BURKEonBOARD

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – From Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

(Oct. 12, 2008) – What’s in a name? Perhaps more than the Bard lets on.

ISD 192 has formed a Naming Committee to recommend names for three district schools—the new high school that will open next year, the current high school which will become a middle school, and the current Farmington Middle School East which will become an elementary school.

The occasion of naming public buildings is a great opportunity, particularly for schools. We all know schools named to honor the fallen such as any number of Memorial High Schools. We know many Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson schools that honor great leaders. And, like Farmington High School, many are named to show pride of place.

Maybe this time, we might consider naming some of our schools after the great men and women of arts, letters and science. Perhaps even those who called Minnesota home. (continue reading…)

(Oct. 12, 2008) – The school board tactic of meeting to discuss important issues at inopportune times when few can attend continues tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 13) afternoon at 5 p.m.

This is what the board calls “work sessions” when they discuss topics that they will likely vote on two weeks later at the board’s monthly business meeting when they typically take official votes and don’t discuss the details of what they discussed two weeks earlier.

The problem is, the “work sessions” are at a bad time for working folks and families trying to fix dinner and attend their kids’ events. That’s made worse because the board has ordered that these meetings not be carried on cable TV. It’s a recipe for keeping the public in the dark.

Board member Ann Manthey asked this policy be changed so that we might at least watch what our school board is considering, but the other five board members ignored her.

Monday afternoon’s meeting is important because several big issues are on the agenda. (continue reading…)

(Oct. 11, 2008) – It has been five days since I had coffee with ISD 192’s assistant superintendent for education services, Dr. Christine Weymouth last Monday morning. I said I would get back with a recording of that conversation and I haven’t. About that in a second.

At our coffee, Dr. Christine Weymouth brought with her district finance director Jeff Priess and HR director Linda Goers. I was happy they joined. I’ve raised many questions about district finances and questioned the executive level staffing in Weymouth’s Department of Teaching and Learning, so I suspect that is why Goers was along.

Now about the recording of our conversation. There is no recording. (continue reading…)

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“What, then, is the true Gospel of consistency? Change. Who is the really consistent man? The man who changes. Since change is the law of his being, he cannot be consistent if he stick in a rut.” – Mark Twain

“There must be consistency in direction.” – W. Edwards Deming

(Oct. 10, 2008) – Recently, a friend sent me an audio recording and book by William Ouchi. He is a UCLA management professor who has focused much of his energy in the past two decades on how we manage our school.

Ouchi is a devotee of what is called the Edmonton Approach, a decentralized style of school management that puts all manner of decision making at the school building level, from how to teach to who plows the school parking lots. It gives students and parents the right to attend any school within a district. It has been amazingly successful in the places where Ouchi has studied it, (continue reading…)

(Oct. 8, 2008) – So, you have to wonder, what’s changed in the past two years for Terry Donnelly and the Farmington School Board?

Terry Donnelly is the current Farmington school board member who is now running for the Farmington City Council. He’d have to quit the board in mid-term if he won a council seat.

A friend forwarded to me this link to a Thisweek newspaper article (Terry Donnelly runs for second term on school board) published right after the filing period for the 2006 school board election. Donnelly had just filed to run for reelection and the newspaper quoted him on his reasons for seeking reelection.

“I don’t want to quit before I see it through,” Donnelly said. “It is kind of an exciting time and we are making a lot of progress and I want to see it through.” (continue reading…)

(Oct. 6, 2008) – I received a note from an anonymous school district employee over the weekend who commented on the difficulties the school district is having converting from the old student information system to a new one called Infinite Classroom which was to have been up and running for the start of this school year. It is still not fully functional, including Family Web Access (FWA), the module that gives parents access to their students’ academic records.

I wrote last evening to the district’s director of administrative services, Rosalyn Pautzke, who has responsibility for overseeing this project: (continue reading…)

(Oct. 6, 2008) – If you haven’t heard, yet, there will be a pair of candidates forums this Wednesday evening, but not for the school board.

Candidates for mayor and city council will face off from 6 to 7 p.m. That will be followed by a forum for the two candidates for state representative in Dist. 36B from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The forums will be held in the new City Hall, 430 Third St., downtown Farmington. If you can’t make it, the Farmington Independent will carry the audio of the forums streamed live from its web site, http://www.farmingtonindependent.com/.

(Oct. 6, 2008) – I’ve heard from a few parents who have heartburn with how school fundraisers are handled in our schools. I must admit, I never gave the matter a second thought except that when one of our kids brings a fundraising kit home, I take it away until homework is done.

The concerns I heard, though, were about the time taken during the school day to train kids to be good little fundraisers. Who to call (”Make sure you call your grandparents and aunts and uncles.”) and what great prizes they could earn if they sell so much of this or that. (continue reading…)

(Oct. 5, 2008) – Hope you had a chance to read the post added Thursday (A response from ISD 192 Assistant Superintendent for Education Services, Christine Weymouth) from Dr. Weymouth on what’s happening in her work world.

Clearly, Dr. Weymouth has a lot going on. Which caused me to think that since her’s is a new position, previously all this must have been done by the superintendent.

Well, at least now he has more time to focus on non-education matters, administrative matters, finances and personnel issues. But it turns out that the district has a Director of Administrative Services, Rosalyn Pautzke, to handle administration issues. And the district has a Director of Finance, Jeff Priess, to handle financial matters like the very popular (with the school board) upcoming bond sale and tax increase. And the district has a Director of Human Resources, Linda Goers, to handle the hirings and firings.

So, what exactly is keeping the superintendent busy these days? Maybe he would like to write to us, as Dr. Weymouth did, and let us know. I’d hate to think we were wasting that $160k (plus benefits)/year salary.

I’ll will extend to him the same offer I extended to Dr. Weymouth. Provide a response that addresses the question and we’ll publish it here, unedited and without comment.

(Oct. 5, 2008) – Sorry this is last minute, but if you have some questions you’d like asked of ISD 192 assistant superintendent for education services, Christine Weymouth, please email them to me ASAP at tim@burke4board.com.

I’m having coffee tomorrow (Monday) morning at 7 a.m. (ouch) with Dr. Weymouth. The coffee date was at her invitation after I wrote to her asking for an explanation of the management of the district’s Department of Teaching and Learning. (continue reading…)