School's out. Now the real work begins!

It's summer!
Hooray!

School's out! No more reading logs to remember or lunches to pack. We've got two months of sleeping in late and lounging at Memorial Pool.

Just kidding. There's some serious work to get done, so let's get busy.

I'm not talking about mowing your lawn or finally cleaning out that mess of a garage you've got.

Nope. I'm talking about REAL work. IMPORTANT work.

In twenty years will anyone care that you repainted the kids' bedroom this summer? Nope. No one but you. Sorry.

So what will matter? What can you do that will have lasting affects on the community in which you live?  Who has the power to shape the destiny of thousands of school children?

The answer is YOU by electing competent and qualified SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS.

Yup, it's that time again. We've got another school board election just around the corner, and three- that's right THREE- current members are up for reelection.

I don't need to remind you what happened at the last school board election when Dr. Aaron Richardson unseated the board president and consequently changed the whole culture of the board. Meetings are now televised. Community members are not only allowed to speak now, but are actually encouraged to speak and are really listened to. There is now healthy debate among board members instead of just five glossy eyed faces nodding along to whatever agenda the district places in front of them.

Things have gotten so much better in the past two years, it's hard to believe how far we've come. But there is still a long way to go.  This is our chance as a community to make lasting changes to the culture of Pasco schools.

Unlike the last election where only one new (but totally amazing!) candidate was available, this time there are many, MANY candidates to choose from. I don't know them all yet, so I can't say if I support them or not.  However, I do know a lot about our current board members. And what I do know about them makes me very inclined to want to see them leave.

For those of you who are forgetting, let's just take a quick moment to remember that our current board members up for reelection (Sheri Lancon, Steve Christiansen, and Amy Phillips) were all on the board when:

The school district spent tens of thousands of dollars on a legal fees to defend the former superintendent on charges of misappropriation of school funds. She was eventually found guilty.

The school district denied that there were any gaps in our curriculum and forced our community into a two week strike. Then our board filed charges in court against our teachers trying to force them back into the classroom without curriculum and basic supplies. Of course the district was eventually found to be in the wrong despite the boards attempts to deny our students the basics of a quality education. (remember that time Mr. Christiansen was quoted as saying, "I wish we could afford pencils, but we just can't have everything we want." Good times.)

But enough about the current board, let's talk about who could replace them!

Here is a quick list of the current candidates and what I could uncover about them by facebook stalking. I apologize for any inaccuracies, and am more than happy to receive corrections.

Jeff Peterson- Father of several Pasco students, at least one with special needs. Does not appear to have a long involvement in school politics, but certainly has a vested interest in their success.

Erin Lewis- Mother of many Pasco students, and has attended more board meetings than anyone in the history of Pasco schools. Honestly if you've ever been to a school board meeting, you've seen this gal. She is always always there, and has more than proved her willingness to fight for Pasco kids.

Debi Maxwell- Mother of two former Pasco students, and has been involved with the district in the past working to improve conditions. You'll see her name in past meeting notes as she has a history of involvement and speaking out.

Brian Grifith- No children in Pasco schools, but works for GESA, and is a PEAK partner with the district. The only candidate without children in the district, but with a history of involvement in our schools.

Okay, so that wasn't really a lot of info.  I guess Facebook stalking isn't all it's cracked up to be.

But that's where you come in. Please tell me what you know about these candidates. And as more information emerges, I'll be sure to pass it along.

While your lounging beside the pool feeling guilty about not cleaning out your garage, just remember there's an election going on, and your vote will make a difference.  Our kids are counting on you, the voters, to stand guard over our schools!

Happy summer.

Just the Facts

For those interested in hearing just the facts, here they are:

The name's Bond. School Bond.

Wouldn't it be nice if school bonds were as popular as a James Bond movie?
It wouldn't even matter what was in the bond, the name alone would have millions of people (and billions of dollars) flocking to it!

Unfortunately the average voter spends more money on James Bond movies each year than they do on school bonds. And while not everyone needs to be a Bond fan to get MGM to churn out another movie every few years, we do need the majority of voters to be fans in order to get a school bond past.


As I'm sure you know, this February Pasco School District will be running a bond. Unfortunately there has been some confusion as to what exactly is to be on that bond. Well, never fear, Alice is here to help cut through the deception to the cold hard truth.

What is a bond for?
The short answer is "Bonds are for buildings, and Levies are for learning." 
The maintenance and operation levy we past last fall (like a boss!) was for routine maintenance as well as monies for learning opportunities like special programs and computers. The upcoming bond is meant to pay for new buildings (WHICH WE DESPERATELY NEED!).

So what is on THIS bond?

• 2 elementary schools (one on the west side, and one unknown)
• 1 rebuild Steven's Middle school
• Additional wing onto Curie Elementary
• Maintenance and safety (HVAC, transportation services, etc.)

Many people are under the impression that a new west/north middle school will be on this bond. I’m sorry to inform you that is not the case. The misunderstanding comes in part from the fact that Stevens will be replaced (which DESPERATELY needs to happen.) PSD is calling that a new middle school, when, in fact, it is replacing one. You can see in the video of the school board meeting where Steve Christiansen actually says we are getting a new middle school! Fact Check: FALSE. Sorry Steve.  

So on this bond we have simply two new elementary schools, an additional wing to an existing elementary, a rebuild of an old school (with possible added middle school capacity of we shift some of McLoughlin's students over to Stevens), and some maintenance stuff. Getting excited yet?

How was this bond decided?
Well there were a lot of meetings. A LOT of meetings. If you missed them, then we missed you. We need your voice. The board voted last spring on what they wanted on the bond. Then they got some community feedback about their decisions via letters and public comments. So they revisited their decisions several times, came up with several new ideas, pretended to have open debate, and eventually voted to do whatever the heck they wanted to do anyway!

Oops. Sorry. I was going to stick to the facts.
If you want to see the discussions that led to this decision, please watch the recordings of the meetings. 

Do we need these things?
YES! Of course! We need more elementary schools. We are so overcrowded we could fill four or five new elementary schools today! Yes! Of course Stevens needs rebuilt. Diamonds are Forever, but schools aren't. Eventually buildings will need to be rebuilt. Stevens Middle School is definitely ready. It is embarrassing and despicable that we have let students go to school in this state of disrepair for so long. Yes! Of course we need a new bus garage.... wait..... um......okay, not totally sure about that one. When more than half of our students are attending classes in portable classrooms, we have dozens of teachers teaching from a cart, and closets have literally been converted into classrooms, I'm not sure I care where the heck we park our buses at this point. Sorry bus people. Children > Buses.
You don't have to be a Spy Who Loved Me to see what's going on here. At the rate Pasco is growing, I'm afraid The World is Not Enough. We need to think big. Vote big. And build big. I'm not saying we need to be worried about Skyfall, but if you think we are crowed now, wait and see what we look like after another four years of timid building projects.

Are these our biggest priority?
Now that's a great question. If only someone had a Gold Finger and could just swoop in and pay for everything all at once. But they don't, so we must prioritize.

On paper overcrowding is greatest at the elementary level. So an argument can definitely be made for building more elementary schools. But adding on to Curie? I can't wrap my head around that one. I get that it was built to be added on to, but so were several of our new schools. And Curie is only 50 students over capacity. In this district that's nothing! Franklin and McClintock are also brand new and over capacity, but we aren't adding on to them. It's not that adding on to Curie is a bad idea. It's just that it doesn't make sense given how many other much bigger issues we have. We've got elementary schools that are 400 students over capacity! So why is Curie on the bond and not other schools? The truth is a group of Currie teachers came to a board meeting and asked for more space. AND GOOD FOR THEM! I totally applaud their proactive efforts. More of us should be doing this. They have every right to ask for what they want. But just because they were organized enough to ask, doesn't mean they are in the greatest need. When you listen to people discussing bond options, there is a strong Live and Let Die attitude that is poisoning people against each other. We need to find a way to look past ourselves and find what is best for everyone. Ask yourself, what would an outsider see as Pasco's biggest need? I don't think we should be settling for one lousy wing. I think we should be demanding an entire school, or two, or five.

Stevens is definitely a huge priority. It is a nightmare second only to New Horizons High School, and I for one am thrilled that it's being addressed. It must be done. But let's not pretend that it solves our middle school problem? We still need a fourth middle school. McLoughlin is still massive. When you have multiple classes sharing the same gym at the same time that's not a good thing. There are about seven hundred eighth graders currently enrolled. So if only 10% of the girls go out for the softball team, that's 35 girls on one team. How much playing time will they get? How included will they feel? One of our new superintendents outrageous goals is to have every student involved in extra curricular activities, but how can they when there are more children then there are spots on a team or club?

And then there are those pesky maintenance projects. I thought we just past as "Maintenance and Operations" levy. Why are we using bond money for maintenance? That is not what it is for. We already gave the district money to fix and maintain. Where did that money go???? Seriously. I'm asking for reals.

How much will it cost?
There will be a total of $119.7 million dollars in projects. 

This will cost us (the people of Pasco) $69.5 million dollars, and we'll receive $50.2 million in matching funds from the state. This brakes down into pennies per thousands of dollars of value on your home.

Are we getting a good financial deal on this bond?
A good deal consists of a good product for a good price. 
Are we getting a good price? YES! Our community is growing and our commercial tax base is bigger than ever, and interest rates are lower than ever. There has NEVER been a better time to pass a big bond.
But is is a good product? That is less clear. Yes we need more schools, but do we need these schools? Are we really focusing on what is most important? Are we doing enough?

Can we do any better?
Yes. We must!
  
You only Live Twice. We can re-run a bond if it fails.  It is expensive and risky.  It would have been nice to get this right the first time. It is too late to change what is on this bond. 
But if this bond fails, we can run a new bond in just a few months. A better bond. 

Do I want this bond to fail? No. No. No. No.
Do I want this bond to pass? Well..... gosh..... um...... I don't know.
What I want is to go back in time and have the school board write a better bond that will actually solve some of our problems and give the voters something worth voting for. Unfortunately that's not possible. 

Because the school board refuses to listen to the voice of their constituents, I'm afraid this upcoming bond is destined to Die Another Day. We are gambling our children's future at the Casino Royale.

Sorry folks, no time machine here.

 

I'm definitely not saying you shouldn't vote for this bond. But IF you chose not to, please be sure to email the board AND speak out at a board meeting and let them know why you voted NO. Help them understand what it is you really want so they have a better chance of getting it right next time.

The School board is afraid of Dr. No. They think the community won't support a big bond and they definitely think the community won't support a fourth middle school. Help them to see the light.

Please tell them how you really feel.


In the past things were different. I could understand why the school board was reluctant to be bold.  But Hill is gone now. The time to be timid is over. Yet some people are carrying on as if nothing has changed and they are still On Her Majesty's Secret Service. As I watched the school board negotiate options for the upcoming bond, I felt like I had A View to a Kill as they continued to suck the Living Daylights out of the bond by ignoring voters. School board members have repeatedly said they want to honor the work of the task force. They don't realize they have a License to Kill bad ideas no matter how much time or money was wasted creating them. We need to do whatever we can to make sure the voters Never Say Never Again.
 
I've compiled a lot of information For Your Eyes Only, well and for the eyes of all your friends and neighbors too, so please share!

From Pasco with Love

Do you want to have a snow day?

Wow! How 'bout that snow folks?

I've live in Pascoland more the 163 years and I've never seen anything like this! Every morning I wake up and wonder if I've died and gone to Spokane.

Many places are use to snow. They have fancy things like shovels, and coats,  and plows.  

Let's be honest, we are not one of those places.  We have swimming pools and boats. 

We are not snow people.

We are sand people.

So when bad weather happens it kinda throws us all into a tizzy. And when bad weather keeps happening for weeks on end..... well.....

And it's in this state of panicked frenzy that we all start second guessing the decision of whether to cancel school or not. Facebook is filled with armchair quarterbacks casting doubts on just how bad the weather is, what is best for other people's children, and how much this is really costing the taxpayers.

So who decides when the weather is bad enough to cancel school?

According to the district website it's the superintendent, but there are a lot of other people helping her out with this task.  If you click here (PSD Bad Weather Policy) you can read a surprisingly well written explanation of the school cancellation procedure. I encourage you to read it if you haven't yet.

In the end, however this policy still comes down to a judgement call. A call that affects thousands and thousands of people (nearly the entire population of Pasco).  Someone has to make that call. And that someone is NOT you. So be grateful.

It's good to be concerned. It's good to have opinions. It's good to seek solutions.  In fact I regularly advocate for all of these activities.

But.....

Can we be nice? Can we be careful?   Can we relax just a little bit?

Are we wasting money when we send kids to school on a two hour delay, and only half of them show up, so we are spending 100% of a days resources on 50% of our kids? Sure.  So what?  What is the alternative? Only holding school on days we are absolutely positive that 99% of students will show up? That's not possible. Kids are unpredictable. Weather is unpredictable.  Kids AND weather combined are a whole other level of crazy.

 

I get that this is screwing up everyone's daycare.

I get that it is hard to have your munchkins cooped up at home for another day (take a moment and have pity on that poor kindergarten teacher who has indoor recess with 26 five-year-olds).

Maybe your road isn't that snowy and you're wondering why school is canceled. Trust me, there are plenty of other roads out there that are completely impassable.

Maybe the weather didn't get as bad as we expected. Be grateful the district erred on the side of caution instead of stranding kids out at bus stops for an extra thrity minutes in sub-zero winds.

Maybe your head is going to explode if we have another 2-hour delay coupled with a Wednesday early-out.  Deep breath. It's going to be okay.  

My advice? Relax. Drink some cocoa.  The teachers will do their very best to teach whoever shows up whenever school starts again.  It's going to be okay.

Three cheers for our three students reps who are doing a better job on the board then our three senior members.

Well, Pasco, I’ve gotta say I’m encouraged. I’ve been viewing the board meetings and study sessions via YouTube (because, restraining order) ...

I know you really love me even though we have to remain apart!

and some things have changed tremendously for the better. 

Others... not so much.

I want to call you attention to a board meeting that was recently held to decide the content of our upcoming bond. I feel this board meeting perfectly illustrates the fabulous new things that are happening in board meeting as well as that something that is so very troubling.

The first awesome thing is, anyone can now watch board meetings and study sessions in the comfort of their own home and on their own schedule. Thanks PSD and board! 

Now my family never has to miss a moment of riveting PSD action!

To see the board meeting I will be talking about in its entirety please click here. Hint: A setting on YouTube will let you change the speed of play. See that little gear button on the bottom? Check it out. It’s much less time consuming and enjoyable to listen to these meetings at a higher speed. You’re welcome. :-) 

But for those of you who do not want to invest a few hours of your life watching a board meeting, please stick with me as I give you the Reader’s Digest version. 

A second awesome thing about this board meeting is how much dialogue there was. Both among some of the board members and the members of the community attending. 

It used to be that board meetings were dull and empty. There was little to no conversation or input from board members or meeting attendees. Like zombies, the board would go through the motions, sitting there like warm bodies, mindlessly voting unanimously on anything and everything thrown at them on the agenda.

Yeah, I'm looking at you...

But things are kinda different now. There is 100 times more discussion. After the board discusses things, but before the vote, Board President, Scott Lehrman, opens the floor to members of the audience for discussion. For reals!!!

Community involvement is super fun!

You can’t believe how happy it makes my heart to see true community participation. I can only guess these changes are due to the strike and election of Aaron Richardson to the board. The board is finally listening to the community. So well done, Pasco. Well done!
 

But as I mentioned before, there is something troubling going on here too. If we go to the video, you'll see what I'm talking about.

In the video they are trying to decide what to put on the bond. I almost feel sorry for the board. They appear to be conflicted and beside themselves with worry about what to put on the bond. Perhaps that is why they revisited this matter after already voting for it last spring. They know many people feel it is time for a new middle school. They are just worried a bond that includes one won’t pass, since the last bond that included a middle school failed. (I know, I don't get that logic either. Too many factors defy it.)

So, the board reopened this business and, for a while, it looked hopeful.

The student board members had awesomelicous advice that really should have been given more weight by the board since they were just in middle school a few short years ago.

These kids are my heroes!

Aaron and Amy listened to what people were telling them and led the charge for including a new middle school.

And, ya know, besides the obvious strain being felt at Mac due to gross overcrowding, putting a new west/north middle school on the bond would be a really strategic idea. If you look at voting record demographics, the people asking for this are the same people that overwhelmingly vote for school bonds and levies. Giving those voters a carrot could push the results to a sure win, which benefits ALL of Pasco.

But in the end, the motion fell flat and poor Aaron was left hanging.

Which was really disappointing, since Ms. Phillips actually spoke the most in favor of a new middle school. She understood how overcrowding at the middle school level impacts students at a crucial time of their growing up years. She pointed out how many kids can’t participate in extracurricular activities (which is a district goal) because of how many students attend Mac. She was a voice representing the people saying, even though she is fiscally conservative, she believed the community would support a bigger bond because they agreed the benefit of a new middle school outweighed the cost of a slightly higher bond. Sadly, in the end it appears she voted against her conscience. You gotta feel for her when you watch her vote, angrily flicking her microphone up and turning her head away with an upset look on her face. What our board needs to realize is it is not their job to present a united front. It is their job to be a voice for the people they represent. I think we need to pause, reflect, and be thankful for a moment. Making a motion and sitting in silence cannot be an easy thing to do, but Mr. Richardson did that for people he represents. He had the courage to stand alone. 

Dr. Richardson, you've got our respect.

So, a lot of good things happening: meetings broadcast; student reps giving insightful, intelligent comments; community input; board members speaking for those they represent…

But then there's that one big downer....
The bulk, no virtually all, of this conversation with the public about a new middle school was carried out by only two board members: Amy Phillips and Aaron Richardson. Pretty much the only thing said by Steve Christensen was an explanation about how Stevens will be built to hold more students and that will relieve some of the overcrowding at Mac by moving students from north Pasco to Stevens. He claims that would have the additional benefit of resolving the transportation and friend issues parents have expressed concern for that are caused by our current high school boundaries. 

Why didn’t Steve, Scott, or Sheri, engage in the discussion? Why wouldn’t they unless they already knew how they were going to vote? Or worse, they knew how each other would vote and knew they already had the three required votes to pass their motion? If that is the case, they should be ashamed for putting on a facade and letting Amy, Aaron, the student reps, and the public believe their well thought out arguments mattered. 

Is this what's going on here? Are board members deciding outside of meetings how they will vote and then holding discussions just for show. If that is the case, it's despicable - and ILLEGAL. If it's not the case, then what is going on here? Why are these three sitting out of the discussion?

If I could give them some advice, it would be to put a little more effort into these meetings. Don’t remain silent. Don’t be afraid to go on record. At least pretend to be engaged. After all, that is what you were elected to do and not doing so leaves some serious questions about transparency.