By anne

November 21, 2007 12:04 AM | Link to this

Laura, it is not only the staff at ludlow that gets more recess time than the kids. You should see the secretary at one of the schools. She is rude to the staff, the principal allows it, and she sits at her desk WATCHING TV!

By mario

November 20, 2007 1:40 PM | Link to this

I was at the preschool academy at Jackson Center this morning. I spoke to the principal, the secretary and the custodian regarding the use of the building by non-preschool staff. The only thing currently scheduled on a regular basis during the school day is a monthly principals meeting. Mrs. Gaillard-Barnes (principal) actually prefers that because she can still be on site. The other activities � bus driver meetings, DEA, etc. are scheduled for after school hours. At some point early in the school year there were some other professional development activities, but they were voluntarily moved because they may have been coming in the door when children were being dismissed. Since there are full day and half day programs at Jackson, there is a lot of activity. The children eat lunch in the classrooms as a result of a program decision by the principal. The Head Start program classrooms emphasize family style eating which is more conducive in the classroom and after determining that new furniture would have to be bought to accommodate the remaining classes to eat in a cafeteria style environment, it was decided to have all lunches in the classroom. Mrs. Gaillard-Barnes couldn�t speak highly enough of the custodial staff who works to ensure that the classrooms are properly maintained and so far there has not been a problem with small animals, unlike the building at Gettysburg. There is an entire classroom devoted to gross motor skill development and I had a nice conversation with the teacher who is in there. Room 115 � a long conference room type space � has one end devoted to physical activity space and it works well with the scooters even though it is carpeted. The auditorium is also used as needed by the staff. I saw the room schedule for the next four weeks and it was all preschool activities except for one 5pm meeting with the bus drivers. While I may have not gotten the fullest picture, if Frustrated has specific examples of students being denied resources or opportunities please do contact me or any of the other board members so that we may look into this further.

By Mary

November 20, 2007 9:43 AM | Link to this

(The following sentence was sent out to DDN by the public relations department of Dayton Public Schools). Dayton Public Schools, in partnership with the Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association, is asking area residents to clean out their closets and attics and donate used musical instruments to help make students� dreams come true. And they say DPS dosen’t have a sense of humor. Over 50% of the instrumental teachers in Dayton Public Schools were recently laid off(i.e. fired, RIfed, whatever cute terminology they use). To show their support of the music program for Dayton Public Schools, a large number of teachers were later rehired. Some of them athletic coaches with 2-3-4-5 years teaching experience. None of the rehires were music teachers, many with nearly 10 years or more of teaching experience. But Dayton Public Schools supports instrumental music and the dozens of national reports that show that learning to play an instrument “leads to higher student achievement.” And this is said with straight face. Obviously Dayton Public Schools do not fear a writers strike. They make up their own copy.

By Laura

November 18, 2007 9:01 PM | Link to this

Frustrated, your concern that children don’t have a place to play during inclement weather is irrelevant since most of the schools do not allow the children to have recess (more than 5 minutes) during perfect weather so inclement weather doesn’t really matter. I wonder how much “recess” time Ludlow I and II workers have. Hmm.

By Frustrated

November 18, 2007 3:10 PM | Link to this

OldProf… It’s not the purchase of Loudlow that is at issue with me. It is the under use of the conference and training rooms available there and at other locations in the district. Bus training should be conducted at the bus barn not in a school building. They have rooms there for this purpose. Ludlow also has numerous rooms available for such trainings and meetings by different agencies. When you ask some of the groups why they don’t meet there they tell you that it is not centrally located to meet their needs. We paid for these assets and they should be used to their fullest. The board generrally meets in the evenings so Jackson center isn’t an issue at night. The issue is driven by the needs of the children to be placed before others. I don’t see other schools needing to eat in the classrooms so a group of from the staff can conduct training or hold a meeting or not have a lrge room to use during inclement weather to allow the children a place to run and play. How much buisness do we really expect the board to due between now and the holidays. I would suggest not much. It just suggest to me the actions of the out going president to pardon friends and criminals just before parting office.

By Joe Lacey

November 17, 2007 11:50 AM | Link to this

Johnnie, I voted for Mr. Lee so, contrary to what you say, we did “pick another Lacy choice”.

By Oldprof

November 17, 2007 8:43 AM | Link to this

Again, in frustrated’s post, we see a lot of stomach and little mindfulness. Frustrated, the board CANNOT table an appointment; they must fill the empty seat or they’re legally not able to conduct board business. And you know what they got at Ludlow; a very cheap price (even with unexpected repairs) for a modern, centrally-located office suite to replace several inadequate, crumbling administration buildings. Now, sure, there are too many administrators—convince the state government to require fewer of them and the district will be glad to streamline in accordance. But at present, what choice would YOU make if you were in charge and had the choice to (a) put all administrators in one location in a $20 million up-to-date location (b) keep them scattered in four dated structures that had no energy efficiency and would have required $40 million or more to update and repair. Here’s your chance to play board member and go on the record with your response to that question—one that may be hard for you.

By Johnnie

November 16, 2007 8:34 PM | Link to this

Well, at least we didn’t pick another Lacy choice. I have heard some positive comments about Lee and we need to see what he will do. Also, we will be looking at the new chosen (Lacey) candidates. I attended a candidate’s debate and Taylor did not show me anything. Why would she want to be on the board. She is not too bright but my conception of her.

By Laura

November 16, 2007 7:47 PM | Link to this

Daniel: I do not speak in that manner and am offended that you place all teachers in one negative category. Perhaps I should accuse you of having not passed second grade since you don’t seem to know to use apostrophe’s in contractions. Besides, most of a child’s spoken language is learned at home before they ever enter school.

By Frustrated

November 16, 2007 5:51 PM | Link to this

Yes the board needs to change. With the completion of elections the appointment should have be tabled until the new members were seated. There are numerous things wrong in Daytonschools. When children are not given the resources or areas for development over district meetings is unexcusable. At the Jackson Center on Abbey Ave this very thing is happening. The students must eat meals in the classrooms and there is no place for gross motor skills to be developed during bad weather or if the rooms need to be used for training or board meetings. What did we pay for when we purchase at LUDLOW? The community needs to tell the board members that the students need to come first. You need to check it out for yourself.

By DPS Graduate

November 16, 2007 5:27 PM | Link to this

It saddens me that once again we are discussing a person’s character without even knowing the person or their contributions. Mr. Lee has helped raise two step-children who both graduated with honors from DPS. They both have earned B.S. degrees in Education and one has a PhD in education as well. He has been extremly supportive of community ventures, and done an enormous amount of volunteerism in the past years since retirement from GM. I do not believe that he will give a rubberstamp to issues or is afraid of disagreeing with the board. Why not for once we pack all the board meetings CONTINOUSLY, get to know the new representive, and hold all of our board members accountable for their decisions, instead of just complaining about it via a blog. Hey, how about this one. If you don’t like what’s going on, actually DO something ABOUT IT, instead of just TALKING!!! Get involved.

By Ha Ha

November 16, 2007 1:36 PM | Link to this

“We�re not looking for a rubber stamp, which I don�t think Ron will be at all, but someone who will work with the board to reach consensus and support the positions of the board…” We don’t want you to agree, just reach consensus & go along with what we say. How does that compare with a 6-0 vote?

By Scott Elliott

November 16, 2007 11:38 AM | Link to this

One thing I should have mentioned is that this was a 6-0 vote. Everyone, including Joe Lacey, favored Ronald Lee.

By Worried DPS Parent

November 16, 2007 11:17 AM | Link to this

OldProf: Scott asked for our opinions and so I provided mine. I realise I am woefully uninformed on this, and other, issues, but this is the reason I’m here.

By daniel

November 16, 2007 10:31 AM | Link to this

how can the kids learn proper english when most of the teachers cant speak proper english ???dis for this dat for that and what happened to the ing on alot of words?? the teachers dont say ing on words they say in like doing is doin and so on!!

By GOOD LUC

November 16, 2007 10:27 AM | Link to this

Wow the board decided that personalily was more important than expierece,education, dedication and character. No wonder Dayton Public Schools are a poor pathetic mess. You get what you ask for. Good luck DPS! You’re broke totally disorganized and a total embarrassemnt to the city but hey, you have great personaliites!!!

By Eric

November 16, 2007 9:33 AM | Link to this

Scott, the editorials suggest Ohio’s Democrats are obstructing school boards, so I pulled together a status on Ohio’s K-12 Quality Policy. It tends to substantiate Ellen’s accusations, but I’m not sure any influential group is really supportive of local boards. Perhaps an open records request is in order to see if local board members get appropriate training—the folks in Columbus responsible for helping board members keep their oaths probably can’t even find the quality policy which board members are oath-bound to implement. So, here’s the status which also serves as 22 clues to help find it: Is available at the Ohio Department of Education website, hiding in plain site; Provides specific expectations and guidelines for schools and districts to use in creating the best learning conditions for students and achieving state and local educational goals and objectives; Assures that all students are provided a general education of high quality; Helps the school board, superintendent, and treasurer create conditions for the school district’s success; Was adopted nearly seven years ago; Incorporates much of the Education Criteria for Performance Excellence from the National Institute of Standards and Technology; Was drafted with the help of an Executive Vice President from Vernay Labs, who worked extensively with Dr. W. Edwards Deming and the Ohio Quality and Productivity Forum; Is allegedly inadequate for determining standards of educational opportunity according to the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding; Carries the force of law, as stated by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer; Is legally binding upon school board members through their oath of office; Is irrelevant to identifying “enterprises more likely to … provide a public education meeting State standards,” per complaints filed by Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann; Applies to all school districts in Ohio; Applies to all chartered non-public schools in Ohio (including Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Independent, Seventh Day Adventist, and Christian schools); Does not apply to community schools (aka charter schools) in Ohio; Ought to apply to community schools, as resolved by the League of Women Voters of Ohio; Its omission from the Voter’s Guide published by the League of Women Voters suggest they feel it is irrelevant to casting informed votes for school board; Is irrelevant to school board endorsements made by the Montgomery County Democratic Party; Is irrelevant to contract negotiations per Ohio’s teachers’ unions; Appears to be irrelevant to presidential education platforms and No Child Left Behind reauthorization; Ought to be integrated into teacher preparation, as directed by the Ohio General Assembly; Appears to be irrelevant to teacher and administrator preparation and professional development, according to Ohio’s Educator Standards Board; Would save the State of Ohio one billion dollars per year (by one estimate) if educators complied with its provisions, which are legally binding. Perhaps Fordham Foundation will offer a reward to the first Get On The Bus reader who finds it.

By Caroline

November 16, 2007 9:11 AM | Link to this

Obviously, the Board picked somebody who would agree with the majority. It didn’t matter who was best for the job, as long as they didn’t have to deal with opposition.

By Oldprof

November 16, 2007 7:44 AM | Link to this

Worried, I get concerned when someone professes ignorance and at the same time disapprobation. If you don’t know, why not educate yourself first, and then form an opinion after due consideration of the facts? Rushing to condemn Ron Lee before he’s had a chance to participate in even one board meeting is manifestly unfair to him—and expecting any board members’ comments to come out sanitized and spun like they came from a presidential PR team is expected just a tad much in a position that pays maybe $3000 per year.

By greener

November 15, 2007 10:38 PM | Link to this

ok as I see it,we wanted some one with some back ground favorable to knowledge of finacial plus some background in schl.issues and we schould have voted for massoud&mario but this for the kids president of the schl. board SAYS WE(who is we) slected some who has PERSONALITY PERSONALITY don’t we have a song by that name to. WE THE TAX PAYERS WANT TO KNOW HOW EACH BOARD MEMBER VOTED.FOR A JOB SO CRUCIAL AS THIS,to say personality was the winning impression to 6 boards or blocks to render a decision,dayton daily opinion editor E.BELCHER WAS WRONG BIG TIME IT WAS’NT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY THAT GUTTED THE SCHL.BOARD

By Worried DPS Parent

November 15, 2007 7:10 PM | Link to this

My Comment on this issue, under the previous GotB entry, was made with only a cursory look at the announcement article you link to. On reading it through, something about the details it provides makes me uncomfortable. Ms. Isaacs makes the “…rubber stamp…” comment that you quote in thi entry, but it strikes me as a ‘doth protest too much’ statement. Why? Because the Board selected a person who “…supports the Kids First reform plan, voted in favor of May’s school levy and was supportive of Superintendent Percy Mack…”, saying his “…personality [that] was a better fit for the board”. I have no knowledge of any of the candidates or the interviewing and selection process, but something just doesn’t feel right to me…

By Scott Elliott

November 15, 2007 6:33 PM | Link to this

During the course of the day Wednesday, the board interviewed all three candidates. Then the met at 9 p.m. to discuss their final choice. I waited outside the meeting room during the meeting. It ended after 10 p.m. They met with me to announce their choice after calling the three applicants to let them know first. I had to push my 10:45 deadline to file at about 10:58.

By Not Surprised

November 15, 2007 5:55 PM | Link to this

So, I saw on the online DDN last night that they made their decision already. Seems like a LOT of serious debate went on about who was the best candidate. It must’ve been a Rock, Paper, Scissors style debate though. Honestly, I’d like to know the time lapse between the interviews and the selection. It seems like they already had someone picked before they even asked for applicants.