The Observation Deck

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"Thank you to the publishers of the Observer and the readers of this forum for giving me a place to share my opinion." At-Large Lakewood City Councilwoman Monique Smith.

"Fiddle while Rome burns? Durn tootin' I will." Gary Rice.

I'm aware of the copy center agreement issues with confidentially and whatnot but what exactly is this quote about:



Is the district considering suspending the extended-day kindergarden program or does it mean Lakewood will keep extended-day but wants to not implement all-day kindergarden at this time?

Danielle,

Great question! This was the first question that I immediately asked the Administration when this emergency was presented to me yesterday. In response, the Administration has assured me that – in spite of the resolution – there will, in fact, be all-day, every-day kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year (just as it is now) and that this emergency resolution simply addresses funding issues only. That is the promise made to me by the Administration.

Matt

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"Thank you to the publishers of the Observer and the readers of this forum for giving me a place to share my opinion." At-Large Lakewood City Councilwoman Monique Smith.

"Fiddle while Rome burns? Durn tootin' I will." Gary Rice.

Thanks as always for the response Matt. I guess it's another thing to keep an eye on.

I assume the meeting is done by now. How were the votes cast on the issues? Was there any discussion on the two issues before the votes were cast?

Danielle,

The 7:15 a.m. meeting was attended by Betsy, Linda, and me. Ed and John had prior work commitments and were not in attendance, which can certainly be understood given that this was a last minute emergency meeting.

The contract between ComDoc and OFFICEMAX Impress was approved 3-0 because the vendor agreed to all of the Board’s terms and conditions with respect to student confidentiality and public records, as well as other provisions.

We then began discussing the “Resolution of the Lakewood Board of Education to Seek a Waiver to Request the Delay of All-Day, Every-Day Kindergarten,” which reads as follows:



The Administration did assure me that – in spite of the resolution – there will, in fact, be all-day, every-day kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year (just as it is now) and that this emergency resolution simply addresses funding issues only. My school board colleagues were unwilling to unconditionally guarantee the same.

The “Resolution of the Lakewood Board of Education to Seek a Waiver to Request the Delay of All-Day, Every-Day Kindergarten” passed 2-1.

I voted “no” because I have fought hard to ensure that all-day, every-day kindergarten is available to all Lakewood parents and their children. The State of Ohio now mandates all-day, every-day kindergarten and, most importantly, our Administration reports that all-day, every-day kindergarten is the foundation of the increasing academic elementary excellence we are experiencing in Lakewood today. The Board is now recommending that the Lakewood City Schools be excused from offering all-day, every-day kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year. I am simply unwilling to break my promise to our parents and jeopardize all-day, every-day kindergarten for our children.

Matt

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"Thank you to the publishers of the Observer and the readers of this forum for giving me a place to share my opinion." At-Large Lakewood City Councilwoman Monique Smith.

"Fiddle while Rome burns? Durn tootin' I will." Gary Rice.

This is a disgrace.

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"When I dare to be powerful -- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." - Audre Lorde

Matt,
I'm having difficulty understanding why a waiver for delay of implementation has been sought by the Administration yet the very same Administration has assured you there will be all day, every day kindergarten. Is this just a move to get the State to fund this mandate? That if enough school districts complain they'll fund it?

Regarding the urgent need for this meeting, was there a deadline approaching for the waiver to be filed? Or was there a communication breakdown somewhere along the chain that caused an emergency?

Thanks - Charlie

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I was going to sue her for defamation of character but then I realized I had no character – Charles Barkley

Charlie,

Apparently the above resolution does not mean what it really says and the Board actually voted for all-day, and every-day kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year by voting against it.

See http://www.cleveland.com/sunpostherald/index.ssf/2010/07/lakewood_schools_will_fund_all.html.

And, according to the above article, it appears that the Board actually voted against a real “plan for implementation for providing all-day, every-day kindergarten beginning in 2011-2012 school year” by voting for it.

Matt

_________________
"Thank you to the publishers of the Observer and the readers of this forum for giving me a place to share my opinion." At-Large Lakewood City Councilwoman Monique Smith.

"Fiddle while Rome burns? Durn tootin' I will." Gary Rice.

Matt - I'm not an attorney but I would tend to think that "the Lakewood Board of Education understands that the waiver is for the delay of all-day, every-day kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year" would mean a delay or postponement of all-day, every-day kindergarten for this upcoming school year.

Further, "...and a plan for implementation for providing all-day, every-day kindergarten beginning in 2011-2012 school year..." would mean finding a way to implment all-day, every-day kindergarten in the 2011-12 schoold year.

Apparently, after reading David George's piece in the Sun News, I'm misinterpreting the resolution, and so are you


I'm not sure how David George can state the waiver is "to release federal grants from last school year to pay for the extended kindergarten program for 2010-11" when there is no mention of federal grants in the waiver itself? How does he know this information and a Board of Education member doesn't?

Which leads me back to an unanswered question about communication.

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I was going to sue her for defamation of character but then I realized I had no character – Charles Barkley

Charlie,

The fact that the Board promised our parents that the Lakewood City Schools would offer their children all-day, every-day kindergarten seems clear.

The fact that all-day, every-day kindergarten for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years is already in the budget seems clear.

The fact that state law mandates all-day, every-day kindergarten seems clear.

The fact that the board resolution specifically calls for the "delay of all-day, every-day kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year" seems clear.

The fact that the board resolution goes on and further calls for "a plan for implementation for providing all-day, every-day kindergarten beginning in 2011-2012 school year" seems clear.

I have no idea how to respond to whether an emergency existed or not. And, after reading David George's article, I am not even sure I was at the same board meeting.

Since I know that you appreciate the greatest American epic space opera, I think the following clip best summarizes this whole issue:



Matt

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"Thank you to the publishers of the Observer and the readers of this forum for giving me a place to share my opinion." At-Large Lakewood City Councilwoman Monique Smith.

"Fiddle while Rome burns? Durn tootin' I will." Gary Rice.

Matt - I have a great appreciation for Star Wars and especially the YouTube you posted. However, trying to understand all of this makes me feel like I'm watching...



Charlie

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I was going to sue her for defamation of character but then I realized I had no character – Charles Barkley

I hate to rail on the journalistic quality of a specific person but I learned many years ago that often David George makes major errors in his reporting. He has attributed quotes to the wrong person, he has been wrong on the facts (many years ago completed misrepresented a story about something that happened to one of my children). Mr. George has left meetings before they are over and I have seen him sleeping during meetings. Because of these facts I find it's best to take what he writes with a grain a salt. And I will always takes Matt's accounting of board meetings over Mr. George's.

Also I wanted to thank Charlie for asking more in-depth questions and once again for Matt for asking them to the best of his ability. This is the type of question and answering sessions that is needed to get to the bottom of issues. Because of this conversations I know I have a better understanding of the issue at hand and I am sure other readers do also.