Update

Just a reminder that the topic of Rose Union’s portables is on the school board agenda at tonight’s meeting in the High school Library.  Also the topic of redistricting is the second issue on the agenda. Click here for the full agenda.

Update

Superintendent Wilkinson informed me yesterday that my request to have Rose Union added to the School Board Agenda for Monday January 14, 2008 has been approved.  The meeting will be held in the Deer Creek High School library and it begins at 6pm.  Rose Union will be the first item listed in the ‘Business Items Section’.  Now is your chance to address the school board directly. Here is the request that was submitted:

“I am requesting that the subject of Rose Union Elementary be put on the January 14, 2008 School Board Meeting Agenda.  More specifically the items desired to be addressed are:

1. Condition of Portables being used
2. Safety Issues of Portables
3. Plan to address over-crowding

The expectations of the school board are:

1. Address the concerns of the parents
2. Schedule a meeting to if there is too much to cover during the school board meeting”

If you have never been to a school board meeting the process works likes this:

1. When you arrive at the meeting you will need to sign in on the public participation sheet in order to talk with the board about an item listed on the agenda.
2. If too many people sign up to address the issue they will ask that the group select one representative to speak for the entire group.
3. If there is opposing sides then they will ask each side to designate a spokesperson.
4. You cannot ask any questions about any school employee during this time and if you do, you will be cut off and not allowed to finish.
5. Each individual will be given 3 minutes to speak.  If forced to use a spokesperson than the spokesperson will be given 30 minutes to address the board.
6. The board will not respond to anything said but they may ask clarifying questions.
7. You will receive a response from the superintendent at a later date.

For complete list of public participation rules deercreekschools.org/boe/participation.htm

If a large group is planning on coming you might want to meet first to go over what the group wants to address with the board.  So with all that said now is the time to show up in support of the entire staff at Rose Union.  Hopefully we will see quite a turnout on Monday night. 

Parent Post

Our staff at Rose Union is awesome!  Thanks to their efforts, Rose Union has been selected as one of ten schools in Oklahoma to receive an Oklahoma State Department of Education grant for "Response to Intervention" implementation.  Kudos to Principal Riggs, Counselor Heather Flinton, Reading Specialist Becca Pappas, GT/Math Teacher Suzanne Hirzel and Site Special Education Coordinator Becky Slothower for all their efforts that truly go "above and beyond."  They exemplify the spirit and dedication we see at Rose Union each and every day.  Each of you, and the entire staff at RU, are so appreciated!

January 8, 2008

Parent Post

As one of the parents who wrote in about Rose Union and a regular DCSPost reader; I have not intended ANY negative comments to be about the staff.  As their infamous motto amongst those working there goes:  "when life gives you lemons; make lemonade".  How sad is that?  As that staff continues to state: if it weren't for the kids and the co-workers - they would never stay! Who can blame them? Besides the kids and the support of some families - what has gone right for them?  One thing for our kids - they have learned a positive attitude and working together makes things work!   I appreciate each and every one of them!  And without a GREAT leader in Ruthie Riggs - we would REALLY have a huge mess on our hands!

Our Reply

Hopefully people didn’t take any of the post as negative remarks towards any staff member.  We see the posts as an affirmation of the respect and support that the community has for Principal Riggs and her staff.  It is refreshing to see the community step up and support them when they need us the most.

For the record we submitted a request to have the conditions at Rose Union added to next week’s school board meeting.  We will keep you updated as to the Superintendent’s response to our request.  It is a shame that the public has to push to have these issues addressed.  One would think that a school board made up of individuals that profess their devotion to the students would address these issues on their own.  But then again, one’s actions speak louder than words.

January 7, 2008

Parent Post 1: Our dedicated principal, teachers and staff at Rose Union need support from the DC school district!  The enrollment at RU is nearing 600, while the other elementary schools are well below that.  The portable issue is only one of several important issues at RU that need IMMEDIATE attention from the Superintendent and Board.  Parents need to wake up and get involved!

Is it right that our students are crammed into portables and other spaces never intended to be used as classrooms?  How are teachers able to provide education and services equitable with the other elementary schools when they are servicing many more students than at the other sites (specifically Special Ed, Reading Recovery, etc.)?  How many more students can be crammed in the building?  Are there any plans in the works to re-district, even temporarily until the 4th elementary school is done, to relieve the situation at RU?

The positive environment in that building is a testament to Ruthie Riggs and her faculty; however if parents had a clear vision of what they have had to contend with (with no real relief in sight), I believe that they would be shocked and possibly outraged. 

The Superintendent and Board need to do their jobs and open their eyes to the reality at Rose Union, right now.

Parent Post 2: Rose Union parents:  Have you not noticed a dramatic change in the GT program from last year to this one?  Once again - we have too many students, not enough space and not enough staff members.  Our kids are not receiving the educational experience we are paying for! Thanks Becky for a horrible plan on how to redistrict!  By the way:  if you have a child in remedial math - hope they aren't in 3rd grade - we don't have a teacher for that - and the new part time teacher that was hired - only has 8 students!  Who needs our teachers time but our remedial students!

Our test scores will drop which I thought was such an important part of our admin’s kudos!   Why worry about the kids right?! Typically the students who have remedial needs come from families that don't fight for their education - not to stereotype - but it is the average.  These kids need us to fight for their education! You cannot blame the teachers or principal at Rose Union - they didn't redistrict us - good ol' Becky did! They have had nothing but problems since inception - how embarrassing!

Parent Post 3: It’s obvious from all the posted comments about Rose Union’s facilities that we parents are extremely concerned and frustrated with this situation.  It’s also obvious that the district has made some major mistakes and miscalculations about the growth and how to accommodate more students than it’s prepared for.  It’s also apparent that bringing in used pre-fabs hasn’t been a good solution. I too am frustrated and concerned.  But, I’d like to share a different observation with you.  I have watched the Rose Union staff open a new school, withstand complaints about everything they did because it was different from both Prairie Vale and Deer Creek Elementary, and the staff withstood the outpouring of negativity by graciously offering information, making themselves available to parents and answering any questions that were asked.  They have continued to make every effort to remain positive and create good classroom environments while making sure our children are both happy and learning in spite of the huge challenges this staff has been faced with.  We, as parents, didn’t plan on having our children in a makeshift facility.  But, are we forgetting one important point?  My guess is that this staff didn’t have this in mind when they applied for positions at Deer Creek.  Did these educators anticipate being placed in makeshift classrooms, cleaning up after a mouse infestation, moving entire classes twice, dealing with frozen pipes, mold, flooding playground, leaking ceilings, lack of adequate custodial help and the long list of other challenges they’ve been forced to deal with?

My guess is that none of them chose it.  Let’s recognize that this staff continues to be positive and make the best of a difficult situation that they aren’t responsible for, nor do they have the means to fix.  This morning’s Oklahoman listed the biggest legislative challenges for 2008 and #6 was recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers and principals. Shouldn’t that also be a major concern for Deer Creek?  What are we doing to retain the quality teachers and principal at Rose Union?

So, now that this building is nearing 600 students and, once again, they’re out of classrooms, maybe the question should be, “How are we supporting this group of fine educators and students?”    What are we, as parents and a district, doing to help the situation at Rose Union?  Are we going to continue to let the numbers swell without providing adequate resources?  Are we going to continue to pretend that it’s all right to ask the impossible of this staff? Is Deer Creek willing to risk losing good staff members?  How much more will we ask this staff to deal with?  This group of educators has done an amazing job dealing with great negativity, poor resources and little support.  Please join me in requesting that the parents and school board accurately assess this challenging situation and join hands to provide appropriate support for Rose Union’s staff, students and parents.

Our Reply

We couldn’t agree with you more about your assessment of the Rose Union Staff.  Everyone needs to remember that they are caught in a no-win situation and they were put there by the Superintendent and School Board.  It is truly a testament to Principal Riggs that she has been able to keep her staff together throughout these trying times.  We also have a lot of respect for the teachers for staying when it would be so easy to leave and nobody would blame them if they did.  Everybody that is posting information is doing so in support of Principal Riggs and the staff.

So how do we support them? The first thing is to remember is that they are not the decision makers.  They didn’t ask for these conditions and are probably just as frustrated as the parents are.  Unfortunately there is not much they can do if the School Board does seem to care.  Is it only us or does anybody else wonder why the Oklahoma City School Board is being so public about the situation with their Superintendent but the Deer Creek School Board remains quiet?  Maybe our School Board should do a similar survey of the staff and teachers about the conditions in our school district.  It seemed to have helped enlightened the OKC School Board when they did one.

The next school board meeting is Monday January 14. Show your support for Rose Union. Submit a request by end of day Monday January 7th (instructions on submitting a request), to have Rose Union added to the school board agenda. Show your support by attending the January 14th meeting and address your concerns to the board. Otherwise the school board and Superintendent will think this will all blow over and go away. As Superintendent Becky Wilkison once said to us about the DCSPost, "These websites are usually put up by a few unhappy parents and will eventually go away."

It is time to bring the fight to the School Board Directly.  We do caution you that if Rose Union is on the agenda, stick to the topics at hand and not talk about people in general because the School Board will not allow any comments about personnel.  

In the end the best support we can give the teachers is a School Board that cares.  If we want to make a statement that is heard loud and clear, we need to make it at the Polls.  Until there are changes at the top nothing is going to change at the bottom.

If you do submit a request to the superintendent please let us know so we can let everybody else know and tentatively plan on showing up.