TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

News pertaining directly to Trona, Death Valley, the northern Mojave Desert, Inyo County, and adjacent areas.

TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby blackturtle.us » Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:59 am

TJUSD INFO: http://www.blackturtle.us/TTA/
This was a somewhat unusual board meeting. The decision was made to combine the dispersal of winter sports awards with a board meeting, resulting in a ton of people squeezed into a very small room for about twenty minutes. Once the awards were hastily handed out almost everybody left, leaving a total of about twelve people (including the five board members) who stayed for the entire board meeting. No one seemed to enjoy the predictably cramped "awards presentation", but it was over quickly. Onto the actual board meeting...

1) Emergency Item: This item was added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. A waterline broke and flooded the auditorium during Winter Break and repairs are urgently needed. The district will attempt to bypass the normal bid process in order to expedite necessary repairs.
2) During board member comments it was mentioned that San Bernardino County will be constructing an actual recreational park for the community of Trona. The exact location was not disclosed, but it was stated that creation of the park is expected to begin soon.
3) Trona Teachers Association - a) The TTA president explained that at a recent union meeting that the teaching staff expressed concern regarding school security. It was stated that teachers are interested in Active Shooter Preparedness Training and about upgrading the physical security of both the elementary and the high school campus. Fourteen out of twenty teachers attended the meeting and the vast majority shared concerns regarding school security. The board agreed that this was a serious matter and the superintendent said that discussions were in progress regarding these concerns. b) The TTA president stated that high school teachers wanted the board and general public to be aware that they all have an unusual number of "preps." Whereas most teachers at large schools prepare one lesson per day which they deliver to five classes, teachers at THS typically prepare five lessons since they don't teach multiple classes of the same subject during a given semester. It was mentioned that many schools actually pay a stipend to teachers who have multiple "preps" since it is recognized that more "preps" requires more preparation time. c) TTA representatives acknowledged "School Board Recognition Month" by thanking board members for their service and by presenting a couple gifts to board members including pictures of the student body at the elementary and chocolates in a heart-shaped box.
4) Superintendent's Report - a) The superintendent talked about Active Shooter Scene Training, school safety, and ideas to upgrade the physical facility in order to make it safer for students and staff. Points of entry, ease of access, check in systems, gating, entry through offices, and other ideas were all mentioned. b) Independent Study started this week. c) The superintendent announced that he will make a "State of the District" presentation at the March board meeting.
5) Head of Maintenance reported more information to the board about the waterline leak in the auditorium. He mentioned that the piping was installed around 1941 and that it had corroded from the inside out, making it difficult to spot weak sections of pipe through mere visual inspection. He also talked some about the basement near the auditorium being flooded and stated that the pump installed in the basement had failed and that the water level was getting high enough to cause concern about the possibility of water reaching electrical devices above the basement. Apparently the underground water level of the "dry" lake is above the bottom of the basement and so water normally leaks into the basement and the pump is needed to keep the water level down. Interestingly, the water level fluctuates significantly due to a few factors, including activities of the Searles Valley chemical plant.
6) Elementary Report - The elementary principal announced that the third and fourth grade classes won the annual canned food contest and that each will be rewarded with a pizza party. The two classes apparently tied in collecting the most cans for the annual canned food drive held in December each year.
7) Football - The HS football coach provided the board with an update regarding the football team and four players who were selected to be part of an all-star team. He also thanked the board for allowing the team to travel to Avalon to play a football game against the team there.
8) 2016/2017 Independent Auditor's Report - The financial secretary reported four findings: a) Cafeteria encroaching on general funds, b) Professional growth funds not being used and the district at risk of losing these funds, c) Williams Act hearing held late, d) Out of compliance with ed code requirement regarding percent of funds used to pay salaries.
9) New Cafeteria Roof - Most of the cost will be covered by insurance ($69k), but some money from general fund ($14k) will be required to get the job done right.
FUTURE MEETING: February 8th, 2018
User avatar
blackturtle.us
Cantankerous Mule
 
Posts: 279
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2012 12:20 pm
Location: Turtle Town

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby wildrose » Sat Jan 13, 2018 2:09 pm

School Sorry For "Good" Slavery Homework
The teacher here had the right idea, but was a little lazy. The question should have been something more like, "From the perspective of a slave owner, what are three advantages of slavery?" In fact, I'm willing to bet that the instructor explained as much before passing out the assignment. Of course, this presents us with a more troubling question: WHY WERE THE GUYS DISCUSSING THIS SITUATION TOO STUPID TO SUGGEST THAT POSSIBILITY?
User avatar
wildrose
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1396
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:41 pm
Location: middle of nowhere

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby tronagirl » Sat Jan 13, 2018 6:23 pm

Schools close in North Carolina, Idaho amid flu outbreak
Wow! This sounds serious! :wow:
tronagirl
Ancient Bristlecone
 
Posts: 853
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:55 am

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby panamint_patty » Sun Jan 14, 2018 8:04 am

tronagirl: Hopefully the custodial staff is working hard to clean all surfaces which kids touch on a daily basis. Desks, computer keyboards, cafeteria tables, etc. Also providing hand sanitizer and encouraging kids to wash their hands frequently would be a good idea. If the flu is hitting in those other places, then sooner or later it will roll through southern California!
User avatar
panamint_patty
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1203
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 1:23 pm
Location: T-Town

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby mrgreen » Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:08 pm

Student reacts to professor's racist comments
I'd go so far as to insist that what is sometimes called "reverse racism" is much more common than white on minority racism. We can thank progressive liberals for this current state of affairs. It's good to see a white person actually winning a case like this.
User avatar
mrgreen
Ancient Bristlecone
 
Posts: 910
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 7:09 pm
Location: NO PLACE IN PARTICULAR

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby cactuspete » Wed Jan 17, 2018 8:39 am

mrgreen: Educational policy in California is basically just a big reverse racism scam. Minority students have all sorts of exemptions which make it impossible to hold them responsible for their own behavior. It's considered to be the fault of the teacher when they fail to succeed. Kids brought up without accountability will turn into adults who are completely irresponsible. It's a formula for disaster and that's where we're headed thanks to the airheads in Sacramento! Having been married to a school teacher (now retired) for almost four decades, I'm all too aware of the bad policy produced up in Sacramento.
User avatar
cactuspete
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1277
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 11:14 am
Location: The Boonies

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby wildrose » Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:16 pm

'Pyramid of White Supremacy' used in university curriculum
This video provides a good example of how progressive liberal ideology distorts reality and how it has crept into the curriculum at many universities. The influence of progressive liberals pervades education in many ways and many textbooks are tainted by this dysfunctional worldview.
User avatar
wildrose
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1396
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:41 pm
Location: middle of nowhere

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby desertrat » Thu Jan 18, 2018 8:51 am

wildrose: What amazes me is that most teachers I've talked to seem to be very suspicious of the agenda being pushed by Sacramento. They don't trust the companies that make textbooks either. Libtard ideas are pushed constantly from the top onto teachers, but most teachers (at least the ones I've met) are very resistant and don't subscribe to the libtard way of thinking. But at the same time they recognize the importance of modernizing teaching practices, but are stuck with old ways of doing things due to forces beyond their control and anytime teachers try to reform the system to bring it up to date, the powers that be at the top force them to do more testing or use ridiculous textbooks.
User avatar
desertrat
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1256
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:22 am
Location: BFE

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby panamint_patty » Thu Jan 18, 2018 7:35 pm

Principal Announces School's Snow Days With Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift Parodies
This is kind of funny. Some might say that it's too undignified for a principal to do this kind of thing, but at least his heart is in the right place.
User avatar
panamint_patty
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1203
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 1:23 pm
Location: T-Town

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 11, 2018

Postby twister » Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:16 am

blackturtle.us wrote:TJUSD INFO: http://www.blackturtle.us/TTA/
This was a somewhat unusual board meeting. The decision was made to combine the dispersal of winter sports awards with a board meeting, resulting in a ton of people squeezed into a very small room for about twenty minutes. Once the awards were hastily handed out almost everybody left, leaving a total of about twelve people (including the five board members) who stayed for the entire board meeting. No one seemed to enjoy the predictably cramped "awards presentation", but it was over quickly. Onto the actual board meeting...

The rumor I heard is that the apathy level regarding high school sports is so high that it was pointless to hold a separate event to honor student athletes. It sounds like the idea was to crowd the few people who care into a small room to make it seem like people really care when for the most part they simply don't. Hate to be negative, but let's face it, most of the kids who play on Trona teams can by no stretch of the imagination be called athletes and only one or two would even have a chance to make it on a team at Burroughs and probably none would make teams in large cities. It's good that they get to play high school sports, but it's kind of like...
:roll2:
User avatar
twister
Backcountry Hiker
 
Posts: 771
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 1:21 pm
Location: John 3:8

Next

Return to Local News

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 35 guests

cron