Is it warm enough for shorts yet?

It's a question I hear all too often. Another frequent comment is that it's not cold enough for a winter coat (when the temperature is below freezing). So we have reached a compromise: shorts are okay during cold days when worn indoors. I think we are both happy.

And if you're wondering if the thermostat is turned up in our house, the management can confirm the temperature is still set at 67 degrees.

While the weather is still winter for five more days, we've both been reading. David's trying hard to read books with lots of AR points. His goal is to make it to 100 points before the end of the school year. Here's what's on his list for the next few days.

And I've been reading too! This is a great book that tries to dispel the beliefs that the media and other groups have shared in the last several years. If you want to know more about our schools, I highly recommend it.

Spring Break will be here soon and we are both ready!

Please pray for our schools

If you've watched the news or read the newspaper in Indiana, you may be aware of a bill currently in the Indiana Senate to give control of Muncie Community Schools (MCS) to Ball State University. As detailed in my recent letter to the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have many concerns about the proposal. For people living outside of the MCS district, there is debate that this will become a model for all Indiana schools in the future.

As a person of faith, I've asked for God's intervention and for His blessings on our schools. In the end He has a great plan for all of us and trust that He will do what's best. Please feel free to join me in this request.

Here's a copy of the letter mentioned above:

I am writing to you today with deep reservations about the recent headlines for Ball State University (BSU) to takeover Muncie Community Schools (MCS) and urge you to vote NO on House Bill No. 1315 that passed in the House and is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration. For the several weeks, I have thoroughly researched the issue and read the bill to be a wise consumer of the facts surrounding the proposed legislation.

While I am a Ball State alumnus and recent Ball State retiree, I do not believe it is wise for BSU to takeover Muncie schools. I am also a newly hired employee at MCS and my son attends East Washington Academy (EWA), so I see many sides to the issue.

Although we have endured what feels like much drama the last few months, I am extremely pleased with EWA -  the quality and breadth of education, leadership of Principal Jason Rees, and the comradery of the teachers and staff is first-rate. (And I believe that EWA is the best elementary school in east central Indiana!)

I applaud Ball State President Mearns’ enthusiasm and excitement about collaboration and other ideas for a new MCS, and hope more Ball State families rethink their enrollment and housing plans and choose our Muncie community. (Many of my colleagues and friends choose to live outside of our school district, or choose to send their children to another community’s school.) There is much good to know about our district’s schools and the programming that is offered. But there also are deep concerns that I have when looking at how Ball State has acted in the past and I am concerned about how this could affect MCS.

For example, their presidential searches are private, meaning that employees and staff are not made aware of the candidate pool or any details until a president is hired and introduced. In addition, this entire takeover proposal has been without transparency from the beginning and it leaves a big question for what they call “transparency.” There was no knowledge about the proposed bill with our local state representatives, the current emergency management team, and our local schools. Ball State claims it will be transparent with the development of a new school system, but how can our community trust this when the university either has a special definition for transparency or have no definition at all?

Ball State’s record in managing charter schools has not been stellar. There are two schools in the Indianapolis area that will be closing in May. Overall grades for many BSU-run charter schools are not great, which forces me to wonder if this will be the same (or perhaps what will be different) for MCS. I also am extremely curious if BSU plans to turn our public schools into charter schools, which would eliminate a public-school option for Muncie. I know there are huge federal funds (worth millions) available to make charter schools, but if it happens then Indiana would not be required to give as much money to MCS to educate our students. How can we eliminate our debt quickly when the amount to educate students is reduced? This would be a huge mistake.

Muncie also already has a laboratory school, Burris School, that is operated by Ball State. When I was searching for a school for my child, I had strong misgivings about the school and the laboratory approach to learning, along with their narrow programming, a lack of transparency, limited diversity, larger class size, and absence of quality of education. I turned them down in favor of EWA and have never regretted my decision.

People have been extremely critical of Muncie schools teaching staff and the curriculum. I have first-hand knowledge from my time volunteering and working in the schools that the teachers are doing their best to provide an excellent education for our students and use teaching methods for lifelong skills, so this isn’t the problem. The problems are our families are living in poverty and don’t have the extra funds or knowledge of how to send children to school ready to learn (including with school supplies like a pencil box, crayons, and pencils) or they are checked out for a variety of reasons (overwhelmed with daily life, working long hours or odd hours, mental illness, homelessness, drug use, etc.). Some teachers no longer assign homework, as they know that students won’t do the work on their own, and there’s no one at home making sure it gets done.

While EWA serves the educational needs of students living nearby, it is also home to the district’s gifted and talented program, called the Expanded Learning Program (ELP). This is a ground-breaking educational learning opportunity for our children in a public-school setting – I suspect it’s the only one of its kind in Indiana. As a full-day, dedicated, accelerated learning program for children K-5, class sizes are small (16-18 students) and students are encouraged to not only learn basic skills (one or two grade levels ahead) but also to consider how to apply these concepts to make the world a better place. It would be a disaster if Ball State decides this innovative learning opportunity needs to be eliminated or changed to a program like Burris with larger class sizes and integrated with regular learners. The result would mean hundreds of curious learners and their families will be forced to find a solution, and this could mean they leave our community to find gifted and talented schools elsewhere.

Ball State’s Dean of the Teachers College is an interim assignment to a retired dean, and the Associate Dean is also an interim assignment. When you’re looking for dynamic, fresh ideas in education, I’m not sure this level of guidance can come from staff members who are retired or in transition.

According to the bill’s language (and assuming it passes), Ball State will hold all control of our school system, including the ability to hire staff, RIF employees, reduce or suspend salaries, as well as outsource services currently performed by MCS staff. To be frank, as a person who sees what happens in our schools every day and has knowledge of good business practices, I cannot imagine how our system can cut more from an already trim staff while providing an acceptable level of service to our children. The current bill also lacks any timetable for when this control will end, which isn’t a hand up to our school system, but a complete and total takeover – without a plan.

I also have a major issue with not being able to elect the MCS Board of Education members. Ball State only has one Board of Trustees member who lives in Muncie. While this person is selected by the Governor of Indiana and the process is different, we must have all MCS board members who live in the MCS district, are knowledgeable and savvy about education and business practices, and familiar with how a K-12 school system works. As someone who routinely votes in our elections, I feel I’m being stripped of a right that I take very seriously as an American citizen.

Would it not make more sense to ask the current emergency management team to form and run a search committee with MCS staff, city leaders, and a representative from Ball State to look for a new Superintendent in a transparent way instead of turning all operation over to Ball State? During the interview process, it makes sense to be clear to look for a candidate who will work with Ball State to bring fresh and new ideas to our educational system. I’ve been on search committees in the past and this to me seems like a far more sensible approach. Then as this new Superintendent’s role unfolds while working with the emergency management team, we can have a seamless transition to a new and better Muncie Community Schools.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. Please feel free to contact me if you need additional information.