Finally!!

bbnt

bbnt

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The school board Voted 6-1 to not renew the contract for the Superintendent of the state deaf schools here in arizona!
 
Umm... I'm lost here. You make it sound like good news. I take it that superintendent was a prick. Am I correct?
 
Huh? Can you eloborate this, BBNT? What made you excited about superintendent's contract is not renewed?
 
To ASDB board members


Hello My Name is David xxxxxxx and My daughter Brittany xxxxxxx is in 7th grade at PDSD. She has been at the school since she was 3 {pre school}. I have had more than a few concerns about the school the last few years. My main concern stems from what I see as a lack of leadership in some departments, including the Principle and Superintendent positions.

While we don't have a principle at the moment I think we are better of this year with Judy and Sandi sharing responsibilities then we were last year with a single person in charge {Gaby}. Even thou they both wear many different hats and sometimes run around exhausted I still fell they do a better job as a team then what we had the past few years.

One thing that really bothers me is the lack of respect I see from the teachers and parents here at PDSD for the Ken xxxxxxx. I have also become aware the deaf community here doesn't hold a high opinion of him either. My personal feeling is he doesn't have the kids best interest at heart and he inspires no loyalty among anyone that I have come in contact with since he has been employed in the Superintendent's position.

I have known many of the teachers and aides that have quit PDSD over the past few years and most them did not quit because of monetary concerns but rather working conditions. The fact of the matter is when a teacher or an aide has a problem here at the school they feel like they're up against a wall with no chance of change for the better. I have heard the same thing over and over again "The administration doesn't care and the Superintendent wont do anything about it."

The worst part of all is the amount of deaf teachers and aides that have quit. I have seen first hand how they have been disrespected . The kids here need deaf role models but they continue to leave with no end to it in sight. For the first time since my daughter started school at PDSD I am taking a serious look at mainstreaming Brittany. I am not the only parent thinking about this. We have a group of parents in the middle school that have had their kids here a long time and have watched things steadily get worse.

I am desperate to see an infusion of strong leadership. I do NOT want my daughter to change schools but I am at the point where I feel I have no choice. My gut feeling is we will never get a quality person in the Principles job here because of the reputation PDSD had gotten over the past few years. I talk to many people all over the United State via Internet and there are no positive comments to be found about PDSD anywhere.


I on the other hand have a few positive things to say. First would be "Transportation". 5 or 6 years ago this had to be the worst department period. They have steadily gotten better and I have a hard time remembering the last time I had any problems with the bus. They make the extra effort to work with the parents.

2nd would be the Bridges program. This program is OUTSTANDING and I would hate to think where my daughter would be with out it.

Last but not least would be almost all the teachers Brittany has had over the years. While not all of them are still employed at the school some of them are and they have my deepest gratitude for sticking it out in less then ideal working conditions.

In closing I hope you give this letter some thought. I have lost more than a little sleep agonizing over a decision I know I must make. It's going to take strong people in high level positions to make the kind of changes that are needed. Just as important we need to show people outside this state that were going to make changes for the better because that is the only way we are going to bring quality teachers back to this school.
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That was a letter I sent to the board the day before the made a decision on his contract. I had to word it as a concern and not a complaint because complaints have to a much different process.

Truth is I am probably going mainstream her anyway {highschool} but this guy was useless and needed to be gotten rid of
 
Ahh, kewlies -- hope things does improve at PDSD -- Sure hope your daughter, Brittany, will receive the best set of education as possible to ensure a good future for herself. :grouphug:
 
Care to elaborate on exactly what was wrong with the superintenant?
 
deafdyke said:
Care to elaborate on exactly what was wrong with the superintenant?
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give me a few days and I will do just that.
 
Truth is I am probably going mainstream her anyway {highschool}
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BBNT, I suggest that you sit down with your daughter and talk about all the possible options for high school. After her 14th birthday she is going to be able to parcipatate in the IEP process. She should also have a say in where she wants to go. I'm not bashing mainstreaming at all...I think it can work very well, especially with proper supports. However, it can be a nightmare, especially in a snotty school or a school where the mainstream teachers are kind of out of it about accomondations. There are tons of secondary education options out there....Model Secondary School for the Deaf, split placements (like what alisonjoy did) going to state res school and so on. Does your daughter want to go off to college? One of the major problems with mainstream high schools is that they don't really tend to offer too much in the way of vocational training. Also, a lot of the kids who do go off to college, end up not having marketable skills.....they are essentially educated idoits.
 
I have been discussing this with her, I have also been looking
into mainstreaming options. Most of the districts have lousy deaf
programs.I would not just stick her in any school with an interpreter
and a roaming recourse teacher. It would have to be one with a
deaf program on campus.


On the side of town I live on there is 2 districts with good deaf
programs. One is new and one has been there for a while. The one
that is new has ex PDSD teaches and students that got fed up and
left. The other one is in the district I live in and the High school where
they have the deaf program also has a gifted program which means I
could send Brittany's twins sister there because she averages 95% in
all her classes.


Going to a res school is not an option. The only good ones are out
of state and we want to be the ones that raise her. This isn't
something that I just thought of at the moment. This has been
ongoing for awhile but whatever is decided Brittany will have a major
say in the final decision
 
bbnt said:
I have been discussing this with her, I have also been looking
into mainstreaming options. Most of the districts have lousy deaf
programs.I would not just stick her in any school with an interpreter
and a roaming recourse teacher. It would have to be one with a
deaf program on campus.


On the side of town I live on there is 2 districts with good deaf
programs. One is new and one has been there for a while. The one
that is new has ex PDSD teaches and students that got fed up and
left. The other one is in the district I live in and the High school where
they have the deaf program also has a gifted program which means I
could send Brittany's twins sister there because she averages 95% in
all her classes.


Going to a res school is not an option. The only good ones are out
of state and we want to be the ones that raise her. This isn't
something that I just thought of at the moment. This has been
ongoing for awhile but whatever is decided Brittany will have a major
say in the final decision
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BBNT,

I want to applaud you for your efforts as well as others to get this superintendet's contract not renewed by the ASDB Board and your fellow parents and you did what's the best for your children and their future. *Thumbs Up*


In addition, I also highly commend you to discuss all kinds of issues concerning your daughter's education with Brittany and allow her to have a final and major say in this matter. I am saying it because so many parents tend to send their Deaf children to schools for the deaf, oral schools for the deaf, and/or mainstreamed schools with substandard or insufficient programs and curriculm without consulting or allowing their Deaf children to have a final and major say.

Again, I want to congratulate you and your fellow parents for your efforts and resolve to have this superintendent removed and I am sure that everything will work out in your favor.
 
BBNT, so you're looking not to totally mainstream her? (she'd learn in a Self-Contained Classroom/open door Resource Room for the Deaf type deal?)
That's actually a really good idea. Another downside to traditional "mainstreaming"(inclusion) is that if a student is relatively high functioning and can do well in a typical classroom, they don't really have time for things like speech therapy or other special services, b/c their schdule is so crowded with things. That happened to me (I graduated pretty recently actually...in '98) and I missed speech a lot my last two years of high school.....of course I didn't mind b/c my speech therapist had no idea how to work with deaf and hard of hearing kids! (besides I HATED speech!)
I also commend you for letting Brittney be an active part of her education!
You RAWK!!!!!!!!!
 
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