tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post3802324793901357873..comments2023-05-05T03:15:17.710-05:00Comments on D181 Parents for Accountability and Transparency: Middle Schools are Back in Business, but What About Missed Learning?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-76448975002768530732014-02-05T18:02:15.434-06:002014-02-05T18:02:15.434-06:00HEY The Parents --
I left a "not" in wh...HEY The Parents --<br /><br />I left a "not" in where I should have edited it out...<br /><br />phrase should be ... recommendation to allow Chevron to leave in place non-functional duct work in the gym storage areas at HMS <b> has <i>directly contributed </i> </b> to the current mess...<br /><br />The abandoned ductwork left that space unheated and that was lead to the pipe bursting. The contractors have insulated that space and added a small hydronic heater.<br /><br /><br /><br />jay_wickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13432309250544319696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-86924033028693760942014-02-05T17:54:03.210-06:002014-02-05T17:54:03.210-06:00Dear Mr. / Ms. Cajun:
I am sorry you feel that I ...Dear Mr. / Ms. Cajun:<br /><br />I am sorry you feel that I am misrepresenting the content of this blog but far too much is unquestionably overheated ranting and far too little is thoughtful writing.<br /><br />It ought to be clear that I am not enamored of the direction of the BOE. I have been said that those volunteer office holders who may feel the demands of the work are too great or the whole endeavor just not what they expected should step aside. I will go even further, if some of the volunteer office holders have had ethical lapses and hypocritical actions unacceptable to the rest of the BOE they should call them out. That would give air to things in a way that could allow them to be addressed and if that volunteer member steps down it likely would renew the respect that the BOE has lost.<br /><br />The steps are very different than the nonproductive calls for the termination of paid administrators. Even if the BOE is unsatisfied with performance I am not at all sure that termination is really in the best interest of the district.<br /><br />I have seen first hand how the careless actions of the BOE can lead to things getting worse. Even seemingly simple decisions made by an interim superintendent can have far reaching negatives. I was in the audience when previous interim superintendent's recommendation to allow Chevron to leave in place non-functional duct work in the gym storage areas at HMS <b> has not directly contributed</b> to the current mess.<br /><br />Worse than any physical harm to the district facilities the inevitable shifts that come from dumping administrators whipsaws staff and the whole learning environment. The curricular choices that previously were available to our children were radically altered. I will not go so far to say that this is causing harm to our children but I know of no parents, teachers, or community members that feel things are better now than under prior leadership.<br /><br />I do blame the squeaky wheels. While it may make for amusing political sport to choose up sides and go at with all the fury of banshees I have lived in Illinois nearly 50 years and have seen that losers in these tiffs are the regular people and the winners are few and far between. <br /><br />I have made no secret of my lack of confidence in many of the BOE members and have no reason to believe that engaging them while discussing sports will dissuade from whatever directionless path they may be on. Sadly I have seen the legalistic barricades that non-stop criticism drives elected officials into and I have no doubt that the administration likely also feels that by banding together they can resist the fury of those that certainly seem to have gone over to the "Dark Side" of irrationality.<br /><br />I would very much like to see the BOE again use subcommittees and encourage a more interactive way to slowly move forward with a coherent plan to address valid concerns about how successful all the students in the district can be. It is extremely unlikely that such a thing will happen if the BOE and administration are fearful that any such meeting will be a donnybrook... jay_wickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13432309250544319696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-31347650061891395022014-02-05T16:30:02.071-06:002014-02-05T16:30:02.071-06:00I completely agree with Village Mom' s recomme...I completely agree with Village Mom' s recommendation to attend Dr. Ginsburg's presentation on "Resilience" tonight at Hinsdale Central at 7 pm. His presentation at the Community House this am was outstanding and covered so much incredibly important parenting information. Dr. Ginsberg's presentation was the best I've heard in 33 years of parenting!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-82389432177868756952014-02-05T12:21:40.580-06:002014-02-05T12:21:40.580-06:00I would like to congratulate the D181 Foundation a...I would like to congratulate the D181 Foundation and Hinsdale Township High School District 86 for presenting such an incredible lecture this morning by Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg. He spoke about his book, Building Resilience. <br /><br />If you missed it this morning, please go to the evening lecture at Hinsdale Central at 7:00.<br />You need to RSVP at www.d181foundation.org because space is limited.<br /><br />He is a nationally known author, speaker, and researcher and was featured in the film, The Race to Nowhere. Well done D181 Foundation and D86!!!<br /><br />Village MomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-70914557812381665672014-02-05T11:29:36.527-06:002014-02-05T11:29:36.527-06:00Jaywick,
I guess nothing is going to stop you fr...Jaywick, <br /><br />I guess nothing is going to stop you from continuing to mispresent everything that is said on the blog to support your idea that if onlty people could express things in the cool, calm, and collected superior manner that you have to communicate the issues you agree with would be resolved. Point one, I don't think that the blog is nitpicking every single missive from the district. Curriculum and facilities issues are central to the school's mission. Point two, you are continuing to push the logical fallacy that it is the "squeaky wheels" that are somehow impeding the ability of unamed others to effect positive change. That is, you claim to believe that the decisons the administration has made behind closed doors were somehow driven by parents, driven in that the administration made decisions that are somehow the opposite of what the "squeaky wheels" want or, perhaps, you are saying that the administration would simply reverse their decisions but are constrained from doing so for fear that they would responding and validating the squeaky wheels. <br /><br />Yet, if you actually believed that the BOE was making decisions about our community and our children for reasons of ego and retribution, why should they continue one more day in positions of authority. <br /><br />Nor have you indicated any success with your own calm, cool, collected, intellectual, savvy, articulate approach, in which you use your overpowering charm and supreme persuasive manner to cause the BOE and the administration to do just what you want. If you are able, as with Obi Wan Kenobi, in Star Wars to simply say "These are not the droids you are looking for" and have the forces of empire back off, then please be my guest. Go to the board meeting, use your charm and your calm, cool, collected, intellectual savvy and superior approach to effect change. <br /><br />I live in Illnois not on Tatoine. In Illnois, we have rough and tumble debates and mobilizing public opinon matters. Hence, the time for sliding gently up the podium, making small talk with Marty Turek about the Bears, and then causally sllipping in comments about the curriculum has come and gone.<br /><br />The community needs action and airing the facts and exposing public figures to debate over public decisons is entirely proper and appropriate. If the facts show that the criticism is overwrought than the criticism will be ineffective. <br /><br />You are right that we should all work together and I hope you will.<br /><br />Eddie CajunAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-57494439438461829112014-02-05T10:22:08.142-06:002014-02-05T10:22:08.142-06:00I am sure you feel that constant nitpicking of eve...I am sure you feel that constant nitpicking of every missive from the district is vital to the success of your children and the nonstop call to replace the administration will put your children at the tippytop of performance.<br /> <br />Cooler heads might say that you have lost perspective and harming the ability of truly concerned community members and parents to move forward.<br />jay_wickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13432309250544319696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-77163939309065720842014-02-05T10:13:33.702-06:002014-02-05T10:13:33.702-06:00I am most concerned about covering all of the math...I am most concerned about covering all of the math curriculum. <br /><br />I know this post is mostly about HMS/CHMS but I have been bothered that the elementary school rarely ever completes the entire Everyday Math books. This program is a spiral, and the entire book should be completed. One teacher, in one grade at our school manages this-no one else. It's frustrating. Certainly all classes move at a little different pace but not covering Chap. 9, 10, 11, and 12 is troubling.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-34762639102352655692014-02-05T09:25:31.294-06:002014-02-05T09:25:31.294-06:00Mr. Wick: Some of us do have children who go to HM...Mr. Wick: Some of us do have children who go to HMS and we did attend the open house and heard about the paint and other work Servpro will be doing that does not really constitute "cleanup". What we are referring to is whether or not more mold will need to be remediated if future air tests show evidence that mold spores are still floating around the building. We do not know if this is what Dr. Schuster is referring to, however, we have learned that we need to carefully scrutinize every word she writes in her emails to the community because much is left unsaid and yet after the fact she claims she did disclose it. For the sake of the children and teachers and staff members in the building, we hope that all future tests come back negative. But we do not trust Dr. Schuster, plain and simple. As for making up missed work, we send our students to school to learn. We send our students to complete the designated curriculum for any given year. If it requires our students making up all of the missed days in order to not fall behind in the math curriculum taught at the high school, then that is what the board must direct Dr. Schuster and her administrators to do. Granted, there will be parents with scheduled summer vacations and summer activities for their children that will keep there students home, however, not everyone will fall into that category. As we said before, it will be interesting to listen to the recommendation brought forward by Dr. Russell who is currently in charge of curriculum, as well as any discussion that the board members may have regarding this important issue at the upcoming February meeting. Finally, you reference our "ravings" regarding trivial matters. We take serious offense to this allegation. Nothing having to do with our students' education is trivial.The Parentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06479785630757500730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-81575357845772742612014-02-05T09:09:15.814-06:002014-02-05T09:09:15.814-06:00Based on what I understood was that they are going...Based on what I understood was that they are going to test the air quality once everyone is back in the building. The clean up could refer to the fact that mold was found in classrooms that had been cleaned. Could it happen again? In my opinion we need to make up all of the days. Not much happens during the last days of school, more subs usually. We have a long enough summer break without it starting prior to school ending.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961215159419443702.post-74509367137609080052014-02-05T08:27:24.304-06:002014-02-05T08:27:24.304-06:00Had "The Parents" bothered to show up at...Had "The Parents" bothered to show up at the HMS open house and talk to the contractors or the BOE members that were available to answer question perhaps they would KNOW that the "additional clean up" includes after-hours painting of the drywall that is new and/or exposed due to removal of paneling that was done in search any hidden mold. The contractors also removed all the baseboard / cove modelings to ensure that the area that was susceptible to contamination from mopping were also inspected. New non-absorbent molding will also be installed.<br /><br />As is too often the case on this blog the ravings over trival matters far overshadow any possible legitimate concerns. It is true that our middle school students have had a compressed schedule and it is fair to wonder what impact that may have. I fear that no matter what answer the adminsitration or BOE supplies the folks whose paranoia and negativity cloud their every interaction with the schools will not be satisfied...jay_wickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13432309250544319696noreply@blogger.com