School Board Task Force Update

School Board Task Force Update – and THANK YOU!!

Dear Ward Five and South End neighbors,

It’s hard for me to put into words how thrilled I was by Tuesday’s vote. Thanks to so many of you who voted for our school budget resoundingly (go Wards 5 and 6) and also to so many of you who voted for my re-election. Your great response has given me lots of fresh energy and enthusiasm for the work ahead. Now, back to business:

The task force met last night in Barnes school and spent some time reviewing data the administration collected for us. A few interesting notes:

Only Barnes school has more students that walk to school rather than being driven by bus or car. At Champlain, for example, 99 students arrive by bus, 133 by car, and 64 walk.
Barnes school is quite distinct from the other five elementary schools in the district also by virtue of its low student capacity – 180, as compared with 320-360 at our other five elementary schools.
Our variance policy has generally been that if a school has room, the variance is granted. The district has granted between 70 and 100 variances in each of the past three years. The requests made last year included: 11 from Barnes, 7 from Champlain, 10 from Edmunds, 4 from Flynn, 6 from Smith and 6 from Wheeler. Many of these variances sent kids to the Dovetail program at Edmunds.
The “elementary cost per pupil for core teaching staff assuming average teacher salary” ranges from roughly $3,800.00 at Champlain and Edmunds, to $6,200.00 at Barnes and Wheeler due to the increased staff there and lower class sizes.

Teachers from Barnes, Champlain, Wheeler and Burlington High School came in and spoke with us last night about their perspective on the question of how we can best help children in poverty, and the testimony was moving. First, we heard from Brent Sclafani, who taught for 21 years at Barnes, and has been at Champlain for the last 5. He is an advocate for the idea that we socio-economically integrate our schools based on those experiences. He spoke about the burnout teachers experience in high-poverty, high-needs schools, and feeling like no matter how hard he worked, he couldn’t give each child in his classroom the attention needed and deserved. He reported that at Champlain, which has close to the district average number of students living in poverty, he feels that he can do a better job paying attention to the needs of each child, and that being there has reinvigorated him and kept him working as a teacher. Brent believes that “integrated” classrooms foster teamwork among students, and that’s one of the reasons class sizes can be higher at Champlain rather than Barnes.

We next heard from Amy Mellencamp, BHS principal, who related that the kids who cause the “most drama” in high school are usually kids from the most stressed backgrounds. Guidance counselors at the school have very little time for college counseling, because much of their time is spent dealing with crisis situations that often are a result of poverty, such as homelessness, etc. Amy echoed everyone in the schools who has discussed transience as a major, intractable obstacle that prevents students in poverty from making progress on their academic skills and generally distracts them from focusing on schoolwork in many ways. Lack of affordable housing and other factors that keep families on the move all are a detriment to kids in poverty.

Joyce Irvine, principal of Wheeler, discussed the success teachers and students at her school have made and credited that to intensive professional development and long hours. At the same time, she related a steep rise in mental health needs, academic and emotional challenges, etc. The test scores that Wheeler has proudly boasted over the last few years are not likely to look so good this year. Somali Bantu children who have been in the country for one year are now required to take the same tests as everyone else under our President’s inflexible “No Child Left Behind” law. The district will have to deal with the possible financial ramifications of not meeting “adequate yearly progress” because there is no way these children will meet the standards set forth by our federal government after only one year in school. Joyce is a strong advocate for professional development, summer programs, small class sizes and repetition and structure in teaching children living in poverty. She reminded us that if we choose to integrate Wheeler students into heterogeneous schools, the support they now receive will need to travel with them. She also reported that Wheeler has lost 47 children since September, but they also continue to receive new students sporadically as well. Again, transience is a major obstacle faced by children living in poverty and the teachers and administrators who work with them.

Lillian Robinson has taught at Wheeler for over thirty years. She is an award-winning teacher who admitted that she could not make the progress she has with students if not for the fact that her husband does all the cooking, laundry and cleaning and she only had one child. Both she and Joyce stressed how hard teachers at Barnes and Wheeler work, and how difficult it is for them to also enjoy time with their own families. Lillian has mixed feelings about the idea of socioeconomic integration because she fears other teachers and principals will not take the same care with her students. Will they have weekly safety meetings? Will their new school feel like a supportive family, in which everyone knows and cares for everyone else? Will the students receive the same understanding and emotional support? Lillian has felt that other teachers in the district look down on teachers from Barnes and Wheeler, and consequently prevent them from transferring to other schools in the district using “big hoops to jump through.”

Our next meeting will be held at Champlain School on Tuesday, March 21^st from 6 to 8:30, and you are welcome to come and listen in. At that meeting, I think we will start to talk concretely about options. Speaking personally, I feel ready for that transition in the task force. We have learned so much about poverty in our district and the many factors that influence it. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and solve as many of our problems as we can. I hope to see you there, and I would also recommend that you check out the district website: www.bsdvt.org to see our minutes and agenda, and also the weblog devoted to discussion of the task force. For even more info., you can listen to the podcast of a “Commissioner’s Corner” t.v. segment on the task force that Thom Fleury, Ward 7 school commissioner, Fred Lane and I did last week on channel 17. The podcast can be found at: http://www2.cctv.org/rss/index.php Fred also will be moderating the next Commissioner’s Corner on Thursday, April 6^th at 5:25 on channel 17 with Stu McGowan, our wonderful task force chair. That podcast also will be posted on the channel 17 webpage after the event.

Many, many thanks again for your support on Tuesday,

Amy Werbel

Ward 5 School Commissioner

12 Catherine Street

awerbel@bsdvt.org