So, I haven't blogged in a bit. There are a few reasons for that.
1) My life. I love the summer with my kiddos. And as it winds down to an end I feel panicky and I want to spend as much time doing fun things together. Two of my kids attend IPS and start school on August 8th. This week we spent a lot of time buying school supplies and trying on uniforms. And to save you time- NO ONE has white poster board in stock. Trust me, I've looked.
2) There have been a lot of ups and downs with the school board lately. I have been a little negative to blog about the good, and a little too frustrated to blog about the bad.
So what's going on?
Budget-The budget will be advertised tonight. My hope is that there will be a way for the public to view the budget this year, as we were promised. Last year was a nightmare. However the board received the budget in full at least a week ago, maybe it was two weeks ago. A definite improvement from last year.
First Day- School starts August 8th. Bus assignments are going out. Though I had a little hiccup with mine. I had a concern of my bus stop placements for my children. THey are 4 blocks apart from one another, and ten minutes apart in pick up time, which I can't be at both places. One stop is a long walk, and over a working railroad. I called in to talk to someone about my options, and I called transportation like any parent would at 226-4500. My first operator was rude and short with me, unwilling to really listen. When I asked to speak to a supervisor I was told he was on the phone. I stated I would wait. Then I was told he was in a meeting. Long story short I was hung up on. Twice. Eventually I found a great person in transportation who helped me.
State Takeover- Now we know, 6 schools remain on state takeover list. Now this doesn't mean that all 6 will be taken, but all six will have some intervention from the state. They will decide what schools will have what kind of intervention at their board meeting at the end of August. Months ago a few board members shared an interest with the rest of the board in meeting with Tony Bennett. That idea wasn't 100% supported and was put off until after the hearings. After several more weeks of trying to move this along I think we are finally getting somewhere. More to come.......
Board Retreat - The Board and Dr White along with Dr. Giles spent a good chunk of the weekend at the board retreat. This is a great time to catch up on updates. We discussed the Gambold Preparatory H.S. that will open in the fall of 2012, district lines for school board members that will need to change, Budget Reductions, lots of other topics, and this blog. Yep, this blog.
One item we discussed was the IPS School Board Open House. This was my idea, though at the retreat it was said something has been done like this before. I sent an email out a few months ago with an ideas for a way to invite and encourage our parents and community members to attend a meeting and see who their representatives are and see what we do. I was thinking we could set up before the 7pm meeting with food, and give people time to meet their board members. Only 2 board members responded to the email. I brought it up in person as well. I was ignored. Seriously, Jr. High kind of ignoring. Bold faced ignoring. (part of the bad) However, when brought up at the retreat Dr. White was very supportive and offered much assistance in the planning. (part of the good) So set your calendars for October 25Th at 6pm!!!!
My energy- I have felt quite drained the last month or so with the school board. I think because while school is going on I get such enjoyment out of visiting schools and seeing the students. During the summer, it is mostly just the adults in IPS that I have been seeing. I really look forward to getting back in the routine as far as a being board member goes. But sad to say good bye to summer as far as being a mom goes.
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