Thursday, May 29, 2014

Dr. White Off to A Great Start: Perhaps Transparency Is Returning to D181?

Moments ago, Dr. White sent an email to D181 parents announcing tonight's Special Board of Education Meeting and explaining what is on the agenda.  The text of the email is copied below.  He also stated that following the meeting and the approval of the new HCHTA contract, he will send another message highlighting what is in the contract and the negotiations process and noting any Board action that is taken.

Bravo and thank you Dr. White!  Proactively announcing such an important board meeting, and not relying on parents to monitor Board Docs on a daily basis, is a refreshing change.  We look forward to your future communiques to the D181 community!

Text of Dr. White's Email:

"Dear District 181 Families,


Please note that we are holding a Special Board meeting this evening at Prospect School (7pm). The meeting agenda includes the presentation of three items for approval - the 2014-15 school calendar, administrator contracts, and a new collective bargaining agreement with the Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Teachers' Association (HCHTA). We invite you to tune in via podcast; you can learn more about accessing the meeting audio on our website. I will send a message to families again after the meeting to note any Board action that is taken and, pending approval of the HCHTA contract, will share a substantial overview of the key highlights of the contract and the negotiations process.


Sincerely,

Don White, Ph.D.
Superintendent"

13 comments:

jay_wick said...

In a way I am disappointed that this has been resolved so quickly; hopefully sufficient provisions have been made to ensure that all certified staff have access to the kind of development that will help them to have superior preparation for dealing with the demands of Common Core on a schedule that makes sense for the whole community.

It is unlikely that Dr. White was involved in the negotiations and therefore it will be difficult to hold him accountable for any success or shortcoming of this new labor agreement.

That said the concise message of the email bearing his name is that he does not wish for anything other than clarity in the terms of this very important agreement.

The degree to which the prior contract talks seemed to drag on and steel the teachers against the BOE only to see them make major concessions is a very odd backdrop to this quick resolution.

One only hopes that the BOE representatives have fairly looked after the interests of all parties...

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Mr Wick's comment. Dr White's email is perfunctory and no details will be known until after tonight's meeting. He will not be able to take credit for the teacher-BOE agreement, and we hope it is a win-win for all parties involved. Teachers need raises, but we also need a longer school day to meet the demands of curriculum changes and testing. It would seem improbable for this to have happened at this date, butane we will be surprised. I hope we won't be surprised by fat raises given to second-rate administrators in the main office, as has been past practice.

Jill Quinones said...

Hopefully not a tarnish on the great start, but decisions on who was selected for Superintendent Learning Committee went out today. I was not selected, but would be curious of anyone else who read the blog was or knows someone who was. The letter, of course, did not list who comprises the Committee - so much for transparency.

jay_wick said...

Jill:

No nod for me either.

Heard from another high informed, well qualified parent that she was not selected.

Does make one speculate as to the criteria for inclusion...

Anonymous said...

My theory is that parents who were chosen have children affected by the math pilot. I was not selected either. If this is the case, then the email should have stated this.

Anonymous said...

Maybe I've suffered from too much of the hi-jinx this BOE has already put of us through or maybe my "evil angel" has gotten the better of me but I'll say it anyhow -- the parents chosen are probably those with a propensity toward:

A) gullibility

B) not showing up

C) already advocating for new facilities

Have a delightful summer...

Anonymous said...

Parent members of learning committee were posted on the website. A link to the info was included in the ding letter.

Anonymous said...

Here's the link -- I forgot to include it:

http://www.d181.org/resources/committees/superintendents-learning-committee/index.aspx

Anonymous said...

Wow to the poster who thinks the people chosen for the committee are gullible, don't show up and advocates for new facilities. Did it ever cross your mind that perhaps many highly qualified people put in applications? Maybe the criteria was to have an open mind and not be judgmental. Why insult your fellow parents who most likely share many of the same concerns you have? Perhaps you should withhold judgement until you have something tangible to criticize. Don't blame your sour grapes on BOE hi-jinx. I thought one of the tenets of this blog was to not attack people, especially fellow parents who haven't done anything to deserve it, other than get chosen for a committee. I thought the blog monitors were watching for this type of attack.

Anonymous said...

I agree 6:54. Sounds like sour grapes to me. Maybe some of the parents not chosen (not you, Jill) have shown an inability to listen and/or be respectful of others and/or consider viewpoints other than their own which prevented their selection. Just because a parent doesn't feel comfortable speaking publicly at a meeting or agree with everything the bloggers have to say, doesn't mean they are gullible, uninformed or uninvolved. It is that sort of condescending and egocentric attitude that has caused so many problems for everyone involved with these issues. Come on people, give this a chance to work and stop waiting to pounce on every little thing.

Anonymous said...

Surely none of the current members of the board of education / staff would be so thin skinned as to pass over well qualified parents that might be critical of prior actions.

It will be interesting to see how the district level staffing decisions to replace departed employees reflect on Dr. White's approach to finding personnel that share his views / bring a diversity of experience to their role.

It is nice that the web page for the learning committee includes the full list of parents selected; that information is not published for the other superintendent's committees (facilities, finance) maybe not a major sea change but at least a step in the right direction.

Anonymous said...

I have been very critical for many years and I was chosen. I really believe it has more to do with attaining a variety of school representation, age of children and academic ability/needs of children than anything. And they may be looking for fresh and different perspectives, or to hear from new parents, as well. I agree, though, that if some of the parents haven't been involved with these issues, they will have a steep learning curve which, hopefully they are willing to take on. I don't believe they would choose a teacher from another school district, Jill. And let's not forget, parents represent a minority role on this committee. We are not decision makers and that is as it should be.

Anonymous said...

I have been very outspoken and I was included. I do feel badly that I was chosen and so manly highly qualified parents were not. I wish more parents could have been included.