My time HAS come

Another blow.

Committee assignments came out today.  We have 4 committees and a board member chairs each committee, this can not be the board president.
I asked to be given the opportunity to chair a committee.  Any committee.
That request was denied.  I have a few concerns with this.


1) In just over a year, there will be another School Board Election.  If by chance all 4 board membes up for re-election lose, that leaves only three seasoned board members.  Two of them, myself included, have been prevented from having any kind of leadership on the board.  No experience chairing a committee or running a meeting.  If the president of the board was really looking out for the best interest of the students, wouldn't they want ALL board members to be prepared???

2)What are they so afraid of?  Seriously!  What (or who) are they protecting?

3) This can't be what the people want.  I don't hear the public screaming, "Great job IPS, keep doing everything the SAME!!!"

4) We are 7 elected officials and all need to represent the people.  If it were meant to only have 4 opinions, then the board would have had only 4 members.   Let us do our job. 


So, here are the appointments from last year....

EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE		RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Chairperson - Commissioner Arnold		Chairperson - Commissioner Busch
Commissioner Roof		Commissioner Brown
Commissioner Zaphiriou		Commissioner Roof
Ex Officio - President Gore		Ex Officio - President Gore
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE		POLICY COMMITTEE
Chairperson - Commissioner Zaphiriou		Chairperson - Commissioner Brown
Commissioner Adair-White		Commissioner Adair-White
Commissioner Busch		Commissioner Arnold
Ex Officio - President Gore		Ex Officio - President Gore

And this year.....

EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE		RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Chairperson - Commissioner Arnold		Chairperson - Commissioner Zaphiriou
Commissioner Adair-White		Commissioner Gore
Commissioner Zaphiriou		Commissioner Roof
Ex Officio - President Busch		Ex Officio - President Busch
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE		POLICY COMMITTEE
Chairperson - Commissioner Gore		Chairperson - Commissioner Brown
Commissioner Arnold		Commissioner Adair-White
Commissioner Brown		Commissioner Roof
Ex Officio - President Busch		Ex Officio - President Busch

I just received this today.  So, I decided to call the president of the board and ask why my request was denied.

I was told many reasons. It went something like this.....

 There are only 4 chair positions.   (Yes, but why must the same people chair every time????)

Your behavior and comments the other night were out of line and rude.  (Remember, I told them to shove it next time they wanted to talk to be about being a team.  I said this after it was evident the four of the went behind our backs and made all the decisions without including us.)

 The others will do a better job.  ( how do you know unless I get the opportunity)

Your time will come.  (What????)

At this moment I assured the president that my time HAD come.  It came when I was elected. 

The president of the board isn't doing this for these reasons.  I assure you.  This is because I am not "with" them.  This is because I vote against the Superintendent.  This is because I speak my mind and they don't like it.
IPS hasn't been criticized this much by the public in years.  Our schools are on take-over lists.  And I assure you it isn't because of me.  My time has come, and it is now. 

The Broken Board

Yes, I am finally saying it out loud.

A year ago I started this journey of serving on the IPS school board.  I knew there were problems and I knew there would be some roadblocks.  I assumed there would be personality differences.  But I had no idea the board was broken.  You may wonder, what does that mean?  Well, there are 7 elected officials.  Five serving districts and two at large.  Each Board member represents those persons in their district.  (They are suppose to listen and represent their constituents.)   Three of the longest serving board members ran unopposed in their last elections.

It is no secret that the board is usually split.  Sometimes 5-2 sometimes 4-3.  The same four ALWAYS being on the same side, the side of the Superintendent.  In fact, one board member has said that they will NEVER vote against the Super.  And those that do are met with criticism, insult, and are excluded.  I am not talking about a Jr. High kind of exclusion, I could care less about being someone's friend.  But we have been excluded from emails, conversations, and important information is not being shared. 

Most recently I saw how dysfunctional this board is.  These 4 board members hijacked the process of electing officers of the board.  Two members, on the other side of the split, showed interest in holding the president and vice president spot.  Those 4 wouldn't allow that.  The same members are just rotating the positions and not allowing anyone new to sit in these seats.  

Here is a list of the officers from past several years.  It's like Groundhog Day.

‎2011-2012 President Busch, Vice Brown.   
2010-2011 President Gore, Vice Zaphiriou. 
2009-2010 President Brown, Vice Gore. 
2008-2009 President Busch, Vice Zaphiriou. 
2007-2008 President Busch, Vice Zaphirou. 
2006-2007 President Campbell, Vice Busch. 
2005-2006 President Brown, Vice Campbell.

The public is NOT being represented by this board.  Those 4 board members are silencing the other three, in effect, silencing the public we represent.  At a time when the public is begging for change and IPS has 7 failing schools, one would think we would think outside the box and try new leadership on the board.  This is simply another year lost.  I apologize to the people of this city and I fear for our children. 

Officers

This year, I am going through my first real process of electing officers.  IPS has a President, Vice President, and a Secretary.  I decided months ago to run for Vice-President.  I didn't really know how to go about sharing my interest, so I sent an email.
I never received any response.  So at a training session with someone from the Indiana School Board Association I brought up a few questions.  Mainly, when, where, and how do we discuss these positions.  I was told to bring it up at a Committee Meeting and discuss it there.
So I did.  And when I did I was met with harsh criticism about how this is the wrong time and not the place, and NOT how it has always been done.  Weeks later I am calm and collected, however that night I was not.  I asked why in the world wasn't this brought up in front of the person from ISBA?  Why wait until I bring it up here and make me look like a fool?  I proceeded to share that this was the strangest behavior out of professional adults I have ever encountered.  Basically, I was mad.

Since then there has been no discussion on the matter.  As a group we have not come together to hear one another and our reasons for the interest in a specific position.   So what do we have?

3 people wanting President.
1 wanting Vice-President
0 wanting Secretary

How do we serve our students and the people of this city to the best of our ability if we can't even do this?  As far as I know this is the first time in several years so many Board Members have ran for the office of President.

This morning I sent an email to the rest of the Board. Here is a small part of it....



"I am so tired of this Board being restricted to "past practice" or the "way we've always done it".  Times change, and we need to be willing to change with them to be successful.  We can't keep doing the same thing year after year, and expect different results.  And we NEED different results."







I may have just lost some votes.......

State Takeover

I have attended several of the meetings for State Takeover.  But tonight I spoke.  I will post my thoughts on the whole topic soon, but for now I will share my brief 3 minute speech.

 

Greetings Dr. Bennett, Dr. WHite, and members of the Board.

My name is Annie Roof. 

I stand before you today for many personal reasons.  First, This is my community.  I was born and raised in Irvington, and my husband and I chose to raise our family here as well.  I am also, and will always be a Howe HS Hornet.  My siblings were Hornets, my uncles, and my parents. In fact, if it weren't for Howe I wouldn't be here, as Howe is where my parents met.  My children wouldn't be here either, as this is where I met my husband.   I graduated in 1995, the year Howe (temporarily)  closed.  My interest in IPS is more than just my past.  I have 3 children.  Two who are current IPS students, and one in preschool.  THe diversity of programs that IPS offers is unmatchable.  No one can compare.  My oldest child is flourishing in the magnet school she attends.  My son, however, needed something a little more.  Next year he heads off to Sidener, the top rated school in I-Step scores for the entire state.  And then there's my youngest.  She has received special services through IPS and will continue to do so.  She works with amazing therapist in hopes to get her ready to start kindergarten in the fall of 2012.  Where else can all these needs  be met in one district?   

And lastly, I am an IPS school board member.  To me, it is very scary to take local government from these communities.  There is a school board that the community can go to, and meetings where they can speak.  I know at times they don't feel they are listened to.  Believe me, I know that.  I didn't join the Board because I thought it was perfect.  But these communities, evident by these meetings, are involved, they care, and they want that voice.  Communities ABSOLUTELY should have local control over their schools.  It has been brought up before, but I also am concerned with the lack of diversity on your board.  That board does not represent IPS and who we are.  

 But, there are problems.  Make no mistake we got in this position for a reason.  Poor decisions have been made.   IPS and the decisions made have often been described as changing the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic.   If that's true, then the State is the life boat.  We never thought we needed it, it's never been tested, and no one knows what to do once we all get on it.  

Because of that I can't choose any of your numbers.  But I have 3 of my own.  

1) No matter what decisions are made, the absolute must is putting the needs of children first.  Not businesses, not politicians, not someone in a fancy suit.  But the children of this city.  The children that no matter how many times they are lumped with the likeness of everyone else, I want to assure you they are not.  

2) If anyone wants success out of these schools, they have to include input from the community, parents, teachers, but most of all, the students.  It doesn't work starting from the top down.  

3) Stability.  Stability is simply a must.

I want to thank you for your time tonight.  I want to thank you for hosting these meetings.  And I want to thank this great community for coming.

True to Myself

I never thought I would be the person who gets caught up in feeling so important that I forget why I wanted to be on the school board.  I want to be the person that connects with our parents and the public.  Now, I am not saying other people can't be the same way, this is just my goal for myself. 
I try to remain level headed and grounded.  I do this a few different ways. 
At public, neighborhood meetings I choose to not sit by the other Board members.  Nothing personal really.  But I find I get much more out of the meeting if I do this.  Most people don't know who I am, and I don't expect them to.  So I hear their comments.  Their true, uncensored comments. 
Lately I have been sitting in the Board Room before the meeting starts.  Not in my chair, but on the main floor with everyone else.  I feel their excitement if their child is getting a recognition.  I also remember how I felt as a nervous parent getting ready to speak.  And I also see how far away we, the board members, are from the very people we represent.  Getting closer was a goal of mine from the beginning, yet I haven't gotten very far.  Change can be very hard for some people. 
Anyway, I write this because I recently received an email that made me feel like I am actually getting it right.  That I am reaching people who otherwise wouldn't of been reached.   So tonight, I sleep well.

Pomp and Circumstance or Pompous Circumstance

Several emails have come in today regarding the date changes of graduation ceremonies.  For my out of town readers, let me update you.

Because of the 4 Snow days IPS occurred the school year has been extended by 3 days. 
Up until last year IPS has had no issue with graduating the seniors early even those students then fall short of the 180 required says of school.  Last year our State Superintendent, Dr. Tony Bennett, made IPS submit a waiver so these seniors could graduate with less than 180 days, making it clear that in the future the full 180 days would be expected.
Even without the three make up days IPS needed to submit another waiver.  The waiver was denied.  Now several graduation times and dates have been changed, just a few weeks away from the original schedule.  This is leaving families in terrible predicaments.  Many have friends and other family members coming from out of state.   Flights have been booked, hotels have been booked, and parties have been planned. Now so many will be out time and money, and may miss this special occasion entirely. 
The superintendent can speak for himself and our president can speak on behalf of the board.  But I speak for me.  This is a huge mistake made and then made worse by mere pride.  I don't believe IPS should be pointing fingers elsewhere.  This should have been expected and dealt with months ago. 
On behalf of myself I want to apologize to all of our families and students who have been negatively affected by these changes.  I know how I would feel had this happened to one of my children, and I am truly sorry.

Start in your own backyard

First of all, let me say how ashamed I am that it has been SO LONG since I have written.  Maybe only three people read this, but I really want to be open and inclusive in this process.

Lots of hot topics right now, but leading the pack is the BUDGET.  Funny how I hate that word in my home, and I am beginning to hate it at work.  Only because when the word "budget" is brought up at either place, bad news always follows.

I was out of town when Amos aired asking, Where were the board members?  Well, there is no secret where I stand.  I don't think central Office has sacrificed much at all, I don't believe administrators who make a (more than) comfortable salary have done enough, and I think the Superintendent should have started with himself, long ago.

I have no problem making tough decisions or unpopular ones.  There will come a time when a school has to be closed and more teachers laid off.  I am not taking the easy way out, as some have stated.  When the proposal is right, and fair, then I will support it.   But as long as the proposals set before me are grossly unfair to the students, teachers, taxpayers, and parents of IPS, it will NOT be supported by me.

I make no apologies for my bluntness, and my opinion is not private.