2012 Operating Referendum - Passed - Thank you parents!

Thank you to all of the parents and various PTA efforts over the course of this Referendum process and also the many activities in the buildings yesterday.

Late last night, Dr. Holodick confirmed that the 2012 Operating Referendum did pass, which goes to the efforts of the committees and many parent networks.  Thank you!

With its passage, we'll quickly turn to the "heart" of the Board proposal and start looking at planning and implementation efforts that directly impact our students and their learning environments.  Parents and the PTA will continue to play an important role in 21st Century education reform. 

While making our leadership accountable to established goals defined with this referendum, let's see what we can accomplish together with the power of parents.

Thank you to everyone's hard work and let me know what parts of the Board proposal you are most excited to see implemented.  

21st Century Education needs Community Support

Don't forget to VOTE YES for the 2012 Operating Referendum between 10 am and 8 pm TODAY.

Why would anyone in our community want to support this referendum?  Here are a few ideas that come to mind:

* New families moving to our area are looking at 3 basic items when they are relocating to a new area - general level of housing prices vs quality of the homes, the crime rate in the area AND the quality and performance of the local public schools!!  (Which ties back to the quality of the home they are buying.  A strong community supports and monitors strong public schools which attracts strong companies based on a strong basic workforce.)

*  There is something for every student in the referendum proposal!  The majority of the allocation helps to support our existing programs with the remainder helping our efforts to grow and expand in order to support 21st Century education.  (Like greater access to technology through greater broadband to figuring out ways for personal, student devices to be used within our school environments.  Plus the arts and extra-curricular activities are also support -- to name just a few items)

* Our students need our support!  At the end of the day,  they are the ones who will benefit from the strong, positive endorsement by our community and families by voting for this referendum.  They'll see and feel it in their classrooms and in their school environments.

Please get out and vote today!

So what do parents want out of their public education system?

I attended an annual parent meeting for one of BSD’s innovative programs recently.  It was an informative meeting covering the history of the program, recent developments, current growth of enrollment, ideas on upcoming initiatives where parents could have an opportunity to be involved on a policy level for the program and then of course, information about the upcoming Referendum.

Towards the end of the meeting, a parent provided input that they thought it was a “sneaky” way for the district to talk about the Referendum.  I thought, “Wow, for as smart as this group of parents is perceived to be, that comment demonstrates that some of them just don’t get it!”  How do they think this wonderful program that they are utilizing gets paid for?  How do they think that future progress and continued advanced training is going to be covered to keep this program “cutting edge” like they expect?  Plus our tax dollars that go towards education pale in comparison to what our neighbors in Pennsylvania pay, yet mention of how great their school system in key counties is seems to come up consistently in our district since they’re right next door.

To me there seemed to be such a disconnect.  And I see it all around as public school parents have “checked out” from being an accountable part of the overall process of educational reform.  Yes, there are very dedicated parents out there – especially when it comes to THEIR STUDENT- who are involved with getting information from the school, attending a PTA meeting every once in a while, making sure their student gets their homework done in order to get good grades, supporting school fundraising efforts when they come up, attending any school function when their student is directly involved, yet that doesn’t change education for a 21^st Century need.  That just supports the status quo and looks out for “Numero Uno” but it also sets up our system for limited results

Yes, we are all busy and the demands of job and family seem to be greater than ever before, but have we set our priorities.  If we’re not willing to support the bigger educational picture, how can we expect great things and changes in our classrooms that we’re all expecting for our 21^st Century children?  There is so much going on in educational reform right now and parents need to be a strong voice in the process. We need to push their comfort zones, we need to provide real-world perspectives and we need to make sure our schools deliver a multicultural, global perspective that provides the overall life skills for our students to be  great contributors of American Leadership.  A country doesn’t remain a global leader by neglecting its educational base.  If you want great leadership at the top and paradigm changing results for society, it takes a team effort and accountability by ALL to set a higher bar for public education.

It takes a complete perspective of all aspects of running a school district from paper and crayons in the Elementary schools to high tech computer labs in the Middle Schools to strategic curriculum development leading to consistent graduation rates in High School.  That takes money, dedicated and talented teachers, multifaceted principals and district leaders with a vision – and it takes parents being informed and taking action at various levels. Reform and fiscal accountability happens when a strong partner sets the tone and follows through in action.  Parents can be the strongest voice in that partnership!

Are you going to take ACTION on March 28^th …. and know why you are doing it…

March Referendum

So I saw that the Red Clay Capital Referendum passed. Hope that is a good trend as BSD goes out to Referendum later this month (March 28th) for its Operating Referendum.

Just trying to get the word out to parents seems difficult in this day and age. With all of the electronic avenues we have at our finger tips, I'm still not sure if enough parents are even aware that this Operating Referendum is coming; and if they have the detailed information to make an informed decision.

I think there is something for everyone in the content of the proposal that the Board approved. But don't take my word for it -- go to our district website and then go to shortcuts - 2012 Operating Referendum to get the details firsthand.

To entice you to take a closer look here is just a quick checklist of items listed in that proposal:

STE(A)M Initiative
Accelerating ALL Students
Behavior Intervention
Instructional Technology Packages for ALL classrooms
Internet Connection Speed Increase
Collaborative Learning Environment
Wireless Access
Club Facilitators
Support of String Program
Preventative Maintenance & Upgrades

These items seem to support a vision for 21^st Century education.

Also check in your school office or with your PTA – there is an information brochure that outlines some of the financial details, voting locations and high level impacts.

Pass the Referendum and then also plan to continue to monitor our Board and District administration and then measure results all the way down into the classrooms & school buildings to make sure we as parents know what’s being delivered – consistently across all of our classrooms.  This gives them the financial means to move forward and we’ll monitor the implementation to make sure they follow through.

Hope you’ll stay informed – share your thoughts!