Back to the Table of Contents Page

Back to the Voice Home Page

Classifieds

Issue date: December 15, 2000

Parents voice concerns over school district

By Jaime Bloss

More than 100 parents and teachers packed the Graham Middle School library Dec. 7 to question Mountain View School District board members and administrators about the recent troubles plaguing the district.

Topics discussed at the meeting included the restructuring of the classrooms mid-year, staffing, and the district's budget.

Four of the district's board members -- President Roger Noel, Vice-President Carol Fisher, and Russ Wood and Rose Filicetti -- as well as Superintendent Trish Bubenik, Chief Fiscal Officer Susan Spaay, and Assistant Superintendents Modrite Archibeque and Dan Vinson, attended the meeting to field questions.

The meeting got off to a rocky start when Huff parent John McAllister suggested that new leadership was needed for the district.

"I'd like to see the superintendent and chief financial officer reassigned," he said. He cited an incident in which he had sent a letter to the district administration and, he said, it took over a month to receive a response.

"It seems to be a trend and I just don't have trust in the administration," McAllister explained.

Parent Michael Schneider expressed concerns over large class sizes.

"One of the goals of the Mountain View School District was to make sure that there is an environment for our kids so they can blossom. Due to the latest shuffling, we have multiple fourth and fifth grade with 32 kids; that is not a thriving environment," he said. "I'd like to see the number go back to where it was with 26, 27, 25 students."

He suggested that better fiscal astuteness might have prevented the situation.

Board member Filicetti acknowledged that "smaller class sizes and attracting and retaining teachers" are two major cost items that the district has to address.

"Right now I don't see a way to reduce class sizes down by the end of the year. We gave a very big raise and we have to pay for it," Filicetti continued.

Other parents aired their concerns about staffing in the district. One parent, who has a child enrolled in Graham, said she was worried because 14 teachers had left the school and their replacements did not seem as qualified.

Bubenik explained that the teachers resigned "for their own individual and different reasons. Some went back to school, some relocated out of the area, some chose to teach in other districts," she said. "We're not alone in last minute requests for leaves or resignations. Other districts were really affected by that too this year, particularly with the economy shifting and the runaway cost of housing.

Another concern over school staffing had to do with a recent, unexplained departure of a Graham math teacher.

Vicki Foshay, a parent of three children in the district, said that she was not informed that her son's math teacher left the district Dec. 1.

"No parents were notified of this situation. I have yet to be notified and it is Thursday (Dec. 7). There is a substitute in the class," Foshay said.

Bubenik explained that the teacher left for health reasons and that a letter was sent out to parents Dec. 7. The district was hoping to name a new teacher in the letter, but a replacement has not been hired.

Questions about the budget -- and the board's ability to understand it -- were in abundance at the meeting.

In response to an audience member's question, all of the board members acknowledged that the budget is very complex and said they could all benefit from a more in-depth understanding. Board members Noel, Wood, and Fisher explained that they had either completed classes or are scheduled to take classes from the California School Board Association to further their understanding of the budget.

Wood recommended that the budget be presented "in a more simplified version or a more readily understandable version." He also suggested that a glossary of education terms be provided with the budget to help people understand it.

Ralph Pursifull, a district parent and a member of the newly formed community budget task force, said the complexity of the district's budget "is far beyond anything I've seen in industry."

Pursifull was impressed with "Trish (Bubenik)'s offer and follow-through on opening up the budget and let someone pick through it," he said. "In industry, I wonder, would I do something like that? It would be a short list, if anyone. But Trish is strong enough to do that," he said.

Graham Middle School teacher Jan Tynan spoke in support of the district in which she's worked for 37 years.

"I feel the district has valued me in my curriculum work, my mentoring work. They have said 'Thanks' to me," she said. "There are times when I wish that I would see the district administration in my classroom more often. When I want them there I invite them, and when I invite them they come."

Parent and former teacher Leigh Terrass felt the meeting was a step in the right direction. "It's a start in building more positive communication," she said. "There's a long way to go before I feel we're really being heard by the superintendent and the board."

Parent Ralph Pursifull is optimistic about the district's future.

"We have a huge opportunity with the merger to build a stronger staff by bringing the organizations together," he said, indicating that district personnel will not then be stretched so thin.

The next Mountain View School District community meeting is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2001. No time or location has yet been determined.