Weekly TieDye- Issue #6 Page #2

8/8/2019 Weekly TieDye- Issue #6 Page #2

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/weekly-tiedye-issue-6-page-2 1/1

Lastweekthebackpagefocuswasonthethreatstoourcurrentprogramandthebenefitsofgoingcharter.Thisweek

thebackpagefocusisonthebenefitsofstayinganalternativeprogramandthethreatsofgoingcharter.Ourgoal,in

addressingbothviews,isnottoaddadditionalconfusion,buttoopenlyinform.Wearededicatedtopresentingan

unbiasedapproachwhichwillalloweachofustomakeourowndecisionandhopefullyvoteforwhatweeachfeel

wouldbebestforourchildrenandtheprogramwehavecommittedto.Pleasekeepinmindthatallofourpresented

informationcomesfromanaccumulationofobservations,researchandmanydiscussionsinvolvingseveraldifferent

sources,includingstaff.Weencourageyoutoreviewbothcomparisonssidebyside.Ifyouneedanewcopyoflast

week’scomparison,emailusandwecansendyouanewone.

BenefitsofStayingAlternative ThreatsofgoingCharter

Therewouldbenochangetothecurrentstructureofthe

PAG,whichisanexecutivecommitteeconsistingofparents

onlythatdoesnotgoverntheschoolprogramormake

decisions.

PAGwouldhaveagoverningboardthatwouldincludea

districtemployee,parents,atleast2schoolemployeesand

least1communityrepresentative.Thegoverningboardwo

haveauthoritytomakedecisionsasagroup.

Uptothispointwehaveusuallybeenabletohireteachers

thatarecomfortableteachinginanopeneducationsetting.

Attractingnewteacherscouldhavenewchallengesbasedo

theirpersonalperceptionsofwhatacharteris.

Verylittleextraeffortisneededinregardstocommunity

outreach.Wecanremainanalternativeschoolknownmostly

tothosewhohaveexperiencedorhavewitnessedthe

experience.

Morecommunityawarenessthatthecharterexistsandwo

furtherdefineourschool.Thetermchartermaybeperceive

negativelybysomewithinthecommunity.

Stayinglinkedtotheneighborhoodschoolwillensurethat

results,responsibilitiesandmandatedissueswillbeshared

betweentheneighborhoodschoolandourprogram.

Thecharterwouldbeviewedasourownschool,notsimply

program,andthecharterwouldberesponsiblefortheresu

inallareasofeducation.

Mandatorystaffdevelopmentwillcontinuetofocuson

traditionalschoolvalues,proceduresandcurriculum.Our

teacherswouldremain“intheknow”iftheyeverneedto

furtherdifferentiatethedifferencesbetweenOPandthe

traditionalschoolsetting.

Theteachersalreadyhavetoholdadditionalstaffand

departmentmeetingstocovertheirownstaffdevelopment

andcurriculum.So,thereisreallynoobviousthreattothis

category.Ifyoucanthinkofone,letusknow.

Wecouldcontinuerelyingsolelyonfunddrivemoneyfor

enrichmentandfieldtrips.Wecandetermineifthingsneedto

becutyearbyyear,ifthefunddrivedoesnotreachthebudgetedamounts.

Thecharterwouldlikelyneedtodofundraising,depending

howthecontractiswritten.

Noextraparticipationoreffortisrequiredfromparents. Moreeffortandparticipationmaybeneededfromsome

parentsandstaffrelatedtothegoverningboard.

Weknowwhatwearedoing,eventhoughwefacemoreand

morechallenges.

Fearoftheunknown.

Weunderstandtherehasbeenconfusionandthatiswhythisgroupofparentshascometogethertohelpcommunicate

theresearchfindingsasweourselveswadethroughalloftheinformationandmakeourowndecisionsabouthowwe

willvoteonDecember14th.ItisimportantthatallofourFOPcommunityunderstandthethreats,benefits,challenges

anddecisionsweface.Theonlywaytomakeaninformeddecisionistobeinformed.Weencourageyoutodoyourown

researchanddevelopyourownquestions.Theindividualswithinthiscommitteehavebeenabletoutilizethe

opportunitytoattendthemeetings,researchanddiscussallsidesandviews.Therearestillquestionsweeachface,but

weunderstandthatconversionstaketimeandwehavetocometoadecisionbeforeDecember14th.

Ithasbeenbroughttoourattentionthatweneedtoreiterate thepossibilityofconvertingtoanindependentcharterisn

longeraconsideration .Theonlychoicebeingconsideredistoconverttoadependentcharterwhichkeepsthedistrictthe

employerofourstaffandrequiresthedistricttosupplyourbasicneeds,astheycurrentlydo.However,thecharterwouldbe

contractwiththedistrictandanyotherstipulationswerequestandtheyacceptwouldalsobeallowed.