Santa Fe/ Date Set For SFPS $130 Million Capital Improvements Bond Election
By T.S. Last
ABQ Journal Staff Writer
November 10, 2012
Groundwork was laid for Santa Fe Public Schools' 2013 general obligation bond election when the school board on Wednesday approved a revised bond prioritization budget and a resolution setting the date for the election.
The district is asking voters to approve $130 million for capital improvements in a Feb. 5 election. That's less than the $160 million voters approved in 2009 during the last bond cycle.
The $130 million is $20 million more than what was originally planned. Rob Wing, who chairs the Citizen Review Committee, which makes recommendations to the board on construction projects, said $4 million was added for contingencies and $16 million is earmarked for secondary education improvements.
When board member Barbara Gudwin asked the rationale for adding the $16 million, Wing said that it was because this bond cycle is dedicated to secondary education.
"It would maximize our flexibility without identifying anything specific, until we know more about what the plans are," Wing said.
But Board President Frank Montaño cautioned, "As we go through the process, things may come up that people may not like, and if they see things they don't like, they may not vote for it."
- * More than $35 million in the bond proposal is allocated for secondary education. According to the district's capital outlay funding report published in September, a committee is in the process of restructuring programs for secondary education. The result will determine how the money will be spent on middle and high school facilities to meet the new program requirements.
- * The biggest chunk - $60 million - would go to carryover projects, such as design and construction of a new south-side school, an addition to Cesar Chavez Elementary, and renovation and expansion of the gymnasium, cafeteria and kitchen at Ramirez Thomas Elementary.
- * Another $15.6 million is allocated to districtwide projects that include roof repair or replacement, air-conditioning upgrades, and energy and water conservation.
- * The other project categories - critical needs projects, new priority projects design and construction, and new priority design only - are budgeted for less than $5 million each. The $4 million increase for contingencies brings the total to $8 million.
Earlier in the meeting, during a public comment period, two parents of students at the Academy for Technology and the Classics appealed to the board to allocate bond money for that charter school. They noted that the school doesn't have a gym, cafeteria or science labs.
While board members Gudwin and Steven Carrillo said they were open to the idea, Glenn Wikle noted that Monte del Sol charter school is in the same boat.
"If we're talking about charter schools, I see no reason why ATC gets priority over Monte del Sol," he said. "It seems the needs of ATC and Monte del Sol are neck and neck."
Again, Montaño pointed out a problem.
"The issues at ATC are vague, because they don't own that building. I'm not sure it can be funded," he said.
Montaño said he thought putting money toward a school that isn't publicly owned could violate the state's anti-donation clause.
Attorney Art Melendez, a consultant for the school district, agreed putting money toward the charter schools could be problematic.
"If the property is not (publicly) owned, it has many, many complications," he said.
Melendez said it was his understanding that ATC was in negotiations to buy the building, so the situation could change. But he couldn't say whether the sale would go through before the election.
On Thursday, Kristy Jaden Wagner, the district's chief operations officer, said both ATC and Monte del Sol are in privately owned buildings. Both, however, are prioritized for design money, she said.
"Until they are (sold), that design money can't be released," she said.
She added that re-prioritization can be done at any time.
In addition to the bond election on Feb. 5, two school board positions will also be at stake. Those positions are occupied by Montaño, who represents District 5, and Gudwin in District 3.
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Bernalillo/ School District Administrative Offices and Departments Get New Digs
By Elaine D. Briseño
ABQ Journal Staff Writer
November 10, 2012
The Bernalillo school district has paid almost $1 million to buy a building on Camino del Pueblo that will become home to its central administration.
Currently, administrative offices and departments are strewn across the Bernalillo High School campus, which is on Camino del Pueblo.
The situation is inconvenient and inefficient, Bernalillo Public Schools Superintendent Allan Tapia said. He said the main administrative building is old, has some mold in the vault and even some asbestos in other parts of the building. He said it's also difficult to heat and cool.
The 13-year-old, 15,500 square-foot building that will be the administration's new home is at 560 South Camino del Pueblo in a commercial area. The state's Children, Youth and Families Department occupied the building until recently.
It sits on 1.2 acres, and Tapia said the district was able to purchase it and the adjoining one-acre property to the east for $975,000. Tapia said the two properties were initially listed for a total of about $1.5 million.
"We were able to get both pieces for less than a million," he said. "We probably got such a good deal because of the economy."
The school district had been discussing for some time a new location for its central operations.
- * The previous master plan, which expired in June, had $2 million in bond money designated for a new office.
- * Initially, district officials had planned to relocate to the vacant Roosevelt Elementary on Camino don Tomas.
- * That school once housed the town's kindergarten through second-grade program, but the 7 1/2-acre campus was abandoned a few years ago after the district opened Bernalillo Elementary School and a renovated Carroll Elementary.
However, Tapia said renovating Roosevelt was not cost-effective, and the district would have had to demolish at least half the buildings. Also, Roosevelt is in a residential area, and the board wanted a site that was more centrally located in town.
- * "It just makes good financial sense to move into a newer building, rather than renovate a 70-year-old building with excessive property to maintain," Tapia said. "Also, the public will be able to come to one place for everything."
Vincent Montoya, vice president of the Bernalillo school board, said members would like to sell the Roosevelt property.
"If everything goes well, we will come out financially ahead," he said. "We are definitely saving money going this route."
Tapia said the central administration hopes to move into its new building over the winter break at the end of December and beginning of January. Bernalillo High School will soon undergo a major renovation, and the current central office spaces will be incorporated into the campus.
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Santa Fe/ SF Federation of School Employees Rejects 6% Pay Hike
By T. S. Last
ABQ Journal Staff Writer
November 11, 2012
Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Joel Boyd blew his cool during a nearly hour-long discussion over collective bargaining at Wednesday's school board meeting.
Boyd and the school board had just heard reports from representatives of the local teachers' union and the Santa Fe Federation of School Employees, both of which are in negotiations with the school district.
The employees' union reported that custodians and maintenance workers voted against ratifying a contract offer that included a 6 percent raise in pay.
It was apparently remarks by Joe Hill, who is representing the custodians and maintenance workers, that set Boyd off and caused him to become indignant.
- "Either we're moving forward, or we're not," Boyd began, turning his attention to Hill and shaking his finger at him. "And sir, you don't come in here, when you don't work in the system, and suggest that you look after my employees better than I do, because that's simply untrue.
- "The first thing we said was that we're looking to increase pay for our employees. I am true to my word, and if you think that I'm not you don't know me," Boyd continued.
- "At some point, we have to stop fighting each other and we have to start fighting together on behalf of our students. And it's got to happen today."
The discussion started with the Federation of School Employees leader David Holguin reporting that union members rejected the contract offer by a 43-4 vote.
- "They wanted the increased wages, but they wanted more job protection and job training," Holguin said. "To take on the wage increases while asking us to take on new job responsibilities without training, it's just not right."
Holguin then turned the speakers' podium over to Hill, who provided more detail. Hill said the district was calling for the employees to perform "new tasks and requirements" that weren't clearly specified. If the employees weren't receiving proper training to perform the duties, Hill said workers' safety was being endangered and could lead to workman compensation issues.
- "Any money spent on training your employees would be money well spent," he said.
Hill went on to address job protection.
- "The job security they are referring to, it would almost seem that they are being set up. If you're not efficient in that job, obviously you have the right to evaluate them and let them go," he told Boyd.
- "If you're asking them to do it without that training, I can understand now why these people are worried about their jobs. They are not second-rate citizens, please. And they shouldn't be treated that way."
Hill then suggested that the district could be facing a lawsuit over prohibited practice, alleging that custodial services at Gonzales Community School have been privatized. He said it was his understanding that contractors were hired in August while the union and district were in negotiations and that the union hadn't been notified.
- "The raise that you all promised them is one thing," Hill said, "but to waste money on litigation uselessly in another thing."
The school board also heard a union update from Bernice García Baca, president of the National Education Association for Santa Fe, the local teachers' union. She said she thought it would be a good idea if the school board and unions had a work session led by a facilitator to look over the collective bargaining.
- "There's too much us versus them," she said. "People start taking it personally."
García Baca said many teachers took it personally when Boyd's transition advisory team reported that absenteeism among educational staff in Santa Fe Schools averaged 17 days last year, nearly twice the national average. The number wasn't accurate, she said, in that it included days teachers were out for professional development, jury or military duty and other legitimate reasons for being out of the classroom. She added that teachers put in many long hours that go beyond a 40-hour work week.
That aside, García Baca said it was high time teachers, who haven't been given a raise in five years, got one.
- "We are seeking to have a dialogue with the administration, and with the bargaining team, and we do want to come to a mutual resolution on the terms that we're looking for," she said.
It wasn't until after García Baca finished her report that Boyd launched his tirade. School Board President Frank Montaño then called for everyone to take a deep breath and attempted to put things in perspective.
While there has been friction between management and employees lately, "The one thing we all have in common is we are here for the kids," he said.
Montaño said Boyd has been looking for ways to maximize funding so money could be freed up to provided raises. He said it was the board's intent to give raises, and he believed it was going to happen, but likely not this year.
"I'm just being honest," he said.
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ABQ/ Atrisco Heritage Academy High School: Tech Wins in English Class
By Glen Rosales
ABQ Journal Staff Writer
November 10, 2012
When the peal of thunder, flash of lightning and patter of rain leaks from Brigid Smith's sophomore English class, the folks at Atrisco Heritage Academy High School know that it's time for the unit on Shakespeare.
Smith helps bring to life The Bard's work through the creative use of a Promethean Board, an interactive white board that can be programmed through the use of a computer.
So students don't have to merely read the work in a textbook. Rather, they act out the scenes, accompanied by visual and audio sound effects that Smith culled from the Internet.
Then those students - armed with a special pen - use the same Promethean Board and analyze the play's words for their fellow students in the audience.
It's that creative use of technology that helped Smith earn a $2,500 grant via the TIG/APS Education Foundation Innovation Award.
"I've been using the Promethean Board ever since I came to this school," Smith said. "It was brand new to me and I was intimidated at first and now, if I couldn't use the Promethean Board, I really would struggle, I think. It's such a great piece of technology."
Now, she's turning that cash award into more technology, but not for her own benefit.
Rather, the money will be used by the school's math department, most likely to buy an interactive software package by Fluidity that helps guide students from pre-algebra through calculus.
Receiving the grant "was a shock," said math co-chair Jessica Gordon, although she added that cooperation among the teachers, even those of differing disciplines, is not uncommon at the southwest-area school.
Still, to have an English teacher go out of her way to help the math department means a lot, said Principal Antonio Gonzalez.
- "The spirit of cooperation here at this school is one that is evident," he said.
- "And teachers working with each other on multi-disciplinary units initiatives on behalf of kids is not the exception, rather it's the norm here at Atrisco."
The new software will not only work interactively with the Promethean Boards, Gordon said, but also with tablets the students use in class. And it makes math real for the students.
- "There was an example on there about basketball, which is good with basketball season approaching," Gordon said. "You could see the velocity of the basketball. Seeing the basketball, they're able to deconstruct the problem, visualize it, and understand the applicableness to the math."
And it's all because of a little Shakespeare.
- "Kids love technology," Smith said. "And that's really why I thought about the math department. Anytime kids are intimidated by something, they just put up a wall and then you have to break down that wall. Once they see that it's not scary, they're great. They'll tackle anything. But if they are afraid of something, if they think they can't do it, a lot of times, they won't even try."
So using that technology creatively in English has led to additional technology for the math department and a better overall learning experience for the students, Gonzalez said.
"What more could a principal ask for," he said. "To have teachers of other content areas really working to promote the reality of the whole student is something I welcome and is something I'm very excited about."
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ABQ/ ASK Academy Charter School Adds Many APS Pupils
By Elaine D. Briseño
ABQ Journal Staff Writer
November 10, 2012
A few years ago, a group of Rio Rancho High School teachers got together and decided to open the city's first charter school, with the goal of targeting not only the city, but Albuquerque students as well.
Recently released numbers show the ASK Academy charter school may be doing just that as it moves into the second quarter of its third year.
The school focuses on science, technology, engineering and math, and it offers a lot of hands-on activities. It opened in 2010 to freshmen and sophomore students, added a junior class in 2011 and has a senior class this year.
Co-founder Paul Stephenson, who is now the school's director of engineering and design career pathways, said the school's enrollment has increased from 116 to 186 with the addition of grade levels, but another trend has also emerged. The school is now drawing more students from the Albuquerque Public Schools district.
- In its first year, 9 percent of its students came from APS.
- This year, 20 percent of ASK's students are from APS.
Corrales resident Andy Strebe and his wife previously home-schooled their children, who are now in grades nine and 11.
The couple first placed the kids in the Rio Rancho Cyber Academy but started looking for another alternative that offered more classroom engagement.
"We chose ASK because of the small class sizes," he said. "We also thought it would push them and challenge them."
The average class size is 16, and students are often given assignments that require them to solve problems using skills they have learned in one or more subject areas. Strebe said the family is happy with its decision.
"My kids come home saying they love school," he said. "I think it's the engagement between teachers and students."
The school's goal, Stephenson said, has always been to serve Rio Rancho and northwest Albuquerque, so he's not surprised at the most recent trend.
Stephenson said the school has invested some money into marketing in both cities. But according to interviews with families who choose ASK, that has not been the way most of them heard about the school.
"The biggest thing is word of mouth," he said. "I think its mostly families who are here with us, and they talk about the value of the education their kids are getting here."
For more information or to donate to The ASK Academy Foundation, see www.theaskacademy.org.
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ABQ/ Abriendo Puertas: Parents Learn to Prepare Their Kids for Life
By Hailey Heinz
ABQ Journal Staff Writer
November 11, 2012
Zully Rodriguez began a recent lesson on literacy by asking parents this question: What was your favorite story when you were a child?
She asked the question in Spanish, to a group of parents who are enrolled in Abriendo Puertas, a program for Latino parents that teaches parenting, nutrition and other skills related to helping children succeed in school.
The group of about a dozen parents sat in a classroom at Carlos Rey Elementary School in Albuquerque's South Valley. Some had their children with them, some were quiet and listening, while others jumped in to talk about their favorite stories and songs from childhood.
A major emphasis for the lesson was the importance of reading to young children. But instead of a lecture on early brain development, Rodriguez engaged parents in a discussion about their best memories and favorite stories, to connect the material to parents' own experiences.
One woman said her son had brought home a book she remembered from childhood. When she told him that she used to read the book as a child, he was incredulous.
"This book is that old?!" he had asked her. The story was met by laughter.
Zully Rodriguez, standing, talks to parents at Carlos Rey Elementary about the importance of reading to their children.
The class uses Abriendo Puertas, a national curriculum that helps Latino parents get their children ready for success in school and life.
- Abriendo Puertas - or Opening Doors - is a national curriculum designed to engage Latino parents in their children's early education.
- An evaluation of the program, released last month by the University of California, Berkeley found that parents who went through the program showed significant increases in knowledge.
- The program launched nationally in 2007 and is used in 31 states. It has been introduced in New Mexico within the past two years.
Before the program starts, parents fill out a survey that shows their knowledge of children's early learning, nutrition, social skills, language and literacy, school preparation and advocacy. They took the survey again after the program, and the Berkeley study showed a significant increase in knowledge after going through the 10 sessions.
Abriendo Puertas programs in Albuquerque also used the Berkeley survey and found gains in all areas of parent knowledge. Locally, the most pronounced improvement was related to health and nutrition, with clear gains on how well parents understood their local school system and how to advocate for their children.
Steve Tognoni, the principal of East San Jose Elementary, said he has noticed a change in parents since Abriendo Puertas came to his school about two years ago.
He said parents "now are willing to talk to me. They're not afraid to ask me questions or bring up something. So I feel like that, to me, is the biggest thing. I think they do feel like 'I can ask a question of the principal, I can raise my voice on an issue.' "
In the South Valley, Abriendo Puertas classes are offered in 10 schools.
- Most of the classes are taught in Spanish, and they are usually held weekly for 10 weeks.
- The program is coordinated by the Partnership for Community Action and funded by a $300,000, two-year grant from the Kellogg Foundation.
- The grant began in July of 2011 and will end in July 2013.
Jessa Bunker, who coordinates the program, said it should be sustainable even after grant funds run out.
The grant pays for course materials, many of which can be reused, and training in how to teach Abriendo Puertas. After initial training, parents who have taken the class become future leaders, creating a self-sustaining model.
Rodriguez, who is leading the class this semester at Carlos Rey, said she decided to become a class leader so she could share what she had learned, but also so she could continue learning from the experiences of other parents.
Rodriguez already knew the importance of education, having earned a college degree in Mexico before coming to the United States. But she said she realized through Abriendo Puertas that she was putting too much pressure on her 6-year-old son during homework time, causing him stress and making it hard for him to work. She said she had to learn not to do that.
Abriendo Puertas is also starting up in other parts of the state.
- In Farmington, another Kellogg Foundation grant is paying for start-up costs. Hope Trujillo, a parent educator with the Parents as Teachers program, said a group of volunteers was trained in September on how to teach the program, and she is hoping the first classes will start in the spring.
- The Farmington-area training also included delegates from Aztec, Dulce and Cuba, so Trujillo said she is hoping to see programs start up in those areas as well.
- A third Kellogg Foundation grant has been awarded to start the program in the Las Cruces area.
As a class leader, Rodriguez has made some of her own additions to the curriculum. On Thursday, she went through a list of 10 reasons to read, including the fact that reading helps develop vocabulary, which expands children's imaginations.
She compared language to color, saying if we give our children a paper and pencil, they will be limited to drawing in black and white. But if we give them crayons, they can draw a more colorful and imaginative scene. She said giving children better mastery of language and vocabulary is the same as giving them color.
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Española/ Cariños Charter School Asked to Move Making Way for Fairview Elementary Occupancy
By Louis McGill
Rio Grande Sun Staff Writer
November 8, 2012
Española School District Superintendent Art Blea is seeking State approval to replace Cariños Charter School with Fairview Elementary as the occupant of the old Middle School East building.
According to a letter sent to Cariños administrators Oct. 29, with the approval of the Española School Board, Blea is asking the Public School Facilities Authority for the green light to temporarily relocate the Fairview Elementary faculty, staff, and students to the building, while demolition and construction of the new Fairview facilities takes place during the 2013-2014 school year.
The lease agreement with Cariños states that the District has the discretion to adjust, or in this case terminate, the lease if the building space is needed for educational purposes as long as the District gives six months notice.
The letter states architect and project manager John Padilla of SMBC Architects originally considered demolishing and constructing the new building during the school year by taking down old buildings and constructing new ones at he school piece by piece and relocating students to other parts of the campus as they worked. However, the team is having second thoughts on this approach because of safety reasons.
Blea said the original plan would have been more time consuming, more expensive, and more dangerous. Vacating the campus would be quicker and more economical. He submitted the request to the Authority Friday, but has yet to hear a response.
- "To build the Fairview school the way it should be built, we really need to use Middle School East now, if allowed by the PSFA," he said. "If they don't, we'll have to do what the original plan was and do it piecemeal and hope for the best."
While he said making the request was a hard choice to make, given the position it would put Cariños in if approved, his first responsibility is to the District's students and their safety.
Public School Facilities Authority Director Bob Gorrell said he would not approve of Fairview moving into the facility as-is. He said there would have to be some improvements made to the building prior to Fairview's students moving in to bring it up to adequacy.
"Unbelievable," was Cariños chancellor Vernon Jaramillo's first response to the letter.
Governance Board Chairman Quentin Wilson said the letter presented them with a "wonderful irony," given all of the recent trouble they have received for their building from the District and the Authority.
"The Española schools I think would make superb chess players," Wilson said. "That was a wonderful move on their part. But it's not checkmate. It may be check, but it's not checkmate."
This letter came on the heels of a letter dated Oct. 18 sent by Cariños' attorney, Ronald J. VanAmberg, requesting that Cariños' lease be respected and the Public Schools Capital Outlay Council's grant for Española Middle School's athletic fields not be "held hostage" by the conditions of the award requiring that the old Middle School East facility no longer be used for educational purposes.
In this letter VanAmberg touches on the clause in the lease referenced in Blea's letter to Cariños. The attorney states it is questionable whether or not the clause is enforceable given that state law requires charter schools to be housed in public buildings if they are available.
The attorney's letter further states: "What is not questionable is that the covenant of good-faith and fair-dealing would apply in this instance to any actions relating to the lease and a claim that the facility is now needed for educational purpose(s) would clearly be a pretext."
Wilson said their first choice, and one that they will try hard for, would be to stay in the current building. However, should that fall through, he is investigating other options to acquire either an unoccupied building or land and financing to build a new one.
Blea said if there is viable space within the school district, they are obligated to let Cariños use it, but there's no obligation to help find them a new place.
"We're not going away, and one way or another we will find ourselves an appropriate building," Wilson said.
Cariños' lease troubles first began in June, when the Authority released a report suggesting the District cease using the facility for classes. Around the same time, Architecture Research Consultants released a portion of the facilities' master plan they have been developing for the District. This report conflicted with the Authority's report, stating the facilities were adequate.
The most recent instance came in August, when the Council required the District to determine a plan to close the old Middle School East building in return for accepting funds for the current Middle School's athletic fields.
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ABQ/ Education Items: Skandera Favorite for FL Post; EAs Speak Out; APS' Legislative Agenda
By Hailey Heinz,
ABQ Journal Schools Reporter
November 10, 2012
An item posted on a Washington Post education blog names New Mexico's education secretary-designate Hanna Skandera as a favorite for the top education job in Florida.
But she says, "No, thanks."
"It's an honor to be mentioned, however, I have made a commitment to the students of New Mexico, and I plan to keep it," Skandera said in a written statement Friday.
The item was posted Thursday by Valerie Strauss, who writes the "Answer Sheet" blog for the Post. She described Skandera as a "leading contender" for the job of Florida state schools superintendent, citing "people who know the thinking" of the Florida Board of Education.
Skandera worked in Florida under former Gov. Jeb Bush, and has been a champion of some of Bush's signature education reforms, like giving schools A-F grades and holding back third-graders who cannot read at grade level.
She is also vice-chair of Chiefs for Change, a group of state education chiefs affiliated with Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education.
The focus of Strauss' post is Tony Bennett - no, not that Tony Bennett - who lost his spot as the Indiana state schools chief in a hard-fought election Tuesday. The position there is elective, unlike in New Mexico where the schools chief is appointed by the governor. Bennett chairs Chiefs for Change, is a strong proponent of Bush-style reforms and is named by Strauss as a top choice for the Florida job.
Emotions high for EAs
Educational assistants turned out in force at Wednesday's Albuquerque Public Schools board meeting, where the board voted to ratify the EAs' contract. Contracts for other employee unions were ratified back in August, but negotiations with the EA union went on longer.
Like other APS employees, EAs haven't had a raise in four years, and are now paying more for their health insurance benefits. Several EAs spoke angrily during a public forum, specifically taking issue with the fact that three APS associate superintendents got 6.6 percent raises this summer.
The administration has defended that move, saying the associates have taken on more work as the top leadership team has become more streamlined. Superintendent Winston Brooks has also pointed out that other members of his leadership team are being paid less than their predecessors, saving money overall.
EA union head Kathy Chavez gave a long, impassioned speech about her frustrations. In addition to concerns about the lack of raises, she also said many EAs feel disrespected by their supervisors and work in a culture where EAs are reluctant to raise concerns for fear of retaliation.
APS' politics agenda
APS has posted its legislative agenda for public comment before the school board votes to approve it. Highlights of the agenda are: Support for extended-day and -year schooling, increased funding for education, changes to the education funding formula and permission for the APS police force to become independent.
To see details of the agenda and to comment on it, visit www.aps.edu, and click on "2013 Legislative Agenda for Public Comment" under Featured News on the left-hand side of the page.
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Santa Fe/ Farmers Seek State Funds to Put More Local Produce in Schools
By Staci Matlock
The New Mexican
November 9, 2012
The number of New Mexico farmers providing fresh produce to the state's schools more than doubled last year, and the school districts participating in the program tripled.
New Mexico lawmakers munched on apples courtesy of Wagner Farms in Los Lunas while they heard a report on the farm-to-school program Friday during an interim Water and Natural Resources Committee hearing at the state Capitol.
- Wagner Farms is one of 50 producers benefiting from the program. Anthony Wagner said his farm has participated in the program for three years, providing apples and melons to seven school districts, including Santa Fe Public Schools. "It's been great for us," Wagner said after talking to the committee. "About 10 percent of our sales are through the program. We want to see that grow."
The program's success in helping local farmers and schools makes it a worthwhile investment of state funds, said farmer Anthony Wagner and Pam Roy of the New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council. They asked lawmakers on the interim committee Friday to endorse a request for $1.44 million to support the farm-to-school program.
The program has plenty of room to grown, Roy said.
- More than 345,000 New Mexico children qualify for the free or reduced-priced lunch program.
- The school lunch is often their best opportunity for healthy food, and new federal school nutrition rules issued in August require schools to increase the servings of fresh produce.
- Providing funds for school districts to purchase more fruits and vegetables from local farmers would help the producers, boost local economies and meet the new federal guidelines, Roy said.
If every qualified student ate two servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a week from New Mexico farmers, the producers would make about $6 million, Roy said.
She said most states have farm-to-school programs, in a nationwide effort to stimulate healthier eating habits and help local farmers. Roy said New Mexico was the second state in the nation to pass a law reducing the junk food sold at school vending machines. "We were actually ahead of the game here," she said.
The new U.S. Department of Agriculture rule to increase servings of fruits and vegetables in school lunches encourages healthier eating, but has a cost. Roy said the estimated additional cost of the rule is 10 cents for each reimbursable lunch and 27 cents for each breakfast. The federal government is expected to pick up only 6 cents per meal, leaving school districts to cover the rest of the cost.
Some funding is available from a federal farm-to-school competitive grant program.
- The 2008 federal Farm Bill, which is being revised now, allows school food service directors to give local farmers priority in buying produce.
- But funding from the Legislature is critical to helping school districts cover the costs and expand programs, Roy said.
Rep. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, complimented the farm-to-school program and the Wagner apples. She said she found a worm in one. "But it was a New Mexico worm," she quipped.
To which other committee members joked it was good New Mexico protein.
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Questa/ Questa Independent School Board Hearing Postponed
By Matthew van Buren
Taos News
November 12, 2012
The Cuddy and McCarthy Law Firm will no longer be representing the Questa Independent School Board, and a hearing regarding the board's suspension has been postponed until December.
State Education Secretary-Designate Hanna Skandera suspended the board in September, citing infighting, harassment of staff and conflicts of interest.
State law allows the secretary to suspend a board's authority if it has been found to have "failed to meet requirements of law or department rules or standards."
According to state statute, a public hearing must be held regarding such suspensions. The secretary is required to make permanent, modify or withdraw the suspension within five days of the hearing, though that decision may be appealed to district court.
A hearing originally scheduled for Monday (Nov. 5) was postponed until Dec. 10, according to information from the Public Education Department (PED).
According to the order granting a continuance, it was requested after the board's legal representation withdrew.
An Oct. 31 letter to Skandera from Cuddy and McCarthy attorney John Kennedy does not delve into the firm's reasons for withdrawing; it only gives notice that the firm has "withdrawn as counsel to the board of education of the Questa Independent School District" with regard to the suspension.
"This firm will cooperate with successor counsel, which may be chosen by the Questa School Board or its individual members to represent them as to this proceeding," the letter states.
Suspended board president Bernie Torres said representing the divided board became unworkable for the firm. Since former member Urban "Bob" Jaramillo resigned from the board earlier this year, the remaining members have found themselves in a 3-3 deadlock.
"(Cuddy and McCarthy was) representing us as a whole," Torres said. "I think they found it impossible."
He said the "seriously divided" board members couldn't agree on how to respond to the PED's charges or what terms - if any - they would agree to in order to see the suspension lifted.
The PED has been in negotiations with the board and proposed conditions under which the suspended body could be reinstated.
Torres said he isn't sure what the board members are going to do about legal representation going forward.
"We do not have to have an attorney present (for the hearing)," he said.
However, he said each "faction" of the board could hire an attorney, or individual board members could hire their own representation.
"The ball is in our court," he said.
Cuddy and McCarthy represents the Questa Independent School District. Torres said the firm is to be paid from district funds.
According to a Nov. 5 email from Superintendent Lester Beason, the district has "not been billed for any legal work related to this issue as yet."
PED spokesman Larry Behrens said the school board election scheduled for February "will continue as planned" and that the "suspension has no legal bearing" on it.
Torres said he would like to see the people of the district decide whether to elect a new board in February, possibly returning some suspended board members to office; he said he hopes the upcoming election will mark the beginning of a "healing process."
"There is a lot of friction," he said.
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Santa Fe/ EDITORIAL: Union Wrong To Reject Pay Raise
ABQ Journal North
November 11, 2012
The nation's barely-ambulatory economy and the continuing need for more jobs dominated the just-completed presidential campaign.
Nationally, unemployment still hovers around 8 percent. Wages have been and are stagnant; many workers are being forced to downsize into part-time jobs, effectively cutting their paychecks even more.
Here in the City Different, however - where public school teachers haven't gotten a raise in the last five years, more or less since the Great Recession started - school janitors have just rejected a 6 percent wage increase.
What planet are they living on?
Union representatives told an incredulous school superintendent Wednesday that the 6 percent hike wasn't good enough unless the unionized janitors and school maintenance workers also got extra training and job security assurances.
Republicans have kept up a drumbeat of criticism of the public school system in recent years, much of it aimed at school unions, which they maintain are obstacles to reform. Usually, the barrage of negativity is targeted at teachers' unions.
Compared with the janitors' union, however, Santa Fe's teachers' union - which the district also is negotiating with - seems to be both reasonable and cooperative. The teachers' union representative Wednesday urged both school administrators and others to approach wage negotiations in the spirit of cooperation for the good of the district.
New Superintendent Joel Boyd has promised both janitors and teachers a raise. Union reps should take him at his word, at least for the time being.
Meanwhile, the schools' custodians and maintenance workers should take a brief look at the national economy and reconsider that offer of a 6 percent raise.
From the point of view of most of the rest of us, these folks badly need a reality check.
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Santa Fe/ COLUMN: Dollars4Schools.org - 150 School Programs Funded and Counting
By Robert Nott [Learning Curve columnist]
The New Mexican
November 11, 2012
Dollars4Schools.org, an independent website that ties the community to public schools via private funding of individual projects, is just over 2 years old and "rocking and rolling," according to Andie Manzanares, who handles public relations for the site. The site lists a number of school programs seeking funding - usually in the $100 to $3,000 range - to get projects off the ground and offers potential donors and supporters the chance to help fund those projects.
Teachers pitch projects for funding help to the site, be it a desire to finance a subscription to Scholastic News so a teacher can use it to teach her students about the presidential election, or a "Draw What You Hear" class. One intriguingly-titled project on the Dollars4Schools website last week was "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail," posted by a Santa Fe High teacher looking for $300 to purchase copies of the play by that title.
Interested parties can use the website - dollars4schools.org - to support an individual project, a category of learning (science, math, writing) or adopt a school. According to Manzanares, 100 percent of all donations go directly to the project in question. Grants pay for the administration of the program, she said.
- "Our tag line is, 'It takes a community to change our schools,' " Manzanares said. "We have already seen impacts in our schools. We will see more. Tiny amounts of money can make a massive difference."
She said Dollars4Schools.org has already funded about 150 programs and there are another 50 projects seeking funding on the site.
Student voices
Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Joel Boyd said, "Students know best," at last Wednesday's board meeting after retired state Supreme Court Justice Patricio M. Serna swore in three student advisers -
- Bree Hernandez of Santa Fe High,
- José Rodriguez of Capital High School and
- Austin Tyra of the Academy at Larragoite
to the board.
- Board President Frank Montaño told the trio, "Your voice is definitely an important voice and a voice that will be heard."
- Fellow board member Glenn Wikle told the students that the board is not always aware of in-school issues or problems, and that the advisers can ensure those concerns get a hearing.
- Serna told the trio, "You have a lot of power - realize that and use it well."
According to board Vice-President Linda Trujillo, this year the Board of Education solicited applicants for the adviser positions. Students were required to fill out an application, write a one-page essay explaining why they wanted to serve on the board, and garner recommendation letters from teachers, principals and educational leaders.
Hernandez and Rodriguez are both seniors. Tyra, who served as a student adviser last year, is a junior. None of them have voting power, but board members have been very successful at engaging student advisers in policy-decision discussions over the last few years. The next school board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20.
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Santa Fe/ OPINION: Bullying in Any Form Cannot Be Tolerated
By Orlando Romero
The New Mexican
November 7, 2012
As I left a large national chain store, the store's exit door had a sign supporting the movement against bullying. And recently I had seen an international news program about how schools and other institutions are trying to stem a rising tide of bullying in various countries. The fact that there is national and international attention to this very serious problem is gratifying; however, changing ingrained habits is another matter.
What I call understanding the anatomy of a bully can be perplexing. It's as if one is trying to treat a personality disorder. I'm not a psychiatrist, so I won't venture there. But there are many characteristics that all bullies seem to share. By the way, women, as well as men, can be bullies. Among the many issues, traits or histories that bullies share is the fact that many of them were also bullied. It's as if, like abusers who were once abused, they turn to abusing other people close to them.
Another trait they share is the sense of power they feel when they bully someone. This sense of power becomes addictive as their sense of superiority over their victim increases. That is why it is not surprising that men and women in power tend to be bullies as well. The creation of the unholy trinity during World War II, that is, Hitler, Mussolini and Franco, and their philosophy of my way or death, is the result of political power gone completely mad.
In everyday life, a bully doesn't even have to be physical. Many bullies intend to hurt with their use of words, "You are not a real man," or "Did you take that dress from a homeless person?" Throwing out insults is their way of feeling superior, and I have always found it amazing that they don't hear their own words and how cruel they can be.
Which brings up the third trait bullies share. They all seem to enjoy being cruel. It's as though cruelty is in the anatomy of a bully. They just don't hurt people; they are outright cruel. This is where the bully needs to be stopped in his or her tracks. In schools, this level of bullying, sometimes accompanied by physical violence, should be totally prohibited, with bullies being expelled and, if possible, sent to counseling.
It is this level of bullying that causes loss of self-esteem in many students, bringing on depression and, in some cases, bullied students will confront the bully with his own form of violence or turn on the entire school for having tolerated the bully's actions. This is the reason why school officials or managers in the workplace need to discipline bullies before situations get volatile and explosive. Some students may never recover their self-esteem or dignity after being bullied in school. Some students take their own lives as a result of bullying. The permissive idea that these are "just kids, who will outgrow bullying" is erroneous. The damage bullies do is extremely serious. They are a menace to society.
The fact that sometimes we seem to be surrounded by bullies tells me that this "personality disorder" can be contagious with one bully producing another bully, etc. Is there a dark side to our human nature that breeds this in us? Or is it something society tolerates because we like to see the animal in us come to life? Most people I know don't tolerate bullies; yet, how is it that I have seen men and women in their 80s bully other people? One would think that age would "mellow" out a human being, right?
That's why I wonder if a bully can ever be cured of his/her tendencies. They have had their way so long by the actions they commit that they really don't know how to act any other way. However, I do believe that parents, students or anyone who is bullied does have a remedy. Every human being has the right in this country to live in peace. It is in our laws. More bullies must be expelled, taken to court or sued, if necessary. Once they get the message, I guarantee you that change will occur, so that bullies will never be tolerated again.
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Washington DC/ Tie a Big Blue Ribbon on America's Great Schools
Central Elementary School in Artesia only NM school honored
By Aba Kumi [Director of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program]
US Department of Education [Ed.gov]
November 9, 2012
This year marks the 30th anniversary of an American tradition-the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program.
The brainchild of the second U.S. secretary of education, Terrel H. Bell, the program honors great American schools-urban, rural, suburban, public, private, charter, magnet, and choice schools at the elementary, middle, and high school levels-across the country.
The 314 schools in the 2012 cohort join a distinguished cadre. Of more than 138,000 schools in the U.S., only 7, 110 have been honored with this, the highest award the Department confers.
Secretary to address Blue Ribbon principals and teachers
Principals and other school representatives will meet in Washington on Nov. 12 and 13 to celebrate their successes and share what they have learned with each other and with the Department of Education.
In addition to Secretary Arne Duncan, guest speakers include:
- Tyra Mariani, deputy chief of staff, on the Department's new RESPECT initiative (Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence, and Collaborative Teaching);
- Marc Johnson, 2011 National Superintendent of the Year, on scaling up National Blue Ribbon School practices;
- Dee Gardner, principal of the National Middle School of the Year, on intuitive leadership in a data-driven world; and
- Michelle Shearer, AP chemistry teacher and 2011 National Teacher of the Year, on the complexity of teaching and the power of the human factor.
In addition to receiving their Blue Ribbon awards at a ceremony on Nov. 13, educators will have opportunities to share their best thinking on current educational issues as part of the Department's National Conversation about the Teaching Profession.
For a list of the 2012 National Blue Ribbon Schools and more information on the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program visit the program's page on www.ED.gov.
New Mexico:
Central Elementary School
405 South Sixth
Artesia, NM 88210-1826
Phone: (575) 746-4811
Principal: Ms. Tammy Davis
School District: Artesia Public Schools
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Washington DC/ School and City Officials Address Truancy Rates in District
By Emma Brown
Washington Post
November 8, 2012
D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson said Thursday that the school system's high truancy rates amount to an educational "crisis," as D.C. officials disclosed that more than 40 percent of the students at Ballou, Anacostia, Spingarn and Roosevelt high schools missed at least a month of school last year because of unexcused absences.
"We are in a crisis situation," Henderson said at a D.C. Council hearing on anti-truancy efforts. In addition to the social problems that plague families and contribute to absenteeism in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods, she said, many older students are years behind grade level in reading and have given up.
"Why would I want to go to school if I can't read the book, I can't do the work, I'm 17 and in the ninth grade?" she said. "It should be no surprise to us that students we have failed for many years are now failing to come to school."
Henderson outlined some efforts the school system is making to reduce the rates, but she said there is a need for far more progress.
The impact of the poor attendance was underscored by the release Thursday of the school system's four-year graduation rates. Schools with the most truancy had some of the lowest on-time graduation rates. At Ballou, half of the student body graduated on time. At Anacostia, 40 percent graduated on time.
The school system's overall graduation rate ticked up three points to 56 percent - an improvement, but one that will have to accelerate if Henderson is to meet her goal of graduating three-quarters of students on time by 2017.
The D.C. Council has increased pressure on Henderson to address the city's long-standing truancy problems.
"No matter how much money we spend on educating children, if they are not in school they are not going to learn," said David Catania (I-At Large), who along with Chairman Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) has been one of the council's strongest voices demanding change.
In response, the school system is complying with a law that requires it to call the Child and Family Services Agency when students younger than 13 have more than 10 unexcused absences. Last year, elementary school principals referred only one in five students with such attendance problems; now that number is up to 95 percent, Henderson told the council.
The school system also has strengthened partnerships with neighborhood collaboratives, which reach out to truant high school students to determine what is causing the absences. And Henderson has spent $800,000 on extra social workers at high schools with the worst attendance.
The efforts appear to be making a difference: The number of students with more than 10 absences by the beginning of November has fallen compared with last year.
But the numbers remain stubbornly high, especially for freshmen. About one in six freshmen - and 25 percent of those who are repeating the grade after failing last year - have missed at least two weeks of class this year.
Henderson said the city needs more alternative high schools, more career and technical education, and a focus on literacy to change those trends.
Council members urged the chancellor not to neglect younger students' poor attendance, which - if not addressed - could lead to problems later on. Nine elementary or K-8 schools had at least 10 percent of students miss more than a month of classes last year.
"We've got to be focusing more on the younger grades ... or else we're continuing to grow new cohorts that are harder to deal with," Mendelson said.
Catania called for prosecuting parents "who have essentially relegated their children to a diminished future" by failing to get them to school.
"What if we had theft as a crime but you were never arrested or prosecuted for that?" he said. "What would the city look like?"
The council did not address truancy rates at the city's charter schools, where average graduation rates ticked down this year to 77 percent, still significantly higher than the city's traditional public schools.
Henderson urged the council to continue to "hold our feet to the fire" on improving truancy rates.
"The council's relentless focus on truancy has helped to focus us and ensure that we are monitoring and addressing this issue in a way that we frankly had not been doing before," Henderson said. "I can't reach my academic goals if the children are not in school."
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New York NY/ OPINION: Physical Activity and Digital Learning: Two Peas in a Pod
By Michael Horn
Hechinger Report [Hechinger Report, This post originally appeared on Forbes.com]
November 8, 2012
What's digital learning got to do with physical activity?
Quite a lot I believe.
A couple weekends ago I had the privilege of presenting at TEDx Manhattan Beach where I heard another presenter, Dr. John Ratey, speak about the importance of physical exercise in increasing brain plasticity and boosting student learning. His book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, details the connection.
Although I normally write about digital learning's potential to transform our education, as a Crossfit enthusiast myself, I believe in the importance of living a healthy life with physical exercise.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the rise of online learning is that a student's schooling will be spent primarily in front of a computer, with a student clicking away relentlessly as though she were playing eight hours of video games a day.
This couldn't be further from the truth, however, if the rise of online learning fulfills its potential and creates a truly student-centric education system-which should be the ultimate goal.
As I've traveled around the country observing blended-learning schools, the ones I've been most struck by are those that give individual students the proper flexibility so that they can have the right experience they need when they need it to boost their success-both in that moment and in life. In the future of education, digital learning should be the platform that facilitates each student having a customized learning experience for her distinct learning needs-whether that experience is online or offline.
- Carpe Diem Collegiate Middle and High School, one of my favorite blended-learning models, has no physical education class. Instead the school has what might be described as a fitness center with an on-site trainer who works with each student not on random mandatory athletic units but instead on a tailored program for how to live a healthy life. When students are growing antsy at their desks and need to get some physical exercise to let off some steam and reboot for more learning, they have the autonomy to go to the gym and work out.
- The Silicon Valley Flex Academy, which has several elements of what I think the future of schooling will look like, is located across the parking lot from a Crossfit gym. The school has contemplated a formal partnership with the Crossfit affiliate to offer the students a Crossfit for Kids program, which, in my opinion, would be far superior to the gym classes offered at most schools.
- My biggest personal surprise in online learning came several years ago when I learned that one of the more popular classes that the Florida Virtual School offers is online physical education. I struggled to imagine what this might mean, but what I ultimately learned is that the class involves a teacher working with each individual student on her daily fitness routine (from running to lifting to playing team sports) to realize her fitness goals and live a healthy life. Recalling my own experience in middle school PE, I could see the immediate benefits of having this sort of an experience instead of an awkward communal one that teaches a student virtually nothing about living a healthy life-and may even discourage that by creating negative associations with physical exercise.
It's not just physical exercise that should see a healthier balance with the rise of digital learning, but lots of activities. Many schools are increasingly using blended learning to free teachers up to spend more time working with students in project-based learning.
I've been struck by how much students collaborate with each other naturally-often peer tutoring each other-in the blended-learning schools I've visited. Whereas "socialization" often appears to me to be a negative thing in many schools, in blended-learning schools the social interactions appear to me to be far healthier and around helping each student improve. I don't have hard data on this, but it's my observation that this is one of the exciting-and often unintended-effects of using a blended-learning model.
To this end, when many people think about full-time virtual schools, one of their biggest fears is about students in their younger years. They ask how could students possibly have a fully online experience when they are so young. What are the downsides of spending so much time in front of a computer?
The answer is that in the programs of which I'm aware, most of the learning for students in the younger years is actually offline-with books and manipulatives. The online learning mostly serves as the platform that helps the student's family communicate with the student's teacher and individualizes the learning, in addition to providing some exercises and games to build some basic skills.
In an age where the arts, athletics, and other so-called extracurricular activities are increasingly on the chopping block in public schools, digital learning ought to change the equation. Various blended-learning models, for example, should create more flexibility and free up more funds so that schools can offer an array of experiences, including physical exercise.
According to Ratey's research, that's something we can't afford to lose if we're serious about boosting student achievement. Student-centric digital learning provides a means to make sure that it doesn't fall by the wayside.
