Ten months into a two-year term with a new school board and the majority of the district's administrators and staff have little confidence in the Board of Education.
What is the reason for this sudden about face? Probably the biggest factor is accountability.
One role of a school board is to hire a superintendent to effectively manage a district and evaluate his leadership. As community representatives, the board is accountable to the public for the performance of its schools. The board establishes systems and processes to monitor results, evaluates the school system's progress toward accomplishing the district's vision and communicates that progress to the community.
By trying to be accountable to the public, the new board is holding the leader of this district accountable, and the effects of that are being felt school-wide. Rather than accepting responsibility, Superintendent Fredisdorf is putting more work on his staff.
Superintendent Fredisdorf has been claiming for months that Pleasantdale is not only aligned to the Common Core in English/Language Arts and Math, but that the new Common Core Standards have been implemented school-wide. A random collection of K-8 district assessments was all that was needed to verify that this claim was categorically false.
Ultimately the leader of a school district sets the tone in everything and anything taking place there. When false messages continually get sent out, trust between all parties - the staff, boe, administration and community - begins to crumble. Fredisdorf, by not seeking to educate himself the law regarding RtI and the new Common Core, he put his staff in a precarious position. To continually claim that the new curriculum is aligned and implemented, because he doesn't know any better, has shifted the burden of proof from himself to them. A true leader, knowing he is not up to par, would acknowledge this, rather than throw his staff under the bus. Instead, the board of education has invested thousands of dollars by way of an audit to find the truth.
So, it makes sense that no one is happy. It is a trickle down effect.
The board of education's ultimate responsibility is to the students and taxpayers of this district. By turning a blind eye to the number one problem in this district, do you feel this Board of Education is doing right by kids? Is it right to not be prepared and keep saying we are? As if saying it often enough will make us so? What happens when these children take the PARCC test next spring and aren't successful? Who's fault will it be then?
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Comments/suggestions:-- These Wednesday after school meetings are no longer needed nor are they aiding in the continued success of myself professionally or my students level of success within the district.-- I look forward to coming to work every day. My only concerns involve the School Board micromanaging. We should be able to tell them what we need to teach instead of them telling us what we need to teach. Their unrealistic and irrelevant demands on administration needs to change. We are feeling it in the classroom. Thus, children suffer. -- Leadership is a vague term. There are many leaders within the district let alone a school. Please keep this in mind as you gather your data. -- Our new principal is great!!! I think that our school board is trying to make our school district the best that it can be!! -- I love my job and being a part of watching the growth in kids lives everyday. -- I agree that the district is a good place to work but would not recommend it to others seeking employment because of the pay scale relative to other districts. It is not competitive. -- I feel that I am very committed to the students and families of Pleasantdale. I have met many wonderful people and I can't imagine ever leaving the district. However, our district is crumbling and it is an extremely difficult place to work. Furthermore, the compensation I receive for my work is extremely poor and I am disheartened when I see how much other, less seasoned teachers are being paid in other districts. Staying in my position is becoming more and more difficult with each passing day. -- I believe Pleasantdale is a nice place to work and would recommend it to others seeking employment, but I believe there are a few factors standing in the way that could make it even more attractive to potential educators and a better school in general. Teachers are constantly re-writing curriculum and the majority do not have training in curriculum writing. Publishing companies create research based curriculum - can we say that we have an effective Tier 1 curriculum at the moment when the curriculum is constantly changing and it is pulled from a variety of sources? Additionally, the salary scale at Pleasantdale is not at all competitive with other districts. Many staff members have mentioned that their salaries are not competitive with previous jobs or with the salaries of their friends in local districts. -- I am proud of where our district stands with all academic programs. I hope we will continue to improve and enhance all of these programs going into the future. -- There is a lack of vision in the district and an even greater lack of vision at the elementary school. We have so many programs and activities at the ES, but they are not coordinated with a common goal. We are all cooking something together, but no one knows the recipe or what we are making. Compliments and encouragement for a job well done are almost nonexistent. And when a complement is given there is usually a sarcastic qualification that lessens the message. I love teaching. My experiences in the classroom with students are wonderful. -- Hard to voice concerns or opinions when we feel like we will be punished or looked at differently -- I am proud of how hard and child centered our staff is. They have risen even though morale has been low for some time. They continue to do their very best they can with lack of clarity and lack of positive reinforcement. I think our students are on the whole great. Many of our parents are very dedicated to our school and its success. I feel successful even though my accomplishments have never been identified by the Administration. It is through data from various sources, comments made by students, prior students, and parents is where I gain my feeling of success. It has not been delivered by the Administration at all. The new principal is starting to make needed changes, but he has a lot on his plate. -- I do not feel the Board values teachers. -- I personally still LOVE being a teacher and being a part of my students' lives and education! It would take a lot to leave this District because of my colleagues. I love the Team I am on and all my support staff! However, I would NOT recommend this District to others because the administrators place obstacles in our way. Poor planning, communication, and decision making make our work much more difficult than it needs to be. I am proud of the TEACHERS in this district. Despite all these obstacles, every teacher works very hard for our students!!I enjoy fun events beyond the school day because of the families and staff. Professional development or events are hard after school because we are all so darn tired. Many of us work through lunch to get things done because the workload is so heavy, at times. -- Looking at other comparable districts our pay is low and the insurance premiums are high. The decision making process is unclear. -- The pay in our district is low. -- There was a time I was excited about our district; I said with pride "I work for District 107." Sadly, now I feel like I work for a board (and parents) that take pride in humiliating the staff, publicly. As well as administrators who no longer see us as people but merely employees. There is little trust and/or recognition which creates a very low morale. -- I have concerns that some members of our Board of Education are disregarding our Mission. In order for a school district to thrive, all members of that district must strive towards the mission. Recent initiatives brought forth by the Board of Education did not follow accordance with our Strategic Plan and Mission. Our staff believes in our Mission and believes in our Core Values. It is clear to me that some members of our Board of Education do not share the same core values as our District. The level of disrespect I have witnessed at Board Meetings from board members to members of our Administration, staff and community members is disheartening. -- I am not sure if the leadership in both the district and school can be trusted to lead us in a positive way. I have seen many areas where the principle does not have an idea of the question let alone the answer because he is not aware of what is actually going on. -- It is very hard to say that my district is very good place to work knowing how little we get pay to educate young minds .If you look at our pay scale you will notice that we are on the bottom of the list that shows neighboring school districts. On the same token our kids perform better than kids from above mentioned districts. If you want to see moral and overall satisfaction go up in this district this is and always will be #1 issue for us educators. -- The new School Board members are highly unprofessional in how they handle situations in a public forum. It is embarrassing to watch the board videos online. -- We need a vision and focus. -- I use to be proud of our district until a few years ago. I believe there has been to many initiatives and not enough support or training to accomplish the initiatives. I would not recommend this district because of the low salary. There is a lot of stress that comes with working for this district and it's not compensated by the salary. Also, I enjoy attending events outside of school but do not like to be forced to go. -- I would let others know of openings in our district, but I would make sure that they knew what the starting salary would be. A job is a job, but the salary makes it difficult to keep staff here. They should know, going in, what the starting pay is. They can always take the position and move on to a higher paying position as they gain experience. Unfortunately, that is what happens, causing a lack of continuity in teaching. I have not always been proud of our district in the past. I did not feel that we were keeping current with RtI requirements. I feel that the elementary was, but all you have to do is look at the video from the February 2013 board meeting. That is the board meeting when Kelly presented all that she had done with the elementary. When pressed to describe the middle school work she said that 95% of her time was spent with the elementary. The board asked the middle school principal to explain what our Special Education PPT slide might look like. The response was, "A lot like that without all the RrI wording." If we were dong the right things, if would have to be by accident. There has not been RtI training at the middle school. Kelly truly was not in our building much. One needs to be welcomed into a building in order to work along side, train, develop a program with staff. I feel now that we will head in that direction. But, it is long overdue, and has not made me proud or comfortable. -- The new Board has brought the morale down significantly. There disfunction is effecting staff, which in turn effects the learning environment for students. -- I believe that there are many talented staff members who could be used stronger. For example, lunch duty-Do you need certified staff for this? Couldn't they be used as a push in for Language Arts needs? Or mabye utilize them for progress monitoring. -- I am very happy to call Pleasantdale my home. I feel proud in what we do here and I hope the administration and board feels that way too. This year the board has come across as suspicious and untrusting which is too bad, because I know they are good individuals. I think sometimes their lack of faith in the powers that be clouds their insight on what is best for kids and that is, after all, our district mission. -- My job inside the classroom is satisfying but with everything put on me that doesn't really help my teaching, it feels like a weight on my shoulders. -- I am very proud to work at Pleasantdale and be part of a caring school community. I do feel we do what is best for children. The staff goes over and beyond what is asked of them. However we are not paid equally to other districts comparable to us. Administration is but not the teachers. We need to be paid for our hard work and dedication like other districts. -- I appreciate many of the people I work with and trust them. Trust is very important to me and unfortunately it has gotten worse. I have also experienced untrustworthiness from my peers, the principal, the superintendent, and the board. It is extremely difficult when a person can not go to the superintendent or principal and be honest and know what you say will be listened to and not used against you. -- I have always been proud of this district and the progress it has made over the years. Until recently, I have seen our boards of education strive to improve our district for the sole purpose of providing the best education for it's students. I have every confidence in the staff and administrators to keep this district moving forward. However, this current board is a hinderence to that effect. -- I think we have had a great competent staff who are supportive and great to work with. We have nice kids and concerned parents. Too often in the last 10 years teachers were not empowered to make decisions in areas that affected them and their classrooms. People didn't feel valued and respected to be partners in decision making and were often chastised if they did not agree with administration ideas, or punished if they voiced contradicting ideas. -- I am proud of the hard work and perseverance that the teachers in this district have. Overall, this District is a good place to work because of the great students and supportive staff and building administration. However, I would not recommend this District to others seeking employment becuase of our lower salary compared to other area schools. -- We have a great school with great kids, a great community, and a terrific staff. The only obstacle to anyone wanting to join or remain with this staff would be the dismal pay. (Unless you are an administrator) The past rationale for such low pay was that we could get 200 applications for any job posting. While most schools can probably say the same thing, our problem now lies with the problem of retaining quality teachers. I'm tired of losing talented colleagues because we lag so far behind all but a few other lower paying districts. -- Our administration rules with fear and intimidation. Teachers are put down and not allowed to have an opinion that differs from the administration. Teachers support each other and learn to self assess and continue to believe in themselves and each other. We have many wonderful things to be proud of DESPITE our administration. -- The main reason I would not recommend Pleasantdale to others seeking employment is because of the salary. Our teachers who have been hired here within the past 15 years are struggling with their standard of living. I have heard it repeatedly and would like the district to explore the data. I would hope that a correction can be made for those employees in the next negotiations.
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1 comment:
Dear Pleasantdale School Board,
It is time to stand up for our children. We voted all 7 of you in to do what is right by the kids and us as taxpayers. Be accountable and be responsible for the mess of this district and start cleaning it up. Reading all this data from this staff survey for the first time tells me our problem is our leader. The right thing is not always the easy thing. You may have to do something that gets your hands dirty. But this community knew you were competent and capable to do so. It's time to start living up to our expectations. Fire his ass already! The staff will rejoice and you will set this school district free. - Very concerned taxpayer
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