Dear SEA Members,
The November 14th school board meeting was certainly interesting.
I have not seen emotions run as high since we gave our former superintendent the boot at a school board meeting at Southwest High, a school in the community of Nestor. Close to sixty members of the public completed speaker cards. Several of our librarians spoke about the work that they do and how library services promote life-long reading. Our PE teachers were also there. They spoke about new standards and how PE has evolved. What they are asking for is smaller class sizes in order for them to be more effective educators so they may have a greater impact on our students. I was there to request a copy of the Vega Report and to suggest that Jim Cartmill, Arlie Ricasa, and John McCann resign their School Board seats because our District tampered with the last school board race.
However, most of the audience, including those that had to stand outside because the room reached its capacity, were parents, teachers, and students from K-8 charter schools that feed into our District. They were there to discuss their upcoming exclusion from our District's "Compact for Success" and exclusion from participating in our middle school athletic programs. Of this group, by far, most were from my children's school.
Full disclosure here: Two of my children attend a charter school: The Nestor Language Academy Charter School. They have been at Nestor since kindergarten, before it became a charter.
My children are receiving a good education at Nestor. I like the school. It is a dependent charter and the teachers are CTA members. My daughter's teacher is a former student of mine. So is the principal. Now and then, I run into some of my former students there that are now parents. (Some are in their forties!) It was a good school before they became a charter and it still is. With the charter, the school gained the ability to serve 7th and 8th grade students, the same population served by SUHSD.
As a child, I attended Nestor Elementary. So did my brothers. My children were a part of the Language Academy at Nestor Elementary before it became a charter. Why? Two reasons:
- The Language Academy is good program.
- It is the closest elementary school to their home.
My son is now in the fifth grade. At this point, he does not desire to continue middle school at Nestor. I'm really careful about what I say about the Nestor program vs. Sweetwater programs, as I do not want my personal bias to influence his thinking in this area. Last year, he was thinking about Montgomery Middle. Now he is thinking of Mar Vista Middle and later wants to attend Mar Vista High School. That would be okay with me, but I also hope that he considers Southwest Middle and other options that are available to him, including my school, Hilltop. I want him to be exposed to options as we approach decision time.
Our District is saying that they are not being given access to sixth grade students at the K-8 charters like they once were. Therefore, our District feels that it has become necessary to become more aggressive in the student recruitment field. Our District has decided if we are not going to be allowed on charter campuses to describe our programs and to facilitate the transition to a new middle school, then we will pass out information outside the charter campuses. My son was a witness to Southwest Middle administrators, counselors, and students, passing out such information as he had safety patrol duty the afternoon of the first leafleting. I've heard that there were some arguments between the folks from Southwest Middle and some Nestor parents. If there were, I am requesting that we not fight in front of the children. Nevertheless, my son tells me that he did not observe any arguments-just discussions.
So if it is true - and I believe that it is - that SUHSD's access to sixth grade students attending K-8 charter schools has been limited, I want the practice to stop. SUHSD: You have an obligation to describe exactly how our access to sixth grade students has been limited. Make such a statement and disseminate it to us and the media. Be precise in your description. Charter school administrators: If access has been limited, is it fair to accuse SUHSD of being a bully? Like I said, I want my children exposed to information so that they/we can make a proper decision about their education.
On the Friday before the break, I took my children to the farmer's market in Imperial Beach. Teachers and administrators from Mar Vista Middle were distributing literature regarding their programs. I allowed them to speak to my son. They presented the information about their school without saying anything about Nestor. I liked that level of professionalism. Would I be okay with my son attending Mar Vista Middle? Absolutely. I believe that he would receive a fine education there. I also believe that Southwest Middle would be a good choice. When I visit Southwest Middle, I find the staff to be professional and the culture of the school to be, like Nestor, nurturing.
Our District did a poor job of facilitating the November 14th school board meeting. Speakers who had prepared three minute speeches were limited to one minute. The School Board continues to announce a start time of 6:00 pm and then walks away into closed session for an unspecified amount of time, leaving the community confused. Although, I disagree with some of the points that were made by our K-8 charter school community members, I don't like the way they were treated at the school board meeting. John McCann: The president of the school board runs the school board meeting. Learn how to run a meeting and stop treating the community poorly at school board meetings.
As for me, I believe that we run good schools. I also believe that any school can improve. District: If you really want to be competitive, listen to the teachers who work at the sites.
In the Media on this issue:
Alex Anguiano SEA President