when he said the central office avoids controversy, dives for cover, and says whatever will please the person with a concern. There is always a nameless, faceless person who gets blamed for not following through. It was known that you are a regular contributor to a very popular blog, and yet no Q & A forum appeared. Can you imagine what the rest of us regular parents go through? Nothing promised as a solution ever happens without multiple phone calls, emails, letters or meetings. I've gone to the Board to discuss academic concerns after four or five of my fellow parents have done so. These other parents have told me what they said and how the supervisor responded. When I go in, the supervisor tells me it's the first time she's heard any of these concerns. When I give names, dates and times of these other parents' meetings, she said she has no memory of any of them. Nothing happens, nothing changes, and the hope is that we'll give up.
7:28 - Kids that go to Fruitland Primary come from Nutters Crossing, Foxchase, Rustic Acres, Covered Bridge, Eastfields, Coulbourne Mill Village, etc. I'd hardly call these the low income/tax base family neighborhoods.
"Let me set you straight mister. You may drag the mayor and city council through the mud but as a supervisor I do not intend to sit idly and let you corrupt the school system. The parents are happy and proud of Wicomico schools and every facet within. Thank you Mr. Albero.
10:35 PM"
Oh you make this sooooo easy. This attitude is the contributing problem in the mess we call Wic. Cty. Schools. I realize the frustration with NCLB, it is a VERY flawed program. However, as a parent of an inmate of the institution of lower learning, I am far from satisfied with the "education" my child is receiveng. I have enrolled my child in a private school for next year to try to repair the damage done by some of the teachers. I have found some wonderful, communicative teachers in the system but unfortunately they are the exception rather than the rule. I am not a helicopter parent that believes my child is perfect. I simply want to be involved in helping my child. Most have expressed verbally that "we don't have time to communicate with every parent..I have 60 stundents". My response to that is to find different employment!!!! You then try to address this with the administration and find little sympathy and zero help. I only wish that my tax dollars were portable to the private school. This would send a message of "YOU ARE DOING A POOR JOB,YOU ARE FIRED!!!!" Knowing that will never happen, I will fade into oblivion and the cycle will continue. I pray for those not able to make the move we did.
If the question is about peeling paint, you have to add James M Bennett to the list. I don’t think there’s a wall in the whole school that does NOT have peeling paint. A new school is on the way but when? They haven’t broken ground yet and the completion date keeps moving backwards.
Do we know that it's "lead paint"?
As an owner of many, many buildings in town, you just can't expect the superintendant to know everything about every building in the county. I work on site and do a visual inspection every other day, and I still find things that need attention. It would certainly be possible to for someone to call me and say..."did you know you have a problem with bldg X?" The real question is why didn't the principal bring it to someone's attention?
Anon 9:32
JMB is due to break ground on May 14 and is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 2010- It is not behind nor had dates moved back. Get the info right before you post it....
8:26, you are so right. Several parents, including myself, went to the Bd. to ask why eighth graders are no longer required to write term papers. Some of our children wrote to the Bd. also to ask to do the papers. They actually want to work in school. We were told the requirement had been dropped because it's too hard for some students. Our children were in the highest group so we asked why they couldn't write term papers and the other students have whatever assignments they needed. We were told that some kids in the top group would not be able to do term papers either, because they did not actually qualify to be in that group and were there only because their parents asked for them to be put there. Bottom line was the Bd. couldn't tell parents their kids did not qualify for advanced classes, but the Bd. could tell many of us that there would be no term papers for even the most capable kids because there were so many average and below average students who had been placed in top groups. Do we always have to sink to the lowest possible academic standards? So, every parent who demands that a child be placed in a top group gets his/her way, and the classes are watered down to accommodate those students who don't belong. It isn't just a handful of kids, either, there are dozens of them. Magnet placement is the same idea. There are criteria, there is an appeal procedure, and parents by the carload get their kids in anyway even if the kid is below grade level because no one at the Board will tell them no.
As a parent that has a child in East Salisbury and Beaver Run, I can comment on those two schools. Those two schools have some of the best teachers I have ever come in contact with. The administration at East Salisbury is horrible. How can they allow letters sent home to have miss spelled words in them? That is why there is spell check!!!!! Can you say take some English classes. That doesn't even touch the type of disrespectful children in the classroom. Oh if you have a child that is not disrespectful you just have to deal with the bad children because we have to remember what kind of family life they have. Blah...blah...blah... What ever. My child has to suffer because those children have a ruff live. Boo Hoo get a job
I can remember a fellow student who obviously had learning disabilities. I'll call him "Johnny." When Johnny sat behind me in ninth grade math, the poor guy just couldn't even add 3+2, I considered him a friend. He was well behaved, didn't cause problems so he wasn't just passed to get him out of school, however his learning problems went un addressed. He was passed because teachers felt sorry for him. Much to my surprise a few years after I graduated I read about him in the newspaper, he committed suicide.
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