Superintendent Voss

Virtual Academies: Questions Remain, Please Move Cautiously Iowa

2012-02-24T15:24:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Ben Petty, Superintendent of Schools for BCLUW & GMG and I had the opportunity to testify at the Capitol in front of the Senate Oversight Committee regarding the implementation of 100% Virtual Academies in Iowa. The Des Moines Register has a detailed article about the testimony that was heard yesterday, along with a story that ran on WHO-Channel 13, I encourage you to go check these stories out.

Prior to the Senate Oversight Committee hearing at the
State Capitol, making sure my phone is off!

I am probably gaining a reputation across the state as someone who is opposed to online learning and the opportunities that it presents students, since I have been very critical of both Connections Academy and K12 virtual academy. Let me begin by setting the record straight: I am not opposed to online learning, in fact I am a very strong proponent of online learning. Where the divergence in opinion happens is the concept of 100% online learning, without the need for a student to ever set foot in a classroom, and the aggressive and deceptive recruiting practices that have begun to proliferate the airwaves in recent weeks.

As stated above, I am a proponent of online learning, but not as the sole delivery model for instruction. Let me explain. In the Hudson Community School District, we utilize an online program for students for a variety of strategic reasons. First, it is a wonderful tool for credit recovery. Students who may be short credits for graduation can and have taken courses through our E2020 program who may not have otherwise graduated. Undoubtedly, we have had tremendous success in this arena. The Department of Education will release cohort graduation rates on March 5th, and I am proud to say that for the 2010-2011 school year, Hudson will boast a 100% graduation rate, compared to a statewide rate of 88.32%. Furthermore, our dropout rate is .6%, compared to 3.38% statewide. We can point to the implementation of E2020 and say that yes, there is a place for online learning in Iowa Public Schools.

It also serves as a tool to use when we have specific courses a student may be interested in taking that may not be otherwise available. As a small school district, many of our courses, particularly the upper level courses such as Calculus, are only offered as one section. We work very hard to ensure that AP and honors courses aren't placed in the schedule at the same time or period, but it is not always possible to do this. On top of that, we sometimes have to place popular electives such as Art and Music opposite required courses, so this presents additional challenges and strains on the schedule. In these cases, we have provided online courses for our students.

The key difference is that these courses are offered in a blended format under the direction of our own faculty locally. By blended, I mean that there is a blend between online format, and face to face interactions with live teachers in the same classrooms. We are able to closely monitor our students and make changes to instructional practices that may not be otherwise available in a completely virtual environment. Teachers are diagnosticians, who are able to determine where leaning is disrupted and nimbly make adjustments to their practice and strategy. In the online environment that we have elected to use, we are able to hold our students accountable by closely monitoring their progress and having face to face interactions with these youngsters on a daily basis. Not only are we engaging these students in a virtual environment, but they are taking many courses in our regular and traditional setting. So yes, there is a place for online learning in Iowa Public Schools.

My concerns are with an environment that is 100% virtual, meaning (once again for emphasis) that the students will never set foot inside a school. Now, I have to confess that when this initially broke, I didn't pay too much attention. My belief has always been that local school districts should be permitted to do what they believe is in the best interest of their students, provided it is within the confines of state law. While I don't agree with the practice, I am only the superintendent at the Hudson Community School District, no where else.

In my opening statement, I testified that my real concern began one day on my way to the office when I heard a radio spot for Connections Academy, and reminding listeners that open enrollment ends on March 1st. The spot went on to tell them how to apply. Upon reaching my office, I did a quick Google search for Connections Academy where I was directed to download and fill out the open enrollment application from the Department of Education and then mail it to Columbia, Maryland. That is when I first cried "Foul"! We have a longstanding tradition in Iowa to refrain from recruiting open enrollment students. I asked the Senators to consider the view they would take if I were to begin using tax dollars to buy advertising spots for open enrollment in local media markets. I openly object to this blatant 'poaching' of students. I was further discouraged to learn that these for profit companies will collect 97% of the per pupil funding for each student that enrolls. As I told the Senators and my colleagues in the NICL, we have enough battles and wars to fight as superintendents; I am not interested in fighting with my friends and colleagues. My firm belief is that this type of competition may damage the spirit of collegiality and sharing among school districts.

Educationally speaking, the data does not seem to suggest that virtual academies are more successful than traditional based classrooms. In fact, independent research indicates that many of these schools fall short of meeting the AYP requirements of NCLB. The studies that show gains do not indicate results that are statistically significant, or exceed gains of traditional schools. Furthermore, I wonder if fully online classes provide the opportunity to engage with peers in rich discussions about current issues and events. I also wonder about the impact these academies will have on social skills and interactions. Might a student choose a virtual academy for unhealthy reasons, such as avoidance of peers or teachers, an inability to work through social problems, fear of public speaking, or a myriad of other reasons?

I shared this in my testimony, taking it a bit further by providing real life examples. It is important now more than ever to ensure that our students have the ability to communicate effectively. Any Saturday you can go to the local mall and observe the phenomenon that exists with teenagers. Notice how they communicate with one another, it is solely through text messaging! Future employers are taking notice too. They are looking for a work force of individuals with a skill set who can work collaboratively on projects and effectively communicate their ideas, not individuals who would prefer to work alone and in isolation.

There are also financial considerations that must be examined. In a school district that operates a home school program, those students are eligible for a student weighting of .3 FTE, which is roughly $1,800 per year. We don't operate a HSAP (Home School Assistance Program), but if we were it would generate a revenue stream of approximately $23,400. With this program, the students would be weighted at 1.0 FTE, which is roughly $78,000. Sounds great until you consider that none of it would stay in the district. It would go to the districts partnered with the virtual academy, of which $75,000 would go to the out of state for profit corporation. You understand of course that the revenue stream of which I speak is generated through property tax and state aid.

In the final analysis I question the legality of virtual academies in Iowa. Dillon's Rule specifically grants power to localities (such as school districts) very narrowly. In the case of local school districts, we do not have authority unless it is specifically given in state statute. The bottom line is that if there is a question about a local governments power or authority, then the local government does not receive the benefit of the doubt. These districts would argue that the authority for such academies does exist in Chapter 256 of the Code of Iowa. In this statute, it does state that online learning is permissible if it is not delivered as an exclusive means of instruction. However, one of the reasons given that this is not exclusive online instruction was because they [district] will send the students a jump rope for physical education. They go on to offer a plethora of extra-curricular activities such as football, baseball, music, etc. However, the disclaimer at the bottom of the page reminds students and parents that, while they are more than welcomed to participate, the school district does not provide transportation to practices or games. I guess if you live in Davenport and want to open enroll in the virtual academy, that is going to be one serious commute for football practice or choir.

Board of Directors Meeting Monday Evening

2012-02-22T17:32:00.000-06:00

I was just remarking to my administrative team earlier in the week that we have made a lot of progress on a variety of issues so far this year. It certainly helps when you are not making the budget cuts and reductions that we had to make a year ago! We have a clear plan out in front of us and are working hard to make this vision a reality. Thanks to our Board of Directors for carefully vetting all the issues that come before them, and asking the critical questions that are necessary to ensure a good decision!

At this time we are moving forward with several facilities improvements that are long overdue. The plans for the high school parking lot and phase two of the elementary electrical upgrade were approved and released for bidding on Tuesday. We are so excited to finally be at the bidding stage. The elementary electrical upgrade will position us nicely for the future as we make plans to install a wireless network within the next year, and shortly thereafter launch a one to one computer initiative. This is very exciting!

I spent some time with the board evaluating the proposed budget for the 2012-2013 school year, (our hearing by the way is scheduled for March 19th at 6:00 in the board room). It appears our tax rate will decrease slightly, and we should be able to balance the total tax bill on Hudson residents, in spite of an increased taxable valuation based on the rollback formula. I will be sharing more information on the budgeting process in the weeks ahead, but as always if you have questions please call me!

For many years (decades in fact), the special education program has been a contracted service through our local AEA. After this year, the AEA will no longer be providing these services. This means that Hudson will now have our very own special education program, with our own employees, and have a greater role to play in the delivery of these services. While we expect to experience growing pains during this transition, we are very excited about the opportunity to bring a very high quality program under the umbrella of the Hudson Community School District. To help with this transition, we have set a board work session for Wednesday, February 29th at 4:30 p.m. in the Board Room.

We have also signed a contract with Impact Marketing in Waterloo to rebuild our website with a vision of a site that attracts a high volume of traffic, is easy to navigate, and provides our patrons with the information they need with the minimum number of clicks. The goal is to be in a position to launch this site by July 1st. An ambitious goal indeed, but well within our possibilities!

Finally, a little teaser for next time. Tomorrow I am scheduled to appear in front of the Senate Oversight Committee on the subject of virtual academies, with another superintendent colleague and friend of mine Ben Petty from BCLUW. I have numerous concerns about the proliferation of this type of learning environment in the state. We intend to testify to the committee about our concerns. Stay tuned, I will fill you in on my experience in a few days!

Don't Text and Drive

2012-02-14T14:30:00.000-06:00

I was searching through my list of unpublished posts this afternoon and noticed this embedded video that I want to share with everyone quite some time ago, but with all the other topics that had come up, this one slowly and gradually worked its way to the bottom of the list. When I come up with ideas for posts, it typically gets a title with a a few lines of text and perhaps a URL for a later reference. My intention is that sometime in the future when I have writers block, I will scan through my list of unpublished posts and see if anything has been started that I may want to finish. Although this had an original time stamped date of November 8th, it is a very timely post now. You may recall earlier in the school year the very tragic death of a high school student from St. Ansgar when a young high school junior hit the back of a school bus. This past Friday, the Iowa State Patrol determined that this youngster was texting when her car hit the bus.

The Public Service Announcement above was written, produced, and filmed by the Hudson High School National Honor Society and provides a sobering reminder of the dangers of texting and driving. This PSA was followed up by many of our students signing a Pirate Pledge, vowing to not text while driving. You can quickly identify which students have taken the pledge by the blue "Pirate Pledge" sticker on their car. Has your son or daughter taken the pledge? If not please encourage them to do so.

The Legislative Session So Far and Education Reform

2012-02-08T11:18:00.001-06:00

Pardon me in advance for my cynicism. I had hoped, naively perhaps, that with this being an election year, we would actually try to get something positive done. Education reform is the 'topic dejour'; one of the Governor's major campaign platform issues was to 'fix education'. School leaders and policymakers gathered in Des Moines this past summer to hear ideas about reform efforts around the world that had pushed student achievement in some countries to unprecedented levels. There was excitement in the air indeed. Had a new era arrived? Were we truly going to improve our system of education?

Not so fast. The Education Blueprint landed flat on October 3rd. From its inception it was met with resistance. One of the first pieces to fall by the wayside was a proposal to overhaul the teacher compensation model. The reason given: too costly at this time, more study is needed. Fair enough. Although I believe there were many more questions about this model than merely the cost.

Mrs. Krapfl teaches her First Grade class about reversals in
math class.

Shortly before the General Assembly convened, the final legislative package was released, and guess what? We have figured out how to reform education for a mere $25 Million. Wow, for those of you keeping score at home that is a pretty remarkable feat (drop in the bucket?) considering the state budget is just north of $6 Billion. (You can get an exact number of course, but it is different depending on whether or not you are an "R", "D", or in the State Auditor's Office.)

My optimism is quickly fading. Not only do we have a reform package that falls short of real school improvement, we have a lack of adequate funding to do the things that we are already struggling to do.

In the Branstad/Reynolds Administration Recommendations for World-Class Schools, Director Glass outlines 26 specific components for legislative consideration. These components are divided into three sections: Great Teachers and Leaders, High Expectations and Fair Measures, and Innovation. It is difficult to disagree with any of these concepts, but it is not until you begin to dig deep into the specifics that you really begin to have more questions than answers.

Rather than focusing on each component, let's take a moment to examine what is missing from this legislative proposal: funding. We can't seriously talk about improving our educational system without having a discussion about appropriate funding mechanisms. Instead, we are having a discussion about how we are going to lose some of our funding (you heard me right), and instead have it (in legislative words) "re-purposed".

The plan seems to have a heavy focus on teacher evaluation, as if the reason for stagnated student achievement in some corners of the state should rest solely at the feet of our teaching force. I do believe there are those [teachers] in the profession that are in need of assistance, or should look for gainful employment in another career, but this approach will not yield the results that are promised. For starters we simply do not have the capacity to do what is proposed.

Section two of the proposal relies heavily on assessment of students. This is the section that includes the infamous third grade retention. The plethora of assessments proposed would lead us to believe that constant measurement is the key to improved student achievement.

The component that deals with third grade retention is getting a lot of negative feedback right now, and it probably should. It is based on misleading data from a similar plan the state of Florida enacted. The state of Florida can contend that their fourth grade students score higher on the NAEP, because those retained students are not part of the cohort. Many studies also indicate that the so-called benefits of retention are mitigated after two years. Did you also know that students who are retained are much more likely to drop out of high school? What is Iowa's graduation rate compared to Florida's? Check it out yourself right here.

In my opinion another component that is missing from this proposal is an evaluation of the length of the school year. Our school calendar is based on a 180 day model, which was well suited for Pre-Industrial Age America. This calendar suited us well for over 100 years, but those times have long since passed us by. We are training youngsters for the Information Age. It makes sense to me and many of my colleagues that if our students are exposed to an excellent teacher [for more days], then student achievement will increase. However, this idea was dismissed because it was viewed as an erosion of local control. This seems somewhat ironic since a majority of the plan seems to do just that.

Yesterday the Iowa Senate passed an allowable growth rate of 4%. Unfortunately it has zero chance of going any further. The Governor has proposed eliminating the law that requires the General Assembly to set the Allowable Growth rate within 30 days of receiving his budget proposal. His reason is that we need more time to study the compensation and calendar issue. Setting allowable growth in advance of the fiscal year is critical to the planning and preparation that goes into our budget cycle. Certainly the Governor recognizes this, doesn't he? After all, he insisted on a two year state budget in order to provide stability and predictability in budgeting.

I guess that doesn't apply to schools.

Professional Learning Communities

2012-01-31T18:32:00.001-06:00

During the month of January, you have probably picked up on a theme running throughout this blog. Specifically, how we manage students time during the course of the day, week, month, and school year. Last week I discussed the importance of teacher professional development and the purpose of early dismissals in the calendar. As discussed last week, we recently come to the conclusion that teachers do not have enough time to complete the various tasks that have become necessary to ensure that your children are being exposed to a rich and viable curriculum that ensures success for all students.

Under our current system, we have approximately one early dismissal per month. It is during those times that we conduct professional development such as research into the characteristics of effective instruction, alignment of our curriculum to the Iowa Core Curriculum that ensures our intended curriculum becomes our enacted curriculum (and is properly matched to assessment), additional training on new technology that is designed to improve instruction in the classroom, and annual training that is required under Iowa Code. This is not to mention other meetings that come up to address building or district specific issues, or other administrative requirements and logistical discussions that must take place. Wouldn't you agree that three hours per month just isn't enough?

We have recognized that, while at the same time realizing that if we work together using a collaborative process, we can do amazing things! This year we have started to deliver much of our professional development through a collaborative process. It has worked for us, but we have also discovered that by the time we start to make headway, our time together has drawn to a close. With the next meeting being an entire month away it feels like starting over again.

Because of this disconnect our calendar proposal for next year considers the addition of early dismissal days in our calendar. What we have essentially done is added one early dismissal per month, and instead of dismissing our students at 12:30, we will dismiss them at 1:30. This is proposed in an effort to provide our teachers with the time they need to collaborate.

Think about the power of collaboration! We recognize the importance of working together so much that it is one of our learner performance goals. Our district will be implementing a research based collaborative model that is commonly referred to as Professional Learning Communities (PLC). The work of these groups will focus on learning that is occurring in each classroom and will be deeply rooted in student assessment data that will be collected and analyzed by the PLC.

The PLC model that we implement will be a commitment and focus on the learning of each student. Not a focus on ensuring that children are taught, but ensuring that each child learns the essential knowledge, skills, and character. We have been hearing a lot lately about how Iowa children stack up internationally, and one thing that we have discovered is that in countries where the greatest student achievement gains have been made, teachers are provided regularly scheduled time for collaborative work aimed at student learning. To guide our work, the PLC will be focused on 4 critical questions:

What is it we want our students to learn?
How will we know if each student has learned?
How will we respond when some students don't learn?
How can we extend and enrich the learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency?

We are very excited to implement this research based model into our school district, but also recognize that in order to ensure implementation with fidelity it must also accommodate a change in our school calendar. The Board of Directors plan to hold a public hearing on the 2012-2013 academic calendar at the February 20th board meeting.

Why Do We Have Early Dismissals?

2012-01-25T17:09:00.002-06:00

During this time of year, we are spending quite a bit of time preparing for the next academic year. One of our top priorities is preparing an academic calendar. You may recall from last week's post the discussion on when to end the semester. This week I want to talk with you a little bit about professional development and how that impacts days when we have early dismissals, or even entire days scheduled for professional development.

There is sometimes a perception that if a teacher isn't standing in front of a room of 20 or so students, they must not be working. But the fact is there is much more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye, or is visible to the general public. Lessons must be designed, teaching strategies researched, curriculum aligned, and reams of paperwork must be filed to ensure that everything mentioned above is being implemented with fidelity.

We have high standards for educators in Iowa, requiring what you may have come to know as a "highly qualified instructor". First and foremost, this means that the teacher needs to have been properly certified and credentialed in the State of Iowa. The Bachelors Degree and Teacher License is critically important, but we also recognize that teachers don't know everything they need to know the day that they walk through the door of the schoolhouse. In fact, if you ask even our most seasoned and veteran teachers, they will tell you that they are still learning new approaches to teaching that sharpen their craft.

Now think about your own career for a moment. How much has it changed since you began your working life? Perhaps a new tool has been developed that required additional training; or maybe a new software has been introduced into your routine. Maybe a new procedure or standard operating procedure has been implemented to either increase productivity, or improve upon a product. We live in an agricultural state, just think about how much that has changed! (Case in point: My dad is a farmer and early this fall I called home to say hello and talked to mom for awhile. After about 15 minutes I inquired about dad and asked if I could talk to him. Mom told me that 'No, he isn't home right now; he is in combine school.) You folks that run these things know what I mean! These are massive machines that are operated and navigated by satellite. When I grew up, I think these thing picked two or three rows of corn at a time and were manhandled through brute force!

The education profession is no different in this regard. We are constantly doing research into best practice, discovering teaching strategies that are highly effective and more likely to produce positive outcomes and results for your children. The growing body of evidence on teaching and learning is overwhelmingly clear. A student will do better in school if they are exposed to an effective teachers. What's even more interesting is that an ineffective teacher can have the opposite effect.

Effective teaching requires continuous learning and inquiry--that my friends is why we have early dismissals for professional development. What we have found in Hudson is that the professional development opportunities that are currently in practice are not enough. Stay tuned, next week I will share with you why this is and how we propose to fix it!

Ending the Semester Before Winter Break

2012-01-18T09:58:00.002-06:00

I was delighted to read the Letters to the Editor in last weeks edition of the Hudson Herald! If you haven't had a chance to read this edition yet, I would encourage you to do so. Several of our high school students wrote letters of support for an academic calendar that would have the first semester concluding at Winter Break. Before getting into specific arguments for or against this option, I wanted to thank you all for writing appropriate letters with sound arguments and respectful dialogue. You have exercised your Constitutional right to Free Speech in an honorable fashion. Your Government and English teachers should be proud!

At the board meeting on Monday I presented four calendar options for consideration, none of which considered ending first semester before Winter break. These calendars merely used a similar start/stop formula that was in place when I arrived. My focus for the academic calendar has been [on] adding additional early dismissal days for our teachers to align the Iowa Core Curriculum with fidelity through the implementation of professional learning communities (more on that later).

During our discussion on Monday evening, the board expressed support for adding extra early dismissal days, and narrowed the options presented. When I spoke about the letters these youngsters wrote to the paper, our discussion shifted to "Is this a feasible option and, can we do this?" I promised to look at an option that considered a semester configuration like this, and would present that scenario at the next board meeting.

So the letters that these students wrote had an impact! However, it would be a misstatement to assume the calendar is going to change to this configuration. At this point we have opened a dialogue, sparked a conversation, and taken something under consideration. We have some pretty big hurdles to overcome.

The biggest challenge is inequity between the terms. The school year is 180 days, and it is desirable to have semesters of equal length, otherwise first semester classes may not have the required amount of seat time, or worse yet not be able to cover all the curriculum for the course. Consider this year for example. The last day before Winter Break was day number 84. If that were the end of the semester, second semester would be 96 days in length. A 12 day difference in length of semesters is extreme. This would almost certainly eliminate the use of zero days in our calendar, (the day before break when students have a more relaxed learning environment). This year we have had a pretty uneventful winter, but there would need to be consideration given to what would happen if there were snow days during the first semester, or worse yet snow days during the semester exam period!

Here is the good news though: this has provided an opportunity to evaluate the academic calendar through a new lens. Perhaps there is a way to craft a calendar that enables the first semester to end before Winter Break, and create some unique and innovative features in the way we deliver instruction. I guess we will have to see!

The Block vs. The Eight Period Day

2012-01-11T22:30:00.001-06:00

Over a decade ago, the Hudson Community School District made significant changes to the instructional schedule in the high school. During the intervening years, our school district (specifically the high school) has used what is referred to as a block schedule. In a block schedule, students take eight classes over a two day period, and each class is around 86 minutes in length. The theory behind this type of teaching is that it provides longer periods of instructional time for teachers to work with students. For some classes like biology, physics, and some agriculture classes, it is a benefit [particularly on days] when a lab is scheduled. A key disadvantage of this type of schedule is that classes don't meet every day, and any disruption to the calendar can cause unplanned and extended gaps in instruction.

The point of this evenings post isn't to debate the pros and cons of block scheduling or traditional scheduling, but merely to discuss possible changes that we are considering to the instructional schedule and why we believe this may be a better fit for our school district. The facts are that you can make a very convincing case that "The Block", "The Eight Period", "The Seven Period", or "The Trimester" is the best researched and pedagogically correct way to operationally manage students' time in school. The real litmus test is what makes sense and is the best fit for the school district.

About a year ago, the school board asked that our Administration begin evaluating different scheduling options. This was driven by inefficiencies in our operations, and a goal of creating additional learning opportunities for students. We have outstanding faculty members that can, and should be teaching courses for us! The problem is that because of the block, it makes it very difficult to share staff between middle school and high school. Once you add in the elementary school and those shared staff, it becomes even more muddled. So the charge from the board was to streamline the schedule, look for efficiencies, and deploy human resources in a strategic and thoughtful manner.

Another challenge that we have with our block schedule is the placement of college courses in relationship to other high level and advanced courses. Too often we are forcing our students to make a decision on a course that they want to take, but another equally important course is being offered at the exact same time. Because we are a smaller school, it is not uncommon to have only one section of these courses. So, that is another consideration we wanted to address in this study.

At the beginning of the school year, I delegated to Mr. Dieken the task of heading up a Task Force to evaluate our schedule with these priorities in mind, and prepare to a recommendation for me to take to the school board for approval. Since September, this Task Force made up of district educators has been meeting to debate different scheduling options. They have narrowed their work down to an eight period day, which is currently being vetted by the Administration. At this point, it has been determined that a schedule like this is both viable for our school district, and provides many positive features.

However, I should point out that this work was done once before, several years ago. The Administration got to the final stage of vetting the schedule when unmovable forces within that schedule became impossible to overcome.

Finally, it should be pointed out that for over a decade, the block schedule has served our district well. We are evaluating our options only in an effort to meet challenges that have become more prevalent as our district enrollment has decreased. The arguments made in this post should not be seen as an indictment of the block, but merely to create an understanding of the rationale this effort is being undertaken. If you have specific questions about the work surrounding this initiative, please feel free to contact Mr. Dieken or myself.

District Locks Set to Be Changed

2012-01-04T17:04:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! For my first post of the new school year, I had planned on something inspirational and uplifting, but decided that practicality is probably a better course! You have probably heard that we are in the process of changing the locks on district facilities and may be wondering why the change, and what it may mean for district patrons.

It is a good idea to change locks every once in awhile in an effort to protect the vital capital assets of the school district. I am not sure when the locks were last changed, but it has been many years. In the intervening years keys have most certainly been lost, duplicated, or not returned. It may not be out of the realm of possibility that unauthorized personnel have keys to our district facilities. The point here is that we really don't have an accurate accounting of who has keys and what they may open. This is certainly a cause for alarm and concern.

The need to make a change has recently become even more necessary with an uptick in the last six months of unlocked and unsecured facilities. I am no longer surprised by late night phone calls from the County Sheriff reporting an open door in one of our buildings.

So we are in the process of changing all locks and re-issuing keys. The point of this of course is to secure our most vital capital assets. A by-product, and honestly intended consequence of this action is to restrict access to all buildings and make it less convenient for people to gain access. We will keep a strict accounting of keys in the Central Office, and keys will only be issued to authorized personnel. Before you come in to get a key, you should first determine whether or not you are an authorized personnel. Please understand that if you have a key now, that does not necessarily mean that you are authorized to have a key. Authorized personnel include the hot lunch director, coaches, building secretaries, teachers and administrators.

Personnel will only be issued keys for the length of their employment with the district and be expected to surrender their keys at the conclusion of their employment. In the case of coaches, they will need to surrender keys at the conclusion of the season (head coaches of varsity level sports will not be required to surrender keys at the conclusion of the season if they are returning the following year).

Currently, we have many groups that have had permanent keys issued to them. I apologize for the inconvenience this will certainly cause, but that is no longer going to be the case. This does not mean that you won't be able to get a key, but it does mean that you will only be granted a key for the duration of your event.

Regulations for Key Holders

Responsibility for the security of district facilities rests with all stakeholders issued a key to facilities.
Access to district facilities is considered a privilege, not a right.
Keys will be issued only to authorized personnel.
Authorized personnel include the following categories: hot lunch director, coaches, building secretaries, elementary teacher, middle school teacher, high school teacher, administrator. Other personnel may be authorized at the discretion of the superintendent.
Personnel will be issued keys only for the length of their employment with the district. Coaches will be issued keys while their respective sport is in session and be expected to return keys at the conclusion of the season.
All keys will be stamped. A record of those issued a key with corresponding stamp will be kept in the Central Office.
Those needing keys on a temporary basis will be permitted to check out the appropriate key from the Central Office during normal office hours the day prior to the event. The key will need to be returned during regular business hours the day following the event.
Authorized key holders are not permitted to loan their keys out to anyone under any circumstances. Unauthorized individuals found in possession of district keys will result in the authorized holder losing access.
Doors may not be propped open. Students entering the building must enter through a designated student entrance. Coaches and moderators may dog doors open with proper hardware. The responsibility for ensuring the building is secure at the conclusion of the activity rests with the coach or moderator. Failure to secure the building following an event may result in the loss of privilege.
Loss of keys or failure to return keys may result in the responsible party bearing the cost to change district locks.

Key Schematic

Kitchen; Back door by the dumpster
Coach; Old weight room, elementary music entrance, locker room, high school dumpster
Elementary Teacher; Elementary music entrance, maintenance entrance, S.E. elementary entrance, S.W. elementary entrance
Middle School Teacher; North door entrance, maintenance entrance
High School Teacher; North entrance, N.W. entrance, dumpster, south entrance

Benefits of a Small School

2011-12-13T20:46:00.001-06:00

The other day I had the opportunity to visit with a youngster who was contemplating an open enrollment to a neighboring school district. Whenever that happens, I like to take some time to find out what the reasons are in an attempt to see if there is something we can do to avoid this transfer. If there is a problem that is occurring in the classroom, I want to see we can solve it, and if it has to do with a conflict with another student, we are going to fix that problem. In this particular instance, the youngster was interested in taking some classes that we didn't currently have on our list of course offerings. This person has pretty high aspirations for life beyond high school, and wants to make sure they have some specialized courses. Luckily, I think we are going to be able to accommodate this person and offer those classes through Hawkeye, the PSEO program through UNI, or in some instances we may be able to offer them in an online venue. The point that I was able to make with this person was that if there is a particular class being sought, I believe we can find a way at Hudson to accommodate that request. I am optimistic that we will be successful.

As our conversation progressed, mom and dad asked excellent questions, but one question they asked had to do with the benefits of a smaller school like Hudson as opposed to some of our much larger neighbors. I was very happy and thankful to answer this question, because it has so much to do with the culture of our school! In our school, we have the opportunity to know your children on a personal level. You have the ability to visit with your child's teacher, principal, and even superintendent pretty much unannounced. In fact, just today I had some parents drop in to see me about an issue. I am not certain you can just drop in on the superintendent in larger districts. Although I could be wrong...

We know how your child learns, what makes them tick, and are able to respond to issues quickly, efficiently, and effectively. In fact, in all my years in education I have never had the privilege of working in a system where 'issues' were handled so effectively and efficiently. At our school, there is a very high level of accountability; because of that we are a very safe school. Do you have that at a large school? Perhaps so; we have very good schools in our area, but at Hudson it is just different, and in a good way. It is part of our culture that makes us so appealing. Our core purpose is to 'Create effective learning environments that result in success for all students'. That statement comes up in our meetings with teachers and administrators more than you probably realize. The benefits are almost too numerous to count!

Finally, last night another example of the benefits of our school hit me while I was at the Winter Concert. As I was looking at the students performing on stage I noticed something interesting, that I knew but didn't really pay that much attention to. The performers on stage were the same group of kids I saw on the basketball court the Friday night before, or the wrestling meet next week, or selling the fruit for the FFA, or...

You get the picture. At our school, students have the opportunity to be involved, and not in just one activity, but as many as they want. These young people are having the ultimate high school experience. It is our size that enables us to do that. Everyone can have the opportunity to shine!

Well, that is about all for this edition. It is likely that this will be my last blog entry until after the new year. That being said, on behalf of the Board of Directors I would like to wish you a very safe and joyful holiday season. We hope you have the opportunity to rest, relax and recharge. I look forward to seeing you in the new year!

Sportsmanship

2011-12-09T17:11:00.001-06:00

On Tuesday evening we had the opportunity to play host to Jesup in a varsity double header. We had a pretty nice crowd on hand, considering just up the road a mere five miles UNI was hosting the University of Iowa in a Men's basketball game.

Now I have been around here for long enough that most of you know that I take sportsmanship pretty seriously. In fact, when I have the chance to visit with coaches and talk about expectations they get to hear my thoughts. It is pretty simple for me, winning is certainly important. Losing gracefully is an equally valuable learning tool. It would be pretty unreasonable to have the expectation that we win every game. Who could live up to that? What is a reasonable expectation is that we always react and interact in a respectful way to those around us. Win, lose, or draw I tell the coaches that while they are playing to win the game, above all they are to teach our student athletes honor. They are there to teach our youngsters how to be young men and women.

The University of Iowa's Men's Basketball coach Fran McCaffery failed miserably at that on Tuesday evening when he received a technical foul and was then escorted to the locker room by law enforcement. His press conference following the game was equally disturbing. Instead of owning up to his behavior and publicly apologizing to his team, he focused his comments on short sentence fragments about how well he thought his team had played.

Athletics and competition are an important learning tool in education. They teach our students the value of teamwork, collaboration, and fair play. Above all else they should teach respect and grace. Who better than to model this than coaches?

Tuesday evening at Hudson, we saw a graceful display of sportsmanship on both sides of the basketball court. Athletes and coaches from both Hudson and Jesup are to be commended for honoring their commitment to the students they coach and the communities they serve.

Coach, young high school athletes all across Iowa look to you for leadership and inspiration. The right thing for you to do now is apologize to all the fans and young athletes you let down with your completely inappropriate behavior.

On Tuesday evening six miles to the North we saw a disgraceful embarrassment. Perhaps Coach McCaffery should borrow a page from our playbook?

The Blueprint

2011-12-06T17:47:00.001-06:00

For several weeks now, many people have been asking me to comment or blog about the blueprint. I have resisted those requests for about as long as possible, always giving the excuse that I was waiting to hear more details, because to me it seemed as though the most important detail had been left out: the cost. We still don't have the answers to those questions, but there are a few details that have begun to emerge that have given me a reason to raise my eyebrow.

First Grade students showing off their finished gingerbread
houses they made. Demonstration of learner performance goals
Quality Producers and Collaborative Workers. Yes, it was also
fun and probably created memories that will last a lifetime!

One of the centerpieces of the reform plan was to be an overhaul of the teacher compensation system. For those of you unfamiliar with teacher compensation, teachers are compensated according to years of service and degrees of education. The basic salary structure is laid out in a matrix, and a teacher with a Bachelor's degree with three years of experience could expect to earn less than someone with a Master's degree and ten years of experience. Now, there are certainly problems with this system and I am in agreement that we should look for new and innovative ways of compensation, but I am not completely sold on this one. As I said in my opening, the details are what will determine which components of the plan rise and fall.

A few weeks ago, the Governor announced that he was tabling the teacher compensation plan so it could be studied further. That could be, but I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that there was (and is) no way to pay for this plan, and that lack of adequate funding may cause the entire plan to become yet another casualty of education reform in this country. On one hand we have a Governor that says he is fully committed to restoring the education system to the best in the nation, even the world. On the other hand, the allowable growth formula for this year is zero. That's right, zero. Believe me, I understand the challenges of trying to balance a budget when there is little revenue available, we lived through a major budget reduction last spring here at Hudson

But it is hard to take a plan like this serious when the answer to the funding dilemma is that we have enough money, it just isn't being used efficiently. I suppose one could take offense to such as statement. Is there an assumption that perhaps money is being wasted? It was not until documents were released over the weekend under the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) that we truly had that 'aha' moment. My esteemed colleagues suspected that many or most of the categorical funds would be tapped to pay for the plan (a move we all object to), but I don't think anyone suspected the SAVE funds would be on the table. There was no mention of schools who have already bonded against or obligated those funds. In Hudson, we are no different. Those receipts are being used to pay back our General Obligation bonds, a move that keeps property tax rates down. Is this a misunderstanding of how Iowa school finance works? A re-appropriation of those funds would inevitably cause property taxes to rise. Not a good plan for someone who ran on a platform of property tax reform!

Setting the money factor aside there are pieces of the plan that I am supportive of, after all who wouldn't be: attracting and supporting talented educators, creating educator leadership roles, improve and expand the Iowa Core, a new assessment framework, ensure third grade literacy (although I have a concern with the punitive retention component), and of course anytime anywhere learning. Sure I could go on, or even delve into these items in detail. But the bottom line is that financing this package is going to be a pretty big hurdle to jump, and the answer isn't in re-appropriation of money.

Jamie Volmer spoke to school boards and superintendents a few weeks ago and gave an interesting analogy. He said that we need to stop viewing eduction as an expenditure in the budget, but rather as a revenue or investment. Well educated citizens get good paying jobs and pay taxes. Well educated citizens improve the quality of life in our communities, contribute to society, and keep crime rates down. A poorly educated citizenry, well the exact opposite is true.

I believe we are building two new prisons in Iowa right now. According to the Center for Creative Justice it costs Iowa taxpayers approximately $30,000 a year to incarcerate an inmate, and the prison population in Iowa has increased by 340% from 1980-2006. The cost to educate a student in Hudson for one year is $6,058. Which would you rather pay for?

The education blueprint: sure there are parts of it that I am not too crazy about, and there are parts of it I want to hear more about. At least we have a conversation started, I will give Department of Education Director Jason Glass credit for that. They guy has certainly taken his share of criticism and body blows lately, but he should be credited for making education reform in Iowa a topic of conversation around the dinner table, and very soon in the halls of our legislature. Let's make sure this conversation doesn't die on the vine for lack of funding. We need to vet the ideas, find out which ones have merit and are good for Iowa schools, and figure out a way to implement them. The ones that we are not so hot about, lets talk about why and figure out if there is another alternative.

I just don't know if we have the political will to put up the dollars it will take to make anything positive happen. When the plan was released I was cautiously optimistic. Now....just cautious.

From the Board Table: Senator Danielson Attends November 21 Board Meeting

2011-11-28T09:35:00.001-06:00

We had a very productive meeting last week! I think sometimes a perception exists that school boards are rubber stamps that merely provide the imprimatur of the superintendent's recommendation. That could not be further from the truth for our school board! The Hudson school board is thoughtful in their deliberations and thinks on their own. They ask excellent questions and work hard to make the best decision for the school district. My role is to make recommendations, answer questions, guide them in their decision making, and execute their wishes. Because of this, we enjoy meetings that are rich with debate and discussion! Rarely do our meetings last less than 90 minutes, and typically go between two and three hours (sometimes even longer)!

The Board was very pleased to have in attendance Senator Jeff Danielson, who addressed us on the status of the state budget. He also provided his thoughts and insight into the Education Blueprint and predictions for the upcoming session. I was happy that Senator Danielson took time out of his schedule to be with us the entire meeting. He participated fully in the meeting and answered questions where appropriate. I can say that the Senator is very receptive to our thoughts and ideas. I very much look forward to working closely with him during the upcoming session!

Action was taken on a variety of building and grounds issues, and an update to the facilities plan through the 2014-2015 school year was shared. If you have any questions on this plan or would like to see it, please give me a call!

Several policies were up for review or adoption, and I would just like to mention a couple here that you may be interested in hearing about. First is the Student Permit Policy (Board Policy Code No. 502.10E1). We have many students who have not yet earned a drivers license who are eligible for a school permit to drive to and from school and school related activities. A new requirement was adopted into this policy requiring these students to complete the 8th grade before being issued a school permit.

The other policy that I wanted to mention is the Retirement Incentive Policy (Board Policy Code No. 402.6). This policy provides financial incentive for employees to retire before they reach the normal retirement age. You may be wondering why we would do something like this when the district is experiencing financial stress. First, retirement incentive is paid through a separate funding source, so it has little bearing on the General Fund (which is where our challenge is right now). So this is a way to reduce the those expenditures. It is likely the Board will consider staff reductions this spring, but if some of our employees who are eligible for retirement take advantage of this incentive, it would provide a way to achieve some of these reductions through attrition. Indeed this is a double edged sword for the district. On one hand we stand to lose quality employees who bring a plethora of real world experience and expertise to the classroom. On the other hand, we can hire a replacement teacher at a fraction of the cost.

Perhaps one of the most important decisions the Board made was a resolution to continue funding the At-Risk/Dropout Prevention program. Mr. Lipinski addressed the Board during the meeting and shared with them numerous data to show the effect this programing has had on our school district in terms of preventing dropouts, decreasing failure rates, and an improved student culture. It is worthy to note that the success of our program has been observed throughout the state. Often times, Mr. Lipinski is asked to consult with other school districts who are in the process of setting up their own programs, and look to our school district in an effort to emulate what we are doing here at Hudson!

For a full accounting of all the action taken at the Board meeting on November 21st, please refer to our meeting minutes which are published in the Hudson Herald. If you have specific questions about any Board action, please feel free to give me a call.

Happy Thanksgiving and All That!

2011-11-23T08:20:00.001-06:00

This morning as I was getting ready for work I happened to be watching Good Morning America, and they were running a story that suggested 'Black Friday' had now become 'Black Thursday'. Spokespersons for the various department stores justified their actions that 'this is what our customers want', while at the same saying they were eager to show profits for the first time this year. I am proud of those retailers who have stood firm in their convictions that they will not be opening early because they believe, after all that we should celebrate one holiday at a time! A special note to all you readers out there: I have no intention of visiting any stores on Black Friday (or Thursday)!

Since I am on the subject, I was dismayed to return home from work one evening shortly after Halloween to see that quite a large number of folks had put up Christmas lights! That's right, we skipped right over Thanksgiving and had moved on to the next holiday. Have we nothing to give thanks for this holiday season?

I suppose it would be easy to think so, with the tough economy, the failure of the Super Committee, and the plethora of natural disasters that are ongoing around the world. In spite of all that, I have a lot of optimism, and tons to be thankful for!

I have the opportunity to get up each day and come to work in a great school district! I have the opportunity to interact with a group of professionals who are dedicated to creating effective learning environments for each students. I have the opportunity to see struggling students have that light bulb come on and witness that 'aha' moment.

I have the opportunity to know, beyond a shadow of any doubt, that in spite of the challenges that are facing the Hudson Community School District, we will be stronger because not only can we do this, we will do this! Our school district is awesome because everyone here is working toward the common good and has the best interest of the students in mind. This school district is awesome because of you, and what you do for our school district, no matter your role. So then, I am thankful for you and what you bring to the table.

So then, on behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to wish you and your family a very safe and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. Take some time to relax, eat a big meal, and enjoy your family. We can start worrying about that other holiday on Monday!

The Iowa Core Curriculum and the Common Core

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Mrs. Owen-Kuhn discusses the Geogrpahy of the Mississippi river during
a recent 4th grade class.

The Iowa Core Curriculum, or Common Core, as it is now referred to, is often times mistakenly identified as merely a set of standards and benchmarks that we expect our students to know and be able to do when they complete a grade level or course of study. The reality is that it is much more, and much deeper than that! To describe the Common Core as standards and benchmarks is overly simplistic.

The Iowa Department of Education describes the vision of the Iowa Core in this way: "Iowa's students deserve an education that helps them succeed in today's technology rich, global economy. The Iowa Core (formerly known as the Iowa Core Curriculum and the Model Core Curriculum) provides academic expectations for all Iowa's K-12 students.

"It does so by helping teachers take learning to a deeper level by focusing on a well-researched set of standards in literacy and mathematics and essential concepts and skills in science, social studies, and 21st century learning (civic literacy, financial literacy, technology literacy, health literacy, and employability skills). The Iowa Core is not course-based, but rather is a student-based approach that supports high expectations for all students.

"The vision for the Iowa Core is to ensure the success of each and every student by providing a world-class curriculum. The Iowa Core is designed to improve achievement of all students, preparing them for the world of work and lifelong learning. It identifies the essential content and instruction of critical content areas that all students must experience."

Notice that phrase "World-Class", it has been mentioned before, most recently during the roll out of the Education Blueprint. The Department goes on to outline six key outcomes to assist in the implementation of the Core.

School leaders build and sustain system capacity to implement the Iowa Core.
Community members and other supporting agencies work together to support the implementation of the Iowa Core.
A continuous improvement process to improve teaching and learning is used at the district and school level.
District leaders and other educators monitor and use data to increase the degree of alignment of each and every student’s enacted curriculum and other relevant educational opportunities to the Iowa Core.
Educators engage in professional development focused on implementing Characteristics of Effective Instruction and demonstrate understanding of Essential Concepts and Skills.
Educators implement effective instructional practices to ensure high levels of learning for each and every student.

The question now must be, where is Hudson in the implementation of the Core? Well, we are full steam ahead in the implementation. Outcome #1, mentioned above calls for school leaders to build and sustain capacity to implement the Iowa Core. In the Hudson Community School District, we have identified and implemented a professional development leadership team comprised of district administration and faculty. This committee is charged with the development and delivery of professional development efforts that emphasize the implementation of the Core.

In outcome #4, we are most concerned with the alignment of our enacted curriculum. Enacted and intended are two different concepts, and it is our intention to make sure that our intended becomes our enacted. We are aligned with a group known as MISIC (Mid Iowa School Improvement Consortium), which helps to ensure that our standards and benchmarks are in sync with the Iowa Core. It is our responsibility to ensure that these standards are being taught at the right depth at the right time. In the Hudson community School District, we have trained a core group of educators to oversee and train the balance of the faculty to begin stage one of the curriculum alignment process in January of 2012.

The best curriculum in the world is virtually useless unless implemented with effective and research based instructional strategies. In outcome #5, the characteristics of effective instruction have been identified. In the Hudson Community School District, educators are engaged in professional learning communities where the focal point of these groups is the study of CEI (characteristics of effective instruction). During our most recent early dismissal, the topic of study was student centered classrooms. In case you are wondering, the characteristics are as follows:

Student centered classrooms
Teaching for understanding
Assessment for learning (Formative Assessment)
Rigorous and relevant curriculum
Teaching for learner differences

Winter Weather Procedures

2011-11-08T08:11:00.000-06:00

Last night while watching the news, and then again this morning I was reminded that the winter weather season is quickly approaching! Although this first little skirmish is predicted to be very mild by Iowa standards, I thought it would be important to remind everyone how you can stay up to date on school delays and cancellations.

Technology has changed so much since I started in this business, and luckily it is no longer necessary to wait to see the name of your respective school scroll by on the bottom of the television screen (although you are more than welcomed to do it that way if you would like). Our procedure includes all the major Media outlets, but you can always jump on the web and get instant and up to date information.

We also utilize Iowa School Alerts, and you are encouraged to go to this website and sign up to receive instant alerts and text messages to learn about changes to the school schedule. Most of the media outlets also have a feature where you can sign up to receive text alerts when there is a delay or cancellation. I encourage you to utilize whichever medium best suits your needs. The following are the medium that will be utilized by the Hudson Community School District this year:

Media Notification

1. School Alerts

https://schoolalerts.iowa.gov

2. KWWL

www.kwwl.com

3. KCRG

www.kcrg.com

4. KGAN

www.kgan.com

5. Blog Post

http://superintendentvoss.blogspot.com/

6. Twitter Feed

@AnthonyDVoss

I can assure you that during the winter weather season we are constantly monitoring the radar and weather forecasts. We have people standing by who actually go out and drive on the roads to help determine when/if it is necessary to alter our school schedule. Our decision making is rooted on the solution that is in the best interest of everyone in the school district. Safety of our students is of paramount concern and we will always err on the side of student safety. As always, if you feel it is in the best interest of you and your family to be absent from school due to a weather event we will respect your decision.

Finally, I ask in advance for you forgiveness on those occasions when I am certain to make a bad call. Here's to hoping that we won't be utilizing an early dismissal/late start/cancellation very often!

Hudson School Tax Rates and the Rollback

2011-11-02T07:52:00.000-05:00

We have spent a little time the past few weeks discussing the financial health of the school district, how enrollment impacts the budget, and a little bit about school foundation aid. I think that it is important also, to discuss property tax rates for the school district, what they are used for, and how much money is generated by them. There has been quite a bit of press lately about the Governor's plan to reform property tax during the next legislative session. He tried to get some of this done last session but fell short of his goal.

To understand the context of the discussion, you need to understand a little bit about the rollback. When the school tax rate was set by the Board of Director's last spring, the rate remained virtually unchanged. However, when most of you received your tax bill in the mail, you probably noticed that your taxes had indeed increased. Why was this? Well, the simple answer is that you only pay tax on a portion of assessed value for your residential property. Last year the percentage of property valuation you pay taxes on increased. This year it is scheduled to increase again. Currently you pay taxes on 48.53% of your residential property value. Next year that is scheduled to increase to 50.75% of assessed property value. This means that even if tax rates stay the same, tax bills will increase.

While residential properties are subject to the rollback, agricultural property taxes are based on productivity, while commercial and industrial property taxes are taxed on 100% of the valuation. The Governor believes this is precisely the reason why businesses don't want to come to Iowa, commercial property taxes are too high. He hopes that a reform to the state's property tax system can pass during the 2012 session that will focus on creating jobs and improving Iowa's business climate.

The other side of the argument is that as a rollback is placed on commerical property owners, it shifts the tax burden to residential property owners. This brings me back to my original point: during the 2010-2011 school year, the tax rate for the Hudson Community School District was $16.89800. This year, the tax rate for the Hudson Community School District is $16.89198. Although the rates are nearly identical, you still experienced a higher tax bill because of the change to the rollback formula.

Below is a breakdown of the tax rate and how those revenues are dispersed:

	Tax Rate	Revenue Generated	Purpose
General Fund	$ 14.27238	$ 2,224,360.00	Operational Expenses
Management Fund	$ 0.949600	$ 147,996.00	Property insurance, claims against the district, unemployment benefits, retirement benefits
Voted PPEL	$ 1.340000	$ 219,936.00	Repair of equipment, buildings and grounds
Regular PPEL	$ 0.33000	$ 54,163.00	Repair of equipment, buildings and grounds

The revenue illustrated above is what is generated from property taxes. The balance of the revenue that supports the budget is generated through a combination of state foundation aid, sales tax revenue, and from other sources that are classified as miscellaneous income. If you have any questions about tax rates or how categorical funding works within the confines of operational expenses you are encouraged to contact my office at avoss@hudson.k12.ia.us.

Financial Health of the Hudson Community School District

2011-10-26T09:44:00.002-05:00

The financial condition of the Hudson Community School District deteriorated over the course of the 2010-2011 school year. This is due primarily to the fact that the district has been subject to declining enrollment at a time when cuts were made to the state aid portion of the foundation formula over a three years (including the fiscal year 2010-2011). In total, the district experienced a cut in state foundation aid of $574,295. In the fiscal year 2010-2011, state aid was underfunded by $222,435.

Additionally, the state failed to adequately fund the allowable growth formula, which contributed to a deterioration of the unspent budget authority and cash balances. At the close of the Fiscal Year, June 30, 2011 the unspent balance had deteriorated to $78,380, down from $210,606 the previous year. Unspent budget authority is one of the most important financial indicators in a school district.

The Board of Directors acted decisively in the spring of 2011, making significant and systematic budget cuts totaling over $574,000. While the financial condition of the school district is beginning to improve, it is important to stress that now is not the time to relax. As we continue to face declining enrollment and an allowable growth of zero percent for fiscal year 2013, we will need to carefully examine our spending habit, ensuring that we are maximizing all of our capital and human resources wisely.

Creditor's Equity Ratio

The table and chart to the left is what is referred to as the Creditor's Equity Ratio. This tool is used to measure the amount of current assets that are provided by creditors. The amount of short term borrowing would be symptomatic of how dependent the school is on credit to cash flow business operations. Logic would suggest that as a school increases available cash to service operations, the less dependent on short-term debt it would become. Ideally, this ratio would be zero. There are two key takeaways from this ratio. First, the district currently participates in short term borrowing, typically during the month of September, which is prior to the first state aid payment of the school year and prior to the first of two large tax draws during the school year, and second; this ratio is on the decline which is good news for the school district. For Fiscal Year 2011, the district borrowed $350,000 in the month of September. In Fiscal Year 2012 (current) for the same month of September, the district borrowed $250,000.

Day's Net Cash Ratio

The Day's Net Cash Ratio is typically calculated at the end of the fiscal period and give a good indication of how long a district can operate without the infusion of revenue. One of the limitations of this measure is that district expenditures are most generally made in large amounts on only a few days each month. At the same time, most schools receive revenue in large amounts on only a few times each month. The timing of these receipts is important to maintaining effective business operations. Inadequate cash on hand to service expenditure obligations requires the school to borrow funds creating added debt expense not directly tied to student instruction (see Creditor Equity Ratio above). The target range for this measure is between 90 and 120 days. In Iowa, it is especially important to note that state foundation aid to schools ends each fiscal year in mid June. The first payment of state aid for the new fiscal year does not begin again until September, a full 90 day gap. The key takeaway here is that the Day's Net Cash Ratio is not sufficient to sustain business operations longer than 46 days, which makes it necessary to participate in short term borrowing as is [also] indicated by the Creditor's Equity Ratio.

Financial Solvency Ratio

This is a measure of financial health that is considered one of the key indicators of financial health in a school district and measures the amount of undesignated, unreserved funds at the end of the fiscal period. In other words, if every financial obligation were met, how much capital would be available for other purposes? The target range for this tool is considered acceptable between 5% and 10%. Although this indicator has not declined as rapidly in the past few years, it is indicative of a weakened cash position. Notice the significant decrease from fiscal period 2009 to fiscal period 2010. This would represent the 10% across the board cut that was ordered by Governor Culver. You will also notice that in fiscal period 2011 there was not a rebound in cash position to offset the cut. This is because the cut was not restored and state aid continued to be underfunded in fiscal year 2011.

Investment Income Ratio

The Interest Income Ratio measures earnings of idle monies. This indicator can tell how aggressively the district's money has been managed and what contribution the investment income is making to total revenue. It is anticipated that this ratio should rise and fall in direct relationship with the Day's Net Cash Ratio. One reservation about using this ratio is that it is very susceptible to market fluctuations that are not within the control of district management. Stable to upward trends are most desirable for this trend, as you can see, our investment trend is in significant decline, which is indicative of a weakened economic condition that has been in place over a period of several years.

Student Transportation Ratio

The Student Transportation Ratio measures the amount of the school budget spent on transportation costs. Examples would include operating and maintaining bus routes, driver costs, equipment purchases, and fuel. A high ratio may suggest to management that a disproportionate amount of resources are being spent in this area. Because the school district is only 57 square miles, this ratio carries a bit of good news for the school district. Compared to other school districts in Iowa, we have one of the smaller geographic districts. This enables the school district to better weather fluctuations in fuel prices that have embattled neighboring school districts in recent years.

The Unspent Balance Ratio measures the amount of cumulative district spending authority not spent at the end of each fiscal year. This ratio is unique to Iowa schools because they are funded according to state formula which is different than any other in the country. Because spending authority is vitally important to the financial health of any Iowa district, it must be included. I would argue that this is the most important indicator of financial health in school districts. The data for this indicator are provided by the Iowa Department of Management on the report titled "Unspent Budget Calculations". The unspent balance ratio has been is in serious decline, ending the fiscal year 2011 with an unspent balance of $78,380. It is important to note that it is a violation of Iowa Code to have a negative unspent balance. The only way to correct a declining unspent balance is to decrease expenses. The Board of Director's took decisive action in the spring of 2011 to make major budget cuts in an attempt to correct the declining unspent balance. While it is too early too make accurate predictions, it appears that the unspent balance has begun a correction. To put into perspective the seriousness of the unspent balance, Hudson current has an unspent balance of $78,360, compared to $1,500,000 in other school in the North Iowa Cedar League, which is our comparative group of like size schools.

If you have additional questions about the financial condition of the Hudson Community School District you are urged to contact me at avoss@hudson.k12.ia.us. The data used in this report has been collected and submitted to the Iowa Department of Education as part of the Certified Annual Report. These data were recently verified by the independent auditing firm of Burton E. Tracy & Co., P.C. The ratios selected for inclusion in this report were identified as being the most efficacious predictors of financial health for Iowa K-12 public schools as supported by formal quantitative research conducted in 2005 by Dr. Craig Hansel.

No Child Left Behind Rights Notification

2011-10-25T08:18:00.000-05:00

Parents/Guardians in the Hudson Community School District have the right to learn about the following qualifications of their child's teacher: state licensure requirements for the grade level and content areas taught, the current licensing status of your child's teacher, and the baccalaureate/graduate certification/degree. You may also request the qualification of an instructional paraprofessional who serves your student in a Title I program or if your school operates a schoolwide Title I program.

Parents/Guardians may request this information from the Office of the Superintendent by calling 319.988.3233, emailing avoss@hudson.k12.ia.us, or by sending a letter of request to the Office of the Superintendent at 136 S. Washington Street; Hudson, Iowa; 50643.

The Hudson Community School District ensures that all parents will be notified in writing if their child has been assigned, or has been taught by a teacher who is not considered highly qualified.

Certified Enrollment and the Budget

2011-10-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

Do you realize that on Friday, we will finish the first quarter? It is pretty amazing to me that we are already this deep into the school year. All of our fall sports seasons are beginning to wrap up, and we enjoyed a music concert just this week. I always seem to catch myself making comments like "next week won't be quite so busy", only to find that it is, and in many instances even more so. However, there is no mistaking the fact that the fall season is an incredibly busy time for reports to be filed with the Department of Education. Believe me, there are a plethora, and while each important in its own right, none can top the importance of the certified enrollment report. This data is used to collect the primary variable for the school aid formula. The number of students we have in our district this fall multiplied by the district cost per pupil will, in a nutshell determine the part of the foundation formula that is titled "Regular Program District Cost" for next year, and is the largest component of general fund operations.

Back in the days when I worked in the Catholic school system, this was a pretty simple evolution to complete. On count day we simply counted our students and presto, we were all done! It is not nearly as simple as that, and is part of the reason why we have a two week window in which to complete this transaction. Here is how it works: On October 3rd, Count Day, we take a census of our student population. The data is cleaned and uploaded onto a state database website where we can view duplicates. Each student in Iowa is given a unique identifying code (kind of like a social security number) that follows them throughout their academic career. When they move, transfer, open enroll, etc., this number remains constant. Once that data is populated on the state site, we have to correct errors with other districts. This is pretty normal and expected. We may be counting a student that another district is counting for any number of reasons. What we need to do then is have a conversation with that other district and come to an agreement on who should be counting them.

After the reconciliation of the data is complete, on October 15th, we certify the results and sign an electronic affidavit claiming the data is "true and accurate to the best of my knowledge". From now until the end of the month, we will have several conference calls with the Department of Education for further clarification and reconciliation of the data. (My first conference call will be at 4:30 this afternoon.)

Here are a couple of things to remember about the certified enrollment process: any student that enrolls after October 3rd is not included on your official count, and therefore is not eligible for funding, and the certified enrollment number is used to calculate revenue projections for the next fiscal year. You are all probably aware of the fact that we have enrolled a number of students since count day, and that a number of them are concentrated in kindergarten. This has cause alarm and concern for all parties involved, and we are in the process of problem solving that issue right now.

Now there are different numbers that we need to be concerned with, including certified enrollment, BEDS enrollment, open enroll into the district, and open enroll out of the district. For the purposes of this discussion, we will focus on BEDS and open enrollment. The point to remember about all these trendlines is that they are in decline and it is critical that the district respond to these changes in demographics. To put it quite frankly, we need to make sure we are staffed properly for our size of district. The charts and graphs included on the next page illustrate the enrollment trends for the Hudson Community School District.

BEDS Enrollment refers to the total number of students that are being served in the Hudson Community School District. It does not include the resident number of students who are open enrolled into another school district, students who are "tuition-in" to another school district, or students who are served in an interim placement for the purposes of special education or some other educational placement. What it does include is resident pupils served in the school district and open enroll students from other school districts that are served in our school district. As a point of reference, resident pupils generate $6,058 and open enroll students generate $5,883.

Open Enrollment Into Hudson is the total number of students attending Hudson from our neighboring school districts. You may notice that the school district with the largest number of students enrolling into Hudson is is significant decline. Obviously, that is the Waterloo Community School District, and Waterloo has adopted a plan to keep the balance of students in the district. The plan specifies the percentage of students that can open enroll in and out of the district determined to balance diversity factors. A district (Waterloo) may deny a timely filed application that would adversely impact the plan. Standard procedure for Waterloo is to deny open enrollment requests out of their district, hence the decline in enrollment.

Open Enrollment Out of Hudson These are the resident students that are attending school district other than Hudson. You will notice that one district stands out above the rest, that district being Cedar Falls. These open enrollment numbers also include students who are being served in districts outside the resident district for the purposes of special education, or also includes students who have moved into the district over the course of the summer who qualify for open enrollment under the "Good Cause" rule. Our research into why open enrollment out of the school district occurs is typically because of convenience or work related logistics of parents.

The Hudson Community School District is predicted to go through a period of declining enrollment for the next five years. While it is difficult to predict this far out, assuming a stable retention of students year over year and a kindergarten enrollment of 50 pupils, the enrollment would continue to decrease until the current 8th grade class graduated in 2016-2017. If numbers were to hold true, one could expect an increase in enrollment beginning the fall of the 2016-2017 school year.

Naturally a decrease in enrollment will result in a decrease in general fund revenue. It will be important for the school district to make staffing adjustments that are appropriate to the size of the student body. While in times of higher enrollment it is necessary for a larger number of staff, the opposite is also true. The district is currently going through a period of 'right-sizing', which means that a staff to complement a smaller student body would be an appropriate and prudent course of action.

Board/Superintendent Goals

2011-10-11T15:45:00.000-05:00

As a school we are constantly evaluating our students, collecting data, and setting goals. Once we have set those goals, we write an action plan on how we plan to achieve those goals and then periodically provide updates as to how we are progressing on the goals. While we pay most attention to how our students are progressing, we also must be cognizant of how we are doing as teachers, administrators, superintendent's, board members, and school districts. After that, we should be identifying areas for growth and improvement, after all we are all about continuous improvement for everyone!

With the assistance of the Board of Directors, I have developed goal areas for this school year. We all have areas in our personal and professional lives where we can (and should) improve; regardless of our position. I want to take an opportunity to share with you the goals that the Board and I have set, and periodically I will provide you with an update of my progress toward those goals.

Our teachers are asked to write their goals based on the Iowa Teaching Standards, administrators likewise use the Iowa Standards for School Leaders. The following is the framework upon which the Iowa Standards for School Leaders are based:

Shared Vision
Culture of Learning
Management of the Organization
Family and Community
Ethics
Political/Social Context

This year I have chosen to focus my goals on three main areas: improving the Culture of Learning (Standard Two), by working collaboratively with our faculty to improve our professional development and curriculum alignment work within the Iowa Core, which will have the net effect of improved student achievement; shared vision (Standard One) and building relationships in the district (Standard Four), by providing more communications such as these and being visible in the school district and finally; management of the organization (Standard Four), by improving our fiscal condition in the school district.

To find out more about my action plan and specifics, read on!

Goal #1 –Instructional Program (Standard 2): Meetor exceed the Annual Progress Goals established by the Board at their August,2011 Board Meeting.

Explanation: The Board has an expectation that the Annual Progress Goals, recommendedby the SIAC and approved by the Board in August of 2011, will be met orexceeded. These goals are to increasethe percentage of students who meet targeted growth in the areas of Math,Reading, Science, and Language Arts.

Action Steps:

1. Staff and Administration will engage inprofessional learning communities and participate in online learning modulesvia Hudson professional development website.

a. HudsonPDT will oversee the development of online learning modules based onCharacteristics of Effective Instruction, ensuring the Iowa ProfessionalDevelopment Model is implemented with fidelity.

b. HudsonTQT will oversee approval of Teacher Academy Applications to ensure theproposed academy satisfies overall goals of improved student achievement andaligns with district improvement goals.

c. Administrationwill be fully engaged in the professional learning communities, work ascollaborative partners on the PDT, and the TQM.

2. Staff and Administration will begin the processof curriculum alignment utilizing the I-CAT tool.

3. Staff and Administration will continue todevelop and improve upon Hudson Staff Professional Development Website andElectronic Message Board.

Goal #2 – Developa Vision for Learning that is Shared and Supported by Others (Standard 1);Respond to Diverse Community Interests and needs, mobilize community Resources(Standard 4): Understand districtdocuments, and build relationships in the district. Increase superintendent visibility andaccess in the school and community.

Explanation: Itis imperative that during this time of change and transformation in our schooldistrict that the staff, community, and parents feel that they have the ‘ear’of the superintendent. It is necessarytherefore, to be visible and communicate.

Action Steps:

1. The Superintendent will develop a blog and postone article per week. The localnewspaper, “The Hudson Herald” willbe invited to subscribe and republish posts in the newspaper.

2. The Superintendent will devote one hour of everday he is in the district to being visible outside the office. This may take the form of classroomvisitation, meeting informally with faculty or staff members, or volunteeringin the classroom. The point of this goalis to increase visibility in the district while outside the office.

3. The Superintendent will, at a minimum, attendChamber of Commerce and Lion’s Club Meetings at a rate of one per quarter.

4. The Superintendent will continue to attend andsupervise as many events as possible.

Goal #3 – Finance(Standard 3): Improve the financial position of the Hudson Community SchoolDistrict in Regard to All Key Financial Indicators.

Explanation: The final determination of the unspent balance figure for Fiscal Year2011 is still unknown. However, theBoard has the goal of continuing to advance unspent balance to the level set onJanuary 19^th, 2009 ($550,000), and then preserving that balancewithin a range of $50,000 through FY14, and feels that with careful overview ofDistrict revenue and expenses this goal is challenging, yet attainable.

Action Steps:

1. The Superintendent will provide to the Board aprojected USB once the district audit and CAR is filed.

2. The Superintendent will continue to oversee allpurchases and expenses incurred by the district, finding efficiencies wherepossible while not impacting the District’s educational integrity.

a. Bythe middle of September, the Superintendent will appoint a task force ofteachers and administrators to evaluate the effectiveness of the current MasterSchedule that utilizes a block schedule with a goal of looking at a traditionalschedule, and evaluating the number of credits required for graduation. The task force will primarily evaluate thepros and cons of each model and be prepared to make a recommendation.

b. Thetask force will make a recommendation to the Superintendent by end of Novemberregarding any changes that can or should be made to the schedule.

3. The Superintendent will prepare a line itembudget for FY12 in conjunction with the financial audit, and will use that lineitem budget as a tool in which to look for additional financial efficiencies.

My Conversation with Senator Jeff Danielson

2011-10-04T16:45:00.000-05:00

It has been a few weeks, but I had the chance to sit down with Senator Jeff Danielson on September 19th to discuss a variety of issues that are facing not only the Hudson Community School District, but school districts all across Iowa.

At the time of our conversation, we didn't yet know for sure what the Governor's Blueprint for Educational Reform would include, other than some very general themes. With the release of the blueprint yesterday, the conversation around education reform is definitely picking up steam. Now that we know specific recommendations, the conversation will need to focus on how we can pay for these reforms! There is no doubt that it will come with quite a price tag. If the last legislative session was any indication, this will be a significant debate.

From our conversation, it was apparent that Senator Danielson was (and still is) very sympathetic to the educational challenges that face our state. As one example, during the last legislative session, he was in support of an allowable growth model of 2%.

As I mentioned in a previous post, now is a great time for all of us to visit with our local legislators about all of these very important issues. If you have comments about the education reform plan, make your voice heard! As we all learned yesterday, the proposed plan, if enacted will be a seismic shift in education policy in Iowa. Almost all of the proposed reforms will require a change in legislation, and our lawmakers need to hear from us.

Senator Danielson was quite well informed about the Hudson Community School District. He asked good questions and was very interested in hearing about the impact of zero percent allowable growth on our school district, and how the budget guarantee had a negative impact on local property tax. He took a substantial amount of time out of his schedule to meet with me and asked great questions to ensure that he had a total understanding of the issues that we are facing in Hudson.

As we continued our conversation, I wanted to ensure a consistent message was being shared with all of our local legislators:

Modified Allowable Growth. Some of the rules and constraints on the use of this funding has made it very difficult for school districts to adequately serve the At-Risk population. This has the unintended consequence of becoming a program designed toward response instead of prevention. We are of the belief that it is much better, and cost effective, if we can use preventative measures in our work instead of response when something becomes a problem.
Education Reform. Undoubtedly this will be a huge topic of the next General Assembly.
Unfunded Mandates. I explained how unfunded mandates are having a very negative impact on our ability to educate students, and that every time an unfunded mandate becomes law it has the effect of diverting money from some other purpose in our general fund. I shared that we can't do everything in education with fewer and fewer resources every year.

If you are interested in hearing more from Senator Danielson, he has accepted an invitation to attend our board meeting on November 21st. Please plan to attend.

Well, that about wraps it up for today. Some of you may have been hoping to hear my thoughts and comments on the Education Reform Blueprint, but I am saving that for next week. On Wednesday I will have the opportunity to attend a meeting with the AEA 267 Superintendents in Clear Lake. Our guest speaker for the day is Education Director Jason Glass, who is expected to take questions about the plan. I am seeking more information before I comment further (although I did agree to an interview with KWWL yesterday). If you are interested in joining the statewide conversation on the blueprint, you can follow along on Twitter, just use the hashtag #IAEdFuture and you will be able to hear the latest!

End of and Era: Hanson & Goodnight Pass the Gavel

2011-09-28T07:45:00.000-05:00

Trent Goodnight (R) and Maureen Hanson (L) accept a plaque commemorating their years of service
to the Hudson Community School District

We are incredibly grateful for the years of service of both Trent and Maureen. Both board members decided during the last year that they would not be seeking another term on the Board of Education. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with both of these fantastic community leaders during my first year as superintendent at Hudson. As they were finishing up their tenure, I asked each one to reflect on their years of service. Thank you both for your service, please don't be strangers around the school!

Trent Goodnight, Director 6 years of service

What did you expect board service to be like, and how didit differ in your time on the board? I reluctantly said yes to board service as a way to do mypart for the community. My generalimpression was that my role would be centered around the idea of impressing acommunity viewpoint on the School. Inother words, I thought board members were primarily there to act as a liaisonfor complaints or ideas from community members. This turned out not to be the focus, or primary need. Rather, the board's real job is week-to-weeksupport for public education in general, and the Hudson school universe inparticular.

What was your greatest achievement, or what were you mostproud of during your time on the board? Hiring three superintendents. Plus, I quickly grew to care deeply aboutteachers, administrators, support staff, and the community, and I tried tofairly represent each one of them at the appropriate times.

What was the most surprising aspect of serving on theschool board? How much time it takes, especially during key events, andhow important it really is for our American way of life. Plus, I was surprised by the quality ofpeople involved with public education; most are very impressive individuals.

What advice would you offer to the next board? Learn quickly that board service is a responsibility torepresent and serve many others, and they are counting on you to work hard ontheir behalf.

What will you miss? Being involved with the week-to-week trials and joys thatgo on. It will be difficult to findanother role that serves the community as much as board service.

How will you stay involved, or what are your plans nowthat you are no longer serving on the board? Not sure yet.

Maureen Hanson, President of the Board 22 years of service (Continued on the next page)

What did youexpect board service to be like, and how did it differ in your time on theboard? I ran for my first term on the board the year our oldest daughter,Alexis, started kindergarten. I wantedto be involved in the school in some way, and there was no PTO at thattime. I expected to be more directlyinvolved in her education, but quickly discovered that the purpose of the boardis not to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the school, but instead tobe involved at a higher level where the board can make a difference for allstudents. During my years on the board,the conversations shifted from those focused more on management (facilitiesupkeep and how we spent our money) to those focused on educational leadership(what we wanted our graduates to know and do, and how we would work towardensuring that all students graduating had those characteristics).
What wasyour greatest achievement, or what were you most proud of during your time onthe board? One of the board’s most important jobs is hiring thesuperintendent. I am proud of the timeand energy the board and many others in the school and community put into eachof our superintendent searches. Ibelieve we always hired the best candidate, and I also believe that the personwe hired was the person we needed most in our district at the time he washired. Our needs were different atdifferent times, and the people we hired had different strengths to addressthose needs. My greatest achievement was helping to create and/or adopt ourcore purpose and Learner Performance Goals. Our core purpose is: We createeffective learning environments that result in success for all students. What a valuable and rewarding purpose! Having a core purpose allows every board andstaff member to evaluate his/her decisions and actions against thisquestion: Are my actions forwarding thecore purpose? The Learner Performance goals help us all have a commonunderstanding of the characteristics we want to instill in our students. Learner Performance Goals have become part ofour culture, and our students clearly understand what they mean and how theycan achieve them. I am also proud of helping to establish Senior Celebrationsas the culmination of each student’s learning at Hudson Schools. It gives students an opportunity to reflecton their school years and on how well they are demonstrating the LearnerPerformance Goals.
What was themost surprising aspect of serving on the school board? The most surprising thing for me was the number of policies! We have hundreds of policies (most aremandated by state law), and the board is responsible for every one ofthem. One other surprising thing for me was the diversity of thoughtamong board members and the community. It is extremely helpful to have people with different opinions on theboard! It seems that we all assumeeveryone else thinks like we do, but, clearly, that is not true, and it is veryvaluable to hear many different thoughts before making decisions. The board was very good at debating manydifferent aspects of a question and then coming together to support thedecision once it was made.

What advicewould you offer to the next board? Continue to keep the core purpose in mind at every boardmeeting. Also, keep in mind the purposeof the board – to hire great superintendents and to adopt and maintain policiesand guidelines that help us fulfill our core purpose. Finally, realize that it will take manymonths for new board members to understand what they are supposed to do. I would encourage them to ask questions aboutanything they don’t understand! We havean outstanding administrative team and school staff. Everyone is willing to help in any way theycan.

What willyou miss? I will miss the interactions with so many wonderful people,including: attending work sessions withthe administrative team, learning together as a board by reading and discussingbooks and by attending the IASB conferences, working with the superintendent to prepare for upcomingboard meetings, visiting the school every year as a board and seeing all of thewonderful things going on in every classroom, serving lunch to the teachers andstaff during Teacher Appreciation Week, attending senior celebrations, and muchmore. I will even miss the regularmonthly meetings!

How will youstay involved, or what are your plans now that you are no longer serving on theboard? I hope to stay involved by participating on the School ImprovementAdvisory Committee and by being willing to contribute in whatever ways thecurrent board believes would be helpful.

In closing…

Over the years, the board has had to make some extremely difficultdecisions. We did our best to be honestand open in our discussions, and we always made the decisions we believed werebest for students and for the district. I am grateful to the people who shared their thoughts with the board,and I hope people know that we did our best to listen, even though we did notalways agree with everyone’s suggestions.

Students in the Hudson School district are very fortunate. The school administrators, teachers, andstaff members are all very dedicated to the students and to creating effectivelearning environments for each student. The Hudson community is very supportive of the school. And, the school board is made up of awonderfully diverse group of people who complement each other’s strengths, butwho all want what is best for students. Iwould like to thank all of those groups of people for their commitment to Hudsonstudents, employees, and school board.

It has been a wonderful 22 years for me! I have had the good fortune to work with manywonderful board members, superintendents, administrators, board secretaries, teachers,other staff members, and community members over the years. I am very grateful to the community forgiving me the opportunity to serve as a board member!

Best wishes to our Emeritus Board Members as they move on to their next challenge!

Board of Education Changes Leadership

2011-09-21T13:10:00.002-05:00

The board met on Monday evening, and as a matter of formal business said our goodbyes to longtime Director's Maureen Hanson and Trent Goodnight. After a brief meeting of the outgoing board, we were quickly on to new business. Please be sure to check back next week since my post will be devoted to the extraordinary service of both Maureen and Trent. We will take time to reflect on their years of service and memorable moments. I can assure you that it will be something you won't want to miss.

After a quick final meeting of the retiring board, we had to take some time to organize ourselves for the new session. The role of President is a critical component of the board, and we were all thankful that Jerry Griffith stepped up to the task. Jerry and I will work very close over the course of his presidency to set the agenda and direction for the board, serve in a ceremonial capacity, and to ensure that the board stays on task during meetings. He will be the one to control the tempo of the conversation, making sure everyones voice is heard before calling for the vote. We are in very capable hands!

Director Marsch graciously volunteered to remain in her capacity as Vice-President. This too is a critical role for our board, stepping in when the President is unable to attend or at other official functions. We are very lucky to have Director Marsch serve in this capacity, and she is always willing to attend an extra meeting when necessary and can be available in a pinch. I am also grateful that she is once again going to be our representative to the Delegate Assembly in November when we vote for our legislative platform.

Rounding out our returning board members is Director Cory, who is a fantastic board member. Mr. Cory is the member we can count on to boil the issues down into common sense facts. He is not afraid to ask the tough questions and is willing to hold people accountable. Director Cory has a marvelous understanding of the issues and has courage to stand up for what is right for the citizens of Hudson and taxpayers. He has the ability to look critically at the issue from all sides of the equation and make a decision that is in the best interest of the school district.

When Maureen and Trent decided not to seek re-election, there was certainly some time spent trying to persuade them to seek another term! We are very sad to see them depart our board, and there was some anxiety felt, especially early in the nominating process, when no one filed paperwork. Luckily it all worked out for the best, because Tanya Higgins and Karyn Finn both heard the calling!

Monday evening was their first meeting, and I can say that so far I am very impressed with their passion and poise. Both were willing to jump into the fray immediately and try to gain an understanding of the issues. Great questions and thoughtful comments are hallmarks of outstanding board members. Both have those skills in spades!

After all the ceremonial and organizational issues, we still had regular business that needed attention. Among those items:

Approved the second reading of the Board Policy Code No. 401.13 Among other things, this policy will permit teacher use of Facebook and other social media for educational purposes with the permission of the superintendent.
Approved the first reading of the Student Driver Permit Policy (Code To Be Assigned) Adds a requirement that students must complete the 8th grade before being eligible for a student driver permit.
Waived the second and third readings of Board Policy Code No. 212 Closed Sessions Policy and Board Policy Code No. 401.5R1 Employee Records Regulation Further defines when a board can enter into closed session and what employee records are considered public documents. These policies were amended to reflect recent changes to the Iowa Code.
Approved the first reading of Use of Video Cameras Board Policy Code No 711.2R2 Describes the use of video cameras on school property and that those video can be used and become part of the record of a student disciplinary hearing.
Approved Board/Superintendent Goals These are goals that are established annually that are used as a measure of the effectiveness of the superintendent and school board. They will become the focal point of my annual evaluation. In a few weeks this will be the subject of my blog, so more information will be provided at that time.

Annual Progress Report

2011-09-14T09:51:00.000-05:00

The Iowa Department of Education released the State Report Card for No Child Left Behind on Thursday, September 8th. That's all well and good of course, but again we need to take the information that is included in the report and make sure it is presented in the appropriate context. This report is the one that is used to determine whether or not a school has met Adequate Yearly Progress, and if they haven't, they end up on the SINA list. Just to remind everyone reading out there, Hudson made AYP this year, so we are not on any lists. You may recall last year that we were on the Watch List because one of our sub-groups did not show AYP. Failing to meet AYP two years in a row is what results in designation as a SINA school.

To remind everyone, the premise behind whether or not a school makes AYP is dependent on whether or not the students tested have successfully achieved proficient status on the ITBS/ITED Tests in the area of math, science, and reading. Proficiency is calculated by ranking students from 1-100, and any student who achieves above the 41st percentile is considered proficient. Each year, the percentage of students who must achieve proficiency is raised, until such a time that 100% of all students are deemed proficient. The legislation has picked 2014 as the date to have all students reach that bar. I know, I can literally see the wheels turning in your head now: "Wait.....if we are ranking the students and everyone who falls below 41 is not proficient.......won't there always be students below that line?" Exactly right!

Everyone admits this is a flawed system, from Jason Glass to yours truly. This is one of the many problems inherent with our current "State Test". It is a 20th Century Test (maybe even a 19th Century Test), being delivered in the 21st Century that requires absolutely no critical thinking skills. In fact, you can Google the answers to most questions on that test in about 5 seconds. It is all factual recall.

Now that I am sufficiently off task, the point of today is the Annual Progress Report for the Hudson Community School District. In Hudson, we have long recognized all the flaws of the test, and the lack of value in measuring proficiency. (I won't get into the statistical flaws or we will be here all day...) We have taken the approach that every student is unique and will grow at different rates and can expect different results. One thing we can agree on is that every single student should meet targeted growth annually. That has become the basis of measuring our progress. In our school district, we have identified 15 benchmarks for student growth and achievement based on student growth. We are looking at where a student starts, and where the end up. If they have achieved what has been identified as targeted growth, well then mission accomplished. If they didn't, then we need to go back, figure out why, and take another shot. Of the 15 benchmarks, we met our target in 11! This is great news and time to celebrate, but we can't get too excited, because we still have work to do on the other 4. This week I have included for you what those benchmarks are, how we did, and what we expect to do this school year.

Hudson Community School District

Annual Progress Goals 2011-2012

READING

1. Historically, 68%of Hudson 3-8 grade students meet targeted growth on the Measures of AcademicProgress Test. In 2010-2011, 69% ofHudson 3-8 grade students met targeted growth, which is what we expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill exceed the historical percentage of Hudson 3-8 grade students thatmeet targeted growth.

2. Historically, 56%of Hudson 9-10 grade students meet targeted growth on the Measures of Academic ProgressTest. In 2010-2011, 64% of Hudson 9-10grade students met targeted growth, which is what we expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill exceed the historical percentage of Hudson 9-10 grade students thatmeet targeted growth, with those students who achieve a ‘cut’ score figured in.

MATH

3. Historically, 66%of Hudson 3-8 grade students meet targeted growth on the Measures of AcademicProgress Test. In 2010-2011, 71% ofHudson 3-8 grade students met targeted growth, which is what we expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill exceed the historical percentage of Hudson 3-8 grade student that meettargeted growth.

4. Historically, 58%of Hudson 9-10 grade students meet targeted growth on the Measures of AcademicProgress Test. In 2010-2011, 71% ofHudson 9-10 grade students met targeted growth, which is what we expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill exceed the historical percentage of Hudson 9-10 grade students thatmeet targeted growth, with those students who achieve a ‘cut’ score figured in.

LANGUAGEARTS

5. Historically, 72%of Hudson 3-8 grade students meet targeted growth on the Measures of AcademicProgress Test. In 2010-2011, 76% ofHudson 3-8 grade students met targeted growth, which is what we expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill exceed the historical percentage of Hudson 3-8 grade students thatmeet targeted growth.

6. Historically, 63%of Hudson 9-10 grade students meet targeted growth on the Measures of AcademicProgress Test. In 2010-2011, 76% of Hudson9-10 grade students met targeted growth, which is what was expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill exceed the historical percentage of Hudson 9-10 grade students thatmeet targeted growth, with those students who achieve a ‘cut’ score figured in.

GENERALSCIENCE

7. Historically, 71%of Hudson 3-8 grade students met targeted growth on the Measures of AcademicProgress Test. In 2010-2011, 67% ofHudson 3-8 grade students met targeted growth, which is not what we expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill exceed the historical percentage of Hudson 3-8 grade students thatmeet targeted growth.

8. Historically, 54%of Hudson 9-10 grade students meet targeted growth on the Measures of AcademicProgress Test. In 2010-2011, 61% ofHudson 9-10 grade students met targeted growth, which is what we expected.

• In 2010-2011, wewill exceed the historical percentage of Hudson 9-10 grade students thatmeet targeted growth, with those students who achieve a ‘cut’ score figured in.

SCIENCEINQUIRY

9. Historically, 72%of Hudson 3-8 grade students met targeted growth on the Measures of AcademicProgress Test. In 2010-2011, 62% ofHudson 3-8 grade students met targeted growth, which is not what we expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill exceed the historical percentage of Hudson 3-8 grade students thatmeet targeted growth.

OTHERLOCALLY DETERMINED INDICATORS: READING

10. In 2009-2010, 49%of Hudson 3-8 grade students showed at least one year of growth on the ReadingComprehension portion of the ITBS, using the NSS score. In 2010-2011, 60% of Hudson 3-8 gradestudents showed at least one year of growth on the Reading Comprehensionportion of the ITBS, using the NSS score, which is what we expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill increase the percentage of Hudson 3-8 grade students that show at leastone year of growth on the Reading Comprehension portion of the ITBS, using theNSS score.

11. In 2009-2010,52.17% of Hudson 10^th grade students showed at least one year ofgrowth or more on the Reading Comprehension portion of the ITED, using the NSSscore. In 2010-2011, 57% of Hudson 11^thgrade students showed at least one year of growth on the Reading Comprehensionportion of the ITED, using the NSS score, which is what was expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill increase the percentage of 11^th grade students that show at leastone year of growth on the Reading Comprehension portion of the ITED using theNSS score.

OTHERLOCALLY DETERMINED INDICATORS: MATH

12. In 2009-2010, 61%of Hudson 3-8 grade students showed at least one year of growth on the ReadingComprehension portion of the ITBS, using the NSS score. In 2010-2011, 58% of Hudson 3-8 gradestudents showed at least one year of growth on the Math Total portion of theITBS, using the NSS score, whichis not what we expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill increase the percentage of Hudson 3-8 grade students that show at leastone year of growth on the Math Total portion of the ITBS.

13. In 2009-2010,42.03% of Hudson 10^th grade students showed at least one year ofgrowth or more on the Math Total portion of the ITED, using the NSS score. In 2010-2011, 66% of Hudson 11^thgrade students showed at lead one year of growth on the Math Total portion ofthe ITED, using the NSS score, whichis what was expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill increase the percentage of 11^th grade students that show atleast one year of growth on the Math Total portion of the ITED using the NSSscore.

OTHERLOCALLY DETERMINED INDICATORS: SCIENCE

14. In 2009-2010, 58%of Hudson 3-8 grade students showed at least one year of growth or more on theScience portion of the ITBS, using the NSS score. In 2010-2011, 51% of Hudson 3-8 gradestudents showed at least one year of growth on the Science portion of the ITBS,using the NSS score, which isnot what was expected.

• In 2011-2012, wewill increase the percentage of Hudson 3-8 grade students that show at leastone year of growth on the Science portion of the ITBS.

15. In 2009-2010,46.38% of Hudson 10^th grade students showed at least one year ofgrowth or more on the Science portion of the ITED, using the NSS score. In 2010-2011, we will increase the percentageof Hudson 11^th grade students that show at least one year of growthon the Science portion of the ITED. In2010-2011, 69% of Hudson 11^th grade students showed at least oneyear of growth on the Science portion of the ITED using the NSS score, which is what was expected.

OTHERLOCALLY DETERMINED INDICATORS

16. All students willuse technology in developing proficiency in reading, math, and science. In 2010-2011, 100% of 8^th gradestudents were proficient on 80% or more of the District’s technologybenchmarks.

17. For the 2011-2012school year, we will increase the percentage of K-4 students reading on gradelevel according to the Rigby Benchmarking component.

Walt Rogers Visits Hudson Community School District

2011-09-07T20:51:00.000-05:00

Representative Walt Rogers explains to Mr. Simmer's
Government class how a bill becomes a law.

In educations circles around the state, there is much conversation centered around the education reform effort that will be proposed by Governor Branstad. It is his intention that education reform will be a centerpiece of the 2012 General Assembly. This is in response to the Governor's Summit on education that was held this past July.

Right now, policy makers are busy drafting proposals and sharing ideas. The Governor and Department of Education have included various stakeholder groups in the conversation, including representatives from the Iowa Association of School Boards, School Administrators of Iowa, and the Iowa State Education Association. At this time, we do not know exactly what will be included in the proposed reform initiatives, but continue to receive regular updates from the organizations the represent us in the legislature. The draft proposals are scheduled to be released on October 3rd, and between that time and when the legislature convenes, we will all have an opportunity to provide feedback as the proposals are refined and sharpened.

When school starts in the fall is an opportune time for us to visit with our local legislators about these types of issues or others that are important to Iowa school districts. In light of what we expect to be major education reform that will result in a significant paradigm shift, there is no time like the present to visit with people that have been elected to represent us. I extended an invitation to Representative Walt Rogers to visit with me at Hudson Schools on September 6th. We used that time to discuss educational issues, the challenges that we face at Hudson, and what education reform may look like in our state. This was followed up with a tour of district facilities and an opportunity for Representative Rogers to answer questions from teachers and students.

Over the course of the last session, Representative Rogers and I shared many email correspondences in which I disagreed with the position that he was taking with regard to some of the issues that directly affected our school district. One example was the funding formula as it relates specifically to allowable growth for Regular Program District Cost. Because of some of these differences, I wasn't quite certain how our conversation was going to go, or how it would progress.

What I will share with you is that Representative Rogers was eager to learn about the Hudson Community School District! He asked very good questions, and took notes during our conversation. He shared with me the rationale behind some of the decisions that he made during his first session as a state legislator. I felt that he really took the time to try and understand the difficulties that we are facing, not only at Hudson, but statewide.

As we continued our conversation, I wanted to share three main areas for Representative Rogers to think about during the 2012 General Assembly:

Modified Allowable Growth. Some of the rules and constraints on the use of this funding has made it very difficult for school districts to adequately serve the At-Risk population. This has the unintended consequence of becoming a program designed toward response instead of prevention. We are of the belief that it is much better, and cost effective, if we can use preventative measures in our work instead of response when something becomes a problem.
Education Reform. Undoubtedly this will be a huge topic of the next General Assembly. I encouraged the Representative to listen closely to what constituents are saying back in his district. I also shared that it is not going to be enough to simply to say what the reform effort is; but rather make sure there is a solid plan to pay for it, less it become an unfunded mandate, which brings me to my final point:
Unfunded Mandates. I explained how unfunded mandates are having a very negative impact on our ability to educate students, and that every time an unfunded mandate becomes law it has the effect of diverting money from some other purpose in our general fund. I shared that we can't do everything in education with fewer and fewer resources every year.

Finally, we had a walking tour of the school district. My point during this tour was to brag about the wonderful education we have occurring in our district daily. I wanted to show him our students, and how proud I am of them each and every day. I wanted him to see the wonderful things that are going on daily in the schools, and we had an opportunity to do that.

Equally important, I wanted him to see the impact of our budget cuts from last spring, and how difficult it was becoming for all schools, not just the Hudson Community School District, when our budgets are continually cut. So what is going to happen going forward? I really don't know. What I do know is that unless we visit with our local legislators and share with them what the impact is of the decisions they make in Des Moines, we can expect more of the same. Will we continue to have disagreements? No doubt about it. But now that we have had this important conversation, we can be assured that Representative Rogers understands the challenges we face and is able to put them into context!

If you are interested in hearing more from Representative Walt Rogers, he has accepted an invitation to attend our board meeting on October 17th. Please plan to attend.

Representative Walt Rogers listens as kindergarten
teacher Andrea Hottle explains the challenges associated
with a large section of kindergarten.

For those of you who are wondering, I am scheduled to have this same conversation with Senator Jeff Danielson on September 19th. Our local legislators are available to you! I would encourage you to contact either one with questions or concerns. They are more than willing to listen to you! Take advantage of this time to visit now before the session begins!

Revenue Purpose Statement-What it is and Why It's Important

2011-08-31T08:30:00.000-05:00

Most of the time when we have discussions about school finance and the status of our financial condition at Hudson, I am specifically talking about the general fund. This is the largest fund that makes up our budget, the one that bears the cost of operations for our school district including salaries for staff, electricity, and other instructional supplies. This is the fund that we are typically most concerned about when we talk about such things as financial solvency ratio and unspent balance.

The Greenhouse project was funded through a combination
of PPEL and LOSST funds. The total cost of this project
was in the neighborhood of $53,829.50.

In addition, there are other funds that we use in tandem with the general fund that are incredibly important to our bottom line. Each fund has a separate purpose and only certain expenditures can be attributed to that particular fund. For example, the nutrition fund can only be used for expenses related to the hot lunch program, while the management fund can only be used to pay for such things as property/casualty insurance or benefits for our early retirees. The health fund is pretty self explanatory; we use that to pay health insurance premiums and claims, while the dental fund serves a comparable purpose.

We also have two funds that are designated specifically for physical plant purposes such as the repair, replacement, or upgrade of our facilities. Those would be the PPEL Fund (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy) and the LOSST Fund (Local Option Sales and Service Tax). While repairs and upgrades can also be paid out of the general fund, our guiding philosophy is to pay for as many of our repairs and upgrades as possible out of our building funds in an effort to protect the financial stability and solvency of the general fund. When we are preparing to initiate various projects, it is important during the planning phase to determine which fund is most appropriate. Part of that consideration has to be what is currently allowable under state law. Provided the sum of the repair project or upgrade exceeds $500, we can use these funds for repairs to the buildings and grounds, furnishing buildings and providing equipment for classrooms, or they can be used to fund improvements and building projects in our school district. Without these funds and the revenue they generate, the cost of repairs and improvements would be borne out of the general fund. I think everyone is aware of the challenges we are facing in our general fund, and the fact that our general fund simply could not support these building projects.

This may not look like much, but it was the best I could
come up with for a photo! Phase One of our elementary
school electrical upgrade was completed this summer. The
total cost of this project (excluding engineering and
architectural fees) was approximately $87,000. The
school was also the recipient of a $25,000 Harkin Grant
to help defray the costs of this project.

The PPEL fund is supported through local property taxes at a rate of $1.67. This rate is calculated through the combination of a board approved levy (.33), and a voter approved levy ($1.34). In our current fiscal year, we expect to collect approximately $277,624 in our PPEL fund. The voter approved levy is scheduled for voter re-authorization in 2014. The LOSST fund is supported through collection of the 1 cent sales and service tax. During this fiscal year, we expect to collect approximately $535,690.22 in sales tax revenue. In all, we expect revenue in our building funds (PPEL and LOSST) to exceed $810,000.

When we specifically talk about the 1 cent money, the voters of the Hudson Community School District have the opportunity to decide how those funds are going to be spent, which becomes the purpose of today's post. This is decided through what is commonly referred to as a Revenue Purpose Statement. The Revenue Purpose Statement is just that, a statement, or letter of intend to the voters of the Hudson Community School District, on how the school district intends to invest the 1 cent penny tax back into the Hudson Community School District. On September 13th when you cast your vote for school board members, you will have the opportunity to case a vote for the renewal of our Revenue Purpose Statement. We think it is important for you to know that the current Revenue Purpose Statement doesn't expire until 2019. Because of that you may be wondering why we are putting a question on the ballot at this time. Well, there are several reasons for doing this, but the main reason is to align our Revenue Purpose Statement with the most current legal language. Here are some specifics:

The penny sales tax is now a statewide sales tax and not county by county.
The statewide sales tax expires in 2029; in Hudson our Revenue Purpose Statement is set to expire in 2019.
The name of the fund is no longer called LOSST; but now is referred to as SAVE (Secure an Advanced Vision for Education fund).

Although it may not look like much, almost $50,000 was
invested in the drainage around the high school over the
summer as we make preparations for paving the high school
parking lot next summer.

PPEL or LOSST funds. Without this Revenue Purpose Statement, we would not be able to fund these project, or many of the other projects that we have undertaken this past school year.

Updating computers and other technology hardware is
a never ending venture! Over the course of this past summer
we invested over $100,000 in computer replacement, including
the addition of a new computer lab in the elementary school.

These funds are pretty important, not only for projects like the ones that have been described in this post, but also when dealing with the unexpected. I am no longer surprised when a piece of equipment breaks down and we need to get it fixed immediately. One quick example I can share with you is some ongoing maintenance issues with the cooling tower at the high school. It doesn't take long to spend $20,000 to $25,000 when a heating pump or cooling tower fails. While these items can be covered as a general fund expenses, it can have the unintended consequence of significantly eroding the general fund and depleting the unspent balance of a school district. With repairs like this, it wouldn't take very long at all to put the district into a much more difficult financial position. This is exactly the kind of contingency that our Revenue Purpose Statement is designed to address. Not only is it enabling us to plan for future improvements like parking lot upgrades, or paying off bonds for our high school (which has the effect of a lower tax rate); it also enables us to respond to unplanned emergencies, like a boiler going out or a water leak!

As you consider the merits of the proposed Revenue Purpose Statement, you may have questions. Please feel free to contact my office at any time. You may also be wondering if the Revenue Purpose Statement is a tax increase. The answer to that is an unequivocal no! This question is simply deciding how we will allocate the funds that we will generate through the one cent sales tax.

Please remember to vote on September 13.

Meet the School Board Candidates

2011-08-24T12:37:00.000-05:00

September 13th is an important day for the Hudson Community School District, because on that day we will elect two new members to the Board of Directors. Long time Board Members Maureen Hanson and Trent Goodnight have decided not seek re-election. Tanya Higgins and Karyn Finn have filed paperwork for the election, and we thought it would be a good idea for you to learn a little more about them. I had the opportunity to have lunch with both candidates yesterday and get to know them better. You will be impressed with the passion they share for education and the enthusiasm they have for board service. To help you learn more about our candiates, I posed a few general questions to each of them.

Tanya Higgins

Where did you grow up, go to school, college, and where do you work? I grew up in northeast Ohio, a small town called North Jackson. My husband also grew up in this town and our family still lives there. I attended Ursuline High School in Youngstown, Ohio. It was a parochial high school and afforded me the opportunity to take honors classes. My undergraduate was completed at Youngstown State University with a degree in Materials Engineering. I graduated Cum Laude. My Master's degree was completed at University of Wisconsin, Madison and is a Master of Engineering, Professional Practice. Upon graduation from Youngstown State University, I worked in a manufacturing facility in Ohio and a steel mill in Kentucky before joining Johne Deere, where I have worked for the last 10 years. I am the A&T Division Quality Deployment Manager for North America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Tell us about your family.
My husband and I have been married for 17 years. We have 2 daughters, Peyton (10th grade) and Reese (7th grade). At school, our daughters are involved in academic clubs, athletics, and the arts. Outside of school, they are both accomplished riders and show horses in the hunter/jumper discipline. The rest of our family still lives in northeast Ohio.

What drew you to board service?
Honestly, there was a need. I have children in the school district and have always been involved in their activities and in their education. I have a great amount of respect for our past board members. It is not an easy job and sometimes difficult decisions have to be made, especially in today's environment.

What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing education in Iowa?
The report released this summer by the Iowa Department of Education detailing the overall decline in Iowa academic achievement scores from 1992-2009 in math and reading is very concerning. Other states and countries are passing us up which will ultimately limit the opportunities available to our students.

What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing education in Hudson?
Given the status of the economy today, we must be more creative in how we use all of the resources available to us so that our students are fully prepared to be globally competitive.

What do you hope to accomplish by serving on the Boad?
I hope to find a way to continue the great traditions and reputation that the Hudson School District has and to strengthen the learning environment to give our children an advantage when entering college and the job market. Personally, I hope to further develop my leadership skills and strengthen the community where I live.

Karyn Finn

Where did you grow up, go to school, college, and where do you work?
I grew up in Metairie, Louisiana just 5 blocks from the parish line of New Orleans “The Big Easy”. I attended parochial school from K-8^thgrade. Yes, uniforms and tradition like you wouldn’t believe. I attended Archbishop Chapelle High School, an all-girls school (1200 total students), in a class of 300 still in plaid skirt & white shirt uniforms. Chapelle HS was then and continues to be a model of educational excellence, focused on preparing confident young women for the future. College preparation was a very important part of the program and I have to admit I was well prepared for entry into college without taking any college classes in HS. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Physical Education-Athletic Training from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. I also earned an Associate of Applied Science in Surgical Technology from Kirkwood Community College. This Fall 2011 I will add to that a Master of Arts in Community Health Education. My Grandfather who was an immigrant from Mexico in the late 1920’s always said “get an education; it is something that can open doors and can never be taken away”. It was a true statement then and is especially true now in preparing our children for the future: forward-thinking innovative education will be the key.

Tell us about your family.
Our family moved to Hudson 12 years ago due to work at UNI and since then Hudson has grown on us in ways that I would never have imagined. I have to admit that those first couple of years I wondered if we shouldn’t be in one of the bigger towns to the north but could never justify leaving the hidden benefits of living in a small town with access. Needless to say, we stayed and have enjoyed raising our three children, Juliann, Ryan and Carmen in Hudson. Kevin, my husband, is a professor at UNI in Exercise Science. I was a part-time instructor for UNI Kindergym for 10 years and also worked at Covenant Medical Center in Surgical Services for 7 years.

What drew you to board service?
After the challenging events of last year in meeting budgets and providing continued excellence in academics for the students of Hudson I thought that there is no better time to get off the sidelines and get into the game than now. In July I considered greater involvement in the community especially in education. I spoke with current and previous school board members to get a better feel for the obligations and expectations of the role. I was pleasantly surprised at the enthusiasm and support that I received during these discussions. Since that time I walked the neighborhoods in Hudson to get the petition signatures needed from community members; some with children in the district and many with grown children that were educated in Hudson. It was an interesting few days during which I gained a new respect for community service. The opportunity to listen to concerns and ideas from across generations is at the same time overwhelming and inspiring. The Hudson people are passionate and steadfast with pride in the community. I am glad to count myself among the citizens with pride in Hudson, IA. The challenges continue and it is in the best interest of the community to have a school that continues to have a great reputation in providing excellence in education and activities that prepare students for future opportunities locally and globally.

What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing education in Iowa?
The greatest challenge for education in Iowa is to be caught resting on the laurels of past performance and reputation without adapting the vision to be a leader in cutting-edge educational preparation for future job skills both locally and abroad.

What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing education in Hudson?
The greatest challenge for Hudson is how to prepare our youth with an eye toward an ever changing world. I tell my kids all the time that the world is bigger than your own backyard. Hudson has had a great reputation for excellence in education but we need to continue to press forward with a unified vision. We need to look beyond enrollment and budgets by tapping into our community talent pool during this financially challenging time. By more effectively utilizing our citizen assets and building partnerships to capitalize on available resources, I have great confidence that we will prevail. Hudson will become a stronger school and community that will attract more families to our town, just as our family was drawn here 12 years ago.

Thanks to Our Custodial Staff!

2011-08-16T16:34:00.000-05:00

In the final couple of weeks before the start of the new school year, it becomes a flurry of activity around the district. Our staff is working under an incredibly unforgiving timeline and really pull out all the stops to ensure we are ready to go for the start of the school year. I think you will all agree that the facilities look fantastic! If you see one of our hard working members of the staff, please thank them for their hard work!

Late last week I was visiting with Mr. Schlatter and asked him if he could find someone who would be willing to clean out the flowerbeds and landscaping along the East side of the elementary building. He told me that it wouldn't be a problem and that he would take car of it. The next day as I was walking over to the high school I noticed that this area had been taken care of. I asked Mr. Schlatter who it was that took care of it so quickly, and he remarked that he had no idea. I did some checking around to see who it may have been, but no one seemed to know who this wonderful person was who completed such a selfless act of volunteerism. We still don't know who the "Flower Bed Fairy" is, but if you are out there reading, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you!

The Board of Education met last night in a regular business meeting. As far as meetings go, it was a pretty routine meeting. I will get to some of the specifics in a moment, but first wanted to extend a thank you to the parents who came to the meeting to advocate for an additional teacher in the kindergarten. We all recognize that the kindergarten sections are larger than we would like them to be, but we also recognize this isn't a problem that is isolated to just the kindergarten. We made pretty dramatic cuts in staff from last year, the by-product of which is larger class sizes; systematically. Believe me when I tell you that we hear what you are saying, and if we could there is no doubt we would add teachers to our staff to reduce class size. Unfortunately until we are in a better financial position, it is important that we stay the course. We will continue to monitor the situation in the coming weeks.

In other action last evening, the Board spent time touring the facilities to see how some of the updates and upgrades to the district have come along. There was also a review of some policies that will come up for action in the next couple of months (we are specifically looking into our policy on student permits for school), along with a policy on staff use of technology.

This will be an interesting conversation in the coming months, especially since the state of Missouri recently banned the use of social media in the schools. They no longer permit teachers to use such sites as Facebook for student learning opportunities. What do you think about that? Should teachers be permitted to use social media sites, such as Facebook for educational purposes?

Iowa: Did You Know?

2011-08-10T07:50:00.000-05:00

During the last several weeks, I have been commenting on the Education Summit and some of the challenges that we face with the whole idea of reforming our educational system in Iowa. I belabored the point that, although important, this work can't move forward without the full support of the decision makers at the state level. In fact, in my conversations with people who have asked, my comments about the education summit have been summed up in a pretty simple phrase, "talk is cheap". Perhaps there has been some skepticism in my tone. I find myself asking the question, "Does Iowa have the political will to transform our educational system?" We don't yet know the answer to that question. Time will tell.

In Hudson, we know all too well that money is tight. Our current financial position has caused us to make some tough decisions and no doubt there are still difficult decisions to come.

To reform our educational system, from the state down to the district level, it is going to force all of us to view education through a different paradigm. Unfortunately, the schools we have today look very much like the schools that you and I attended. I say 'unfortunately', because so much has changed in that time frame. Computers and the Internet have changed all of that. We are a global society, and yes, we are training our students for jobs that don't even exist yet.

When we think about school, we think about what it was like when we were there. Tragically, we often think that is what school should look like for our children.

So then, have I made my point? Change is hard. We have financial considerations, and a system of educating our population that is based on a model that is over 100 years old. Those are two pretty huge obstacles that stand in our way. It would be very easy to kick the can down the road and leave the task to someone else.

But what is at stake? Take a look at the video that is included with my post this week. Some of you have probably seen the popular "Did You Know" videos. This one has been specially prepared for Iowa and very clearly illustrates what is at stake. The video is authored by Dr. Scott McLeod of Iowa State University, who is also a co-author of the very popular "Did You Know" series. After viewing the video, I would encourage you to join the conversation by visiting and bookmarking the Iowa Future website.

For those of you that are avid readers like me, I would recommend you read The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner, co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In his book, Wagner outlines seven 'survival skills' for today's youngsters. These are not the same skills we were taught in school.

We can all agree that this will be difficult. The challenge will be to get everyone to agree that this is necessary. Shall we roll up our sleeves and get to work?

Welcome to our New Employees!

2011-08-09T09:26:00.000-05:00

Earlier on this summer I had the privilege of introducing you to a couple of new faces that you will see around our school district this year. Now that summer is wrapping up and we are on the eve of a brand new school year, I am very happy to announce that all of our remaining positions have been filled!

There will be several new faces joining us in the hot lunch staff this year. Donna DaBillo has accepted our invitation to serve in our hot lunch program in the elementary school. She has 25 years of experience in food service management.

Denise Trainor is also a new face in the kitchen this year. Denise is a people person who loves being around children, so she will fit right in at Hudson Elementary School! She is also very active in her church, and has helped out with the religious education program as both a director and a teacher.

Rounding our our newcomers on the hot lunch circuit is Terri Hoffman. Teri is a graduate of East High School in Waterloo and enjoys staying busy and being around people.

Mrs. Dieken has left her position as 7-12 Counselor for a position in another school district. We are happy to announce that just this week we were able to find an outstanding replacement for Mrs. Dieken who will undoubtedly be able to pick up on the good work that has been the tradition in the Hudson counseling department.

Marcy Baltz joins our staff after serving at Boone High School since 2005. She began her tenure at Boone as a middle school science teacher, and in 2008 joined the counseling department at Boone High. Her husband's job brought them to the Cedar Valley, and we were fortunate to be able to grab her up! Marcy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education and a Master of Science degree in counseling, both from Drake University.

Please join me in welcoming all of our new faces at Hudson this year!

Unfunded Mandates

2011-08-03T10:47:00.000-05:00

We can be proud of the fact that in Iowa, we averted a government shutdown by ensuring budget bills were presented to the Governor before the end of the fiscal year. Just in the nick of time too, because the final bill wasn't presented until June 29th (the fiscal year ends on June 30). With all the controversy surrounding Minnesota's shutdown and the recent debt ceiling debate, it is any wonder anything ever gets done around here. Nonetheless, Iowa somehow managed to get it's house in order to avert some of the problems seen in other states. All that being said, it wasn't until just a few days ago that the dust began to settle and we truly are able to see where the appropriations are in the new budget bill. Because the bill wasn't passed until the eleventh hour, the Governor was granted authority to keep the government running for 30 days in House File 698 while he reviewed the bill. (HF 698 appropriated 1/12th of the FY11 appropriations for the month of July).

We wanted to paint our hallways in the elementary school

this summer. Unfortunately that wasn't able to happen because

of the electrical upgrade. However, we did have several

teachers who volunteered to paint their own classrooms.

Pictured above is one of the finished rooms. (Mrs. Hottle's

room is pictured.)

There was some fear that the Governor would use his line item veto pen to put a stop to some of the previously agreed upon legislation. My biggest concern was that he would veto the 2% allowable growth for FY13. Thankfully that wasn't the case. I won't go into every single detail of the legislation, but I do think it is important to point out a few points in the funding and appropriations this year, especially since we are gearing up for a General Assembly in January that is going to focus on education reform.

Okay, time to get down to the brass tacks of the topic. House File 645 is the Educational Appropriations bill that was ultimately signed on July 27th. The total funding in this bill is $809.9 Million, which is a decrease of $30.7 Million compared to FY11 appropriations. I won't get into what each line item contains, but I counted twelve appropriations that will experience a cut in FY12. Many of these will experience a decrease in funding by an average of six percent. Probably the biggest blow to us and many other school districts is that the state aid portion of the instructional support levy was completely eliminated. The instructional support levy permits local school districts to increase general fund budget authority by ten percent through a combination of property tax, income surtax, and state aid. The state aid portion is calculated through a complicated formula, and has been underfunded for years. By eliminating the state aid portion entirely, Hudson has lost approximately $13,000 in cash and spending authority. The saying goes "Cash is King", but in Iowa school districts "Spending Authority is King". There is no mechanism to make up for this loss in authority.

In reference to specific appropriations, some of the difficulty that we are now going to see is [that in some cases] the funding for a particular program has been eliminated, but we are still required by law to provide that service or program. Then it becomes what we refer to as an unfunded mandate. One such program is new teacher and administrator mentoring. It is absolutely critical that our new teachers and administrators have qualified mentors available during their first two years of service to ask questions, problem solve, etc. Now that the categorical aid has been removed, the funding for that program will have to come from another area of our budget. Believe me, I am not arguing that we shouldn't have mentorship programs, but there should be a recognition that these programs cost money, and a funding stream should be provided. Otherwise it has the unintended consequence of diverting money from another area of the budget, such as textbooks.

Granted, this doesn't amount to a lot of money, but when it gets piled on top of other unfunded mandates, it doesn't take long before we are inundated with a plethora of requirements and no way to fund them. In case you are wondering, there are a number of unfunded mandates that are a part of the legislation. There have been attempts in this legislation to remove these and other unfunded mandates, but it is tough!

After all, who can argue with the fact that we should be teaching CPR to all students before the graduate? That is definitely a noble cause. Or, how about the mandate that we use green cleaning products with our maintenance department. That is also pretty tough to argue with. The problem is, that in order to teach CPR, you have to pay to rent equipment, and in many cases an instructor. Green cleaning products? Well, they are pretty expensive when compared to traditional products.

The AEA system was also cut by $20 Million, and support to the DE for the implementation of the Iowa Core/Model Core Curriculum was also reduced.

We are just coming off an educational summit where the talk of the town was, and is, educational reform. Education reform can happen in our state, and Iowa undoubtedly has the capacity to return to the stature of 'best in the nation'. It is just a matter of if we are going to be provided with the resources to return our state to greatness.

My Take on the Education Summit

2011-07-26T18:44:00.001-05:00

The Education Summit has come to a conclusion and now the hard work of "education reform" is set to begin in earnest. In his closing remarks, Governor Branstad shared that he will take the ideas from this Summit, and begin the work of preparing recommendations to present to the 2012 General Assembly. He seems to be interested in collaboration and plans to present (in draft form) his recommendations to the state and receive feedback before the final version is presented for legislative action in January.

I was most interested in the keynote address by the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. In his address, he argues that Iowa schools are not getting any worse, but that they have rather maintained a status quo while other schools across the country have made significant improvements and reforms to their educational systems. One need look no further than the fact that Iowa was last to adopt a statewide set of clear educational standards, and has yet to develop an assessment that properly aligns to those standards. Secretary Duncan further outlined four key points that has led to the stagnation of Iowa education.

Low standards
Not showing leadership in innovation
We have not been a leader in elevating teacher effectiveness
A lack of leadership to provide quality early childhood education

The one area that I was interest in hearing about was the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (which we have all come to know as NCLB), and there does not seem to be any hope of this law being taken up by Congress anytime soon. It was somewhat encouraging to hear that Secretary Duncan "...refuses to go through another year with a law that is so fundamentally flawed."

One of the issues that will be interesting to watch unfold over the next year or so will be this idea of pay for performance, or merit pay. The new director of the Iowa Department of Education has some experience in this concept, and stated during one of the round table sessions that the idea of compensating teachers based solely on the number of years in the field and the amount of education is an antiquated system that should be carefully evaluated.

It has been argued that Iowa does have a robust system of evaluation now in place, with the advent of the Iowa Teaching Standards. Under this model, teachers who are new to the system go through a comprehensive evaluation based on these standards for the first two years of their careers, and after that they are given a comprehensive evaluation on a three year rotation. During the off years, teachers are working on individual career (or professional) development plans. In instances where a teacher is not meeting the standards, they can be placed on an "assistance" track.

In any event, evaluation systems are not, and should not be about a system of 'gotcha', but rather should be rooted in the idea of improvement. All of us, no matter what our profession, should receive constructive feedback on how we are performing on a regular basis. If you are doing the right things in your work, wouldn't you like to know it? If there are areas that you can improve, wouldn't you like to know what they are?

I would be eager to hear your thoughts on this. Should our teacher evaluation system be at least partially tied to student performance in the classroom? Is it a problem that we treat every teacher the same?

There was also some discussion about teacher preparation programs and how we go about preparing our teachers. Most "educating" of a teacher takes place after the certificate is granted. I think back on my own experience and the courses I took to get me ready for the classroom. Once I stepped foot in that classroom, there was so much that I didn't know! Think about that for a moment!

The former Governor of North Carolina had a pretty strong message for those of us at the Summit. Governor Jim Hunt is credited with leading his state through significant education reform. He outlined four things that we should think about:

Make sure teachers are better prepared
Have stringent hiring practices
Provide strong mentorship programs
Evaluation of teachers should focus on improved practice and include the following components

student achievement
qualified observations
student feedback

There was quite a bit of discussion about the quality of the assessment that we use to measure our student achievement, and it was brought up that in schools where there is high student achievement and test scores, there are no multiple choice tests. We should focus on quality over quantity. This is one area where I couldn't agree more!

Well, I could probably go on for quite a bit longer, but fear that I may have lost some readers by this point anyway. If there was a controversial speaker, (and I am not arguing that there was), then it would probably have to be Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. I felt that Governor Christie made some good points. The most important thing he said was that we need to leave politics out of the argument. It really doesn't matter what party you are aligned with, education reform needs to concern everyone. While there will certainly be disagreements about how to proceed, I can imagine the most difficult hurdle to cross will be to see how the idea of merit pay, pay for performance (or whatever label you want to use) unfolds in this debate.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, I didn't hear any new ideas. We heard about how these ideas have been implemented in other states and hopefully will take some of these ideas and make them our own. If we listen carefully, we can learn from the mistakes of others.

In closing, it would be easy to find an excuse and lay the blame at the feet of someone else. I don't want to do that, I instead want to be part of the solution. However, I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the fact that no matter what we do, it is not going to happen without the financial support of the state. To expect great education reform on a zero percent allowable growth model; well how can we even say that with a straight face?

Adequate Yearly Progress

2011-07-22T16:30:00.000-05:00

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires all students to be proficient in the areas of math and reading by 2014. To reach this benchmark, the Iowa Department of Education requires school districts to report annually on "Adequate Yearly Progress". Since 2003, the percentage of students who are required to be proficient increases until reaching 100 percent, in 2014. What this means is that each year, the bar is raised a little higher. Obviously that makes it more difficult to meet the benchmark.

The legislation also asks districts to report on sub-groups including minority, low SES (Socio-economic Status), special education, and ELL (English Language Learner). The benchmarking for all sub-groups is the same. If you saw the news release yesterday from the Des Moines Register on the Iowa Department of Education report, several educators pointed out this very fact to the public.

Please be patient, I know you want to know if we met our AYP, but I think it is important to provide this background information so you have context.

The way that proficiency is determined in Iowa is based on the ITBS/ITED tests, and specifically a student is considered proficient if they score at the 41st percentile. To understand what that means, you first need to understand that a percentile rank, is just that; a rank. Students take the test and are ranked, basically 1-100. If you achieve a 41, that means that you did better than 41 percent of students who took that test. You can see the problem here, can't you?! If we continue to rank students from 1-100 to obtain proficiency, it becomes mathematically impossible for everyone to achieve 100 percent proficiency by 2014.

Incidentally, to further understand how the percentile rank works and how the 41st percentile stacks up, you need to understand that a 50 is the median score, which makes a 41 one standard deviation off the median (for you statisticians out there).

Okay, so here we are in 2012. Yesterday the report came out on the heels of the Education Summit that will be held next week in Des Moines. The report alleges that other states are surpassing Iowa on the NAEP Test (National Assessment of Educational Progress). This is stated even though Iowa students continue to post high scores on ITBS/ITED. The hypothesis is that the Iowa Tests do not possess the rigor that other official assessment do from other states.

There could be some truth to that statement. Back when the standards movement was launched and NCLB came to fruition, Iowa was the only state in the country to not adopt either a statewide set of standards or a state test. Instead, Iowa elected to leave this work up to individual districts and tried to fit a square peg into a round hole by decreeing that the ITBS would be the statewide assessment.

Here we are 10 years later, Common Core is the new buzz word, and work is progressing on a new statewide assessment. I guess we could argue that we are better late than never.

Okay, we have digressed quite a bit in this post, so it is about time to get back to the topic at hand. When a school district misses AYP for any group or sub-group, they are placed on what is referred to as the "watch list". In 2009-2010, Hudson Middle School was on the watch list because one of the sub-groups didn't meet AYP (sorry, I am not giving it up that easy). If a school misses AYP two years in a row, they are designated a SINA (School in Need of Assistance). This is not a fun place to be, nor is it something to aspire to. The problem is, that as long as measuring stick is based on a percentile rank and the bar continues to raise each year, the number of schools designated SINA will increase to a point where mathematically everyone is on the list! Enough suspense already: all of the schools in the Hudson Community School District met Adequate Yearly Progress, we are not on any lists.

That is certainly good news, but it is no time to rest on our laurels. We absolutely need to expect that our schools are superb, and that we are teaching the right things to ensure that our students are prepared to be citizens in the 21st Century. It is imperative that we are not only teaching the right things in our classrooms, but that we are also assessing the right things in our classrooms. Does it make sense to you that we are using a multiple choice test that does not require any writing or critical thinking? Does it make sense that we are using a test that requires a student to fill in a bunch of bubbles with a pencil? Where is the authentic assessment in that?

As I stated earlier, the Education Summit is next week. I am eager to attend and here what the Governor has to say about his plan to make Iowa number one in education again. Here is my final point before I wrap this diatribe up for the week.

NCLB is up for renewal. Wait, NCLB has been up for renewal for several years. The architect of NCLB was Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts (interesting fact: many people blame former President George W. Bush for NCLB; not true). When Senator Kennedy passed away, his chairmanship went to our own Senator Harkin. The honorable Senator will be in attendance at the Summit next week. If you get a chance, please tell him that it is time to get this legislation moving again.

Stay tuned, I will let you know what I learn on Monday.

Board of Directors Sets Legislative Priorities for the 2012 General Assembly

2011-07-19T10:48:00.000-05:00

At the Board meeting held on July 18th, the Board of Directors finalized and set a list of priorities for the 2012 General Assembly. Those priorities were submitted to the Iowa Association of School Boards, and the delegate assembly will ratify the final platform at the convention, which will be held in November. Among the priorities submitted were the following:

Supports preserving the integrity of the statewide penny sales tax for school infrastructure, including tax equity provisions of buying down the highest additional levy rates to the state average.
Supports giving school districts and the AEAS the option to reduce staff to respond to reductions in funding or to comply with an arbitrator's award. Districts and AEA's should not be required to use the teacher contract termination procedures in Iowa Code 279.13 for such staff reductions.
Requires arbitrators to first consider local conditions and ability to pay; once the arbitrator determines the district has the ability to pay, the arbitrator should determine comparability.
Supports the revision of code and administrative regulations to permit the use of funds generated by modified allowable growth for dropout prevention for the development and implementation of innovative and creative broad uses including, but not restricted to, prevention programs and remediation programs for dropouts and potential dropouts and also for such dropout prevention programs and activities provided in general for students regardless of identification as dropout or potential dropouts. In the aforementioned programs in keeping with the amount of time assigned to such prevention and remediation pogroms rather than being applicable for only those times that the employee is working directly and exclusively with previously identified dropouts or potential dropouts. Also, up to five percent of these funds should be available to provide for the administration and supervision of such prevention and remediation pogroms.
Supports efforts to complete collective bargaining as a statewide unit.

In other action, the Board approved bids for the fuel, dairy, and bread contracts for the 2011-2012 school year, passed a resolution calling for the renewal of the Revenue Purpose Statement on the September ballot, passed the second reading of Board Policy Code 701.4 (GASB 54), and approved the purchase of curriculum material for the high school Science and English department.

We are still searching for candidates to run for the school board for the term beginning in September! The filing deadline is August 5th, so time is quickly running out. If you have questions about board service or know of someone who would make a good school board member, please have them call my office at 988-3233. You can speak with the business manager about filing papers. Please consider serving in this very important role!

Good Luck to the Class of 2011!

2011-07-18T17:23:00.001-05:00

HEF Scholarship Winners Hanging Out Before the Parade

In just a few short weeks, the graduating class of 2011 will begin a new journey. Some will be headed off to college, while others will enter the work force or enter the workforce and become Contributing Citizens.

On Saturday several students who received scholarships from the Hudson Education Fund participated in the Hudson Days Parade. We wish all our recent graduates all the best. You will be missed!

There is no doubt it was a hot day, but I can certainly tell you that it was nothing compared to last years parade. Of course I can't complain because I was asked to drive one of the pickup trucks, a brand new Ford courtesy of Colwell Ford. A special thank you to Bill Colwell for providing the nice rides for us!

Legislative Session Ends

2011-07-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess the good news is that the legislature has finally wrapped up the 2011 General Session. Who would have thought that it would carry on this long? There was quite a bit of activity in regard to the education budget, but I want to just spend a few moments letting you know what the key points are for our school district.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the allowable growth rate for this school year was set at zero. We had anticipated this and budgeted accordingly. The main point here is that we are on the budget guarantee, which allows for a 1% increase in the Regular Program District Cost. That is an approximate increase of $41,000 in revenue. Interestingly, the budget guarantee is funded solely through property taxes. If allowable growth had been set at a range between 1% and 3%, it would not have impacted the growth of the Regular Program District Cost; however it would have actually lowered your property taxes. It is pretty difficult to explain using this blog, but if you would like to come in and visit with me I would be happy to explain how the budget guarantee works and the impact it has on property taxes.

The budget bill that was passed also provides for 2% allowable growth in fiscal year 2013. You will recall that the Governor insisted on 0% allowable growth for FY13. It will be worth watching in the next thirty days to see if he uses his line item veto pen to strike this from the budget.

The district also utilizes the Instructional Support Levy for General Fund Expenses. Part of this levy in the past has been a state match of 25% of the total levy based on a formula. The state has always underfunded their part of this agreement, but nonetheless, Hudson stood to receive approximately $13,000 in state aid for the instruction support program. All state aid for the instructional support program has been eliminated from the budget. This will have a negative impact on our spending authority.

Those are the main points. I will be back to you soon, we just need to wait to see if the Governor signs the bill in total or strikes parts with the line item veto.

The Challenges Behind Us; The Future Before Us

2011-06-30T20:09:00.000-05:00

Today marks my one year anniversary of becoming Superintendent of the Hudson Community School District. I think, officially, people can stop referring to me as the New Superintendent! (Although, I think that moniker wore off around January and people now use another word in front of Superintendent!)

This past week I have had the chance to take some time off and reflect on this past school year. There is nothing quite like the peace and tranquility of yard work to really think things through. I sometimes think that I come up with my best ideas while cutting grass! There is no mistaking the fact that this school year was fraught with enormous challenges, challenges ranging from student discipline to balancing the budget; with the latter being what you are most familiar with. I don't believe anyone could have foreseen the difficulties we would face or the resulting decisions that would come to bear a year ago. I certainly didn't, although it is safe to say that my eyes were wide open to the fact that school districts in Iowa were suffering, and that we were no different with declining enrollment and unspent balance. Some have asked me that if I would still be here if afforded the benefit of hindsight. I can unequivocally say yes. Hudson is a great school, with fantastic teachers, community, and school board. While we have our challenges, there is no place I would rather be at this particular point it time.

Whenever there are challenges such as these, there is no doubt going to be great controversy and disagreement over how best to meet and overcome these obstacles. We heard from many that both agreed and disagreed with our approach. While uncomfortable in the moment, we can take solace in the fact that regardless of a particular view or opinion, the argument was always centered on what was in the best interest of our students. It is certainly difficult, uncomfortable, and stressful; but the debate remained above board and professional. We debated issues, not people. That is one of the great things about this community.

Difficult and painful decisions have been made, and some of our friends and neighbors are no longer with us. We are in the process of discovering a "New Normal". The first steps have been made to ensure that we have a sustainable school for decades to come, and we are on the right path. However, don't be lulled into thinking that all the heavy lifting has been done. There will be difficult decisions to come, and there will be disagreements on how best to solve those problems. That is healthy and what is necessary to ensure that we continue to grow.

When one door closes another door opens. June 30 marks the closing of one fiscal year, and July 1 marks the beginning of a new one. That being said, the answer to the most pressing question "What is our unspent balance going to be", has yet to be answered. We won't know that until after we complete posting all of our expenses for fiscal year 2011. Please stay tuned, I am as anxious as you are to see the final numbers.

Regardless of the challenges we have faced and will continue to face, there is room for optimism. We are busy getting ready for the new school year, and are excited for all that it will bring. The first phase of the high school parking lot upgrade is being completed as we speak, and it appears to me to be slightly ahead of schedule at this point. A major electrical upgrade is underway in the elementary that will better equip our classrooms to meet the demand of a 21st Century classroom. We are completing the first phase of this project this year as well, and the centerpiece of this summer's work will feature a brand new computer lab in the elementary school. A major technology purchase was also recently approved that will replace outdated computers, and in some instances increase the student to teacher ratio.

We are also excited to begin the process of aligning our school district more fully with the Iowa Core Curriculum in the coming months. This is an opportunity for our teaching staff to become involved in professional learning communities, and improve their practice in the classroom by learning from their colleagues. A new professional development website that embraces online learning for our faculty is being beta tested right now with the hope of launching it live in August. We will be implementing what the research tells us about increasing student achievement by fully embracing the Iowa Professional Development Model. The most important component in determining how well a child does in school is the quality of the instructor in the classroom. We are committed as a school district to ensuring that your child's teacher is equipped with the latest techniques and strategies by providing them with a comprehensive and continual training program.

They say that change is difficult, and indeed it is. But change provides us with great opportunity to grow. Change provides us with what we need to avoid complacency. Change provides us an opportunity to discover. Change provides us with excitement, with a fire, and with a purpose.

I am so excited about what the future holds for the Hudson Community School District, and all the challenges and difficulties we will face together! Indeed the future is bright!

Organziation is Key

2011-06-22T13:53:00.000-05:00

I still sometimes smile when thinking of that very simple phrase. When my niece was about 5 years old I taught her to say "Organization is Key" anytime I would ask her what the most important thing was that I taught her. She used to run around the house stating "Orsganishasun is Key!" on demand. While a funny memory, it continues to be something that I take relatively seriously. I suppose it hearkens back to my days in the Navy when we were taught "There is a place for everything-everything in its place."

The same is true for "The Organization", [that being] the organization of the Hudson Community School District. We have [and are] experiencing a paradigm shift as we move to a model of organization with one less administrator among our ranks. Administratively speaking, we will be organized as a K-6 grade and a 7-12 grade system. What that simply means, is that if your child is in grade K-6 and is in need of an administrator that will be routed to Mr. Schlatter. In grades 7-12, that would be routed to Mr. Dieken.

Logistically, nothing will change. All logistical items (calling if for a sick child, contacting a child's teacher, sending lunch money, etc) will be handled through the same office as before. In grades K-4, logistics will be handled through the elementary office with Mrs Hansen. In grades 5-8, logistics will be handled through the middle school office with Mrs. Sallee, and in grades 9-12 you will handle those items through Mrs. Delagardelle in the high school office.

We also recognize the importance of each building having a presence, or a go to person; not only to help when issues arise, but also to lend an identity to that organization. For that reason, we have invited Mr. Lipinski to relocate his office to the middle school, where he will share office space with Mr. Dieken. Although Mr. Lipinski is not a principal, he is definitely a 'go to' person. He is well versed in dealing with student issues and can act as a calming influence in times of stress.

Introducing....

2011-06-21T14:44:00.000-05:00

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? We had two part time vacancies in our high school for a Chemistry teacher and Vocal Music Director. I honestly don't know how Mr. Dieken does it, but he manages to find outstanding candidates that turn into high quality instructors for our school district!

I am very happy to announce to you that the the Board of Directors approved the hiring of Teale Burford and Jill Humston at the regular meeting of the Board last evening.

Teale Burford joins our staff as our new Vocal Music Director. She has her Master's Degree in Choral Conducting and has been highly involved at the University of Northern Iowa working as an adjunct instructor with experience working with the UNI Varsity Men's Glee Club.

Jill Humston has accepted an invitation to become our next Chemistry teacher at the high school. Jill holds a PhD in Pharmacology and has previously been working as an adjunct professor in the science department at the University of Northern Iowa.

We are very excited about our new faculty members! Please join me in welcoming them to our community.

What Our Data Tells Us About Bullying

2011-06-13T23:54:00.000-05:00

I was a little disappointed to see the recent headline in the Waterloo Courier "Schools Fail to Meet Anti-Bullying Requirements". The article accuses school districts of "under reporting or flat out ignoring student harassment" (sic). To add insult to injury, the Director of the Department of Education, Jason Glass implies that the reported numbers are unbelievable. I respectfully disagree with Director Glass.

It could be that the numbers are under reported, but if that is the case it is not because of subterfuge on the part of the school district. If the numbers are unreported, it could be that students are not reporting bullying and harassment to district officials. I can assure you that when a case of bullying and harassment is reported at Hudson, it is vigorously investigated and if founded appropriate consequences are administered. I can also take great pride in the fact that we have very few instances where there is a second bullying offense. We go to great lengths to properly educate our staff and students as to what bullying is, how to recognize it, and what to do when they see it.

In fact, this year we were even more vigilant in our efforts to prevent, investigate, and protect the rights of students due to the rash of student suicides across the nation this past school year.

The problem is that the bully is incredibly sneaky. How often do you think someone is actually bullied right in front of a teacher? Or, when it is reported it is done with the caveat (from the person reporting the bullying) that we don't do anything about it out of fear of retribution. That's right, we have received phone calls from upset parents who want to report an incident of bullying but they don't want us to do anything about it. However, more often than not it is simply ignored by the victim, the student doesn't say anything or swears his or her friends to secrecy. It makes it kind of difficult to do our jobs with our hands tied behind our backs.

Now then, the question you are all dying to ask. How many cases of bullying and harassment were reported and founded at Hudson during the 2010-2011 academic year? Fifteen, and consequences ranged from additional education with the perpetrator on what defines bullying and harassment, all the way up to and including expulsion of the student.

We will never back away from what our data tells us. If it is true that our numbers are under reported, you can help us. How? If you see something that doesn't look right please tell a school official. If your child has been a victim of bullying and harassment, have them report it. Don't let them talk you out of it, and if necessary go with them to visit the principal or At-Risk Coordinator. If you are wrong, there is no harm done. If you have a child that may have perhaps crossed that line, help us to educate them. I always tell parents that it is much easier to learn that lesson now than it is later on in life.

These simple steps can help save a student from perpetual torment, and consequences that are far graver than a suspension or expulsion. School is supposed to be an enjoyable, safe, and fun place for our students. Can you help ensure that it is?

Democracy In Action

2011-06-12T23:07:00.000-05:00

Does it seem at all to you like the political process we go through to elect a president begins earlier and earlier each election cycle? Here we are, the middle of June 2011 and the first debate of the Republicans candidates vying for their parties nomination are underway. Did anyone fail to mention that the election is not until November of 2012? I am sometimes accused of being a political junky, but I do get quite a charge out of the entire theatre of this process. I watch the Sunday political talk shows with amusement and irony as candidates make the same arguments as to why they should be elected, or are better than the current candidate in office. These same candidates fail to mention that the position they are taking at this particular juncture in time is the exact opposite of the position they took just a few short years ago.

With all the rhetoric it can make us feel utterly helpless, that it doesn't matter because the "machine" is just too big to change, and that all we can truly hope to accomplish is maintaining the status quo. You will get no argument from me on this point. But, I would quarrel with anyone who thinks that it doesn't matter, or that you can't make a difference. Believe me, you can. And the perfect opportunity to do just that is not quite as difficult as you may imagine. You have the chance. You have the opportunity. You can make a difference in your own little corner of the world. All you have to do is run for a seat on the school board.

Sometimes Boards of Education get a bad rap. Yes, it is very hard work. Board members make decisions that are at times unpopular and likely to cause their phones to ring at inopportune times. This past year was certainly a year of unpopular decisions. It is also true that being a member of school board is the only elected position in Iowa that does not have a paycheck to go along with it. Oh, yes and that 'one' board meeting a month that you have to attend and vote? Don't be fooled into thinking it is just that 'one' meeting a month. There are issues that will come up, and problems that need to be addressed. Sometimes the superintendent will call you late on a Friday night with some bad news. Back to that 'one' meeting a month. You will probably need a good weekend of study and research before coming to the meeting so you are well informed on the issues and able to make an informed decision. Don't even get me started on Iowa School Finance! There are other things that will come up, but I don't want to scare you off.

All of that being said, if you ask any one of your board members that are currently serving, they will tell you that it is all worth it. They would do it again, and in fact many of them have. They have served multiple terms and provided a great service to the community and school district. I only hope they choose to run again and take the opportunity to serve another term.

With all the challenges and sometimes headaches that come with the job, why do it? Is it really worth it? Absolutely. You have the opportunity to have a voice at the table. To be a in a position of leadership in the community and school district. The Core Purpose of the Hudson Community School District is to "Create Effective Learning Environments That Result in Success for All Students". To be a Board Member is to shape that purpose; to mold; to craft; to vision! Anyone who has served or is currently serving will no doubt tell you that to be a member of the Board is nothing that they thought it would be--it is much more. Satisfying, fulfilling, and most definitely rewarding. To be a member of the school board certainly takes courage and determination.

At the beginning of this post I described the challenges with politics and how it often seems as though we are really going nowhere. Perhaps, the foundation upon which this country was built is alive and well in our local governments, and no place is it more prevalent that in your local school board. One could argue that the local school board is the purest example of democracy that we have left in our nation.

The time to act is now. Papers for you candidacy can be picked up now at the Central Office. Filing dates for the election this September are from July 11 to August 4, with the election date of September 4. If you have any questions about board membership you are encouraged to contact anyone who currently serves and visit with them. As you discern your candidacy I am available at anytime to visit with you and answer any questions you may have. More information can be found at the Iowa Association of School Boards website.

Are you ready to make a difference?

Welcome to My Blog!

2011-06-09T17:13:00.000-05:00

Blogging used to be a pretty efficient and effective way of communicating for me, but I confess that since arriving at Hudson, it has not been something that I have had the opportunity to explore. Since beginning here almost a year ago (it will be one year on July 1), it seems that there have been other items that have taken my attention. Now that we are a year into it, I think it is time that I can get back to. For these first few entries, I am just going to be trying some things out. I encourage you to subscribe to the blog or check back frequently. Please give me some feedback on my posts! You probably know by now that I am very rarely at a loss for words!