Ah, Christmas break. A chance to relax, to spend time with family, to enjoy a little break from the stresses of life.
Just kidding. I know you’re all madly trying to find one of those Razor Hoverboards. And sorry, I bought the last two from Kennewick’s Target. Good luck finding your own.
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| I know none of you have seen a sight like this any time in the last week or so. Or we all have. And the madness has finally taken us. |
Anyway, the first day of break, PSD is busy looking ahead to the new year. Today I got a couple of PSD info highlights; information on January's PSD study session and school board meetings, along with two community discussion meetings in January. The board's first focus of 2016 will be a Pre-K center, with New Horizons High School to be discussed in February.
PSD junkies like myself are familiar with these two issues, and they are pretty hot-button issues around here. For those readers not versed in PSD history, here is the back story:
A long time ago in a bond far far away… okay that doesn’t make sense. A bond was put forward in 2011 to build a Pre-kindergarten facility, in addition to a middle school and other maintenance and facilities expansions. This bond failed. The next bond, supporting several new elementary schools with the plan to move 6th grade back to elementary, as well as Stevens Middle School and New Horizons High School remodels, passed in 2013.
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| These taxpayers want to know what you did with the New Horizons money, PSD. |
In July of 2015, prior to finalizing teacher contracts and the yearly budget, the superintendent made an unprecedented (seriously, this does not happen, no matter what anyone has told you) request that $8 million in reserves be transferred out of the general education fund and instead be designated to a preschool facility. This money, moved to the capital projects fund, can now only be used for building and maintenance, and the district has already identified a building they intend to purchase and remodel for this use.
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| No, this is not the kind of "Mouse Problem" we have. |
So, PSD seems pretty determined to make us a Pre-K center, despite that pretty obvious bond failure. Also, despite voter approval and a dedicated funding source for New Horizons. THAT less shiny, sparkly prospect of a school continues to sit in horrible disrepair. PSD teacher Eric Hayes brought pictures to a board meeting this fall, showing pictures of rodent feces, rotting floors, dead birds found in ceiling tiles. That’s right, BIRD CORPSES AND RODENT POOP. I cannot eew enough about that.
IF you can stand the feces, you can find Eric's story here:
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| We know how much PSD loves their buckets! |
But if feces isn’t enough to get your attention, and apparently it wasn’t enough to capture PSD’s administrative or Board attention, with December's snow, ice and rain, teachers and students out at NHHS are also hard at work putting out buckets to catch multiple leaks in almost every classroom. Just so you know, WET corpses and feces smells slightly mustier than the dry variety.
Also, While many kids eagerly look forward to snow, the 300 students of New Horizons likely don't, as they can't all fit into the 10' by 10' cafeteria room, and most must eat outside in the cold. Though of course, there is still that rodent (with accompanying feces!) problem at the school, so maybe the kids prefer the fresh air. And, you know, looking on the bright side I guess mice can be cute, right?
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| Attention students, it looks like we have a few more class pets today! |
We have a serious priority problem here. Pasco’s citizens and taxpayers, according to their votes, want to remodel New Horizons. Students and teachers need a clean, safe school, and the money has been there since 2014 - so what is taking so long? And why is the funding, timeline and priority for a Pre-K center being fast-tracked when Pasco has overwhelmingly said "no, thank you" or “not now”.
I have a guess. And my guess is, it's all about the money.
Pasco school district and school board members have said Pre-K is a great opportunity because they will get funding from the state to support the facility. We must only front a lean $8 million in funds and we'll get a bunch more money to serve students!
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| Taking advice from a close friend, Miss Hannigan, PSD admin may soon begin fostering for profit - think of all the stipends! |
So far this year, We’ve found out that teachers have been without curriculum, students and teachers have been without supplies, schools are in lawsuit-worthy disrepair, and until recently the only employees being competitively paid and "promoted" were those making the budgets. Yet somehow we have squirrelled away an extra $8 million to dedicate to a new school, quality service to students... Source of REVENUE!
Do you see a problem here yet? And I’m not talking about the feces. I am starting to think I should have had a “Feces” warning at the beginning of the blog, but I’m now too lazy to go back and add one now. Even if I did, it’s not the biggest problem here. And when feces lying around isn’t your biggest problem, it’s time for some serious reexamination of priorities.
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| This might make you think about a certain high school I know of. But it might not, it's actually a cookie. |
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Now, back to our relaxing. I hope, dear readers, that you all have a Merry Christmas. Be safe, be happy, be healthy.
If you, like I, consider the fecal problem to be a bigger concern than how we can vacuum up a few more state and federal special program dollars, I hope you will all consider attending any or all of the school board community forums and board meetings to participate in discussions on the Pre-K center in January and the New Horizons remodel in February.
And if you, like me, would like to see the board rearrange these community forum priorities, or dedicate the Board-donated capital funds to other building priorities, please consider writing your School Board or Deputy Superintendent Michelle Whitney. Be sure to use the word “feces” frequently. ...I mean, if you want to.
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Get your PSD Board Schedule fix here: http://www.psd1.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=7446&ViewID=BFDB0E41-E373-404B-B8D3-19C77276CE2D&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=11697&PageID=1
It is absolutely reprehensible that the most at risk students in the Pasco School District are treated as the most expendable. NHHS gets the leftover facilities, the leftover technology, and even the leftover food from the other schools. It's a disgrace. Students get the message loud and clear: You are the bad kids and you are going to the crappy bad kid school.
ReplyDeleteAdministrators generally stay clear of that building. It is the scourge and shame of the district and it's sad to see that most administrators have washed their hands of the whole thing. I'll tell you one thing: I bet you dollars to doughnuts that there isn't a child of a single administrator that attends NHHS. No one in their right mind would ever allow their children to go there. And that's exactly the problem: these are the most marginalized students in the district and no one will stand up for them.
Most upper administrator's don't let their kids attend school in Pasco period, let alone NHHS!
ReplyDeleteMost upper administrator's don't let their kids attend school in Pasco period, let alone NHHS!
ReplyDeleteIt would appear PSD is not able to juggle capital improvement projects. They needed to first BUILD the new elementary schools (note BUILD, STEM focused curriculum (or any curriculum) was not part of the deal.) NHHS is dealing with two separate beasts: PSD and PAE. The jury is out on whether PAE will be able to step up and advocate. The one constant at NHHS is the dedicated staff. The short-term status of administrators only creates a learning-curve for a 'newbie'. Every NHHS administrator plea for resolution to the maintenance issues has fallen on deaf ears (or so the staff has been told.)
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