09/26/2017
Tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 7pm is the School Board's open forum.
Parents make the most difference. When parents speak, board members listen.
Some topics that parents might bring up at that forum might be:
* Renovations to the music department wing that keep getting promised but never happen. We are in need of practice rooms and a better configuration so that space is divided better. Need for more storage, and need for instrument storage in the hallway, not inside the classrooms.
* Speaking of renovations, the auditorium sound still remains unfinished. It's beautiful, and the air conditioning is lovely... but the sound isn't finished. It still echoes in the back half of the auditorium despite over $100,000 spent on the sound reinforcement. There needs to be more sound dampening installed in the back half of the auditorium, as pieces that were installed in the 2016 renovation were incorrectly manufactured and then never corrected. Did the district get the money back for the panels that were incorrectly fabricated? Material cost would be under $7,500 to finish the job, though installation is an unknown cost.
* Extra-curricular pay that puts the non-athletic activities at the same level as the athletic coaches. Same number of students and same number of hours deserve the same addendum pay. What is being done to find out how many hours are spent and with how many students for each of the clubs, organizations, and activities? Was a survey sent out? (no there wasn't) Were non-athletic coaches asked? (no).
* Band instruments around the intermediate schools. Splitting up the 2 middle schools into 4 intermediate schools meant splitting up the band members. Now there is a shortage of band instruments. While the music department and PAPAS, Inc., are currently trying to solve the problem by shuffling around some instruments from school to school, we will still have an insufficient number of instruments to accommodate everybody who wants to be in band. What can the district do to make sure that every kid that wants to play an instrument can afford to rent one from the school? and ensure that there are enough instruments to play?
* At the middle schools, the stages are completely neglected at McNeal and Aldrich and the new stages at Cunningham and Fruzen are completely inadequate. Cunningham just got some new lighting, but Fruzen has not gotten anything. If you want to have quality feeder programs for the high school, you need to have programs at the intermediate schools that can at least be functional performance spaces.
Alright... that's 5 things. Maybe if 5 parents went and each spoke about a different point, that would be best. Feel free to speak about other things!!! But the best way to make change is by parents advocating. If you have any questions about any of these things, please contact me. I would be happy to answer any questions about them.
Thanks for your support!
Greg Wallendal
President and Co-Founder of PAPAS, Inc
Parents Advocating for the Performing Arts in Our Schools
PS: please do not repost this... I am also a district employee and I want to be careful not to seem like I am "rallying the troops"... but I am currently President of a Parent Advocacy Group (and I am a parent of students in the school district!)
