It’s official: School board cuts 27.3 teaching jobs

POULSBO — Teachers filling 8.6 FTE positions in the North Kitsap School District will receive pink slips Friday, May 10.

The North Kitsap School Board cut 27.3 teaching jobs for the 2013-14 school year during the board meeting May 9. Of those positions, the 8.6 are not covered by attrition — people retiring, leave of absence, resignations.

Unless the school district receives more funding to bring back some of those positions, none will be filled next year.

Regarding the latest reductions, parents and teachers are already raising concerns over student-teacher ratios, said Chris Fraser, president of the North Kitsap Education Association. Fraser does not think the adopted staffing program will be successful, she said.

“This is a cut-to-the-bone approach,” Fraser said.

The cuts come less than a week before the May 15 deadline to issue reduction in force (RIF) notices to teachers. The board is required by law to hand out RIF notices by that date.

Staff receiving RIF notices this year were expected to be given them May 10, according to Assistant Superintendent Chris Willits.

The board bases its staffing decisions on what it knows about the following year’s budget. School board president Dan Weedin said the numbers the board looks at in May usually change.

“We are required to make staffing decisions with a crystal ball,” he said.

All certificated employees who receive a RIF notice, or whose contract is adversely affected as a result of those notices, are placed in an employment pool to be considered for recall, according to the district’s bargaining agreement. If a job opens up for anyone in the pool that qualifies, they can be rehired. If a job opens that more than one person qualifies for, the person with most seniority is offered first, the agreement states.

The district will save an approximate $2.1 million if the 27.3 positions are cut, according to Superintendent Patty Page. The district is facing an approximate $3 million deficit for the 2013-14 budget, caused by declines in enrollment and in state and federal funding.

Student-teacher ratios will increase as a result of the staffing cuts, but “we cannot continue to operate this way,” Page said of the district’s financial responsibility.  According to the proposed education program for 2013-14, presented to the board Thursday, the equivalent of 10.8 positions were cut from high schools, 7.8 from elementary schools, 4.2 from support staff, 2.5 from special education, and two from middle schools.

The district has 354.30 certified employees, according to district documents.

The area of education taking the most cuts in the proposed program is Career and Technical Education — 5.2 positions at the middle and high school levels.

The area taking the second highest number of cuts is K-5, 4.5 jobs.

The area with the third highest number of cuts is support staff, which include learning specialists, librarians and counselors. An equivalent of 4.2 support staff positions will be cut.

How staffing looks at each school is based on decisions made at the building level.

Contact North Kitsap Herald Education/Sports Reporter Kipp Robertson at krobertson@northkitsapherald.com or (360) 779-4464.

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Teaching jobs hard to find but not impossible – U

It’s a time for great excitement in the House of Rothgeb, because my daughter finally has achieved the goal she’s been working toward in recent years.

She has completed her master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Northern Colorado and will soon receive her teaching certificate.

She’s worked very hard for it. The whole family is very proud of her, and as soon as we let out this collective “Whew!” I’ll be ready to move on to the next phase of parent anxiety —- hoping that she finds a job.

It won’t be easy. Public school districts across the country have felt the grip of budget madness, and it’s certainly happened here in Southwest County. The uncertainty of state funding means that one day we’re hearing about layoffs and yet the next day there may be teaching positions to be filled.

So out of curiosity I talked this week with Henry Voros, assistant superintendent of human relations for the Temecula Valley Unified School District. I came away thinking that for a new teacher just starting out, the prospect of landing a job may not be a total disappointment, but it will require some work and patience.

Temecula Valley is probably not your average school district. It is consistently rated among the best in Riverside County, and teachers and administrators are clamoring to land a job there. Voros said that an assistant principal’s opening not long ago attracted 130 applications.

Jobs are hard to come by in the district, but not impossible. But the competition may be intense. I suspect that it’s the same in school districts everywhere.

“Teachers entering into the field go through all this work only to find that districts are downsizing because of budget cuts,” Voros said. “But they shouldn’t let that discourage them from applying, because they may be the one who’ll get hired.”

Temecula Valley’s projected enrollment for next year is about 28,000 students, Voros said, which is consistent with recent years. The district has about 1,300 certified personnel and the average stay for a teacher in the district is about 15 years, so there must be a lot of positives about working there.

When it comes to hiring new teachers, Voros said, the district is looking for at least two distinct characteristics. One is that the job applicant shows an intense passion for teaching and the other is they are willing to work within a team.

“In a professional learning community there is now a lot of time spent analyzing data and discussing with colleagues ways of making adjustments that will improve student performance,” Voros said. “A team approach is very important in our district.”

And if it doesn’t work out; if a greenhorn teacher doesn’t land that first job in the traditional way, they can always fall back on a position substitute teaching for a while. That practice lends itself to the old axiom, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”

“If they are committed to the profession, substitute teachers can target certain districts to build up experience and a working relationship with the teachers and principals who work there,” Voros said. “That helps, because principals play an extremely important role in the hiring of teachers.”

So, it seems that landing a beginning teacher’s job is not really much different than landing a position in just about any profession. It just takes certain tangibles and focus to keep the drive alive.

And as a parent of a new teacher just entering the workforce, I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Other than offering encouragement, I guess that’s all I can do.

Hundreds apply for teaching jobs in Houston

More than 700 people showed up Saturday for Houston County’s annual teacher recruitment fair at Veterans High School.

In his opening remarks, Superintendent Robins Hines said the system hired 135 teachers last year and expects to hire at least that many this year.

“I’m a little bit biased, but we have the best school system anywhere,” he said. “The main reason we are what we are is because we have great expectations. We believe if you are not going to do something at a level of excellence then you ought not do it at all.”

He introduced members of the school board and key staff members. Afterwards, the job candidates scattered throughout the school where representatives of each school in the system were set up in classrooms to conduct interviews.

Tucker Elementary had a unique approach in that students were involved in the interview process. Principal Kim Halstead said the school emphasizes leadership skills and gives students many such opportunities to take roles in shaping the school.

Assistant Superintendent Mark Scott said math and science positions are the most difficult to fill.

Valerie Goolsby, an elementary school math teacher in the Dodge County system, was interested in a job in Houston County because she lives in Warner Robins and wanted to be closer to home. She offered a reason as to why math teachers are harder to find.

“Math is like the subject kids automatically do not like,” she said. “It’s kind of hard to get them into it. I do a lot of games and interactive activities to get them interested.”

As teachers were interviewed, they were given scores and those are used to select candidates to fully interview for open positions. Scott said it’s a better way to get a list of finalists than simply sifting through résumés.

“When you are just looking at the paper documents you don’t get a feel for their personality,” he said. “It gives us a chance to have that face-to-face contact.”

To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.

Dixon Public Schools Announce Strike Child Care Plan

Teachers in Dixon, Illinois will strictly go on strike on Thursday morning. After negotiating for roughly a year, a Dixon Education Association and propagandize house could not strech an agreement. Sticking points are income and operative conditions. Teachers contend they have not had a lift in 2-years, and they wish new training resources and smaller category sizes. However, a district says they can't means it.

During a strike a district is going to yield child care, though not for a initial few days. With propagandize canceled, many relatives are left perplexing to figure out what they will do with their children.

“I’m going to take a whole day off and Monday my husband’s father is going to watch them,” says Tara Thrasher.

As relatives collect adult their children from propagandize on Wednesday, many are looking for places their kids can go during a strike.

“I meant there are always family and friends that are peaceful to help, though that’s not always a box for everyone,” adds Thrasher.

The district is not charity childcare Thursday and Friday.

“It’s holding us time to get a hoop on how many kids to expect,” says Margo Empen, Assistant Superintendent during Dixon Public Schools, “We need to make certain we have a suitable skeleton in place with a Para-professionals and a support staff.”

District officials told relatives that childcare will start on Monday for kindergarten by 5th class students. The district sent out emails and phone messages seeking relatives to pointer adult for childcare as shortly as possible.

“We wish to get forward on how many kids are meddlesome in coming,” adds Empen, ‘So we can get an suitable site and devise suitable activities, so they stay meddlesome during a day.”

Exact locations have not been picked, since it will count on how many students attend.

“We wanted to get an thought of a age ranges, since we would like to keep a bulk of a kids in their strange building if possible,” says Empen.

District staff, propagandize administrators, Para-professionals and other staff will watch students. However, all a district can offer is activities.

“We’ve been tossing around ideas such as movies, opening a mechanism labs for mechanism games, and carrying a libraries accessed for books. Actual training and instruction will not be going on,” adds a Assistant Superintendent.

Students will have to move a pouch lunch and relatives need to yield transportation. The district will offer childcare for a generation of a strike, though that usually eases some of relatives concerns.

“We are going to try to do what we can, though I’m not a teacher,” says primogenitor Leslie Herb, “I can try my best to learn them during home, though that doesn’t meant I’m going to learn it a right way.”

The kinship and district will resume negotiations during 6pm Thursday. 

Loss of 17 teacher jobs projected in Ken-Ton schools

At least 17 teaching jobs are on the chopping block in the Ken-Ton School District in the 2013-14 school year, with most of the anticipated cuts related to the upcoming closure of Jefferson Elementary School.

Staffing projections were presented at this week’s School Board meeting by Stephen A. Bovino, assistant superintendent for human resources. Based on current enrollment and projections, among other things, the numbers are subject to change as work continues on next school year’s budget.

“At the present time, we don’t anticipate any change in programming,” Bovino said.

The closing of Jefferson School this year will result in the loss of 23.1 full-time-equivalent positions. But some of those teachers will land at Edison, Franklin, Hoover and Lindbergh elementary schools, which are picking up Jefferson’s students.

According to Bovino’s projections for elementary school staff, Edison’s will increase by four, Franklin’s by three and Lindbergh’s by one. Hoover’s would drop by one. The districtwide reduction for elementary school staff stands at 14.1 positions.

Meanwhile, middle school staffing would increase by one special-education position each at Franklin and Kenmore middle schools.

At the high school level, declining enrollment at Kenmore East translates into a loss of 6.4 positions. A projected enrollment increase of five students at Kenmore West has staffing increasing by 1.2, for a net loss of 5.2 positions.

Tuesday night, the School Board was asked to reconsider its class-size guidelines, on which staffing is based.

“I worry that we are producing lab rats” who are able to follow a task but unable to think critically, said Robyn Brydalski, who teaches third grade at Jefferson Elementary. “I feel that increased class sizes will adversely affect students’ ability to be successful.”

Under current guidelines, elementary class sizes range from 22 to 24 for kindergarten through second grade; 24 to 26 for grades 3 and 4; and 25 to 27 for fifth grade. The range is 26 to 28 for middle school, and 27 to 29 for high school.

Peter C. Stuhlmiller, president of the Kenmore Teachers Association, voiced similar concerns. “We are hoping that the Board of Education will take a look at its current guidelines,” he said – or at least at the waivers granted for exceeding the guidelines.

“We are really concerned about the high class sizes,” he said after the meeting. “For the kiddos in those classes, it becomes a huge burden for instruction and assessment.”

At Holmes Elementary, he said, the average class size for fourth grade is 22, but two of the classes have 27 students each.

email: jhabuda@buffnews.com

Jackpot! Schools Win $53M From Obama

With a new present from President Obama, first-year clergyman Lisa Kieslich competence get service from a new “super-sub” so she can spend a day training classroom government tips from a newly dubbed “master teacher” in her school.

That was one prophesy of New Haven’s skeleton for a whopping new $53.4 million, five-year sovereign extend announced Thursday by Obama’s U.S. secretary of education, Arne Duncan.

The grant, that Duncan’s bureau announced Thursday, comes from a $285 million Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), a rival sovereign grant. The initial collection of money, $12 million, will be accessible this propagandize year. New Haven is one of 35 winners of a latest turn of TIF grants. (Details here.)

“This is a large deal,” U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of New Haven (at left in print with Mayor John DeStefano) announced during a 3:30 p.m. press eventuality Thursday during a John Martinez School. Local officials credited DeLauro with assisting secure a grant. They remarkable that New York City, that has 50 times a series of students as New Haven, scored usually $53 million.

The extend will capacitate New Haven to reward, commend and rise talent in a training and executive ranks.

New Haven is befitting for a extend since it already has already overhauled a clergyman evaluations to simulate tyro performance—a pivotal remodel Obama has been pulling nationwide—Assistant Superintendent Garth Harries said. New Haven gained inhabitant plaudits for including teachers in those changes, and struck a pacific understanding with a kinship in 2009 that paved a approach for reforms. The principals kinship followed fit with a possess pursuit evaluation, also formed on pursuit performance.

The new changes saved by a extend will build on a “foundation” set by those pursuit evaluations, Harries said.

News of a new extend sent ripples of fad by a training ranks Thursday.

“Oh happy day,” pronounced Iris Duran (at right in photo), a 19-year maestro math clergyman during Fair Haven School. She ran over to John Martinez when she listened about a awaiting of new income to support teachers.

Fair Haven School song clergyman Dan Kinsman (at left in photo), who spent his possess income on a three-week graduate-level category in dance and song in Ghana final summer, pronounced he hopes a district will yield a contribution for teachers to collect their possess training outward a classroom, something “inspiring.”

Leaders Stay In Class

In a review after a press event, Harries pronounced a district won’t utterly be promulgation teachers to Africa—but that they could still find a approach to advantage from a grant.

Harries summarized several efforts a propagandize complement pitched to a feds in a extend application.

One goal: to emanate new care roles for teachers and principals.  Right now, Harries said, teachers who wish to pierce adult in a district have usually one option: Become an administrator. Harries pronounced schools need to emanate another option, so teachers can stay in a classroom while also holding on care roles.

The district aims to build a new cadre of indication teachers with consultant talents to share, Harries said. A clergyman could be an consultant on classroom management, or on Singapore math, for example.

Call them “master teachers.” They would keep teaching, while also mentoring other teachers and pity their skills with their peers.

Likewise, a district would emanate a “mentor principal” purpose for principals who would share knowledge with their peers.

The extend will concede for these new “master teachers” and “mentor principals” to get additional remuneration for their new duties, Harries (pictured) said. It would also concede a district to compensate teachers and administrators some-more for operative in formidable environments, such as schools with lots of transitory or special needs kids.

The differentiated compensate beam and care roles are a approach of withdrawal behind a “factory” indication of education.

Along those lines, teachers would get entrance to individualized training according to their needs.

For example, Kieslich, a code new clergyman during John Martinez (pictured during a tip of this story), pronounced she’d like some additional assistance with classroom government for her 6th-grade classroom. The clergyman assimilated a classroom after earning her bachelor’s from Southern Connecticut State University.

As a new teacher, Kieslich is interconnected with a coach for her initial dual years. She pronounced she could always use some-more training.

She pronounced she complicated classroom government in school, though “you only review it from a book. Once you’re in your possess classroom, it’s totally different.”

Harries pronounced that’s only a kind of problem a new extend could solve.

Super-Sub Me

Enter a “super-sub.” In a grant, New Haven asked for income to compensate for 15 to 20 full-time surrogate teachers. Their pursuit would be to cover classes so a teachers can get additional training they need to rise their skills.

For example, a super-sub competence take over Kieslich’s classroom for an whole day so she can learn from an consultant in classroom management. Or a super-sub competence soothe a master clergyman from her duties so that clergyman can spend a day with Kieslich.

Veteran teachers could benefit, too. Shelley Weinhaus (at left in print with Kieslich), who’s in her eighth year teaching, pronounced she already mentors new classroom teachers. She pronounced she sees a advantage in expanding mentoring over first-year teachers. And, she said, teachers could always use some-more training around how to use information to devise lessons.

The district also aims to sight a staff who perform clergyman and principal evaluations.

Teachers kinship President Dave Cicarella pronounced a idea is to emanate an even personification field.

“There’s a miss of integrity and training” to a approach a evaluations are implemented, he said.

None of a sum above are final, Harries cautioned.

A new cabinet of 3 teachers and 3 principals or partner principals, called a Talent Council, will assemble to manage how a income is spent. That cabinet will have a final say.

Recognition

School officials called a TIF present a “largest inhabitant recognition” of a remodel expostulate so far.

While New Haven’s remodel efforts have gained most regard from Obama’s administration, money had not followed a kudos until Thursday.

While some aspects of remodel have generated controversy, a city’s hook with teachers—working with them rather than fighting with them to furnish changes in a landmark contract—has turn a indication cited national for how other cities can urge a schools. Sources of regard have ranged from teacher-union-bashers during a Wall Street Journal editorial page to a preparation routine centrists during The New York Times to pro-union remodel skeptics like Diane Ravitch. Click here for a latest example. New Haven’s teachers concluded to make it easier for a district to get absolved of a lowest performers—and to decider them formed on a brew of exam scores and other factors—while a city concluded to embody teachers in a analysis routine and to offer support for struggling teachers to urge rather than destroy and leave a system.

Back-to-School Roundup for 2012 – Midland Reporter

Big Spring ISD wraps adult bond construction, opens new schools

Construction projects saved by Big Spring ISD’s $62 million bond are about 98 percent complete, and administrators pronounced they’re prepared for category to start Monday.

The bond beginning paid for construction of 4 new facile campuses, combined 11 sixth-grade classes to Big Spring Junior High and supposing $12 million in renovations to Big Spring High School.

Voters authorized a bond with 1,788 (61 percent) for and 1,163 (39 percent) against, according to Reporter-Telegram archives.

Crews worked via a summer to finish projects during Goliad, Marcy, Moss and Washington elementaries, that accounted for $42 million and took about 14 months, pronounced BSISD Assistant Superintendent Danny Ferrell.

The bond beginning was a largest ever upheld by a district. The district transposed facile schools, that averaged 55 years of age, Ferrell said.

Renovations during Big Spring Junior High were finished final summer, and a further of scholarship labs during Big Spring High School were finished this summer.

Bond projects that won’t be finished by Monday embody a rope gymnasium and roof during Big Spring High School, landscaping for all buildings and some parking lot paving.

Completion for a rope gymnasium isn’t approaching until April, though Ferrell pronounced other arrangements have been done for a rope to discipline and practice.

Administrators trust stream BSISD comforts should final about 20 years.

College convention course to support ECHS seniors

Additional classrooms, teachers and courses have been combined to Early College High School during Midland College, and a campus will work during full capacity.

Opened in Aug 2009 as a dilemma try between Midland ISD and Midland College, ECHS allows name students to concurrently finish high propagandize graduation mandate and acquire an associate degree.

What began with a beginner category has grown to embody some-more than 350 students in a beginner by comparison classes, and Principal Jeanette McNeely pronounced it was time for a few additions.

Each comparison tyro will be enrolled in a college transition convention class, that will accommodate daily. Students will accept superintendence requesting for college, financial assist and scholarships, McNeely said.

“The common concentration that Texas uses for all state universities is already open and students will spend their initial week in category requesting to college,” McNeely said.

A few teachers combined to a expertise this year won’t be housed in ECHS’ gymnasium inside a Allison Fine Arts Building during Midland College. Instead, those teachers will be located in a F. Marie Hall Academic Building located subsequent door, McNeely said.

Additionally, ECHS clergyman Karen Murdoch was been hired as a campus’ initial partner principal.

“As your tyro physique increases, a executive final were some-more than we could do and still be a enlightening personality we indispensable to be,” McNeely said.

She pronounced Murdoch’s laxity with a school’s structure will make her a profitable asset.

Hillcrest School prepares for final division in building

This division outlines a final time Hillcrest School students will start classes in a propagandize building on a northeast dilemma of Wadley Avenue and “A” Street.

After 6 years in Building C, that was donated to a school, Hillcrest has sole it to a Abell-Hanger Foundation, pronounced Hillcrest’s Executive Director Betty Starnes.

In December, a propagandize will pierce a few blocks south into Midland Bible Church’s “A” Street building.

“The church has got an ideal building devise for us. It is perfect,” pronounced Dean of Students Sharel Sims. “We’re unequivocally looking brazen to be means to be a tiny some-more eccentric as distant as grounds, a parking area and a visibility.”

Construction of a new MBC nearby Midland Classical Academy during 5900 Whitman Drive is underneath way, and church officials wish to make a pierce by early December. At that time, Hillcrest School will pierce into a church, that Sims considers a ideal location.

Currently located in a business park, “a lot of people in Midland usually don’t know about Hillcrest given they don’t see signs each day,” Sims said.

Once Hillcrest moves into a new home, Sims pronounced a house and administration devise to reason a collateral debate to lift supports for a gym, something they’ve never had during their stream location.

“We have copiousness of room to build a gym on that skill and we’re really excited,” Sims said.

Hillcrest provides a specialized training sourroundings for about 40 students with training differences in kindergarten by 12th grade. Hillcreast will applaud a 20th anniversary this year.

Orientation will be hold Monday, and classes start Tuesday.

St. Ann’s School welcomes new partner principal

Fernando Ochoa is no foreigner to starting a propagandize year off in a new propagandize with new teachers, students and colleagues.

In his time as an educator, Ochoa has taught in 6 opposite propagandize districts — from Six-Man to Class 5A — as a teacher, manager and administrator.

This year, he’s adult for a new plea operative as partner principal during St. Ann’s School, Midland’s private Catholic propagandize that serves some-more than 350 students in preschool by eighth grade.

“Private propagandize is new to me, though we consider rarely of St. Ann’s and know that a kids who start here and afterwards go to open propagandize are well-educated,” pronounced Ochoa, who has worked in Grady, Midland, Lake Dallas, Kennendale, San Angelo and League City ISDs as a teacher, manager and administrator.

“School is still school, private or not. Teachers are teaching, and students are learning,” pronounced Ochoa. “The eremite aspect here is a usually thing that is different, in my opinion.”

Ochoa believes his practice operative for a accumulation of opposite administrators in propagandize districts large and tiny make him a clever administrator. Ochoa pronounced being a good listener and putting students initial are a many critical things to being a good administrator.

As partner principal, he will be obliged for evaluating teachers and assisting exercise enlightening effectiveness. Additionally, he is coaching a youth high Six-Man football team, that will play 8 games this year.

In further to portion as partner principal, Ochoa is a St. Ann’s parent. His daughter, Naya, is a second-grader and has attended St. Ann’s given she was 3 given of a event to learn a Catholic faith, Ochoa said.

Ochoa was innate in Lamesa, attended propagandize in Stanton and graduated from Greenwood High School. He binds a bachelor’s category in delegate education, with a teenager in kinesiology from Angelo State University and a master’s category in educational care from UTPB.

RMA announces new hours and educational programs

New hours and educational programs are in place this year for students who attend Richard Milburn Academy, a half-day licence propagandize for ninth- by 12th-graders.

New classes charity this year embody an SAT credentials category taught by a Princeton Review instructor, a Money Matters category formed on Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University for Teens, a school-to-work category that incorporates E.J. Carrion’s Student Success Academy mentoring module and an advisory duration where stream issues associated to romantic health, counterpart vigour and bullying will be discussed, principal Kim Blackketter pronounced in an email.

“Richard Milburn Academy offers a accumulation of classes to advantage both a college-bound and a career-ready,” Blackketter said. “Our concentration is not on training programs or books or subjects, though on training students so that they are prepared for what comes next.”

New propagandize hours, with a morning event from 7:40 a.m. to noon and an afternoon event from 12:10 to 4:30 p.m. will be in place, Blackketter said.

The bureau will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. RMA is still usurpation students.

Midland College to continue extended Tuesday dusk hours

Midland College will continue extended business hours on Tuesday evenings in sequence to offer students with bustling schedules and to yield them with entrance to all of a school’s tyro services

In January, administrators began charity extended hours for a contrast center, admissions, registrar, tyro advising and financial assist offices until 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Extended Scharbauer Student Center services will continue on Tuesdays this tumble with a further of a cashier’s office, pronounced Rebecca Bell, vanguard of village family and special events.

District to eliminate nearly 60 teaching jobs – KSWT

PHOENIX (AP) – The Paradise Valley Unified School District is eliminating nearly 60 elementary teaching positions before classes begin in August in a bid to save $2.8 million.

The Arizona Republic reports (http://bit.ly/O3I8wI) that the district that serves northeast Phoenix and north Scottsdale hopes all positions will be eliminated through attrition, not through layoffs.

Karen Gasket, the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources, says most teachers who saw their positions eliminated already have been reassigned but not all of them.

Because of the elimination of positions, the teacher-student ratio for elementary classes will vary by subject and grade level and be based on need.

Gasket says elementary-class sizes will range from 20 to 35 students.

Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Survey gauges teacher opinions on working conditions

Nearly all Warren County public school teachers participated in the 2012 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey. Their responses were among those received by more than 100,000 educators statewide included in initial results recently presented to the state board of education.

Dr. Frank Polakiewicz, Warren County Schools’ assistant superintendent of administration, said that the surveys allow teachers to share their perceptions on working conditions related to the following topics: how time is used within the school, facilities and resources, community support and involvement, student conduct, teacher leadership, school leadership, professional development and instructional practices and support.

“The information is meant to ensure teachers work in conditions that will help them maximize student performance,” he said.

Polakiewicz said that the results are beneficial at the local and state levels, as well as in the development of school improvement plans, and can be compared to past results in order to identify areas of concern and trends.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction/state board of education explained that teachers complete the anonymous survey online. Educators at both the traditional public schools and charter schools may participate.

This year, 99.53 percent of teachers in the Warren County school system and 87.5 percent of teachers at Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School, a charter school here, completed the survey. 

The 2012 report also includes results from 2010, the last year the survey was given, in order to identify changes over the past two years. 

The department of public instruction/state board of education stated that availability of resources, including time and professional development, had a significant impact on the areas in which perceptions of positive conditions have decreased. Local results reflect this trend in several cases.

Warren County results are as follows:

Mariam Boyd Elementary School

At Mariam Boyd, all teachers participated in the survey in both 2010 and 2012.

While more teachers said they believe they have adequate time to collaborate with colleagues now than in 2010, the educators want smaller class sizes in order to have more time to meet the needs of all students, more instructional time and less routine paperwork.

Teacher responses about questions related to facilities and resources remained about the same as in 2012, with a higher percentage stating that the school is clean and well maintained, yet fewer teachers feel they have sufficient access to support personnel. 

As in 2010, all teachers continue to believe that the community is supportive of the school, and most think that community members contribute to student success more than parents and guardians. 

All Mariam Boyd teachers who responded think that teachers are effective school leaders there, but fewer educators than in 2010 think that teachers have an appropriate level of influence on decision-making.

Mariam Boyd teachers called for more professional development opportunities.

Overall, 89.3 percent agreed that the school is a good place to work and learn, compared to 94.3 percent in 2010.

Northside Elementary School

At Northside, 96.67 percent of teachers completed the survey this year, compared to 100 percent in 2010.

This year, only half of the educators responding indicated that class sizes allow enough time to meet the needs of all students, and only 26.9 percent believe that their non-instructional time is sufficient.

More teachers this year believe that their school is clean and well maintained than in 2010, but they want better access to instructional materials, technology, office equipment and supplies, and support personnel.

This year, 57.1 percent of teachers believe that the community supports the school, compared with 89.7 percent in 2010.

Just 27.6 percent of educators think that students follow rules of conduct, and only 26.1 percent indicated that they feel comfortable raising issues and concerns that are important to them. Only 38.5 percent of teachers feel that parents and guardians are influential decision makers at the school, and 63 percent, down from 93.1 percent two years ago, say that parents and guardians know what is going on in the school. Teachers rated community support much lower than in 2010.

On questions related to student conduct, only 27.6 percent of respondents feel the students follow rules of conduct, 75 percent feel that faculty understands policies and procedures, and only 46.2 percent feel that school administrators consistently enforce rules of student conduct, compared to 100 percent in 2012. Also, only 50 percent of teachers said that school administrators support teachers’ efforts to maintain classroom discipline compared to 100 percent two years ago.

Responses regarding the school’s teacher leadership showed significant drops from 2010 as well. Only 40.7 percent of teachers feel they are trusted to make decisions about instruction compared to 100 percent in 2010, 48.1 percent say they are relied upon to make decisions about educational issues compared to 92.9 percent in 2010, and just over half of respondents feel the school takes steps to solve problems compared to more than 96 percent in the previous survey.

Overall, 66.7 percent of Northside educators called the school a good place to work and learn, compared with 83.3 percent in 2010.

South Warren Elementary School

All South Warren teachers participated in the survey in both 2010 and 2012.

The percentage of educators who indicated that class sizes are sufficient to meet the needs of all students was down 5 percent from 2010, but the percentage who think that non-instructional time is sufficient went up 5 percent.

All teachers indicated that the school is clean and well-maintained, but indicated the need for better access to instructional technology and materials.

The percentage of teachers who believe that the community supports the school was unchanged, at 78.9 percent, and 83.3 percent of educators indicated that students follow rules of conduct.

While South Warren teachers believe that professional development is effective, they would like additional opportunities to improve their skills.

All statements about managing student conduct, teacher leadership and school leadership’s effort to address teacher concerns were improved from 2010, and most statements about school leadership also improved, some as much as 20 percent or more.

Overall, 95 percent of teachers think that the school is a good place to work and learn, compared with 55 percent in 2010.

Vaughan Elementary School

All Vaughan teachers participated in the survey in both 2010 and 2012.

This year, 16 percent more educators think that class sizes allow time to work with all students, but they would like more time to collaborate with colleagues and have more instructional time. Only 38.1 percent indicated that efforts are made to minimize routine paperwork.

As in 2010, all teachers believe that the school is clean and well maintained, and they indicated that Internet speed, and access to technology and supplies is good.

All teachers believe that the community, parents and guardians support the school, that students understand and follow rules of conduct and that sufficient resources are available for professional development. As in 2010, all teachers feel that school administrators support their efforts to maintain discipline.

In statements about teacher leadership, more than 95 percent of respondents think that teachers are encouraged to participate in school leadership roles, and more than 91 percent believe that teachers are effective school leaders. However, the percentage of respondents who agreed that teachers have an appropriate level of influence on decision-making was unchanged from 2010, at 68.2 percent.

Overall, 91.3 percent of educators believe that the school is a good place to work and learn, compared with 86.4 percent in 2010.

Warren County Middle School

All middle school teachers responded to the survey in 2012, as they did in 2010.

While more teachers in 2012 think that class sizes are adequate, the percentage remains under 70.

Nearly all teachers believe that the school is clean and well maintained. More believe that Internet reliability and speed is sufficient this year, and that teachers have adequate access to the equipment and supplies they need.

The percentage of educators who believe that the community supports the school dropped from 73.1 percent in 2010 to 64.3 percent this year.

This year, 43.2 percent of educators believe that students follow rules of conduct, compared with 28.8 percent in 2010, and 63.6 percent feel that school administrators support their efforts to maintain classroom discipline, compared to 31.4 percent two years ago..

Fewer teachers believe that professional development resources are sufficient.

Overall, 60 percent of educators believe that the school is a good place to work and learn, compared with 58.5 percent in 2010, and 63.6 percent feel that school administrators support their efforts to maintain classroom discipline, compared to 31.4 percent two years ago.

Statements about teacher leadership showed more agreement, some up more than 20 percent, but only 40.9 percent of teachers feel they have an appropriate level of influence on decision-making at the school. Still, that is up from 32.1 percent in 2010. 

Survey highlights for the county’s high schools and Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School will be in next week’s edition.

To view the initial results, go to www.ncteachingconditions.org and click on “view 2012 survey results.”

District to eliminate nearly 60 teaching jobs

PHOENIX (AP) – The Paradise Valley Unified School District is eliminating nearly 60 elementary teaching positions before classes begin in August in a bid to save $2.8 million.

The district that serves northeast Phoenix and north Scottsdale hopes all positions will be eliminated through attrition, not through layoffs.

Karen Gasket, the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources, says most teachers who saw their positions eliminated already have been reassigned but not all of them.

Because of the elimination of positions, the teacher-student ratio for elementary classes will vary by subject and grade level and be based on need.

Gasket says elementary-class sizes will range from 20 to 35 students.

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