Ann Arbor parents of children in schools affected by principal consolidation speak against proposal
Putting one principal in charge of Abbot and Wines Elementary schools and one principal in charge of Pittsfield and Angell Elementary schools is a money-saving measure without the permanent repercussions of closing a school, Ann Arbor school administrators say.
But some parents say the change could undo the progress those schools have made under their current principals.
“We’re outraged by this and we’re determined to fight it,” said Scott Ellsworth, a parent of third grade twins at Abbot. “Everyone understands there’s a budget crisis and we appreciate the work the school board and the schools have done, but this is not the way to do it.”
Ann Arbor Public Schools is facing a $15.6 million budget deficit for the coming school year. The proposal to combine the principal positions at the four elementary schools will save the district an estimated $100,000, according to district officials. Two of the principals at the four schools will be reassigned to other schools where principals are retiring, said district spokeswoman Liz Margolis.
Other budget-cutting proposals include eliminating 70 teaching positions and eliminating transportation for high school students.
The district is holding a second budget forum at 6:30 p.m. today in the Skyline High School commons area.
Interim Superintendent Robert Allen told the crowd at a budget forum on Monday that the proposed changes are the alternative to closing a school building. However, with discussions still occurring at the state level that could lead to a smaller funding cut than anticipated, the principal positions could potentially be filled at the current level once again without any major change, Allen said.
“Let’s say best-case scenario … we can reverse what we’re proposing here relatively quickly,” Allen said. “We have the ability to deal with it much faster than if we were trying to redraw boundaries and close school buildings.”
Gov. Rick Snyder has proposed a new $300 per pupil cut on top of a $170 per pupil cut from last year that would not be restored. Public school districts are also facing a $230 per pupil increase in retirement costs.
Lee Ann Dickinson-Kelley, interim deputy superintendent for instruction, said Monday the district would increase some office support to help with the transition. She said surplus teachers — teachers who are usually used to fill long-term substitute positions or resignations late in the summer — and teacher-clerks would be among those who would be staffing the office in support of the building principal.
Dickinson-Kelley pointed to strong staff leadership and parent involvement as some of the reasons why Abbot, Wines, Pittsfield and Angell were chosen for this new strategy. She has said the proposal would be an imperfect solution.
“In the perfect, well-funded world, pairing schools would not be our preference at all,” she said.
Simone Samano-McDaniel, a member of the Pittsfield PTO, said the school’s principal Carol Shakarian has cultivated such a positive atmosphere at the school that it’s hard to imagine Pittsfield without her.
Samano-McDaniel said she doesn’t know much about Gary Court, the principal of Angell who would also be in charge of Pittsfield, and has no reason to question his leadership skills. She said she’s just concerned about the effect that losing Shakarian would have on Pittsfield.
“As far as a learning atmosphere with a lot of support across classrooms, we have that at Pittsfield — it’s a gem of a school,” she said. “Carol Shakarian has been the driving force behind creating and sustaining that atmosphere.”
When reached via email this week, Elissa Gaies, president of the Wines PTO, declined to comment for this story.
Parents at Abbot echoed similar concerns about losing Pam Sica as their principal. Under the proposed change, David DeYoung — the current principal at Wines — would be the principal at the two schools.
Ellsworth said Abbot is one of the more economically diverse schools in the district and requires a dedicated principal to handle the unique issues the school faces. He said Sica’s time in charge has seen Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) scores begin to rise.
“We understand that cuts have to be made,” he said. “But there are other ways to make cuts other than targeting some of the most vulnerable kids in Ann Arbor.”
Alison McCrystal, vice-president of the Pittsfield PTO, said she has had children in the school for the past 10 years and has been a noon-hour supervisor for about seven years. She said Shakarian has made a “phenomenal difference” at the school.
McCrystal said she was worried about daily disciplinary issues that would be handled by a principal, saying if lead teachers were to be pulled out of a classroom to deal with an issue, they would be leaving a room full of children who would have their education suffer.
“Every class has some kids that can’t be handled. Where do they go when there’s no principal in the building,” she said. “I won’t have a child at Pittsfield next year … but I still care so much about Ms. Shakarian and what she has meant to the school.”
The budget issues are not lost on parents.
Abbot parent Janet Driver said her table at Monday’s budget forum had a consensus that district administrators were doing the best that they could. She said administrators are listening to parents’ concerns and she expects more concerns to be aired at Thursday’s budget forum.
“Nobody left saying they didn’t hear us and we think that’s good. Participating more would be positive as opposed to sitting back and thinking this is a done deal,” she said. “With respect to Abbot, we just think it’s a disproportionate impact because of the population, the community involvement the school requires and how much the principal does.”
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Allen
Mon, May 9, 2011 : 7:59 p.m.
At the High Schools, why does the Head Principal not have a caseload like the assistant principals do? Shouldn't they carry part of the burden of running the school instead of just walking around doing nothing or hiding in their offices. I have students at two different high schools and see the assistant principals' going crazy with all the duties and responsibilities put on them by the head principal. We as tax payers are paying the lead principal much more money so we are not getting our money's worth so this needs to be addressed with the board. Also, having Department Heads teach a reduced schedule plus they get paid extra for the lead position. In other districts the leads have a full teaching schedule and the money they make extra is for doing the lead duties AFTER school not during the school day. Many of these leads make 80,000 and only work 3 periods a day.
Christy Summerfield
Thu, May 5, 2011 : 6:12 p.m.
COMMUNITY IS NOT A HIGH SCHOOL SERVING AN AFFLUENT STUDENT POPULATION. The students are admitted to Community High by lottery. There's no way to BUY your child's way into Community. I am so tired of this fallacy being perpetuated. This & the current sharing principal problem, reminds me once again how angry I am that in the face of all the research indicating smaller schools are much better for students, Ann Arbor chose to build yet another huge factory high school. Smoke comes out of my ears every time I think about it. We have two universities with superior education programs and all the research in the world available to us. Yet Ann Arbor chose to ignore it. Skyline was at least 1 year behind schedule and thousands (at least) of dollars over budget. I can't help thinking what a better financial condition our school system would be in today if Skyline had never been built. There were empty school buildings available to turn into small high schools. The wait list for Community is long because kids want to go to a smaller school. Then I found out Skyline had a wait list the first year because the first class was small & most of the school was EMPTY. I have a young friend who had to go to Huron and was on the wait lists for both Community & Skyline because she wanted & needed a smaller learning environment. I watched this kid, who loved learning, was curious & eager, become more & more depressed at Huron. I had one kid graduate Pioneer, three graduate Huron and one Community. The Pioneer & Huron experiences were barely tolerable; the Community experience simply incredible. And I wonder why no one ever says the kids who go to Stone are affluent and elite?
Mary D.
Fri, Apr 29, 2011 : 3:12 a.m.
I'd like to have some examples of the beneftis that combining principals would bring. So far, Ms. Dickinson-Kelly has suggested only that there "will be" benefits. What are they?
ZagPoo
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 8:48 p.m.
Should indeed be very interesting to see how all that turns out. <a href="http://www.web-privacy.eu.tc" rel='nofollow'>www.web-privacy.eu.tc</a>
bballcoachfballfan
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 6:55 p.m.
I am amazed that I never see anyone comment about the addition of a third high school 3 years ago. I wonder what our district budget would look like if we didn't have to fund a third building of administrators, athletic programs, music, drama, etc. I won't say teachers because we basically just moved teachers around and created less crowded hallways and more crowded classrooms. Skyline is a beautiful school and I'm sure the kids love it there. But Ann Arbor did not need a third comprehensive high school. We could have added on to our existing schools at a fraction of the cost. The problem: we had a superintendent and school board 6 or 7 years ago that wanted to have a legacy. As coaches at the high schools, we are now being asked to cut drastically from our programs. There is an idea gaining support out there to completely drop freshman sports. One of the arguments of adding a third school was that we had too many good athletes unable to make our high school teams. Now, we are going to have LESS kids playing for more schools. I realize this is "water under the bridge" now but really, we are going to feel the negative impact of this decision for a long, long time.
Christy Summerfield
Thu, May 5, 2011 : 6:15 p.m.
I'm so happy that I'm not the only one who sees the detrimental effect of yet another huge factory school. See my comment below.
say it plain
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 9:35 p.m.
Good points @AMOC...but probably high-power rahrah varsity sports will stay, because people somehow believe that this is the only way to build 'school culture and spirit', and lifetime games/fitness classes will be cut instead...
AMOC
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 9:02 p.m.
Bball- We absolutely needed the classroom space, if only to be able to get rid of the portables. We absolutely did NOT need the elaborate and expensive athletic facilities at Skyline, and the upgrades to field houses and stadia that the district felt compelled to install at the two other comprehensive high schools in order to get the support of enough people to pass the bond issue. Freshman sports were added about 6 years ago, at a cost of over $1M per year, supposedly to improve the "transition to high school" and as part of implementing what our AAPS administration calls "smaller learning communities". This was supposed to address 9th grade course failures and the all-important achievement gap. No one I've asked, from the Superintendent on down was able to explain how this was supposed to happen except by saying "Studies show that athletic participation is highly correlated with academic achievement." In response to my tart observation that "Correlation is NOT causality", they could add nothing to their excuses for the HUGE waste of money and energy which is High School Athletics in this area. Well, freshman teams and smaller learning communities haven't worked out very well. We have had some progress on the achievement gap front, but this has more to do with specific academic and tutoring programs than anything else. Athletics costs much more than those other programs, which directly boost student achievement. So please don't whine to the public about how the budget cuts are unfair to the sports programs. If I and many other parents got our way, all sports would be club sports and that $3M / year the district spends from the general fund on athletics would be re-allocated to academic programs and gym classes teaching games and sports for life-long fitness.
just a homeowner
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 6:53 p.m.
Sorry the mispost above. I had a computer meltdown. Percent white students at Huron 56% Pioneer 69% Community 79% Percent students in poverty at Huron 16% Pioneer 15% Community 5% District wide White 59% Poverty 199%
just a homeowner
Fri, Apr 29, 2011 : 1:41 p.m.
Typo. 19% Sorry
thorj97
Fri, Apr 29, 2011 : 10:05 a.m.
199% of students in the district live in poverty? How is that possible?
just a homeowner
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 6:50 p.m.
Percent white students at Huron 55.6% Pioneer % Community 74.2% Percent students in poverty at Huron 16% Pioneer 15% Community District wide White Poverty
Thinkin' it Over
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 6:47 p.m.
It's interesting, but not surprising, that the pairings would result in two male principals taking charge of the four schools, while the females are sent packing. The pairing selections are bewildering, and it would be interesting to know the line of thought that led to these match ups. It seems that Angell and Burns Park would be a better match due to their proximity, and the high level of parental involvement, affluence, extra curricular activities/opportunities shared by those populations, and they would also share a common middle school. BP & A are two schools that may require less support than some of those announced by the Board and could successfully function with one principal. Also, Angell feeds into Tappan, and Pittsfield feeds into Scarlett. Wouldn't it make more sense to pair schools that will send kids on to the same middle school? Abbot and Haisley both feed into Forsythe (as does Wines) but are much closer together than Abbot and Wines. The proximity of the schools and their respective neighborhoods seem like a good reason to pair them. Why were schools selected that are so far apart?
local
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 11:10 p.m.
According to district website, Burns Park gets kids from Glencoe Hills, Arbor Pointe, Greenway Apts. on Golside road, and SafeHouse. Yes affluent, but maybe not at the level you think. This would be a non-issue if slick Rick was taking 400 per pupil in cuts from districts. Instead of being pissed at district for making tough cuts, let Snyder know what his cuts are causing. Take the principals out of the equation, what about class sizes? That is an even bigger issue in my mind.
Thinkin' it Over
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 6:21 p.m.
Have you ever visited CHS? CHS has one administrator. Students at CHS are randomly selected after students express interest in attending. It does not serve a more "affluent student population" than any other school.
say it plain
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 9:23 p.m.
But it does, clearly. Because, in part, for one thing, I believe it wasn't until *last year* that CHS started actually serving lunch inside the school! So, if you needed reduced/free lunch for your kids, no go. Also, I believe you needed to get your kids there your self, though I'm not sure about that...until rightnow, kids could take school buses, but of course now that might end so perhaps that will make CHS more appealing since it is easier to get to via AATA. It also has some very 'private school' powers to kick out students who don't 'perform' as they'd like, unlike the other public schools in town. And, lastly, they bill themselves on line and in their presentations as a very 'high-performing' school, boast about their ACT scores and the range of high-end colleges their students get into. I think that this tends to appeal to people who don't worry about their kids meeting these peer 'standards' without extra help or support, because after all that's supposed to be their philosophy, to be about no-bells, follow your interests, etc. It's not a high-end private prep school vibe of course, but that doesn't mean it's not relatively affluent compared to 'average' in this town.
Ms.U.
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 4:21 p.m.
Carol Shakarian is a valuable asset and has done wonders at Pittsfield Elementary; removing her as the principal there for any reason would be a serious mistake! I must also comment on 2 previous comments; Dagny, CHS does not, as you state, serve an affluent population. Admission is by lottery and anyone within the AAPS district may apply, so the student population is not even location based... "aataxpayer", if you spent some time in the high schools, you'd soon see that the grade principals are necessary; with such large student populations, disciplinary issues alone keep them quite busy... One thing I have often wondered about is the acquisition of expensive technology in the schools... The same year (1998??) that AAPS purchased hundreds, if not thousands, computers to place in elementary schools, the position of "computer teacher" was eliminated throughout the district. Presently "Smart Boards" with screen projection systems and computer links are in place in most classrooms... One gets the impression that the board cannot resist the purchase of the latest education technology, no matter how costly. Unless such purchases are made through an earmarked grant and do not affect the general budget, it would be difficult to defend that technology is as important to our children's education as class size, quality and numbers of teaching faculty, etc. Perhaps someone could inform me about the procedures and funding for such purchases?
say it plain
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 9:29 p.m.
Right @a2doglover! I forgot about the info session barriers too. And they do finally have lunch provided, because it was getting ridiculous-level silly to argue that it was even close to 'open to everyone' with that barrier still in place. At least I think they do now. But it seems to me their "look at our stellar test scores" rhetoric is in force as much as ever, and that combined with a lack of accompanying rhetoric about anything but the alleged 'freedoms' of the students lol must make it appealing to the parents of kids who are already doing just fine (unless they also have experience with open education, but those kids don't get accepted automatically anymore).
a2doglover
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 5:08 p.m.
Ms. U-It is you who are mistaken. Admission at CHS is a lottery. The affluent part comes in due to the selection bias of those who put themselves in the lottery. Those who have the most access to transportation, those who can attend information session with involved parents to get into the lottery, those that can provide themselves with a restaurant lunch each day (no cafeteria so no free or reduced cost lunch program) etc.
G2inA2
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 4:19 p.m.
I specifically asked and was told at a district-wide forum at Pioneer High School that the Clemente and Stone very high budgets would be addressed and SOME kind of consolidation would occur. WHEN will THAT happen. I understand that those kids have unusual needs, but SOMETHING has to give.
DonBee
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 3:05 p.m.
Let's see there is a principal in the bond office, there is at least 1 more in Balas, maybe 2. If you want to get rid of 2 or more principal positions, start there. Then there are the grade principals in the high schools. That is another dozen. When you have run through those, I would suggest you can start on the grade schools. If you want to do the grade schools, start with the ones with the highest test scores and the highest average family incomes. This is typical backward AAPS thinking.
DonBee
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 5:05 p.m.
Kyle - Then tell me where the 3 principals that are part of AAAA that are not in buildings are? Last the district reported 2 were in Balas and 1 was in the bond office. So if they are not there, where are they?
Kyle Feldscher
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 3:51 p.m.
Don- There are no principals in the bond office or Balas. If you're looking for two principals to be eliminated, the full budget proposal calls for the elimination of a assistant principal positions at both Huron and Pioneer.
walker101
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 3:01 p.m.
How else can they afford to pay the Superintendent her wages?
grye
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:18 p.m.
Principals have many duties to include teacher evaluation, parent point of contact, rowdy child control, administration POC, etc. It would be helpful to know their side and the anticipated impact of dual appointment. I am not completely confinced that this may be the best choice for the elementary schools. With each high school having an overall principal and then a principal for each grade, it may make more sense to combine 2 grade principal duties. Counselers can help to intervene should the grade principal need assistance. There is often so much hidden information without having first hand knowledge that rash statements and suggestions could negatively impact operations.
Alan Benard
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2 p.m.
Need to save costs on school principals? Do it on the south-east side of Ann Arbor, arguably the side of town with the most multi-family housing, manufactured housing, new immigrants, moderate incomes, single-parent homes -- and beyond any doubt the area with the most racially integrated population. And if you need to operate a program for at-risk students, site it there, as well. And if you run the city, make sure home-owners in the south-east side know that standing water in their own problem, and that there is no extra money to re-dig trenches on the utility easement ... or money to repave trunk roads ... or money to clear snow from subdivisions ... and for certain, if you need to turn off the street lights to save money, the south-east side of town is the best place for a demonstration project. Anybody sensing a pattern?
grye
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:20 p.m.
Wow, conspiracy theorist?
ViSHa
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 1:44 p.m.
dicken and lawton are very close also.
s
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 5:43 p.m.
Mitchell, Pattengill and Northside all have fewer students than Angell but were not included in the shared principal plan. Why not those schools? And student size isn't always indicative of the amount of time and attention required for those students. It makes sense to combine schools which require the same amount of Principal attention rather than looking simply at size, which isn't constant.
skigrl50
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:25 p.m.
BUt look at their high enrollments. The enrollments at Pittsfield and Angel for example are 261 & 285 where Lawton & Dicken are 423 & 371. It makes sense to combine administrators from smaller buildings, but not for larger buildings.
a2doglover
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 1:43 p.m.
Why in the world would cutting the basic services of principal coverage and busing be discussed before the closure of Community High School which serves an affluent few? If these kids and parents want to choose a private school there are several good ones in the area, but I don't think the taxpayers in the area should be compelled to pay for them...
Christy Summerfield
Thu, May 5, 2011 : 6:21 p.m.
Students are admitted to Community by LOTTERY. They are not affluent and they aren't elite. If you want to talk about affluent, look at Greenhills where the governor sends his kid while he cuts public school budgets all over the state.
MjC
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:52 p.m.
My children were River Rats, but still had a number of friends from Community. I don't recall any of these kids being all that affluent. Back up your statement with stats. Community High School meets the needs of many students who don't fit into the normal structure of traditional high school education. It's a shining example of what great education is all about. If a high school needs to be closed, it should be Skyline. We were told years ago the city couldn't afford it...
skigrl50
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:21 p.m.
Just where would you put the 400+ students at Community? And please don't say Skyline... there won't be room there beginning next year. All 3 comprehensive high schools have been reconfigured to hold 1600-1800 kids. If anything, people should look at combining Roberto Clemente and Stone Schools at Stone. Since the enrollments there are 100 & 160 and they could all fit at Stone.
Cash
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 1:09 p.m.
Well, WISD hired a new superintendent last night. Front page news? NOPE!!! And, the salary won't be told until after the election next week!!! Talk about manipulating an election!!
schoolsmuse
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 12:56 p.m.
I think that this pairing of schools does a disservice to all four schools. As YpsiLivin' says above, if it is done at all it should be done with schools that are geographically contiguous. In any case, I don't believe the savings will add up and I've written a blog post about that. <a href="http://a2schoolsmuse.blogspot.com/2011/04/budget-notes-how-would-sharing.html" rel='nofollow'>http://a2schoolsmuse.blogspot.com/2011/04/budget-notes-how-would-sharing.html</a>
wlinsenbigler
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 12:36 p.m.
Consolidate the districts with in Washtenaw County. A super in this county makes 100k a year. Chelsea, Dexter and Stockbridge can be one district, Saline, Milan and Manchester can be another and Ypsilanti, Willow Run and Ann Arbor can be another or something like that. Each city does not need to have its own district, we pay 1 million a year just for all the supers in this county. This is not counting their offices and overhead and secretaries ect. Our whole school structure has to be adjusted as well or we can never make progress. Our school system based on age was developed too long ago to still be applying in this modern age. Go watch this video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=share" rel='nofollow'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=share</a> some great ideas here.
aamom
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 12:48 p.m.
Other places I have lived that had mega districts were horrible. You think big government is bad? Try getting any problems addressed in a big district. The super quickly becomes out of touch with the varying needs of the buildings and education becomes factory like.
YpsiLivin
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 12:29 p.m.
If you're going to do "principal consolidation," wouldn't it make more sense to do it at schools that are already geographically paired, like Mitchell/Scarlett and Wines/Forsythe?
Christy Summerfield
Thu, May 5, 2011 : 6:31 p.m.
I've been wondering why Angell and Burns Park aren't paired too. Actually, they both serve neighborhoods with many affluent families although Burns Park does have kids from Glencoe Hills and a couple of other areas and I think Angell serves some of the kids of UM grad students I had one child at Burns Park where the PTO tried so hard to involve parents of kids from outside the neighborhood but every attempt failed. I tend to think this bussing is a bad idea. The kids from Glencoe Hills are so close to Carpenter. I think maybe kids are happier in their own neighborhoods with friends close by. Maybe we should concentrate on making the educational experience at neighborhood schools better rather than sending just certain kids outside their neighborhood. This is an old song, I know.
Wondering
Fri, Apr 29, 2011 : 2:50 a.m.
local- Yes, Burns Park has a token number of lower income students. Let's not forget to give them a pat on the back for assisting with a few 'lower income' students.
local
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 10:58 p.m.
a2girl, Burns Park also gets all kids from Glencoe Hills, Arbor Pointe, Greenway (which is on Golfside) and all kids from safe house. I gathered this info from district website/boundaries. So they may have some affluent families, but they also have the opposite extreme as well. They also have around 430 kids presently, so one of the bigger schools in the district.
Moonmaiden
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 3:56 p.m.
Ahh, applying logic in a school district are we?
a2girl
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 3:49 p.m.
See Will's reply: Indeed. Burns Park has a long history of getting what they want. They have a strong parent group made up of many university employees that have the time to devote to supporting their school. This is not a complaint, just an observation. They successfully fought the plan to pair them with Bryant/Pattengill. They will never share a principal. And yes, they are more affluent than Pittsfield -- All you have to do is look at home values for these two districts to figure that one out.
s
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 3:14 p.m.
The decision to share principals was NOT based on enrollment. According to schooldigger.com, the four elementary schools with the fewest students are Pittsfield (234), Mitchell (276), Pattengill (279) and Northside (290). Wines has 390 kids, way more than most! The school board intentionally paired a top academic school with a more challenged Title I school. And then tried to sell this as a benefit to both schools, which I find absurd. You take away part of a principal from a needy school, cheating those kids, and intentionally pushing an achieving school. I'd rather lose one of the 6 principals at the high school level. This intentionally takes away from both schools, instead of taking advantage of school pairings which make sense geographically and academically.
skigrl50
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:18 p.m.
They did the combining based on school enrollment. Go to the AAPS website and look at school enrollments, these 4 schools have the lowest enrollments in the district.
Will
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 1:57 p.m.
I agree. AAPS seems to by-pass Burns Park when it comes to ruffling parent feathers. I wonder why that is? Are the parents in Burns Park more affluent than the ones at Pittsfield?
jns131
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 1:31 p.m.
I was thinking along the same line. Also, if Angel is going to share a principal it should be closer to the another school instead of one that is like completely on the other side of the city. Angel and Burns Park and Pittsfield with Allen or Allen with Pattengill. Schools should be easy to get to for the principal if this is going to work. Otherwise, you are not going to see a happy medium on any side of the fence. Ann Arbor parents will find something to balk about no matter what.
DagnyJ
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 12:16 p.m.
Can someone explain why these schools must share principals while CHS gets to be a tiny HS serving an affluent student population with plenty of administration?
say it plain
Fri, Apr 29, 2011 : 3:31 p.m.
@AMOC, I'm beginning to think that all the CR and on-line course resource administration would be better sited at one of the comprehensive schools, to facilitate the use of these by greater numbers of AAPS highschool students. It's to a large degree the *counseling* at CHS that is far superior in how students are served, and the big schools would benefit from having more such help.
AMOC
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 8:07 p.m.
CHS administrators also support all the district high schoolers who are taking a Community Resources class or an on-line class in addition to their full-time student body.
say it plain
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 6:49 p.m.
That would be a very valid point @grye, *if* it were true, about CHS. CHS admission is by a lotto, and there are many many students who go who would do, who do do ;-), fine in 'regular' highschool settings. Indeed, if CHS were to move to a system whereby students who had requested placement there and were recommended for placement there by guidance staff, then it would be serving an 'alternative school' purpose. Heck, if it even went back to the system whereby kids who were *already being educated by AAPS* in an "open" fashion (the kids at Ann Arbor Open, for instance), were granted automatic entry--as had been the case before the limited size, extra teacher attention, and opportunities to *take classes and activities at all the other schools in the AAPS* were such great draws for the school--then it would be also living more closely by its alleged credo as an 'alternative'. As it stands, budget cuts will likely continue to reduce the amount of truly alternative courses it offers. If it were (truly) committed to being alternative, imho, it would be easier to fully support in such tight budget times I think. Most of these kids would *absolutely not fail* at the other schools lol, they would do, they do do ;-) (in the AP and other classes!) quite well. You might be thinking of Stone or Clemente... There probably *are* though kids who are struggling or unhappy at the comprehensive schools who would thrive at CHS, who really *should* be at CHS, but they didn't win the lotto. I find that very problematic.
grye
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 3:40 p.m.
As someone else pointed out, CHS serves students who struggle with learning in the traditional sense. They are not affluent by any means. I may not agree with housing the school in its own facility and ponder of there is room at one of the other high schools to hold classes. As long as the expenditure of funds per student is not greater than that within the school district (teacher student ratios, etc.) then this high school serves a very good purpose in providing an education to those that would fail at the other high schools.
DagnyJ
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:19 p.m.
Also, CHS has 15 students per teacher, compared to 18 and 19 at the other comprehensive high schools.
DagnyJ
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:17 p.m.
CHS has a dean, a guidance counselor, several support staff. According to schooldatadirect.org it enrolls 466 students. Student are 78.5% white, and only 4.5% are deemed disadvantaged. You should compare that to the elementary schools.
spj
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 12:24 p.m.
CHS serves over 600 kids including many dual enrollments. It has one administrator. Compare that to a 1:250 or 300 ratio in most other buildings.
Willa
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 12:15 p.m.
If consolidating principals is a necessary thing, why do it between schools? Pioneer High School has 6 of them! And high school principal salaries tend to be larger than those of elementary school principals if this 2010 budget is anything to go by <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/Ann%20Arbor.pdf">http://www.annarbor.com/Ann%20Arbor.pdf</a>
aataxpayer
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 12:10 p.m.
How about eliminating the "grade" vice principals at the high schools first? Not only can we save principals at the elementary schools, but we can also avoid a few of the teacher layoffs.
MjC
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:47 p.m.
When you're children hit the high school years you'll come to realize why the grade assistant principals are needed; as well as counselors. (I stress here that EXCELLENT principals and counselors are needed - not the ineffective administrators transferred from school to school thanks to union rules). I recall the many amazing elementary school teachers easily being able to handle classroom education independently and productively without too much input from the principal. But it's an entirely new ballgame when children become young adults. Even still - education is a top priority in my book and if we need to raise taxes in A2 to support our schools, I'll vote yes.
skigrl50
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 2:16 p.m.
Huron and Pioneer are both losing a grade level principal. Huron will now have 2 grade level principals for 4 grades (guess we can't call them grade level principals anymore) Those principals will each be responsible for approximately 800 students, far more than in any elementary building...
Will
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 1:52 p.m.
I agree.
Willa
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 12:18 p.m.
Guess we were thinking along the same lines at the same time. Glad I'm not the only ones who sees this as an option.
GMC
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 11:46 a.m.
With kids at one of the affected schools, I can reluctantly accept the consolidation of the principals as a way to cut costs. However, I am most unhappy about the unequal distribution of the cuts. If the school board feels that consolidating elementary principals is a feasible solution, then do it for all the Ann Arbor elementary schools. Use the money saved from the additional consolidations to keep teachers in the classrooms and class sizes small.
Christy Summerfield
Thu, May 5, 2011 : 6:32 p.m.
I think this is a terrific idea!
Moonmaiden
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 11:37 a.m.
Does anyone look at history any more? Sharing principals has been done in other local districts, it has never worked.
AMOC
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 8:04 p.m.
Sharing principals has worked in a fairly large number of other districts over the years. What history are you referring to?
DDOT1962
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 11:42 a.m.
Apparently it's not common history all of us are familiar with. What other local districts are you referring to?
Sandy
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 11:29 a.m.
If consolidation has to happen, then schools who have an at-risk population should not be the ones to have to share a principal! There are several schools out there like Wines and Angel that can perhaps handle this change. Abbot and Pittsfield definitely will not be able to thrive or even hold the line if they are victimized this way.
Will
Thu, Apr 28, 2011 : 11:18 a.m.
Consolidation of principals is better than closing schools as far as its direct impact on students.