faculty concerns

8/12/2019 Faculty Concerns

1/20

Montera Concerns

Approved and presented byMontera faculty and staff

May 11, 2009


2/20

Note that the following concerns do not come

from anger, but from the honest love for

Montera, dedication to our students and

respect for the teaching profession.


3/20

Areas of Concern

Management of Finances

Management of School Climate

Communication Instructional Planning

Safety

Management of Basic Campus Functions


4/20

Management of Finances

Creative Writing class substitute paid for throughfalse claims of in-service coverage of two teacherssubstitute records.

Promised reimbursements for staff time andexpenses either slow or not forthcoming.

Expensive purchases funded without consultationwith staff or disclosure of cost and source offunding.

No details of categorical fund expenditures for 2008Single Plan for Student Achievement, either at timeof approval or subsequently.

No details of categorical fund expenditures for 2009Single Plan for Student Achievement until the


5/20

Finances (cont.)

P.E. purchases of 2007-2008 not delivered in

fall, then doled out partially and unpredictably

this spring.

Special Education monies from downtown

forfeited, as purchases of 2007-2008 were

not ordered before May deadline.


6/20

What We Need

Competent and transparent management ofall money used for Montera programs.

Knowledge of the cost of proposed

alternative programs and source of money tofund them.

Knowledge of the cost of programsimplemented during the past two years andhow they were funded.


7/20

What We Need (cont.)

Categorical Funds - SSC needs a complete

report.

A report of the amounts, sources andexpenditures from the Principals

discretionary fund over the past two years.


8/20

Communication

The Principal has chastised teachers in officefor comments and actions done at SSCmeetings. Labeled unprofessional conduct.

The Principal has chastised teachers in officefor opposing his views at Faculty Meetings.Labeled unprofessional conduct.

The Principal has given low interimevaluations during the last month ofevaluations following previously high orsatisfactory evaluations.


9/20

Communication (cont.)

Principal has referred to students in a derogatory

manner at Staff Meetings (demented/ jerks).

Principal has interrogated students alone behind

closed doors. Principal has repeatedly made promises of serious

consequences or rewards with little or no follow-

through.

Principal has ignored behavior plans of students

with IEPs.


10/20

What We Need

To be able to express problems or ideaswithout retaliation or intimidation.

SSC members to stop being the subjects of

warnings or recriminations from Principal. Critical discussion in FC, department and

faculty meetings to be heard and respected.

The evaluation process uniformly applied toall teachers.

Ethical treatment of students.


11/20

What We Need (cont.)

Follow-through on promises made by

Principal.

Investigation of all serious charges leveled on

campus.

No more interrogation of students behind

closed doors.


12/20

Instructional Planning

Equipment in computer lab was disposed of without

faculty input, resulting in no lab for past two years.

Principal has ignored election of department chairs.

Accelerated Reader and accelerated math werepurchased with little or no consultation and not

properly implemented.

Large scale programs were not presented to whole

faculty in planning stages and have not been placed

on Faculty Meeting agenda for review.


13/20

What We Need

Involvement in instructional planning.

Notification in a timely manner about key

decisions that will affect our classrooms and

teaching.

Substantial decision making power.

Communication in a timely manner of

decisions coming directly from the District.


14/20

Safety

We have no school safety plan.

We have had no consistent and regularlyscheduled fire drills in the last two years.

The office is understaffed and cannotrespond to emergencies phoned in.

There are crowds of students in office and

before and after school, unsupervised. We have no strong discipline plan at

Montera.


15/20

What We Need

Administration to take safety planningseriously.

Staff emergency roles, school safety plan,

emergency procedures Potential liability of unsupervised students to

be taken seriously and addressed.

A strong discipline policy that is followed-through on and visible around campus.


16/20

Management of Basic Campus

Functions

Department chairs were not notified of supplyorders in a timely manner.

Supply requests met with little or no follow-

through. Currently, Master schedule still not drafted.

Montera website was abandoned without

staff knowledge and new site is beingneglected.


17/20

Basic Campus Functions

(cont.)

The counselor has been given responsibilities

that were formerly handled by other

individuals which has left it impossible for her

to work ahead for critical planning.

Exceptional turnover in the office over the

past two years, resulting in a loss of

institutional memory.


18/20

What We Need

Basic administrative functions to be giventheir proper importance.

Follow-through on promises made by

Principal. Adequate notice on time sensitive material.

Labor intensive tasks to be planned for and

budgeted in advance. All office staff to be treated courteously and

professionally by Principal.


19/20

Next Steps

The faculty requests a written response from

Russom Mesfun, Jamie Marantz and Brad

Stam addressing how each of the needs

presented will be met by the 2009-2010school year. This response should be

directed to Mary Charlesworth, Celina

Andrade and Stephanie Berger no later thanMay 18, 2009.


20/20

Thank you

Once again, these concerns do not come from

anger, but from the unified and strong desire

to see the Montera community be the best it

can be.

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