TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

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TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby blackturtle.us » Fri Feb 12, 2016 12:10 pm

Although the agenda for this meeting was fairly short, the meeting went on for longer than average due to prolonged discussion on a couple topics. Also there were more people in attendance than usual. The following are some of the highlights from the meeting:

1) Modernization of the High School - Although various aggressive modernization plans have been proposed, Superintendent Keith Tomes recommended that the district take a more conservative approach and proceed with modernization at a more measured pace and to investigate the possibility of the state providing matching funds to help finance such measures.

2) Technology - An offshoot from the modernization discussion was discussion of integration of technology into the classroom. A representative (Kevin Mulligan) from a company (onPoint) specializing in classroom technology was present. He proposed setting up a couple model classrooms at the high school and upgrading eight elementary classrooms immediately. The discussion was dominated by Supt. Tomes, Darik McCullar, Joseph Wolfe, and Kevin Mulligan, with additional info supplied by Alan Tsubota in response to several questions from board members.

3) Cafeteria - The board has entertained the possibility of running a self-funded cafeteria during recent meetings. Supt. Tomes reported that this would result in a loss of $120k in state and federal funds as well as loss of free food commodities. The advantage is that the district would not have to follow federal nutritional guidelines, thus freeing the cafeteria staff to create food more palatable to students.

4) Athletic Director - Kent Schmidt provided information about athletic programs to the board. A lot of what he talked about was CIF politics, but of particular interest was a possible reconfiguration of the league/division which might improve playoff prospects for Trona high school teams. He used the term “competitive equity” in discussing the blatant unfairness of local high school teams facing larger schools from outside the area and private schools which are allowed to recruit players.

5) Athletic Gear - Kent Schmidt also talked about athletic gear including pads and helmets for football as well as the equipment checkout/checkin process which coaches follow at the beginning and end of each season. Regarding helmets the topic of concussion protocols was discussed as well as the advantages of purchasing versus leasing of helmets in light of the constantly evolving anti-concussion technologies being developed.

6) Elementary - Alan Tsubota talked a little about Science Camp which will be held either at a camp near Cambria or Morro Bay.

7) High School Unsatisfactory Policy - The board expressed a desire for a consistent policy regarding the effect of citizenship grades on athletic eligibility. The proposal was that U’s can only be given when a student receives two detentions in a single class during an eligibility period and that it takes two U’s for a student to become ineligible to participate in athletic events.

8) Spring Coaching Positions - A particularly controversial decision made by the board was to reject a recommendation made by the superintendent regarding a coaching position. Obviously this could result in litigation should the person voted down decide to challenge the decision.

NEXT MEETING: March 10th
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby hungrybill » Fri Feb 12, 2016 8:45 pm

WHITE SHAME: HIGH SCHOOL FORCES STUDENTS TO WATCH WHITE GUILT VIDEO
There probably is a small percent of people of all racial backgrounds who really do have an unfair advantage over the rest of us. But for regular people who send their kids to public school and who live a middle class lifestyle, there is no advantage to being Asian or European or whatever. It's about work. If you sluff off and expect to get by without working hard, then you've cheated yourself and you can make all the excuses in the world, but the reality is that those who work hard generally get ahead and those who don't generally fall behind. The pattern is that Asians out-perform Whites and that Hispanics and Blacks tend to lag behind. It may be genetics and it may be lack of effort, but at this point in history it has nothing to do with society... so making excuses or blaming others just makes you look even more pathetic.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby desertrat » Sat Feb 13, 2016 7:55 am

School district panel deciding students' fate
There are a number of problems with this situation. First of all, the small knives were in the students' vehicles. A bigger problem is that the search of the vehicles was the result of the behavior of a drug sniffing dog. In neither case was there actually any drugs in the cars and the knives were obviously and simply excuses to cover up errors made by the dogs. It has been repeatedly shown that drug sniffing dogs are extremely unreliable. Ultimately it is unconstitutional for a search to be made based on the behavior of a drug sniffing dog and any competent attorney can blow such a case out of the water. It's an easy lawsuit to win and although there may be too many lawsuits in this country, most are the result of abuses of power as we see in these two cases.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby wildrose » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:33 am

8) Spring Coaching Positions - A particularly controversial decision made by the board was to reject a recommendation made by the superintendent regarding a coaching position. Obviously this could result in litigation should the person voted down decide to challenge the decision.

As I've indicated several times in the past, I'm a retired teacher, having taught slightly over three decades before retiring. I've seen this sort of thing many times and in every case rejection of a personnel recommendation made by the superintendent was the result of either:
1) Personal vendetta
2) Acting on unsubstantiated rumor
3) Wanting to fill the position with a friend or family member
I've seen several such cases in my own and other districts result in lawsuits. The mere fact that the superintendent recommended the potential employee virtually guarantees a win for the rejected potential employee in the case of a lawsuit, especially if there is any possibility of any of the three situations I listed being applicable. Entanglements in small towns make it pretty hard for one of the situations to not apply and the hint that any could be applicable is all it takes to tip the balance in a lawsuit. That's why most school boards prudently follow the recommendations of their superintendent, especially when it comes to employment matters.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby pcslim » Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:50 am

What do we know about the generation after millennials?
The big idea I got out of this is that there is a difference between being TECHNOLOGICALLY DEPENDENT and being TECHNOLOGICALLY LITERATE.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby tronagirl » Sun Feb 14, 2016 7:52 am

How troubled teachers cheat background checks
With all the talk of a teacher shortage here in California I wonder if "troubled teachers" from out of state will slip through the cracks.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby BoraxBill » Mon Feb 15, 2016 7:28 am

Athlete finishes first, gives medal to 'real' winner
This is a lesson in what it means to have integrity. Even when organizations and bureaucracies fail to show moral character, it is still possible for individuals to rise above the rules and regulations and actually do the right thing.
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Re: TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY

Postby cactuspete » Wed Feb 17, 2016 7:48 am

pcslim: I like the distinction between TECHNOLOGICALLY DEPENDENT and TECHNOLOGICALLY LITERATE. I'd say that over 90 percent of people in the USA are technologically DEPENDENT to some degree, but well below ten percent are technologically LITERATE. As has been pointed out many times in previous Board Meeting threads, schools are doing almost nothing to help make students technologically LITERATE.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby mrgreen » Wed Feb 17, 2016 6:58 pm

Some parents say kids are testing too much in school
Testing has become such a compulsive habit that it almost seems like schools test for the sake of testing.
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Re: Over Testing Kids

Postby wildrose » Thu Feb 18, 2016 7:23 am

mrgreen: The most interesting part of the TESTING TOO MUCH video was right at the end. They report that kids in California take 112 tests by the time they are in 12th grade. Kids in top performing countries only take THREE! The problem is that we focus on testing to the exclusion of teaching and learning!
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