Criteria Suggestions for Frameworks Committee Community Forum

We hope you have all been well informed about the upcoming Frameworks Community Forum this Monday, November 24th from 6-8pm in the WCS cafeteria. We want to reinforce how important this meeting is and encourage everyone to come and express what you value most for our schools. This meeting WILL make a difference and WILL be an important part of the decision making process of the Frameworks Committee. (Click read more to continue reading this post.)

In preparation for Monday's Community Forum, we recommend you read the information emailed to you from school on Friday.

One of the 3 main things you will be asked to do on Monday night is to come up with any additional criteria which are important for you regarding configuration and then prioritize them. The criteria which the Frameworks Committee and the teachers have come up with are on the email you received on Friday and are also posted below on our blog. Several criteria are clearly universal and would be expected of/could fit any configuration considered. Others are clearly more favorable of the current house system, while others support a different/new configuation.

You will be asked to vote on the top ten criteria you value most. We suggest you vote for those which will make the biggest impact and NOT ones which are universal.

As supporters of change, we feel the following criteria support a change and we encourage you to consider them a part of your top ten. (Please feel free to print these out for Monday night.)

1. More frequent transitions in school will expose students to different teaching styles and peer groupings and will better prepare them to adapt to changes in their environment. (Change is constant in the 21st Century...let's practice it.)

2. Configuration allows for grade based curriculum rotations which are consistent with other local school districts for ease of transitions with transfers. (All 8th graders study US history in most schools...our kids should too.)

3. Configuration should promote pride and teamwork in students' class/grade as well as their school. (Class pride vs "house" pride and/or competition.)

4. All students of a given grade must have equal access to all services/experiences. (All students of one grade under one roof with the same library, music/chorus, PE, art options...)

5. Configuration must minimize inequality within the district. (Equal opportunity for all students.)

6. Allows for regular planning time for teaching teams both within a grade and within a subject. (Reduces duplication of services and allows teachers to learn from and support each other.)

7. Allows for grouping students by ability levels within a grade for specific subject areas. (e.g.: all 6th graders have reading, and math at the same time so students can be grouped by ability level with their grade matched peers.)

8. Students are grouped with a wide variety of same age/grade and gender matched peers both academically and socially throughout their K-8 education. (Students in each grade are randomly mixed up regularly [1x/year or 1x/2years...] to expand friendships and academic ties.)

9. Allows upper grade teachers to focus on their subject strengths and reduces the number of curriculum areas they must master. (Teachers can focus on 1 or 2 subjects/grade spans instead of 4 grades and/or multiple subject areas.)

10. Configuration must be flexible enough to readily accommodate fluctuations in student population over time. (Population fluctuations are a consistent issue and resulted in extremely poor configuration decisions this year.)

If you are unable to attend the forum and wish for your ideas/input to be known and perhaps counted, we encourage you to contact the Frameworks Facilitator, Mary Jane Shelley, maryjane@trifocalconsulting.com . We do not know if she/they will consider votes sent in by email, but we do know that they welcome your input/feedback. We would hope that your votes will count whether you can attend or not. Please include your name, address and phone number to authenticate yourself as a Williston Community Member when emailing.

Your opinion is valuable. We hope to see you on Monday night whether you agree or disagree with our ideas.

Thank you.

Read more!

Combined Top 10 Criteria from Teachers and Frameworks Committee

Combined Top 10 Criteria for Evaluating Configuration Options
from the Teachers’ Forum ( with additional criteria from teachers and the
Conceptual Frameworks Committee.

The Community will be asked to add to the list of Criteria below and then to vote on their own top ten criteria for Evaluating Configuration Options:

A-J are the Top 10 Criteria from the Teachers. The rest of the criteria are a
random combination of those listed as important to teachers and the
Conceptual Frameworks Committee

A. Foster a strong sense of community and rich relationships over time, with
continuity for students, families, and teachers.
Continuity of family/teacher/student relationships
B. Foster opportunities for flexible grouping and individualized, student-based
learning.
Flexible academic groupings meet individual student differences
C. Small class sizes
D. Foster academic rigor and achievement, promote intellectual development
and the development of well-rounded, creative, expressive students.
Academic rigor/challenging
E. Foster opportunities for student leadership, mentoring, and role modeling.
Opportunities for older and younger students to interact
F. Maintain the philosophy and best practices of elementary and middle
school, as supported by current research.
G. Establish and maintain an atmosphere of respect and safety
Configuration supports safe and respectful behavior throughout the school
H. Considers the developmental (social, emotional) needs of every student age
group.
Opportunity to interact with others in their grade socially and academically
I. Fosters 21st century skills focus: project based, collaborative, with meaningful
use of technology.
J. Opportunities for common planning time for teaching teams
K. Opportunities for students to have a variety of more than four teachers in four
years
L. Transitions: The fewer the better but none is not good
M. Small team size <90
N. Impact of configuration on facilities (e.g. loss of program space)
O. Equity in grade population dispersion
P. Flexibility to meet differing population sizes
Q. Share student services, technology and other resources effectively.
R. Balances sense of team, sense of school, and sense of community
S. Teachers teach to their subject strengths
T. Encourages innovation in education
U. Are supported by a variety of assessments that measure student
achievement and well-being

Read more!

ABS and WCS Building Configuration Options for Community Forum

After voting on the top 10 Configuration Options you will be asked to comment on each of these possible "Building Configuration Options" below and how they meet or do not meet the criteria which were identified. You will also be asked to comment on the diffent "Grade Grouping" and "Grade Span Options" below.

General Building Configuration Options

Option A
· Pre-K through 2 at Allenbrook School
· 3-8 at Williston Central School - WCS would lose a special education “office”
space to create the one additional classroom space needed

Option B
· K-3 at Allenbrook School
· Pre-K (EEE) and 4-8 at Williston Central School

Option C· 1-4 at Allenbrook - ABS would need to eliminate the music room and art
room to create the 2 additional classroom spaces needed
· PreK, K, 5-8 at Williston Central School
Option D Current building configuration with options for different grade span
configuration and age groupings (single, multi, looping) within those grades
· Pre K, K, 1-4 at Allenbrook School
· 1-4 and 5-8 at Williston Central School

Option E
Current building configuration and current house system with focus on
improving equity among the houses

Options D and E
Are combined for the purpose of the Teachers’ and Community
Forums, as they both involve the current building configuration option.

*Grade Grouping and Grade Span Options (see below for definitions)

1. Single grade, single year
2. Multi-age
3. Looping
4. 2-4 Year Grade Span

*Definitions“Grade grouping” means how students are arranged by grades (single, multiage,
or looping).
“Grade span” means how many years students are with the same teacher or
teacher teams (1, 2, 3, or 4)
“Multiage” means multiple grades in the same classroom (2, 3, or 4 grades learning
together)
“Looping” means single grade of students learn together with the same teacher or
teacher team for multiple years (2 or 3).

Read more!

Frameworks Committee Members have been Announced

The School Board has announced the members of the "Frameworks Committtee." The Board selected the committee members during their school board retreat on June 18th. Although they did have 2 students apply to be on the committee, one student was not selected as he will be a 9th grader this fall and no longer a "WCS" student. We are not certain if a second student has since volunteered.

MEMBERS INCLUDE:

Community Members: Cindy O'Farrell (FAP), Wendy Bliss (FAP), Charlie Magill, Steve Mount, Mairead Harris, Abby Klein, Kevin Mara, Marsha Drake
Alternate: Tess Swett

Students: Evan Grey, 2nd student to be appointed

School Board Members: Laura Gigliotti (WSD), Deb Baker-Moody (WSD), Wendy Goodrich (St. George)

Teachers: Mary Beth Morrissey (1-4), Deb McConnell (5-8), Susan Stewart (1-4), Carol Bick (WCS Guidance)
Alternate: Kathy Rossier (5-8)

Administrators: Jackie Parks (Campus Leader WCS) and Carter Smith ( Director of Special Education)

Jude Newman (Director of Curriculum and Instruction for CSSU) will provide support as needed.
Cynthia Reyes (UVM Professor in middle school education) will provide support as needed.

Facilitator: Mary Jane Shelley - TriFocal Consulting LLC

Read more!

"June 2, 2008 Forum Questions and Answers" from Walter Nardelli

June 2, 2008 Forum Questions and Answers

Question 1: How can we overcome some of the differences between houses?

Answer:
The curriculum and expected outcomes are the same. It is available on our web site under curriculum and in more detail at the CSSU web site under departments. That is the document that is guiding instruction and is based on our national and state standards. Teachers do bring different strengths to their instruction and this creates slightly different experiences in each house. For example, every single lesson on the Civil War isn’t exactly the same, but they all study the Civil War and expect students to know the causes of the war. The areas that we are hearing the least concerns about are mathematics and literacy. These are curriculum areas that we have worked on aligning the most. In both math and literacy we have many common assessments in place. This is the work that needs to happen in science and social studies.

Concern 2: Parents worry if children are placed in the right house.

Answer: There is no right or wrong house. Each house has different strengths and no matter where your child ends up he/she will have opportunities to grow and learn. Our hope is by opening up house changes at the end of 2nd and 6th grade, parents will be less worried about their child being placed on a house for four years.

Question 3: What is the make-up of students in Full House?

Answer: There are 31 students in grade eight assigned to Full House.

Question 4: How can we better balance the identity of the house with the identity of the school?

Answer: This has already been established with faculty as a goal to on next year. We are currently working on building a schedule that allows all of our 5/6 students and 7/8 students to go to lunch and recess together. We are also brainstorming and implementing other ways to create a stronger sense of school. This year the graduation speeches are not being selected by house. Instead, all students were invited to respond to a prompt and two from the middle school were chosen to be read at graduation. Our school Climate Committee will write their goals this summer to include other ways to grow our sense of school. We’ve asked every person in the school to think about what they can do to increase our sense of school and with everyone working on this issue we will be able to balance the sense of school and house better.

Question 5: How was the decision to go to full day Kindergarten related to the change in configuration?

Answer: It wasn’t. We would have reduced the number of classroom sections regardless of whether kindergarten was added or not. We knew that for the past two years our student population was declining. With pressure from the community of Williston to bring in a budget with a reasonable percent of increase, this was the year to act.

Question 6: How was the community engaged in the reconfiguration process?

Answer: We surveyed the community. We had seven hundred and forty-two responses. We then took the information gained by the survey to craft a first step solution for next year. Along the way, information was shared/discussed with the FAPAC and at public school board meetings. Before going further, more information and more community dialogue would be needed.

Concern 7: House balance gender issue

Answer: Any time you allow parents to have an opportunity around black and white issues (grades/no grades, kiva/ no kiva, siblings) there is a potential to create imbalance in houses. If you honor the parent’s request (especially at this time when students were being moved due to the dissolving of houses) then it has the potential to throw the balance off and in this case gender. If we do not honor parent input, then we are told we did not listen. We are working to rectify this situation. This will have to be studied very carefully as we talk about offering more configuration options.

Question 8: Are we meeting the State of Vermont requirement of 120 hours of instruction for social studies and science in the middle grades?

Answer: We believe that we are or very close to the 120 hours requirement when taking into account both direct instruction and instruction that is integrated within other areas. We are currently conducting an audit to tally the time. This process is complex as some of the instruction takes place directly in a science or social studies class and some takes place within other instructional areas. An example of this is literature circles. Most houses spend some time reading books related to social studies. Both social studies concepts and reading strategy work are part of the instruction. As a school, we are making a determination as to how much of the time should be counted as social studies and how much as language arts.

Question 9: Can the school intentionally share “best practices” across houses as a way to increase consistency of houses?

Answer: Yes, this work was actually started in the upper houses this year. Teachers brainstormed topics together and intentionally shared house practices related to these topics at faculty meetings. This work will continue well into next year.

Question 10: How will the school ensure that all students who moved to different houses don’t miss any of the required science and social studies curriculum?

Answer: Now that students have been placed, the science and social studies committees are aligning students with where they are in the 4-year curriculum rotations and identifying the potential gaps and overlaps. Once that has been completed, the school will tap into a variety of existing school resources to provide students with instruction in the areas needed.

Question 11: If the enrollment continues to decline or if it increases, how will the house system adjust to this?

Answer: The current model was put together with that thought in mind. It can be adjusted to meet the student population numbers. In addition, the Williston School Board is forming a committee to review the Williston Conceptual Frameworks which will also address this issue.

Question 12: How are our students with lower socio-economic backgrounds performing?

Answer: We are not making AYP (annual yearly progress) in this category in both reading and math. Over the past few years, we have been boosting our resources to address this issue. This year we have added all day kindergarten. We have also increased our math interventionist to 100%. We have increased our Reading Recovery resources by another .5 position. We have also added another .5 home-school coordinator to help families access the basic resources that they are entitled to. In the past, we created another EEE classroom due to high numbers. All of these initiatives directly impact this student population and their academic needs.

Question 13: How can my student have more music instruction than science or social studies instruction?

Answer: All upper house students take one 6-week rotation of keyboarding each year. In addition, students may choose to participate in band or chorus or both. Band and chorus take place during the 11:05 block each day and each meet 4 days per week. A small number of students choose to participate in both band and chorus, along with their required keyboarding class. If you compare this time allocation to direct science or social studies instruction, it might look concerning. However, you need to compare both the direct instructional time and the integrated time together to get a fair comparison.

Question 14: How can we all work together to decrease the negative tone in the community and work together on behalf of our students?

Answer: Communication. We have FAPAC meetings every month where administration, teachers and parents discuss issues, communication in general, the budget and more. Please take time to attend. In addition, we have created an administrative page in the “Bell” and a way the community can reach us and ask questions. We will also be more proactive in getting information out about programs and practices that parents should be aware of. The School Board will also host curriculum information nights as part of school board meetings on a regular basis.

Question 15: How will the administration communicate better with the parent community?

Answer: In response to some of the concerns around communication, the administration is providing the parents with weekly updates in the School Bell. In addition, an e-mail account has been established for parents to ask questions at any time. Throughout the summer, we will be posting updates about next year on our website for parents to access.

Read more!

Monday's Community Forum - What did you think?

After taking some time to digest the outcome of Monday night's community forum, we now want to share some of our thoughts and feedback we have already received with the hope of garnering additional feedback from those in attendance.

We want to thank everyone who attended the forum and particularly those who addressed the administration, school board and the community with their comments and questions. There were very powerful statements throughout the evening both praising and expressing grave concerns about our schools. We know how hard it is to publically express your thoughts and concerns particularly with a topic which generates such great personal and social emotion. It is reassuring to know how many people in this wonderful community care and want what is best for all of the children in our village.

We also wish to acknowledge and thank the School Board for scheduling the forum and for the formation of a new Frameworks Committee which will convene this summer and work through December. We look forward to hearing the reworded background and charge of this committee and who the chosen committee members will be. (Please see this week's School Bell for further information.)

We do want to share that our campaign was not aware that there would be no dialogue from the Administration and/or School Board at Monday's forum. The lack of participation from the Administration and School Board was disheartening and very hard for many to accept.

When our Reconfiguration Committee met with Walter Nardelli, John Terko, and Carter Smith; teachers Al Myers and Margaret Munt; and two school board members, Laura Gigliotti and Deb Moody (who attended as citizens) on May 12th, we were left with an impression that the Administration would answer all of the questions from the May community forum at the future School Board-sponsored forum. At this meeting, Walter also pledged to conduct an "audit" of the number of hours of instruction taking place in all four core subject areas across the Upper Houses and stated that he would present the results of this audit at such a forum.

The goals of this future forum were clearly communicated and agreed upon by all in attendance. We were never informed that written responses via the School Bell would replace a public discussion of the questions and answers. Upon reading Walter Nardelli's written responses, we were left to assume that further exploration and clarification of these answers would take place when we all came together for the forum.

We wholeheartedly agree with those of you who attended on Monday expecting more from this forum. It is unfortunate and frustrating that we all missed a wonderful opportunity for education and answers and, more importantly, an opportunity to exchange ideas with the school. However, we really want to move forward and collaborate with the Administration and School Board to further improve our schools. In order to facilitate change, we need to keep up our efforts to communicate cooperatively and with civility.

We do not agree with Walter's decision to respond to community questions and comments exclusively in the School Bell. This simply cannot be the only avenue of communication between the community and the school. With this in mind, we will attempt to explore a more meaningful and responsive method of communication for the administration to consider and would entertain any suggestions you may have to present to them.

We look forward to your feedback regarding the forum and welcome comments and suggestions from the Board, Administration, and teachers. Please feel free to comment, ask questions, or provide suggestions that will help us continue to work for our children and our schools either via email or on our blog where we will post this letter.

Thank you.

Read more!

Survey Results Versus Real Leadership

A concerned parent asked us to post this article anonymously. Your comments are always welcome - The Reconfig Team

Both sides in the recent discussions surrounding reconfiguration have cited results from the community survey as justification for their positions (for example: whether or not all the lower-house students should be in the same building).

But in focusing so much on survey results ("53% of respondents say XYZ"), a much more important point has been missed: that there is a fundamental lack of real leadership by the administration. Some stated goals of the administration are to minimize transitions for students and to achieve a high level of satisfaction with regard to various aspects of our schools. How do these goals help our students learn? How do they help prepare our students for high school and beyond?

The real goal that appears to motivate all of the administration's actions is: "maintain the status quo". This is apparent in the fact that the grade groupings for the houses will not be changed; that extra groups of students will be brought into selected houses to avoid making fundamental structural changes; and in the fact that all lower houses will not be placed in the same school building. In other words, it's business as usual.

By the administration's own admission, we are a divided community--with people disagreeing on what form the educational structure in the Williston schools should take. (And in fact, the surveys have revealed that this division goes nearly down the middle.) Against this backdrop of community sentiment, guiding our schools requires a clear statement of a solution to bridge this divide and a description of how we can achieve that solution.

True leadership does not consist of changing the subject or evading the questions. It consists instead of building consensus through communication and respect and then developing in stakeholders the desire themselves to do what is right.

This is the kind of leadership we need for our schools.

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School Board Reconfiguration Community Forum!

WHAT'S NEXT? RECONFIGURATION, PART 2

On Monday, June 2, the Williston School Board will be hosting a "School Reconfiguration Forum" at the Williston Central School Auditorium from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. The Forum is a continuation of communication initiated by the Reconfiguration Committee for Change and will include School Administration, Williston School Board, Teachers and Williston Residents. (Click "read more" to continue)




At the first public forum sponsored by "Williston Reconfiguration Committee For Change, approximately 125 residents came together to voice publicly, their questions, concerns and satisfaction of the Williston School System. Numerous questions and comments were compiled and presented to the Administration/School Board. A School Board Meeting at CVU High School on May 14 also brought many comments from Williston Residents.



At the forum, the Administration will publicly respond to the questions presented to them regarding but not limited to: communication with and involvement of parents with regard to the reconfiguration plan; number of hours of instruction in core subject areas (state of Vt. requires minimum 120 hours each for math, science, social studies and language arts), curriculum and scheduling, inconsistency in academic quality among houses, alternate configuration options, length of school day, creation of the separate elementary school and questions about four year vs. 2 year placements and/or looping. There will be time allotted for the public to respond with questions/comments to the Administration/School Board.



All children/families are affected by reconfiguration. Whether the current system does or does not work for you and your child(ren), please attend the forum to become fully informed of the issues at hand. Now is the time for all Williston residents to set aside a few hours and take a vested interest in our childrens' education.



This forum is a vital step to finding common ground among parents, administrators, teachers and the community who all want to produce well-rounded, well educated students who will be prepared for the many challenges that they will face as they enter society as young adults.



Mary Whitcomb

Williston

Read more!

Walter Nardelli's Responses to the Forum Questions

We have posted Walter Nardelli's written responses to the questions compiled at the Reconfiguration For Change Forum on May 5th (Hit "read more" below). We encourage everyone to provide feedback regarding his responses and to provide VERY SPECIFIC follow up questions which you would like answered further. PLEASE refer to specific questions by number when commenting/asking further questions on a topic. You may reply anonymously or with your name by hitting "Comment". Feel free to also respond via email to reconfig.williston.schools@gmail.com and we can post your responses for you.

School Reconfiguration Forum
May 5th, 2008
Questions from the Open Discussion Period
Questions & Answers

1. Q: How much input did the consultant (Ray McNulty) have to the reconfiguration decision? Is his report publicly available?
A: Ray McNulty gave us information about Williston compared to other high performing schools. We talked about the characteristics of high performing schools. We could not afford to hire him to write a report. He worked as an unpaid consultant.

2. Q: If the reconfiguration plan is halted now, will the administration be able to put a workable structure into place by the end of August?
A: No. Remember, teachers have no contractual obligations over the summer.

3. Q: Do the current teacher contracts preclude the administration from considering a different configuration plan at this point?
A: No. However, we must give teachers their specific assignments by June 1.

4. Q: Why were the two other configuration options eliminated by Program Council and/or the administration?
A: We did “+” &”-” charts on all of them. No configuration will be a total win. We looked at the negative factors of all and eliminated the ones that had little to gain but much to lose.

5. Q: The community configuration survey was seriously flawed. Was this the only parent input given to the configuration discussions? Why?
A: The survey was developed with input from a consultant that had worked in Williston before on a different project. We also looked at parent and student input from the past. There are house satisfaction surveys along with fifth to fourth to fifth grade transition surveys done every year.

6. Q: Did the teachers consider input from parents on the Upper House satisfaction survey, which shows that 53% of those parents do not support the four-year structure?
A: The survey in part was designed to clarify that input. The key switched on how you would show support on that question only. People may not have noticed the difference if they were skimming the survey. On the follow-up survey, 61 % of the respondents supported the upper house structure.

7. Q: Why are we forced into this four-year house system? Is there some economic benefit?
A: Our research showed that fewer transitions mean less “starting over”. Also, it allows for strong relationships to be created between teachers, students, and families which have a positive effect on educational outcomes.

8. Q: Why did the school administration not properly inform all families affected by the dissolution of houses? Why were Phoenix students rather than their parents given details about the reconfiguration plan?
A: During the April break, parents had already been discussing the changes that were about to happen. The students returned knowing much of the information already and were asking their teachers questions about next year. It was decided to give them the information rather than having them speculating about what may happen. We knew it was not ideal but felt it was in the best interest of the students to be open with them. We also emailed parents that day and followed up with a mailing the next day.

9. Q: Why can't the school district offer different options for configuration? What about piloting houses with two-year or looping options?
A: The school district can offer different options if the community supports the concept. This is a broader discussion that needs to happen. Changes of this type also take a great deal of work to implement them properly. We want to be sure we spend our energies where they will make the most difference for our students.

10. Q: What is the "educational philosophy" of the new Upper House?
A: The philosophy and mission statements are the same for all houses. They are located on the school website under administration. The new house is in the process of working out how it will operate on a day to day basis.

11. Q: What role will the new teachers play in Voyager House and how will they influence its educational philosophy?
A: The teachers are meeting together to combine the best practices from each house as they move forward.

12. Q: Does the school have an "educational philosophy"?
A: Yes. It is located on the school webpage under administration.

13. Q: Can't we look to other schools to see what structures are most successful and why?
A: Ray McNulty worked with us on the characteristics of high performing schools.

14. Q: Why is there such inconsistency in academic quality between all houses (Upper and Lower)?
A: We have a common curriculum shared by all schools in the Chittenden South Supervisory Union. We have meeting among teachers of different houses and schools to share how they are implementing the curriculum – best practices. Teachers have the responsibility to implement the curriculum based on their students and what will work for them. We agree that addressing the rigor of the implemented curriculum is valuable work.

15. Q: Given the complexities of the different house schedules, how will we ever manage to bring same-grade students together to make academic connections?
A: We will make a concerted effort to make this work coupled with best educational practices for all students.

16. Q: How will the school manage the problems associated with more frequent house changes (supply and demand imbalance between stronger and weaker houses, inconsistency in curriculum from house to house)?
A: We are looking to put the curriculum on a two year rather than four year cycle. That means that all student s would have covered a similar curriculum in first and second grade and fifth and sixth grade making changing an easier process. We are always working on making all houses stronger. That is a journey not a destination. Parents provide input in the process through the Satisfaction Survey.

17. Q: Why won't the school consider a straight-grade system?
A: 78% of the people who answered the survey favored multi age classes. We would need to explore this issue further with the community.

18. Q: How will the time gained by separating our buses from the CVU system be used?
A: Planning takes time and we are still working on how to best use this time.

19. Q: Many students spend more time in band than in science and social studies. Shouldn't band be held at the end of the school day?
A: Band meets before school along with during the day since there is more than one band. Some schools have offered band during the last period of the day only to find that some parents and students interpret that as the day ends early if you are not a participant. If you mean band being offered after school then it would conflict with sports.

20. Q: Isn't configuration a separate issue from the rigor problem? How are they related?
A: They are separate issues. Configuration deals with structure and rigor deals with the level at which students engage in learning.

21. Q: Why is there no unified curriculum in both Lower and Upper Houses? Shouldn't the school put a unified curriculum in place first and then build the structure around that?
A: There is. See my response to a previous question. Curriculum is an issue we frequently return to for further refinement.

22. Q: Why is the administration not establishing a lower elementary school at one site? Doesn't this make more financial sense, since special education and other resources could be shared rather than duplicated?
A: Due to school capacity restraints, we cannot put all elementary students under the same roof. The number of students we have generates the same number of resource people necessary to meet their needs regardless of building. Enrollment will have to decrease more before we can consider this option.

23. Q: How can the school ignore the 78% of parents who want children of the same grade housed together at one site? Can't the community take a look at the numbers to see whether it would work?
A: This is a capacity issues. If we could house the students at the same building, we would. We would be happy to share the numbers with a committee appointed by the Williston School Board to look further into configuration.

24. Q: How can parents find out how much time different houses allocate for instruction in core academic areas?
A: We are conducting a time study right now. We will share the results when it is completed.

25. Q: Doesn't the School Board represent us (the voters and taxpayers)? Why is the Board not demanding accountability and a guarantee of academic rigor from our administration?
A: They are. This is a question for the School Board. Remember the School Board represents everybody and there are a variety of opinions held on most issues.

26. Q: Why is there such enormous inconsistency in Upper House curriculum?
A: The curriculum is the same. The implementation differs depending upon the house. Three houses currently give grades and students are taught by subject specific teachers. Three houses use standards based reporting systems and the content is more integrated.

27. Q: How will students be able to move from house to house given the lack of continuity of the curriculum from one house to another?
A: This question has been answered previously.

28. Q: How is the school helping prepare those children whose houses have been dissolved--and who are being dispersed throughout the school--for this major change?
A: They have had a chance to talk to their administrator and guidance counselors. We are also listening very carefully to their parents about what placement would best support them.

29. Q: Can the School Board sponsor a forum? How can a community member get an issue on the agenda? How much advance time is required?
A: We are working on a date right now. Of course there are many conflicts at this time of year. The forum is open to comments from the community.

30. Q: Why is the school unable to answer basic questions about how the reconfiguration plan will be implemented? How can parents possibly give meaningful input to placement forms, which are out this week?
A: Planning takes time to do well. Teachers of affected houses are actively working out the details for next year. They are also highly engaged on their teaching commitments from now until the end of this school year. Parents will be giving us valuable information about their child as a learner. We will match that information with house placement.

Read more!

School Board Meeting on Wednesday Night at 7pm!

Hello Neighbors,
Here's a little update on how things are proceeding.

On Monday afternoon the core organizational members of the Reconfiguration Campaign for Change will be meeting with Walter Nardelli, Jackie Parks, John Terko and Carter Smith. We will present them with the entire list of questions and comments compiled at the forum and have included ALL of them both for and against the current plan and the issues surrounding academic rigor. We will NOT be asking for Walter to answer the questions at this meeting. We feel it is Walter's responsibility and obligation to respond to the community himself. We will instead be addressing key concerns we have, which we would like to have addressed by the administration. We will give you all a complete report after the meeting.


THERE IS A SCHOOL BOARD MEETING THIS WEDNESDAY AT CVU at 7pm and we have been informed that the issue of reconfiguration is on the agenda. We encourage you to make this meeting a priority. This is everyone's opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback to the administration, superintendent and school board and to work with them to make our school system even stronger. (Click "read more" to continue)
There is also time allotted for public comment prior to the beginning of the formal agenda and as long as there are questions, they will defer the beginning of the formal agenda items. Please come prepared with a question or we can hand out the questions we gathered at the forum to give to anyone who may not have formulated one in advance. This is an extremely important meeting. Please plan to attend!!

The dialogue we stimulated at the forum is very important and everyone's voice counts. We know that there are some who feel that we are not acknowledging that some families are very happy with the structure the way it is. We want to reassure you that we hear you and respect you just as we hope you can hear us and respect us! We are all part of this community, let's listen to each other and try to hear what each other is saying. We all want what is best for ALL the children in our community. There is room to find common ground and improvements that will benefit all of Williston's children.

One of our main objectives for this Campaign has really transformed to be to improve the academic rigor for all students in all houses. Williston needs to not only improve to meet state minimum requirements for a "course of study" in science and social studies they need to be exceeding it just as our fellow CSSU middle schools and neighboring middle schools do. Minimum should not and cannot be good enough for our children in this rapidly changing and complex global society with exploding technology and scientific advancement. The Williston community, school board and administration need to work together and strive to be the best! We need to go from offering below minimum requirements to providing maximal instruction in all areas.

Through this process we have also learned that there needs to be a system of accountability (checks and balances) which assures all houses are meeting the Grade Level Expectations for each grade each year. Right now there is no reliable accountability system in place. This is exemplified when children switch houses and then miss key academic curriculum and/or repeat others.

The academic rigor piece is HUGE and is significantly impacted by the structure of the house system. There is very little flexibility for scheduling, less time for "core subject instruction," limited sharing of academic resources and teaching expertise and little to no ability to group children from different houses for advanced and/or tutorial classes/instruction as needed. Our kids need this sharing and grouping to maximize their education and their socialization. Nearly all other middle schools can do it and we can too!

We'll be in touch. Thanks for your support. Keep writing, keep calling, keep the momentum rolling!

Remember, we need you there at the School Board Meeting on Wednesday May 14th at CVU at 7pm.

With great respect,
Your reconfiguration team-
Abby, Jason, Sarah, Michelle, Mary, Sandy, Nancy, Kevin, Jeff and Ann

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Thank you for your time and efforts!

I just wanted to send a note saying THANK YOU for your time & efforts!!!!

Having a nest full of special needs kids, Beth & I are constantly at meetings or doctor's appointments with the kids. Neither of us works outside the home any more because of this. We are consistantly fighting with the school to meet their academic and emotional needs. (click "read more" to continue.)

We spend just as much time at home teaching them "life skills". As a result, we have little time left to be on committees but we help in whatever small way we can: contributing to classroom requests, chaperoning field trips, helping with fund-raisers, delivering pizza (LOL), and of course, writing letters, etc. (Not to mention shuttling kids to extracurricular activities.)

When these broken babies came home to us we had no idea how far they would be able to go. In fact, in the beginning, we thought they would all be living with us until we died. However, these children continue to astound us!!! As they reach new heights we fight for better services. We consistently hit these brick walls. Beth knows the law inside & out when it comes to special ed. I carry on with the battle cry, "No child left behind!" Yet the process is long & arduous. The paperwork & appeals when disagreements come up seems endless. My Beth has made many enemies because of her persistence. God bless her!

In my mind, when we fight, we are fighting for all the kids, not just the ones who need extra help. We continually have other parents asking us "how" so they can help their own kids. So many of these parents spend most of their time caring for their families and have no knowledge of how to get the help they need. I KNOW we couldn't do this alone. The teachers, staff, volunteers, doctors, psychologists, paras, parents & everyone else who have the time to help out during the day are the backbone of our school systems.

It takes a village to raise a child. I love our village!

I find Williston citizens quick to respond when folks are in need. When Hurricane Katrina hit, we were lined up waaaaaaay down the road to contribute supplies. When the Moon family's house burned down, the very next morning, there was over $1500 collected at the front office, let alone what folks continued to do for the rest of the month. The generosity around the holidays is overwhelming! I am so PROUD of us.

I know that MOST of the children in Williston schools are extremely bright and eager to learn. This is because MOST of the parents are well educated and/or active. Given the right preparation, these kids can change the world and are already doing so (as is evident in many of their 8th grade projects). Our high school kids are pulling off even more phenomenal things. That whole "We got your back" project to collect school supplies & backpacks for the younger victims of Katrina blew me away. They don't learn this spirit of community pride/giving without parental example.

I was so excited to see how many folks showed up for your forum the other night. If not for YOUR hard work this would not have come to fruition!

I could go on & on but I have other letters to write. Suffice it to say, I love being part of this community and am HONORED to have folks like you as my neighbors & friends!

Grazi, grazi, mille grazi! Domo arigato! Merci! Muchas gracias! Shay-shay. (That's all I know, lol)
--
Affectionately,
Your friendly Neighborhood
Mama Cricket

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An Extraordinary Forum!

Greetings Neighbors!

We were thrilled with the attendance and dialogue at Monday night's community forum! WOW!

We wish to extend a big THANK YOU to each of you who attended and made it such a wonderful, thought provoking and powerful night. Community dialogue/community involvement regarding reconfiguration has finally and officially begun! We have effectively started what the administration failed to do and now we need to keep the momentum going!

We counted 125+ people in attendance Monday evening and we got roughly 85 signatures on our petition with more coming in! We still need more signatures from spouses/partners, friends and neighbors who were not able to attend. More on that below. (Click "Read More" to continue)

We believe most everyone came out of the the forum agreeing that Williston's schools are NOT performing academically where they should be given our socio-economic status as compared to those schools most similar to us in Chittenden County. We are lacking consistent and accountable academic rigor across all house and grades. Each child deserves an outstanding education. It needs to work for all children.

It was also very clear that the house system is working and is very comfortable for some, but it is not working for many, many families. This system is not equitable and provides no choices and very limited flexibility to meet family requests. At the very least we need choices!

Our school has clearly failed hundreds to perhaps thousand(s) of students--past and present--in the areas of science and social studies. Williston's failure to meet state minimum REQUIREMENTS for hours of instruction in science and social studies is UNCONSCIONABLE and must change despite which configuration plan is adopted! We need and deserve accountability from our administration.

What next? We need more help!

If you are willing to volunteer to help garner more signatures on the petition, please respond to our email accound reconfig.williston.schools@gmail.com and we will send you a copy of the petition for circulation/canvasing in your neighborhood etc. If you know any of the organizing members of the campaign we will all have copies as well or you can request a copy via email.

We also need volunteers to help with the process of moving forward quickly! If you can volunteer in any capacity we'd love to hear from you. We are planning to meet with the administration in the next few days to discuss the meeting, the PowerPoint data and where we need to go from here.

We also need you to let the Administration know how you feel about what you learned Monday night. We need and deserve a say in the education of our children. This is imminent! Please write, meet with them or call as soon as possible.

Finally, we have posted the PowerPoint presentation on our blog: http://reconfigwilliston.blogspot.com It is on the right hand column under Documents--Click on "FORUM PRESENTATION (PowerPoint)."

Please encourage your friends, family and neighbors to read the presentation and become informed and help keep this campaign moving forward.

Thank you all!

With great respect-
Your Reconfiguration Team
Jeff, Ann , Abby, Jason, Sarah, Michelle, Nancy, Mary and Sandy

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Redirecting our energy with civility and respect.

I am sure you have all read Walter Nardelli's piece in the School Bell by now. If not I would encourage you to do so. (It has actually been anonymously posted as a comment on the Forum update post!) For many of us, Monday's announcement of the "official" Reconfiguration plan set off a fury of emotion. The information from Walter has hopefully... (Click "read more" to continue.)

re-invigorated this energy. At this point we want to pause and redirect this energy. We were guilty of a rush of emotion ourselves when the official reconfiguration plan came out on Monday. But now that the dust has settled somewhat we want to regroup as a whole and proceed in a civil, organized, professional and respectful manner. We want to hold our community forum and proceed with our mission to halt this reconfiguration plan.

We are a big, stong group of caring parents (and our numbers keep growing daily!) who want the best for their children as well as the future students of Williston schools. We want to be heard. It is a battle worth fighting.

The organizing members of the Williston Schools Reconfiguration Campaign for Change has done their homework feverishly, professionally and completely. We are well researched, extremely well organized and we have some very powerful information to share with all of you. All of this hard work will facilitate progress toward our goal of getting the current plan stopped. We then look forward to getting the school board and administration to re-evaluate, explore the options of reconfiguration and go back to the drawing board of devising a plan but this time with community input/representation.

Attached please find a brochure outlining the goals of the Community forum. Please let us know if you have questions. As always, thank you for your support.

Reconfiguration Campaign for Change Organizational Members:
Ann and Jeff Smith, Sarah and Jason Hibbeler, Sandy Loisel, Michelle Rath, Abby Klein, Mary Whitcomb, Kevin Mara and Nancy Kahn

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Reminder: Come to the Community forum!

Just a quick reminder that the Community forum is coming up this Monday evening at 7pm at the Federated Church in Williston. Take advantage of the opportunity to have your voice heard concerning the recent reconfiguration process in the Williston schools. (Click "read more" to continue...)


Please Come To:

• Learn more about the reconfiguration plan implemented by the school administration and its implications for educational equality.
• Learn how the Williston schools compare to other schools in our own Supervisory Union (Shelburne, Charlotte, Hinesburg).
• Learn how the Williston middle school compares to other middle schools in the local area and throughout New England in terms of structure and academic rigor.
• Hear how our school’s current house configuration affects the scheduling and academic rigor provided for our children.
• Come together as a community to determine appropriate actions to take to guarantee that our children are receiving an outstanding education that better meets both their academic and social needs. Develop a plan and petition to present to the CSSU Superintendent, school administration, and Williston School Board.
  
  

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Letters from WCS to affected parents available here

Look for the "Documents" section in the lower left of this page to links to the letters emailed to Upper House parents and the Verve and Phoenix parents.

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Reconfiguration is confirmed--ACT NOW!

Greetings All,

It's official. The letters to parents regarding the school reconfiguration plan are out. Letters were sent via email confirming the information we shared with you last week. If we didn't have your attention before, we certainly hope we do now!

Read the letter by clicking on the 'read more' link below.

Dear WCS Administration, School Board, Superintendent Pinckney and the Williston Observer:

I was still holding out hope that you would reconsider the reconfiguration plans you had formulated before school vacation. I am, once again, extremely dissappointed, frustrated and angry. I implore you to go back to the drawing board, but with parental/community input this time!

First of all, I am upset with HOW the current reconfiguration was determined behind closed doors with the lack of involvement by parents and community. You asked for our opinion, and then ignored it!

After reading the letter announcing the changes for next year, I also find it quite compelling that the Administration feels that the students/families from Verve and Phoenix are the ones most impacted by this plan. Doesn't it dramatically impact the children in Voyager who are losing 2 teachers and getting 2 new ones? (Why isn't that house called Phoenix instead of Voyager as there are equal representations from each?) And, isn't the academic and social climate and presumed equality going to change dramatically in Swift and Full House with the new unequal balance of grades?

This is NOT a "reconfiguration" plan. This is a further degradation of the old system which the Upper House Parents and the Community just voiced against loudly and clearly, just as they have done numerous times before. How many times do the parents/community need to fight this unorthodox structure before things change?

FACT: This structure is not only social isolating and academically non-rigorous it is also not supported by ANY research as an effective or acceptable model of education. (Confirmed by Superintedent Elaine Pinckney via e-mail to me: "Walter will follow up with you on the research (or lack thereof) related to configuration of any kind.")

FACT: This structure is not used in the other CCSU Middle Schools nor anywhere else in the United States that we are able to identify through research. This "reconfiguration" does NOT make things better. It makes this structure much worse!

Financially there is a tremendous amount of duplication of services with the house system with each house requiring their "own" of everything. Teachers may not have had to be cut if there was not so much duplication driving up the budget! This structure also causes inflexible scheduling disallowing collaboration for advanced courses for same grade students who need them.

It is now time for an "evidenced based" model of education for Williston schools which has "proven" results and rigorous academics for all students. We finally need "academic accountability" across the grades and within the grades. We need each grade learning the same thing at the same time so when a switch occurs, no subjects are missed and no subjects are repeated.

Finally, I want my children to become acquainted with and experience learning with ALL of their age/grade and sex matched peers and not just the 4 or 5 (per sex) the school choses for them to be with for four long years.

It's time to reconfigure your reconfiguration and it's time to get it right!

The Williston School Reconfiguration Campaign for Change



To Concerned Our Community Members:

Please plan to attend the Community Forum on Monday, May 5,2008 at the Federated Church at 7pm. We need to unite and be strong! Spread the word. Get your friends and neighbors on board. Share our email address reconfig.williston.schools@gmail.com and the website for the blog http://reconfigwilliston.blogspot.com/

Please write to:

Nardelliw@wsdvt.org

Parksj@wsdvt.org

epinckney@cssu.org

WSDSchoolBoard@wsdvt.org

editor@willistonobserver.com

Cc: reconfig.williston.schools@gmail.com

Check our blog for some upcoming information about the Forum! You will receive an email alert once it's updated. Please also let us know how we are doing!

Thank you,

Williston School Reconfiguration Campaign for Change

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Upcoming Community Forum

Good News! Our forum is back on as originally planned for Monday, May 5, 2008 at 7pm at the Federated Church in Williston. (Corner of Rt. 2 and North Williston Rd.) This is a Community Forum hosted by the Williston Schools Re-Configuration Campaign for Change. Our goal is to disseminate some powerful information to the Williston Community and come up with a plan to propose to the Administration and School Board which will more equitably and rigorously meet the academic and social needs of our children.

Will will be sending out an agenda for the meeting and welcome anyone and everyone to attend. We are hoping for a strong showing!!

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Abby Klein's experiences with the reconfiguration issue

My name is Abby Klein. My family just moved here last summer from California. Both of my children are in the upper houses at Williston Central.
I actually ran for School Board in the last election just for this reason...I wanted to have a say in the reconfiguration process because I could tell that the parents were being completely left out in the cold. One of my platforms in the election was the creation of two year instead of four year houses.
When I attended the FAP meeting in March, (incidentally, it is the only one I could attend because normally the meetings are held in the morning. I am a classroom teacher, so I cannot attend morning meetings. When I inquired about why the meetings weren't held at night, I was told it was because the teachers are not at school then and they are supposed to have representatives on the council. Why can't they rotate who attends and sign up to come one meeting a year?) Anyway...

At that FAP meeting, every parent there was starving for information about the reconfiguration. Walter Nardelli was VERY evasive and only spoke of the philosophical underpinnings of the new plan. He said he wanted to create more connectedness within the school community because that was a characteristic of successful schools. I pointed out that the current house system was the antithesis of connectedness. The houses are keep very separate and each house has its own identity. I think kids revere their own houses and stereotype others. Isn't this stereotyping behavior just the kind of behavior the school works so hard to eradicate? Imagine my shock when bits and pieces of the plan started to leak out and it was virtually maintaining the status quo! How does that improve connectedness, the linchpin of Mr. Nardelli's new philosophy?
I actually did not attend the School Board meeting when the plan was being unveiled because at that FAP meeting the School Board member who was present was asked if the Board was going to be taking input, and she basically said they were really just going to rubber stamp the administration's plan. I could see the writing on the wall then...
Why is the current Board being so passive? I, too respect teachers (as I am one) and their input, but I also feel that the most successful schools treat parents as partners and value their input, not just look at them as people who help with fundraising. I find it ironic that the PTA (as we called it in California) is specifically not called the PTA here, but the FAP, families as partners. Are we really partners?
As an educator, I am in complete agreement with you regarding the lack of academic rigor which I also feel is the result of the inflexible house system. When I asked why the children did not have social studies and science all year, I was told it was because if they only had it half a year, then they could have it for longer blocks of time. In other words, they could have it all year for 30 minutes a day, or half a year for an hour a day. My response was that they should be having it for an hour a day all year!! You show me another middle school in the country where the students only have the subjects for half a year. It's ludicrous! I am also stunned that there are no advanced math classes until eighth grade. There should be advanced math being offered as early as sixth grade. I definitely feel that enrichment room is a very poor answer to meeting the needs of students who need more academic challenge. If the scheduling were more flexible and kids were not confined to their houses, then more of these advanced classes could be offered.
I think what I am most upset about is the process through which this whole plan was devised. I would have sat on a committee to work on a new configuration plan; however parents were never invited to join the dialogue. I even asked when the meetings were (thinking I had missed my opportunity to sign up) only to be told that there already was a planning committee that consisted of parents, teachers, and administrators. Really? I still don't understand why this is all a big secret.
Obviously, I don't know all the history since I just moved here, but I am appalled to find out that this conversation has been going on for some time now. I think the administration and the board had a golden opportunity here considering they were forced into restructuring due to budgetary shortfalls and declining enrollment and they squandered it! I commend you for speaking out and will do whatever I can to support you. Sorry I didn't write to you sooner, but I was out of town.
Don't give up. Our voices need to be heard!

Sincerely,
Abby Klein

posted with permission of the original author

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Joe Bourgeois' letter to the School Board

I am writing in support of the letter recently written by Jeff Smith and would like to share with you my own frustration with the Williston School System. My two sons Cole and CJ had been enrolled in the Williston School system for 5 and 4 years respectively. When my son Cole entered into 5^th grade my previous concerns with the school system were greatly amplified and I personally met with his teachers and the administration to voice my concerns.
Going to meet with teachers and the administration on numerous occasions and witnessing how classes are conducted day to day in the house format made me realize that there was nothing that any teacher could do to rectify my concerns – it was the structure of the classroom itself that is simply not conducive to learning. When I met with the administration and asked that my sons get moved into a more structured house like Full House their response was "Everyone wants their kids in Full House". My response to them was that if that is the response from parents why isn't the entire school structured like Full House is? Even if that was the case the fact of having 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders in the same classroom together can not possibly be a formula for success and is of great concern.

As my children do participate in a variety of sports I was always very surprised how few of the kids of the same grade level knew one-another. Attending school music concerts for a number of years at Williston Central School the music teacher asked the children on stage, who were all from the same grade, to raise their hand if they were sitting next to someone they had never met before and almost every child on stage would raise their hand. The best relationships most of us made as we were growing up were from our classmates in school. Socially and educationally the current system at Williston Central School is not working to the best interest of our children.

I, along with numerous other Williston residents I know, became so frustrated with the Williston School system I moved my kids out of the school and enrolled them into another school district. This has proven to be a very good decision as my two sons who were feeling very frustrated and confused in the classroom are now much more secure in their setting, understanding expectations, and striving to exceed measurable goals. Both of them are now doing very well in school and appreciate their classroom structure.

The Williston school system needs to be changed. If change does not take place, people like myself, will move out of the city in the best interest of our children, or elect not to move there to begin with.
Joe Bourgeois
posted with permission of the original author

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Nancy Kahn's Letter to the School Board

Dear Williston School Administration, Williston School Board and Williston Observer;

I am writing to voice my support for the concerns expressed in Jeff Smith's Guest Column "School's house system needs 'meaningful change'' published in the April 17, 2008 Williston Observer.

As a Williston resident and tax payer I feel it is time for a FULL restructuring of the Upper House Configuration which reflects the desire of our community. THIS IS OUR SCHOOL/THE COMMUNITY'S SCHOOL, NOT THE TEACHERS' SCHOOL and we want change NOW.

In addition to this, the survey showed 78% of people felt that it was important to house all of the same grade students in the same school. This number is above Walter Nardelli's goal number of 75% for satisfaction which inherently should make it a very high priority. The changes proposed in the lower house, as well as the upper house are set to create even more inequality and enhance the feeling of house membership versus that of a Williston community. It is financially, socially, and academically inappropriate to create such differences.

Parents should have a voice in the education of their children. The School Board is elected to represent the views of the community and the best interest of the children. In this case, the School Board unquestioningly accepted the one proposal from the administration without seeking community input.

I agree, this is OUR children and OUR school. Let's make it a strong Williston Community School!

Thank you.

Nancy Kahn

republished with the permission of the original author

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Betsey Dempsey's Letter to the School Board

Even though it is a year away, I am concerned about my daughter entering 5th grade where there is no separation between 5th and 8th graders. Let's be real. There is a huge difference between the average 5th grader and 8th grader. That is not the case within the lower houses. I thought for sure there would be changes to the upper house which resembled the survey responses. I certainly will not allow my daughter to be in a house which has an additional 8th grade class.

The problem with hiring "consultants" is that they are paid. I feel the school district will (maybe even unconsciously) feel they must implement the recommendations or they will have paid for nothing.

I was disappointed to learn of the results.

Betsey Dempsey

Reprinted with permission of the original author

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School Configuration Update (4/22/2008)

Dear Williston Community,

We want to personally thank everyone who has responded to the original email campaign regarding the school re-configuration issue. The response has been wonderful particularly given the 24 hour turn around necessary for responses to appear in the Observer and the fact that this is vacation week and many families are out of town. This is something we should be proud of! We need to keep our momentum moving! (See attached letter which spurred this campaign if you missed it previously.)

We do want to stress that it's not too late to respond! Although the Observer deadline has passed for this week it is still vital that we get as much feedback as possible to the school administration and school board. Your letters can be published in the Observer next week as well. If you have personal anecdotal information to share or wish to present your own views for or against change we urge you to write and to spread the word throughout the community! The ones submitted thus far have been powerful!!

The school board has finally acknowledged Jeff and me and now other responders. However this was not until after I sent a follow up letter asking why they had not even acknowledged receipt of or responded to Jeff's original letter/ Observer article.

FYI: The school board was elected by the people of Williston as our link to the school. Per the Vermont School Board Association (www.vtvsba.org) website "Board members' primary agenda is raising student achievement and involving the community in the attainment of that goal." The Vermont School Board Association has clearly defined frameworks for "raising student achievement through community engagement." This is their elected responsibility and we need to hold them accountable.

The Williston school board has now proposed that there be a community forum with the school board, administration, teachers and community. We, however, would like to propose a separate community forum without the school board, administration and teachers so we can organize our efforts and create a plan of action which will finally result in change. We can discuss our options openly and without interruption or persuasion.

Here are a few additional bits of information for those who may not be fully abreast of the issues:
Per an email to the teachers/staff prior to vacation and leaked to some of the students, the administration has proposed to eliminate both Phoenix house and Verve house next year. Two teachers will also be moved out of Voyager. The 2 ex-Voyager teachers and 2 teachers from disolved houses will be joined to create a new house. One teacher from Phoenix will join Swift to make a 5 teacher team and another teacher will join Full house to make another 5 teacher team. Two teachers from the disolved houses will be paired with the remaining Voyager house. Does this impact you and your child? Of course it does!

One of the 5 teacher teams will have an additional 8th grade group, the other will have an additional 5th grade group. This will create even further educational and social inequity within these houses!! I certainly will not allow my son who will be entering 5th grade in the fall to be in a house with double the amount of 8th graders. Would you??? Ditto for an 8th grader in house with double the amount of 5th graders. This is ludicrous and inequitable!

My 6th grade son currently has over 30 hours more band instruction per year than he does science or social studies! All students at Essex Middle School and Tuttle Middle School in So. Burlington have a full rigorous hour of all core subject areas per day all year long. Williston 5-8th graders have anywhere from 30 minutes a day all year to 50/60 minutes a day for half a year. Our kids are typically 2 years behind in science and social studies by the time they leave WCS! This is not acceptable and is perpetuated by the house system's ineffective and inefficient scheduling inequities.
There is no data out there that supports this model of education because this model does not exist outside of our school district! It's time to enter the 21st century.

Lastly I feel compelled to say, with full protection our my First
Amendment Rights as Americans, that Jeff and I
consciously chose to go public with our concerns because history in this town has proven time and time and time again that there is NO accountability within our school system. This fight for re-configuration has surfaced innumerable times over the years only to be shut down by some well established, well polished and very powerful teachers. Even if you are not
familiar with this history we all need to seriously ask why it keeps coming up over and over and over again!!! The
press is our assurance of accountability and we have an inalienble right to express ourselves through any medium of our choosing.

Keep writing! Keep spreading the word! Keep fighting! We'll keep you in touch. Let us know if you wish to help us accomplish this goal. Also please let us know if you would like to stop receiving these emails.

Thank you!
ANN and Jeff Smith

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Sarah Hibbler's Letter to the Board (4/21/2008)

Hi All,

Below is the text of a letter I sent yesterday to the School Board, Williston Observer, and school administration in support of configuration change. Ann Smith asked me to share this with you in the hopes of encouraging others to express their support and opinions with the school community.

I hope that you, too, will consider giving feedback. Jeff's guest column last week laid the groundwork for all of us to speak out on this important issue. Please don't let this opportunity slip away.

Regards,
Sarah Hibbeler


================================

To the Williston School Board:

I wish to register my extreme disappointment in the school administration's proposed changes to the house configuration in the Williston schools. Rather than addressing the limitations inherent in the four-year structure, the changes will actually amplify certain problems in the current system, particularly the issue of educational equality. The creation of several oversized houses (a six-classroom team in the Lower Houses and two five-classroom teams in the Upper Houses) only serves to increase the differences between teams.

My main purpose in writing to you, however, is not to argue for configuration change, although I wholeheartedly endorse the points made by Jeff Smith in his thoughtful guest column in the Williston Observer last week. Rather I am writing to express my frustration over the lack of inclusion of parents in the discussions of configuration this spring and the limited role of the School Board itself in the process.

The only input parents were allowed to contribute to the process was through the configuration survey. Not only did the survey employ the questionable technique of prefacing questions with selective survey data, but it failed to offer anything other than the current four-year model for people to consider. If given the opportunity, respondents might have registered even greater enthusiasm for other configurations that would work within our physical structure, such as two-year houses.

Moreover, the administration has chosen to ignore certain survey results. Most notably, the survey indicated strong (78%) support for housing same-grade students under one roof, a finding that the administration is radically choosing to ignore in creating a completely separate lower elementary school within WCS. And as Jeff Smith pointed out, the administration has also discounted the opinion of a majority of Upper House parents who registered their desire for change in the four-year structure on previous satisfaction surveys.

All subsequent discussions of configuration models between teachers and the administration were--and continue to be--explicitly kept secret from parents and the community. This is a marked departure from what was done when I served as a member of the Williston Conceptual Frameworks Committee in 2004. That committee comprised School Board members, teachers, administrators, and community members, and the group met weekly throughout the summer to discuss configuration and other issues.

The administration often refers to the findings of the Frameworks Committee as proof of parental endorsement of the current system. In fact, a number of parents on the committee, particularly those with Upper House students, expressed longstanding concerns about the lack of equality among houses, academic inconsistency, and the lack of interaction with similar-age peers. These are the same concerns that emerge continually over the years as new families experience the four-year system. The committee did support the principle of multi-age teaching and the overall concept of a house system, but it also charged the school district with evaluating the appropriateness of four-year groupings and with ensuring that students have increased interaction with same-age peers.

As a parent and taxpayer, I am especially distressed by the limited role this School Board has chosen to take in considering the issue of configuration, particularly given the long history of parental concerns. The balance of influence in this district is entirely weighted toward the administration and teaching staff. When parents who do make an effort to attend School Board meetings speak up to voice opinions, they are frequently interrupted and invariably come away with the sense that their input is unimportant.

It is healthy for some natural tension to exist within a school district--between teachers, administration, the board, and community members. And it is the responsibility of the School Board to engage all parties in the decision-making process. I acknowledge that educators are trained and paid to consider best teaching practices. However, the administration and School Board must acknowledge parents as partners in making the decisions that affect the education of our children.

I urge the Williston School Board to consider what parents are saying about configuration. Only through true collaboration can our district lay claim to a reputation for being a great place to teach and to learn.

Sincerely,

Sarah Hibbeler

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Get involved! (4/20/2008)

Dear Williston Community,
The response to Jeff Smith's Guest Column: "School's house system needs 'meaningful change'' in the Williston Observer this past week has been overwhelming and exciting. (Please see attached article if you missed it.) We appreciate the feedback and encouragement from all who have personally responded to us as we continue this fight for our children. We will be setting up a Community Forum to organize as much support as possible and present our concerns to the Administration and Board. We hope this can happen the week after school vacation at a time and location to be announced soon.

We are proposing a simple way for you to INITIALLY help support change. Below you will find a statement of support which we would like you to simply copy and paste onto an email letter of your own to the Williston Observer, the School Administration and the Williston School Board with a Cc to us so we are aware as well. We are hoping there is power in numbers. If you wish to add additional comments and/or anecdotal experiences of how the house system has impacted you/your family, please feel free to do so.

PLEASE forward this message on to other community members who you feel would like to receive it. We also encourage anyone who does not support this campaign to also provide feedback. If you wish to have your name removed from this email campaign, please let us know.

Thank you!
Ann and Jeff Smith

Please include your name and phone number so the Observer can confirm authorship (Observer Deadline is Monday at noon) and send your email to:
editor@willistonobserver.com
parksj@wsdvt.org
nardelliw@wsdvt.org
terkoj@wsdvt.org
smithc@wsdvt.org
wsdschoolboard@wsdvt.org
EPinckney@cssu.org
Cc: kulissmith@comcast.net


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Dear Williston School Administration, Williston School Board and Williston Observer;

I am writing to voice my support for the concerns expressed in Jeff Smith's Guest Column "School's house system needs 'meaningful change'' published in the April 17, 2008 Williston Observer.

As a Williston resident and tax payer I feel it is time for a FULL restructuring of the Upper House Configuration which reflects the desire of our community. THIS IS OUR SCHOOL/THE COMMUNITY'S SCHOOL, NOT THE TEACHERS' SCHOOL and we want change NOW.

Thank you.

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Jeff Smith's Letter to the Williston School Board on 4/16/2008

Dear Fellow Williston Families,

Attached you will find a letter which has been sent to the Williston School Board, Williston School Administration and Guidance Counselors and will also be featured in this week's Williston Observer. It discusses Jeff's feelings about the lack of meaningful change to the school configuration plan for next year which was proposed at last week's school board meeting.

Jeff wrote this letter because feels passionate about the issue and wants to see options for the families of Williston. As a Middle School Guidance Counselor a Essex Middle School, Jeff has first hand knowledge of how Middle Schools can be better organized and run. He is hoping to garner some support for this important issue.

Please read this letter carefully. Whether you agree, partially agree or disagree with this letter, we urge you to let the School Board and Administration know how you feel!! Let's not let this opportunity for change slip through our fingers.

Thank you for your time. Please forward this on to other families who you think will be interested.

Jeff and Ann Smith

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Dear Williston Central School Board,

As a Williston tax payer and parent as well as an experienced Middle School Educator I am writing to express my concerns regarding the lack of meaningful change to the proposed Williston Upper House Configuration Plan.

Instead of listening to the voices of your consumers who clearly voiced great dissatisfaction with the current configuration you have chosen to continue to support an unorthodox 1970's type educational model that, to my knowledge, very few public school systems throughout the nation follow. If the Williston School District truly believes in “families as partners” then they should respect and honor the input of the community who entrust their child’s future to your hands.

Key issues regarding the lack of change include but are not exclusive of the following points:

• According to the Upper House Satisfaction Survey 52% of respondents felt students’ social needs were met; 39% felt they were not.
  
  
• 54% supported a change in the upper house structure (33% “strongly” supported this); 25% did not, and 21% didn’t know.
  
  
• According to School Board minutes from a June 29, 2007 retreat, Ms. Parks commented that “she didn’t think the staff understands the reality of the concern with the upper house structure. Board members felt there needs to be more understanding of what parents actually want.”
  
  
• This sentiment of dissatisfaction has existed for as long as I have been a resident of this town (1991) and has been repeatedly ignored by the school.
  
  
• What percentage of dissatisfaction will it take for the school to listen? Why is 54% dissatisfaction not enough to result in change?
  
  
• Why did Ray McNulty’s sole opinion regarding the results of the Configuration Survey hold more weight than what the community has repeatedly and clearly said it wants?

There are numerous inherent problems with the current house structure which include but are not limited to:

ACADEMIC CONCERNS:

• Although Williston has always valued the individual needs of children it is inconsistent and inappropriate to ask any child to be rendered the same teaching style in a subject area for four years, particularly if the teaching style does not mesh with the child’s learning style.
  
• A child who has a learning style which does not match the teaching style of a teacher or teachers in a house and is there for four years will NEVER recover those skills and is set up to struggle or fail.
  
  
• Williston’s NECAP scores are not where they should be given the socio-economic demographics of this town. We should be scoring at least as well or better than other schools of similar socio-economic backgrounds in Chittenden County, but we in fact are not!
  
  
• As an example, students have a full hour of all core subjects (math, language arts, social studies and science) every day for the entire school year in other Chittenden County My oldest son at WCS has an hour of science OR social studies 4 days a week, with just a half an hour on the fifth day AND this is for only half of the school year! This academic pitfall is due in great part to the inflexibility in scheduling inherent in the House system.
  
  
• With scheduling like this how are we meeting GLE’s (Grade Level Expectations) for our children in the core subject areas?
  
  
• How will our students meet minimum criteria in the upcoming 8^th grade NECAP Science exams if there is no time to cover the curriculum?

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL/DEVELOPMENTAL CONCERNS:

• Despite some attempts to improve social opportunities within grades, a four year commitment to a house limits meaningful and consistent exposure to age and gender matched peers.
  
  
• The house system creates competition for house assignments which is unhealthy and unnecessary and creates fear, anxiety and stress for families of fourth graders who are about to be placed into a four year commitment which might not be a good match for their child’s learning style.
  
  
• Fifth/sixth graders and seventh/eighth graders are socially, academically, developmentally, emotionally and physically worlds apart with very different needs and concerns.
  
  
• Fifth graders (and sixth graders) are exposed to social, emotional and developmental information and experiences which they are not socially, emotionally and/or developmentally equipped to handle when grouped with seventh and eighth graders.
  
  
• The proposed “slow transition” for the fifth graders does not address the grouping problem. It simply postpones the inappropriate groupings this configuration creates.

SYSTEMIC CONCERNS:

• The current Williston Central School structure provides no options. It’s the House system or nothing. Multi-age or nothing. Four year commitment or nothing. If you don’t like it, sorry we have nothing else to offer.
• The attempt to appease the four year commitment issue by allowing families to move their child ONE time during their middle school years is not the way to repair this configuration problem:

o It is extremely unfair to the child who will feel singled out by such a move.

o This will create administrative nightmares if lots of changes are requested within a “weaker” house and there is nowhere for these children to go.

• If change occurred naturally for everyone on a more consistent basis (e.g. every 2 years) there would be less competition, less stress, less dissatisfaction, less risk of children being left behind, less social isolation, fewer scheduling limitations, more time for academics, less struggle to meet the wide age/academic variances of the students and it would FINALLY increase the satisfaction of your consumers in the Williston community.

This system of no options other than four year groupings is not working and a large portion of the community has said that it does not like it. Let’s not wait another year to see if we can get to 75% agreement on the part of educators, parents and students. We can get there now with options, diversity and progress and we owe it to our children.

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