In case you haven't heard

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120824/NEWS04/208240355/10-candidates-vying-4-seats-IPS-Board



The deadline for filing for IPS school board was Friday August 24th at noon. I am a little surprised at the conclusion of it all.

District 1- I knew Caitlin, Larry, and James were running, and I didn't expect any new candidates.

District 2- Knew about Gayle, Sharon, and Elizabeth, but Alvin was a surprise.

District 4 - So happy and relieved for Diane that she is the only candidate in this district. She is an amazing board member. So looking forward to another two years (at least) with her!

At large- This is the biggest shock. There two candidates. Dare I say only two? Nothing against Larry or Sam. I am just shocked that only two people district wide thought about running. When I ran, there were 7 of us.

When I ran for school board, even though there were 7 of us, we ran a good clean race. We never ran a campaign by bringing someone else down. We fought for the spot that we wanted by making our case, our argument. We became friendly with one another, a few I would consider friends. Offered advice. I hope that this campaign can be just as clean.

We knew that Mary Busch was not going to run again. And we found out Friday morning about this....

http://blogs.indystar.com/education/2012/08/24/2nd-eugene-white-ally-decides-not-to-run-for-school-board/

Marianna decided not to run again as well. I didn't expect her to, but I wasn't for certain, apparently she wasn't either.

I was a little taken aback by her words, "I need a break from the blitz of negativity from entities outside of IPS, and a concurrent break from the negativity from inside the board." We certainly see things very differently.

I am glad time is moving forward. I am glad we know who the candidates are now, and the time to learn about them is upon us. I encourage everyone to do their research, find the best candidate, and get out to vote. I encourage the candidates to keep it clean, if if someone else doesn't.

I still haven't (totally) decided who I am supporting or how to go about it. If I support candidate X and candidate Y wins then I have potentially damaged a relationship before it even begins. I would hope that those feelings could be set aside. But is it worth the risk? I haven't decided that yet.

Top of the Morning, Top of the Class!

So, without anyone's permission, I and two other board members visited Gambold Preparatory HS today. And we were blown away. Seriously. I know that are a lot of ticked off people and some just concerned people regarding the location of this school. But let's face it. These are our kids. I would drive twice as far if I had to. But actually, it only took me about 20 minutes to get there today.

The school is meant to fill the need for our CFI, Sidener, and Montessori students entering H.S. Many of these kids have left the district to attend Herron, North Central, private, or they simply move. So the idea of meeting their needs came up at a retreat a few years ago. The building happened to be available and recently renovated.

I will go ahead and share my opinion and feel of this school, but if you are a parent of a potential student and you don't get in there yourself, you are missing the opportunity to make an informed decision on your child's best options. Every school is not for every child, but make sure you know all your choices.

First of all, I called the school as I left my house to give them a heads up that we were dropping by. I was welcomed over the phone and we felt that welcome again when we entered the building. We strolled the halls, looked at the walls, and met a few staff members. Then we ran into the principal, Mr. O'Day. He's a wee bit Irish with a genuine smile and a handshake that might just hurt a little. The staff was dressed in a very professional manner, and today was a special day and all the men had matching bright blue ties and the women lovely orange scarves. It was obvious within minutes that this school had become a team in just 5 days. Mr. O'Day was kind enough to show us around and answer any questions.

There are so many things I loved about this school and though I want to share them with you, please know that I am no substitute for the passionate teachers and staff that have created these brilliant ideas.

I love the sports options. I never even asked about the traditional sports because I was too intrigued with croquet, cricket, rowing, and possibly sailing. Yep. Pretty awesome.

I also love the schedule. THey have a 45 minute lunch. This will allow time for special programs and presentations, or time to form study groups. I also loved the no fast food pact. No fast food in the building. Not students. Not staff.

I did have a moment of concern. As we were leaving the library (which feels so cozy and airy) I saw a bulletin board with "BANNED BOOKS" across the top. I got a lump in my throat. There, on the board, were titles of book and the reasons they were banned. I wasn't going to fight for the titles of Twilight or The Hunger Games. I mean, I love the books, but you may be the same person if you never read them. But when I saw To Kill A Mockingbird, and Catcher in the Rye.....well, I decided I had to say something. I politely told Mr. O'Day that I needed to pick a fight with him. I asked if he banned these books. He told me these books are the top banned books because of material that deals with racism, language, sex, and so on. He said they have been put in jail. After a close look I saw the book titles did look like they had lines dran over them like a jail cell. Then he said that the students could release them from jail simply by reading them. He is challenging these kids. Challenging to decide for themselves. And to teach them that there are times to question what everyone else is saying is wrong. From that moment on, I was sold.

We enjoyed talking with the staff (staff that was hand picked by Mr. O'Day). I loved seeing their excitement regarding the school. I can not wait to visit again in a couple months and see the progress and talk to the students.

I wish all principals had the authority to choose their staff and be able to search country wide for the best of the best.

Anyway, thank you to the warm welcome we received and the time Mr. O'Day and his staff took to chat with us. It was a wonderful experience.

Budget

Tonight the Board voted to advertise the budget. You can find the info here:



http://www.budget.ips.k12.in.us/index.php?id=12106


Tomorrow I am heading to Gambold, where the new IPS HS program is located. I am actually meeting a few other board members there as well, we are just interested in looking at the school, a quick tour, and just an overall visit. I am looking forward to it.

We have a full week next week. A private hearing, a resource meeting on Tuesday,policy meeting on Wednesday, and a Design Overview meeting on Thursday.

The budget will be voted on on August 20th. The last two years I voted against the budget. The first year I did so because of the way the process was handled. Last year I did so because of the amount of poor choices I have seen IPS make on where to spend money.
To be honest, this year I have not read the budget. The last two years I have read the budget in its entirety. This year, I have been so busy and overwhelmed with the issues here at home. But I will read it before the vote.

I hope everyone is having a good start to the year. And though I know staff has been told not to speak to board members, I do enjoy hearing from people. And I hope anyone who needs to, feels comfortable contacting me.

Back to work

After two and a half weeks away, I am returning to work tomorrow. I can't say that I am looking forward to it or that I am ready. Because I am neither.

Just to update everyone, my father-n-law died in a very bad car accident. He was in Ohio at the time. We have made several trips back and forth since the accident taking care of things. My husband and I have also planned the service, with the help of friends and family. It's been exhausting on many, many levels.
What many did not know, is that his sister, my husbands aunt, was in the car with him. After being in a coma for two weeks, her children made the difficult but selfless decision to let her go. We lost her on Thursday.

This has been the most awful time, and I appreciate the kind words that I have received. It has meant a lot. I know that I need to return to work tomorrow full force, as it is also the first day of school. And I promise I will do my best, but I am very scared of how it will go.

Tomorrow, August 6th, there will be a Legislative Committee meeting at 5:30. And on Tuesday there will be a meeting to approve advertising the Budget. I am unsure of the time for that meeting.

I am eager to get back into the groove of life and work. I am looking forward to visiting schools again. I hope for a good year for everyone. Be safe, look for school children, drive slow.

First Day of School....