Posts
I wanted to visit a bit about the all-district collaboration which I have called for the morning of Friday, February 27, 2009. It seemed important to me and to others on the administrative team to garner input from all of our staff about ways to economize, work “smarter and not just harder” and to be proactive in the fact of economic and fiscal uncertainty. To that end, we decided to pursue the collaboration as a means of getting all of our staff members involved in brainstorming ideas to further the cause of teaching and learning in our district in ways which might both assist us financially and afford our students greater opportunities than they now have.
We will be addressing the issues of time, staffing, resources and building on our successes on this day. Each of the thirty work groups will be asked to come up with their top suggestion in each of the four areas which will be submitted and summarized for the entire group. Summaries will be sent out to all staff on the Monday following our Friday meeting. I believe that there is some urgency here and I hope that we have clearer direction from the legislature than we now have. To that end, I am asking each of you to put on your thinking caps and come to our session prepared to offer your great ideas both for the short term and long term for USD 373.
If something prevents you from participating, feel free to send me an e-mail with your ideas. We need everyone as we work collaboratively to continue to move our district forward in an uncertain time. I look forward to February 27 and to some great ideas which, hopefully, we can implement both this year and next.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Dear Mr. Morton, I hope you don't mind a parent's input. One of the first things educators think of when it comes to cutting costs is cutting programs, like transportation to events like club activities and so on. It is my personal opinion that what we have cut out of school already is fundamental. It is a set of life skills only brought on by extracurricular activities. We have dampened down ex. activities by taking out the trips to contests, and have lost the very skill that makes us better in the work force, competition. Band contests once a year, worrying that if one of our teams does well in the district we might have to get an extra bus. We have cut out the many things that took our kids to major universities on a yearly basis and made that place familiar and desirable. So as you look for ways to cut. Let's look at ways to teach our kids to do fund raising for added programs not cutting the ones we have. And I don't mean sell another candle or candy. I mean provide a community service that teaches work ethic not parent hand outs. Working for an opportunity to show you are the best you can be at an event like a contest promotes ownership of the whole event and teaches more about how to be a successful employee in the future than call all my relatives and beg five dollars for some piece of junk no one really wants in the first place. Get involved in a car wash, a bake sale, an art sale, a garage sale in the school parking lot. Make it part of the plan to fund these activities the old fashioned way and get back some old fashioned values for the sponsors and the kids. It worked for us and we need our kids to be more resourceful and better employees for the future. Parent hand outs are a way of life we need to cut back on as well. Teachers used to know that they and the students needed to contribute to the cause to fund activities. It was part of the deal the teachers planned on it and the kids signed up for it.
Cheryl Leake, parent, volunteer with Special Olympics and Newton Storm Soccer Mom.
Post a Comment