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The Mid-county Memo is your newspaper. We want to hear from you. Discuss an important issue or address a concern you want to call to the attention of the community. We prefer e-mailed letters to the editor sent to Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. Please put “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line. You may also mail your letter to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR 97230 or fax it to 503-249-7672. Deadline for the May issue is Sunday, April 15.
Residents save bus line
To the Editor:
After receiving many comments from Parkrose residents, TriMet has decided to drop its plan to drastically reduce service on bus 22. As TriMet's refined budget proposal clarifies, bus 22, which travels between Argay and Gateway, line 23, that connects Parkrose Heights to Gateway, and route 25 that links Rockwood and Gateway, will not change from the current service frequency. TriMet's change shows that the transit agency valued our input. Thanks to everyone who expressed their opinion. See TriMet's refined proposal at trimet.org/choices/bus-reductions-refined.htm.
Paulette Rossi
Argay
School board member explains departure
To the Editor:
I wanted to let our Parkrose Community know that on Thursday, March 8, I resigned from my position on the Parkrose School District Board of Education.
I chose to resign as a result of the March 7 Parent Advisory Committee meeting regarding the implementation of the Breakfast in the Classroom program. I believe that Prescott Elementary School families and staff have some very valid concerns regarding the implementation of this program. I also believe that the district did not listen to nor address these concerns at this meeting. As a parent, I stand with Prescott on this issue. I feel the current breakfast program allows our children healthier options and I am concerned to see quality reduced to obtain more participation when the need has not been determined. I would prefer to grow the current program to ensure that ALL Prescott children are receiving a healthy breakfast in a suitable environment. Moreover, I feel that mealtime should be a time of enjoyment, relaxation and socializing… not a multi-tasking event. I do want all of our children fed. I just believe we need to go about this more responsibly to ensure that we are teaching kids to make sound nutrition decisions in their futures.
I struggled with this decision as I feel a lot of folks are counting on me to represent Parkrose parents on the board. I hope I haven't disappointed anyone. I remain committed to working for and serving Parkrose students, but feel I may be better fit for working WITH our kids, rather than FOR our kids. I find politics extremely slow and frustrating. Also frustrating is trying to serve our kids with dwindling funds. This is a statewide, and even a national, problem and NOT a problem facing our district alone.
Of all my school board duties, I will miss most my role as board liaison to the Parkrose Educational Foundation. This is a group of people that focus solely on getting funds to projects and programs that the district is no longer able to fund due to statewide budget cuts. My sincere wish is to continue working with this group as a community member.
In our current economic environment, our Parkrose School Board has a very difficult job. I have enjoyed working with the board. We have elected a group of people that are extremely committed to Parkrose students. It was amazing to work with Ed Grassel, board chair, and my board mentor. Ed is extremely calm, focused, and open to all ideas that may help preserve programs and experiences for the students. He was very patient with me as I learned to navigate the world of school board politics. I do want to thank the board for the shared experiences and growth we've had over the last two years.
A lot can happen in our little neighborhood in just a week! I am absolutely thrilled to note that the Prescott parents were invited to another meeting with the district on March 12 where our concerns were heard and have begun to be addressed. The quality of food being served in the program is already being improved and quality will continue to be monitored, the implementation dates for both Prescott and Russell have been changed to early fall of next school year (as opposed to right after spring break this year), formal opt out options for students that eat breakfast at home are being reviewed, the logistics of food transportation will be sorted out, and an advisory committee will be developed to ensure the success of the program in achieving its goal of serving all Parkrose students a healthy breakfast at school. These are great steps toward improving the BIC program. I am looking forward to seeing continued progress in the immediate future as the district continues to work with our community stakeholders to find the best breakfast solution for our Parkrose students. Many thanks to the teachers and staff at Sacramento who invited Prescott parents to observe the program in practice.
I truly hope that this instance signifies the beginning of improved communication between our district and all the stakeholders in the community. The board is aware that our community has concerns about communication with the district. Improved communication strengthens our community and a strong community is good for our kids.
I know there are some of us out there that have more patience and perhaps more tolerance for politics than I do. I highly recommend that you consider joining the district budget committee, the bond oversight committee, or apply to be appointed to the school board. You will have my full support. For those that want to be involved in other ways, I encourage you to contact your local school and get signed up. There's no shortage of ways to help our students.
Remember, there is only ONE goal…to provide the best opportunities and education possible to ALL of our Parkrose kids. As a board member, I would evaluate issues and ideas by asking myself, “Is this good for kids?” As a parent, I will continue to ask this very same question. I hope as a community, we will all ask ourselves this very question before making a final decision on anything that affects our kids. It will involve research and communication, I promise. But we are the adults of Parkrose and serve as the voice of our children. They deserve nothing less from us.
Peace,
Adair Fernee
Parkrose parent
Teachers voice concerns
To the Editor:
Back in December, I wrote in to help make the community aware of a labor management concern between the Parkrose School District and the Parkrose Faculty Association. As I write this letter it is three months later and little has changed.
Parkrose teachers continue to struggle with their workload. We have altered schedules to deal with the district's decision to significantly reduce staff over the past two years, yet the district will not make any effort to deal with the workload issue. We have been extremely creative with our problem solving ideas. The district doesn't seem to see our need for consistent times (weekly or monthly) to meet and plan together in teams. This is difficult at all levels. We need time to plan ahead not only for the next day but the next unit and the diverse needs of our student population. We have much less educational assistant time and this creates more difficult situations for us in the classroom. We have many unique needs in our classrooms. Students dealing with a variety of challenges don't always get the support they need, so this responsibility creates a lot for us to plan and prepare for. We have ever-changing standards and new proficiency targets that require a lot of time working together and planning. State and district required work samples require enormous amounts of time to implement and grade. No new time is being asked for. Rather, a better utilization of available time is our latest proposal...since the district is completely unwilling to let go of any of their district directed minutes.
The district continues to say that finances are the problem. We have offered to sacrifice from the beginning. We have repeatedly offered day cuts, which the district says they need. We have offered to freeze our insurance the first year and have a modest adjustment for the second year. We are willing to waive our professional development dollars (tuition and workshop). Plus, we have no cost of living adjustment on the table. We sacrificed 10 days of pay last year (4 were paid holidays so that students would not lose as many days) and still the district laid off 13 teachers. We are not asking for very much. We understand that this is a difficult time economically, but we also have to meet the needs of our own families. Additionally, we have identified money in the audit that is at the board's discretion to use. There's enough to make this work.
The school board voted to unilaterally change the calendar without our consent or approval. Not only did this demonstrate a total lack of respect for employees; it also created grounds to file a complaint with the Employee Relations Board. Why couldn't they just continue to bargain and work this out?
We didn't ask for mediation. The district did. We didn't move this to impasse. The district did. We have moved towards the district many times in our proposals. We have made it clear that we are ready to compromise in order to get a settlement. However, the district actions demonstrate that they are unwilling to meet the needs of the employees who provide the educational services for Parkrose students.
Please call or email the Parkrose School Board and tell them you want them to work with the Parkrose Faculty Association to create a fair settlement.
Respectfully,
Jerry Landreth
Vice President, Parkrose Faculty Association
5th grade teacher
Parkrose School District negotiations
To the Editor:
Labor negotiations in East County have reached a serious place and the truth must be told by each school district. There are many rumors being spread and misinformation has been given. I feel it is important that the position of the Parkrose School District must be represented in response to these statements.
Over the last twelve months the Parkrose School District and the Parkrose Faculty Association have been engaged in negotiations over a contract to replace the one that expired on July 1, 2011. We have met with the PFA more than ten times for more than 100 hours, including three formal mediation sessions. We have another mediation date set for April 4 for another opportunity in which to come to a settlement.
Balancing the school district's general fund for the 2011-2012 school year (this year's budget) requires a reduction of ten school days, a reduction that has yet to occur because it requires agreement by the PFA. The PFA has known about this for nearly one year but our many offers to reach agreement on implementing the reduction have been rejected by the association and now time has run out. As we stand today, the Parkrose School District budget is in the red just as predicted.
We must have a ten-day reduction and we must have the step increases in pay taken by eligible teachers returned. We have offered the teachers a way to do that: pay it back next year (only by those staff that were eligible for increases) on a monthly basis that would cost between $80 and $160 per month over 12 months. This too, was rejected. Given that the teachers make up 68% of the total general fund expenditures for the district, closure on the teacher contract is absolutely necessary to move forward with not only balancing this year's budget, but balancing next year's budget as well. We have been using 1.5 to 2.5 million dollars per year from our reserves to balance our budget due to the worst economic recession to hit Oregon in more than 70 years. It has been three straight years of down turn with a fourth year to come. We believe that we will be more than 2.4 million dollars short for the 2012-2013 school year unless we implement this plan along with a salary and benefits freeze for 2011-2013. Most other districts in Oregon are in similar situations.
We simply cannot continue to give increases in pay or insurance to the teachers at this time. A raise in salary and/or insurance means the following: more cuts to programs, cuts to staffing, cuts to educational assistants in the classroom, cuts to student school days, and increases to class size. How can this be a good decision for our students? We need a freeze. That's what we are asking for. It is a reasonable request especially when the Parkrose teachers are some of the highest paid in the state. The district has long been generous in bargaining with teachers and we appreciate their service, but our financial situation has changed. It is simply not the same as it used to be. These are the facts.
We have heard much about teacher workload. Parkrose School District has met twice with the PFA specifically regarding workload. Together, we developed several excellent ideas including ways to reduce meeting redundancy and ideas around scheduling of teacher-based team time. I genuinely look forward to more discussion and decisions about workload ideas.
Teacher preparation time has been an issue. Right now, according to contract, the teachers have their prep within the amount of time they see students. If we added more prep time, it would then have to be taken out of the instructional time teachers have with their students. I do not believe that less instructional time is good for students, not with a reduced school year and higher educational standards.
School districts have given all the money and insurance they can. Now most of us are broke. We are not short of funding due to being irresponsible. We are economically disadvantaged due to a bad economy plus legal limitations and legislative priorities that must change. We do not want to be forced to implement a contract that has not been agreed to by our employees, but we must be fiscally responsible to our taxpayers. Nor does anyone want a teacher strike. No one benefits from this standoff, especially the precious students we serve and their supportive parents.
We have bargained in good faith, always with the interests of students, families and taxpayers in mind, and we appreciate the service and professionalism of our teachers. Surely there must be a way forward to protect all of our charges while recognizing the cold, hard financial climate we face. It is time to settle. We seek the goodwill of our employees and our community as we try to responsibly deal with keeping the level of education high while recognizing fiscal necessity.
Dr. Karen Fischer Gray
Superintendent
Parkrose School District
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