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Bylaws, Policies & Administrative Guidelines |
Commentary by Russ Phillips & Others
Does
Caston Have An "Outstanding Board"? (10/15/06) - In
Superintendent Huffman’s October 13th “Community
Update” he refers to the Indiana School Boards Association’s
recognition of the Caston School Board, for the 5th time, as an
“Outstanding Board.” Huffman explains what is required to achieve this
recognition. In Caston’s case, simply put, attending meetings. That’s it…ISBA
says that Caston’s Board is “Outstanding” because of meetings that have
been attended. In my view a more apt recognition, if any, would be receipt of a
Certificate of Attendance. I don’t have a problem with attending
meetings as they can certainly provide helpful information. However, to receive
a designation of “Outstanding Board” as a result seems ridiculous. Even more
so when only 1 of 46 students at Caston passes
the Algebra I test mandated by our state and only
13 of 40 students pass a similar English 11 test and only
38% of Caston’s students, as sophomores (Gr. 10), pass the math portion of
their Graduation Qualifying Exam (ISTEP+) mandated by the state. So, who
should accept responsibility for this dismal performance? In my opinion it is the Caston School
Board. Over my educational career I have often said, “As goes the school
board, so goes the school.” The Board is in a position, both legally and
authoritatively, to make a difference in the lives of Caston students. If it’s
not happening then it’s time to ask your Board, “Why?” As a board member I have been accused of micromanagement at various times.
Not only may this accusation come from a superintendent; one board member
towards another may level it. One example of this is when I visit the schools
and classrooms. During the eight years I have served on the Board I have made it
a practice to visit the schools and classrooms two or three times each year
usually spending the day there. It is my firm belief that formal “observations” and “evaluations”
of the schools and staff is an administrative responsibility that belongs to the
principals and superintendent. However, just like a parent or community member
who visits the schools, if I see or hear something that is of concern I will ask
questions. For example, if I see students who persist in being rowdy and unruly
in the classroom I will be curious why this is allowed and will ask the
principal and/or the superintendent why this is tolerated. With 41 years of
experience either as a teacher, principal, or school board member it is very
apparent to me that you must have order before you can teach and students can
learn. Recently Superintendent Huffman and I have commented about the ISBA’s recognition of Caston’s School Board as an “Outstanding Board.” This recognition was received solely due to Board members attending meetings conducted/sponsored by the ISBA. Another level of recognition by the ISBA is that of “Exemplary Board.” One of the criteria for this designation is, “The board keeps the school system focused on learning and achievement for all students.” In my opinion, order in the school and classrooms is the necessary first step for “learning and achievement for all students” to take place. Further reading: Moving The School Board Election From The Spring "Primary" To The Fall "General" Election (12/15/06) - Several years ago when the issue of where Union Township students would attend school was being decided I wrote an article that touched upon electing school board members in the fall general election instead of during the spring primary election as we currently do. Because of a controversy currently underway in the Metropolitan School District of Perry Township, located south of Indianapolis, this same issue has been written about by a member of that community. The author points out what he considers to be a number of reasons why the election should be in the fall general election and explains how Indiana law provides for such a change. Several of the reasons are applicable to Caston's circumstances. You will find his article here. "Full Day Kindergarten? Let’s Slow Down!" (4/12/07)
- Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) for every child is popular with many individuals.
Its supporters claim it has significant educational benefits. Its critics say it
is nothing more than “expensive day care.” The Indiana Legislature currently
has FDK under discussion and if approved, supposedly, it will be “fully
funded” by the State. However, even this is misleading. Caston’s School Board has had practically no discussion
or information provided regarding the educational benefits of FDK and
particularly those that are long-term for all students. With the estimated
cost of more than $700,000 to remodel and expand the existing space for FDK
it seems timely to slow down and ask, “Why are we looking at doing this?”
Thus far, I believe it has been primarily driven by the Department of Education,
Governor, and State Legislature and to a lesser extent by area Corporations that
already provide FDK. What is being glossed over is the lack of any documented long-term
benefits for all children as evidenced by research. There is some indication
that the benefits of FDK appear to be greater for “disadvantaged” students.
Caston has recognized this in the past and provided a full day program for this
group of students. When the State indicates that it would “fully fund” the
program it disregards, as is true at Caston, that additional classroom space
would have to be constructed at local expense to accommodate FDK for all
children. How this $700,000 would be funded is not certain at this
time. One possibility is that other projects that have been discussed for some
time such as a wastewater building/water testing lab, resurfacing parking lots
and drives, and improvements to the “bus barn,” etc. would be put on a
temporary hold in order to move forward with FDK. At this time no decision has
been made to offer FDK and if we were to do so how the funding would occur. For the State to spend more than $250 million annually and for Caston to have to spend an additional $700,000+ for FDK when its long-term benefits are not clear and conclusive suggests, “Let’s Slow Down!”
Should Caston Spend $842,300 To Provide Full Day Kindergarten To All
Students? (6/26/07) - In Superintendent Huffman’s June 22, 2007 “Community
Update” at www.caston.k12.in.us/updates.htm
he comments about Full Day Kindergarten as follows:
"We have been having much discussion about Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) at
recent School Board Meetings. We have presented ideas and monetary facts
on how this can be accomplished with the expansion of the elementary building
and making what is currently one large room into four smaller rooms, and in
compliance with State regulations. We have shown how this can be
accomplished without raising taxes and could be made a reality in 2009 for the
beginning of school in August. So far Mr. Cress, Dr. Ayers, Mr. Sommers,
and Mrs. Zartman have been in favor of moving forward on the elementary
expansion in 2009 and adding FDK to our programs and Mr. Phillips has been the
only school board member speaking against the construction proposal and FDK.
If you would like to share your thoughts (Pro and Con) with School Board
Members or me, please feel free to contact them at:...
Bruce Cress-President 574-664-9970 Joyce Zartman-Vice President 574-857-3325 Randy Sommers-Secretary 574-653-2761 Dr. James Ayers-Member 574-889-4234 Russell Phillips-Member 574-857-4875 As indicated in my above article I have previously expressed opinion on FDK.
However, since that time there have been further developments. At the May 22
Board Meeting Cindy Douglass, Elementary Principal, provided the Board with a
variety of research articles as well as seven (7) pages of her own thoughts and
opinions on the topic. At this same meeting Mr. Huffman provided the Board with
a plan for adding an addition to the Elementary School to accommodate FDK. Both
of these were further discussed at the June 5 Board Meeting. Mr. Huffman has suggested using $842,300 of current and projected funds
through 2009 to construct the addition and furnish it and has shown how this can
be done without raising taxes. He has indicated if the Board later decides to
use these funds in a different manner it is possible to do so. Although still
uncertain about the merit of this project I did indicate at the June 5 Board
Meeting that I was supportive of moving ahead with the funding plan. The minutes
from this meeting state, “By Board consensus, Capital Projects Fund
proposed plans for the future were approved as presented.” In my opinion the following needs to be kept in mind as we move forward: ·
We need to be good
stewards of the taxpayers’ money. Just because funds are available without
raising taxes is no excuse for spending it without good reason whether for FDK
or any other purpose.
·
For many parents, in my
opinion, the appeal of a full day program has more to do with convenience (i.e.,
no transportation and daycare hassle) than with educational benefit. ·
Research documents the
benefit for “disadvantaged” students to have FDK. However, there is little
research that documents the long-term benefits and supports all
students participating in FDK. ·
In years past Caston has
provided a full day program for “disadvantaged” students who are in need of
this. Again during the upcoming school year this will be done within existing
space. ·
As more and more schools,
particularly in the surrounding area, offer FDK for all students there is
growing pressure for Caston to do so. However, doing something because everyone
else is doing it is not good reason to do it. Everyone wants all students to receive the best education
possible. However, adding a half day of school for all five year olds may not be
as important as how the full school day in the following twelve years is used
and the extent to which parents are engaged in and support their child’s education.
Senior Trip Participation Dwindles In Recent Years And
Needs Reviewed (10/4/07)
- Last spring only 6 students (all foreign exchange students)
participated in the senior trip to New York City. Low participation in the
trip has not been unusual in the last several years as shown in the table
below. I don't question the value of the trip for those who participate.
However, I think the time, energy, and effort to promote, plan for and take
the trip must be taken into consideration as well as how it impacts the
regular school routine for students and staff not participating in the trip.
In today's times there are a variety of other opportunities both through the
school and outside the school that possibly detract from the appeal that the
Senior Trip once held. In my opinion this is a topic that needs to be
carefully and thoroughly reviewed by the school
administration.
top Commentary: An Alternate Approach To Administering Caston’s Schools (Russ Phillips, 3/18/10)Caston’s Jr.-Sr. High School Principal, Doug Olsson, has resigned the position effective July 1, 2010. Since the opening of Caston Educational Center in 1967 the Jr.-Sr. High School has had twelve different principals (see listing). Eight of these have been either for a one or two-year stint. This lack of continuity of leadership is not good for the education of students nor is it fair to them and the community. When seeking a principal one strives to achieve quality leadership and someone who is interested in committing long-term to the school. Since Caston frequently has not been successful in achieving this it is time to consider a different approach. This approach pertains to both schools. Since 1967 Caston has always had an Elementary Principal and a Jr.-Sr. High Principal. Some years there has been an assistant principal position coupled with other responsibilities. Caston is currently in its third consecutive year of a full-time Jr.-Sr. High Assistant Principal position. Thus, at this time there are three administrative positions. I suggest the roles and responsibilities of these three positions be redefined in the context of K-12. In other words each position would have various responsibilities across the grade span K-12. For instance, some of the major responsibilities of building administration include: personnel, instruction, curriculum, student behavior/discipline and special education as well as others. “How would doing this be helpful?” you might ask. Of the two remaining individuals there is the opportunity to leverage their qualities and characteristics across K-12 to provide long-term continuity for both the Elementary and Jr.-Sr. High Schools. One has been an employee of Caston for 19 years, the other for one. Additionally, the third individual could intentionally be selected with qualities and characteristics that would complement the other two. In summary, there would be a team of three individuals in charge of administering Caston’s K-12 program. One year ago Governor Mitch Daniels, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett, and the Indiana Legislature were looking very intently at consolidation of smaller school systems including Caston. In addition to focusing on cost efficiency there was also much attention given to the quality of education that students were receiving. It should also be noted that Caston’s current enrollment of 815 students is projected to be 673 ten years from now. There is no doubt that consolidation of small school systems will again be in the spotlight during the 2011 Legislature. Caston has a vested interest in providing its students a quality education. First and foremost it is the right thing to do. Secondly, if Caston can demonstrate cost efficiency and provide its students a quality education its size should not be an issue. This K-12 administrative approach may not be the only
alternative for Caston to have quality leadership and long-term commitment by
its building administrators, particularly the administrator with ultimate
responsibility for the building, but it certainly is a concept deserving serious
consideration.
What Indiana State Government Is Not Telling You
About K-12 Spending And Health Insurance (retitled, Dan L. Foster, 7/29/10) Open Letter to Caston patrons Recent Articles May Not Tell Whole Picture As a public school superintendent, I often find myself biting my tongue on what I see/hear in the media. Within the last week, two recent articles have naturally grabbed my attention as these articles suggest that public schools have poor fiscal management and overspend unnecessarily. Specifically, I am speaking of the articles from the State Budget Committee indicating that schools could save money by joining the state health plan; and secondly, the report from the Indiana Office of Management and Budget which shows most schools only place 58 cents of every dollar directly to the classroom. Allow me to address the latter issue first. Yes, on the surface it does seem as though many schools should be able to put more dollars in the classroom. However, I believe it is important to understand what is included or excluded within that 58 cents. Included in the student instructional spending is teacher salaries and related fringe benefits, salaries for teacher aides, and money spent on educational media services, textbooks, instructional technology, student support services—such as social work, guidance counseling, health services, speech pathology, audiology and school administration. Caston School Corporation aides include one at the elementary, one at the junior-senior high, and one in the library. Additionally, Caston belongs, along with nine local school corporations, to the Logansport Area Joint Special Services Co-op. This is a cooperative effort to offer services to our students who may require special services. This is done as most of these corporations could not afford to offer these programs in a self-funded manner. As far as school administration, Caston currently has one superintendent (no assistants), one elementary principal (no assistant), and one junior-senior high principal and one junior-senior high assistant principal. With the demands which have been leveled from the State and Federal Departments of Education, we certainly do not believe we are top-heavy in administration. Additionally, state-wide Indiana ranks 49th as to the number of administrators to teacher/student ratios. On the opposite side, items not included in the student instructional spending calculations are money spent on budgeting, payroll and accounting, operation and maintenance of facilities, security, pupil transportation, food services, purchasing and administrative technology. While I will agree that dollars spent in these areas may not be “directive classroom dollars”, I believe they are extremely important to the overall effective instruction of our students and have a direct impact on what is taking place in the classrooms. Take for example, transportation. Consider if we did not provide transportation for our students: Because of Caston's rural location, we are not even technically located within a town, we have only a handful of students who may walk to school (safely). We have many single-parent (and some two-parent) families who have been hit hard by the economy, we have some students who must travel 17 miles one way to arrive at school. These items would put an immense hardship on many of our students and their families to get students to school. Would this be a very effective educational program with, more than likely, increased absenteeism? I would say no, this would not be in the best interest of our students. Consider the same with food service...where would our students be and what would they eat? Students need to be in class and ready, and a good breakfast and lunch program is extremely beneficial and significant to our students health, well-being, and educational programming.
Operation and maintenance of facilities also seems a necessity. Like any typical
homeowner, you must try to take care of issues as they arise rather than
waiting. Common sense suggests that it will cost a little money now to fix
something, but waiting to make a needed repair often costs double or triple than
the original repair cost(s). Our facility is over 40 years old now, and previous
superintendents, school boards, and staff members have worked hard to keep
the facility in excellent condition. We are trying to continue to have our
facility in
good, clean, working condition. We can also continue to make adjustments to
the thermostats such as a little cooler in the winter and a little warmer in the
summer, but again, is this conducive to a productive learning environment for
our children?
With all that said, admittedly, Caston fell from 58.9 cents in 2008 to 58.8 cents in 2009, however we are up overall from 57.2 in 2006. Rarely do we at Caston make excuses, however, I think it is important for the community to have the opportunity to hear/see some of the contributing factors and what must be considered. I (we) am pleased that we are meeting the state average, but I (we) will continue to be diligent in an effort to increase the amount for student instruction. When considering the former topic of instructional spending, teacher salaries and related fringe benefits is one of the largest expenditures from the General Fund portion of the budget. The recent report from the State Budget Committee suggesting that schools and universities could save several hundred million by joining state health plan is simply not true for us at this time. Caston currently belongs to an insurance trust with a small group of schools. If Caston were to leave our insurance trust and join the state plan, as it stands now the cost of a single plan would INCREASE $1,024.96 annually, per plan and the cost of the family plan would INCREASE $3,365.60 annually, per plan. With our current number of employees on the various plans, switching to the state plan would INCREASE our corporation premiums over $144,000 annually. My question is two-fold, but I believe simple, who is going to pay for our increase and why would we spend more for less coverage? At this point in time, I would see no logical rationale for Caston to move from our current trust to a plan with higher premiums and less benefits. The desire is trying to drive more dollars into the classroom, however, at this point in time if Caston were to move to the state plan, it appears we would have the opposite effect on the classroom. In closing, I thought it was important timing to provide you some additional information other than what you may have recently read or heard with regards to the above-mentioned reports. We at Caston (or maybe I should say “I”) believe we have been good stewards of tax-payer dollars, however, we will continue to look at ways to provide more cost-effective and academically competitive educational programs for our students. Thank you for your time, interest, and continued support of Caston, and other local school corporations.
Dan L. Foster, Ed.S.
Central
Time Will Improve Student Safety And Save Money And Instructional Time
(retitled, Dan L. Foster, 7/29/10) Is A Time Zone Change Right For Us? Last year I was quoted in the Logansport Pharos-Tribune newspaper in regards to having school delays based on the weather and not having daylight. Two years in a row we were hit with some winter flooding which caused many of our county roads to be impassable. At the time I thought nothing of it as I indicated that we had used one-hour delays to allow our bus drivers, and really all of our students and staff) a little daylight to see for safety on these days. The remark came when I stated that if we were on Central Time Zone, we would not have needed to delay and we would have saved money and classroom instruction time. Fast-forward...my innocent comment to a local reporter apparently was circulated in other media outlets and I received a phone call from Sue Dillon from Carmel. Sue is a member of the Central Time Coalition. The CTC is not disputing the Daylight Savings Time issue, but rather has resided in the fact that DST is here to stay and in light of this that Indiana should be placed in the Central Time Zone. Sue and the CTC have invited me to be part of a panel in a conference in Carmel in late August. For the record, if DST is here to stay in Indiana, I strongly believe that in the best interest and safety of our children, that we indeed should be in the Central Time Zone. I have seen numerous (Caston) students standing outside waiting for a bus at 7:30 a.m. (EST) in pitch black but yet students in North Judson (CST) standing outside waiting for a bus at 7:30 a.m. are in doing so in daylight. It just makes sense to me that students travel to school more safely in daylight. It has also been suggested for many years that students, especially teens, have a more difficult time getting up each morning and being prepared for the day. On the reverse side of this, extra daylight in the evening is nice for a variety of reasons however, I have seen first-hand how difficult it is to get that younger student in bad when it is still daylight outside. This makes it more difficult for these students to come to school well-rested and prepared for school (ISTEP+) the next day. Safety is a large concern, but we also need to think of what is in the best interest of our children. Additionally, delays are costly! The CTC has calculated that there is an average waste of $10 per-student-per hour loss with a delay. If this were to hold true, every one-hour delay would cost Caston approximately $8,000. That is currently lost instructional time and frankly, the rest of the day is very difficult to get and/or keep students going on task. I could probably write more on the subject, but for readers of this paper I just wanted to make you aware there is support to move all of Indiana to Central Time Zone. I would also like to add that I believe we need to do what is in the best interest and safety for the students in our communities regardless of personal preference.Also, for more information regarding the Central Time Coalition, you may visit their website at www.hoosiersforcentraltime.com. Thank you in advance for your assistance. Dan Letters To The Editor: Public Should See Through School Chief's Nonsense (Ind'pls Star, 9/8/10) Posted:
September 7, 2010 Bennett
spent most of his address outlining ideas to make administrators and teachers
more "accountable," which simply means "easier to fire." An
Urgent Call for Common Sense Among The Indiana Legislature (retitled,
Commentary, Mrs. Cindy Douglass, 2/11/11)
As an educator of 25
years, 20 of which have been spent in school administration, I’ve never felt
there’s a more urgent need for a good measure of common sense to be applied to
our educational system. The demise
of local control in our community schools to the strong chokehold of state
mandates seems to be forcing most of us to feel we’re in a constant whirlwind
of busyness without purpose. The
result of this predicament brings frustration and anxiety to educators who
desperately need to be providing stability and assurance to the youngsters we
work with daily. Too often these
days, I find myself asking the question: “Where’s the common sense in all of
this?” I am not so
insulated in our small rural community that I lack awareness of the problems in
education. We confront issues daily
that are problematic and make the task of properly educating students very
challenging. Don’t almost all
these problems, however, mirror the very issues that are plaguing our society as
a whole; not just the public schools? Therein
lies the frustration when more and more “one-size fits all” mandates
packaged as “fixes” rob the time and energy of educators; further tying our
hands behind our backs and making an already difficult job more so. I am thankful that
we have talented doctors, lawyers, engineers, ministers, politicians, etc.
All of these respectable professions are critically important to the
functioning of our society. I’m confident that in each of these professions there are
“bad apples” within the ranks, but the optimist in me believes that “many
or most” are doing their best to bring honor to their profession, in spite of
the challenges they, too, are facing. As
far as professional educators are concerned, I see hardworking teachers and
administrators every day that have genuinely devoted themselves to the kids in
their classrooms. I believe if you
ask them why they do what they do, the words “love” and “student” would
come long before the words “collective bargaining”, “salary”,
“benefits”, “working
conditions”, etc. Yet our
legislators have painted the picture recently in the media that this is what
selfishly drives educators in the state of Indiana ahead of the needs of our
students; hence, the poor state of our public schools.
This saddens me when I lay this tainted image over the true personalities
of so many teachers and administrators I’ve had the privilege to know
throughout my life, both as a student and as a fellow colleague. Of recent weeks,
I’ve studied drafts of lengthy proposed evaluation tools for teachers and
administrators that the state has issued for review in setting the stage for
merit pay. Dr. Bennett has touted
that this will be a means of “rewarding” highly effective teachers and
sorting out the ineffective ones. I
find it disturbing that a Principal would be rated “ineffective” (the lowest
of four rankings) if “many or most” of the teachers in the building were to
be rated as “effective.” Of
course, the yardstick to determine that a teacher is “highly effective” is
if the students in the classroom are making “at least one and one-half
year’s growth” during the 180-day school year based upon the results of the
state’s mandated testing. Utilizing this line of logic, if a child were to have a
“highly effective teacher” from kindergarten through sixth grade, he would
have mastered the 5th grade standards by the end of 3rd
grade and would have mastered half of his sophomore high school curriculum by
the end of his 6th grade year. I
guess this solves the dilemma of the state’s deficit for funding higher
education, because all of our students will have graduated from college before
they are out of high school! Again,
I must ask: “where’s the common sense in all of this?” We are currently
working on a new state-mandated reading plan so that we’re prepared to
teach children to learn to read in elementary school (“.
. . is this a new idea, I ask?”) We’re
genuinely trying to find a “common-sense” way to mesh the components of this
with our state-mandated “school-improvement plan.”
Today our Superintendent and I discussed the state-mandated positive
discipline plan which has also recently become a legal requirement. Of course, we want to make sure that all of these “plans”
compliment the state-mandated school/community health plan, the disaster
preparedness plan . . . the list goes on. We would love to spend more time “doing” but we’re just
so very, very busy “planning.” Again, this begs the question “where’s
the common sense?” Last week, I spent
over seven hours working on a “revised” state-mandated report that used to
take me approximately ˝ hour to complete.
We now do it twice yearly rather than just once as required in past
years. At least two others in our
corporation have had to spend considerable time on this same report. This week, we’re trying to complete a new
state-mandated report that appears it may take even longer IF we ever
figure out exactly how to complete the report. What happened to Dr. Bennett’s campaign promise to
streamline paperwork so there was more time for what we really needed to be
doing in schools? All of this is
“necessary” so that the Indiana Department of Education can collect data
that will track state test scores back to individual teachers.
Let’s not lose sight of the potential learning time that students are
spending taking the tests for this purpose.
Common sense seems to have gone with the wind as we “Race to the Top”
while “Leaving No Child Behind.” I
have to chuckle at my warped mental images of these educational movements –
they’ve effectively made most of us in education feel like we’re running
around in circles. Rest assured
we’re diligently trying not to trample on the children as we do so! Common sense would dictate that something needs to give: in
light of diminishing public resources, we somehow need to get back to the basics
of focusing more of our time and energy on the needs of the children in our own
communities (which, by the way, frequently differs from the needs of children
across the state or in inner-city schools) and less on the state mandates that,
all too frequently, supersede the local priorities that would better serve our
students. . . “now where did that common sense get off to?”
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