There are no Gradebooks at Work

If it's important enough for teachers to assign, then it is important enough for students to complete. That has been our overriding philosophy on homework for decades here in Hudson. At the same time over the last couple of years, our intermediate levels have tried hard to avoid overloading our young learners with too much homework outside of the confines of a regular school day. They work hard to make certain there is ample time to complete the assignment in class. That is particularly the case if the purpose behind the assignment is to provide guided practice. As its name implies, guided practice provides the teacher opportunity to monitor the work and provide personalized instruction where appropriate. It would do little good to provide a practice opportunity only to have students practice incorrectly at home! All that would do is reinforce an ineffective strategy. So what is an appropriate amount of homework? The National Education Association (NEA) recommends schools prescribe to the 10 minute rule, which suggests a maximum of 10 minutes per grade level. It is conceivable a high school student could see upwards of 2 hours per night, although I am not certain that is the norm here at Hudson. But, if your child is having difficulty with homework or is spending an inordinate amount of time studying each night; it may be worth having a conversation with the teacher. Perhaps the teacher can offer valuable insight into what is going on in the classroom; including how much in class time is set aside for homework completion. Parent teacher conferences are only a week and a half away, so there is a golden opportunity to have that conversation!

Now then, a plug for participation in parent teacher conferences wasn't the point of my column today, but merely a secondary benefit. What I really wanted to discuss is the application of our homework policy when the work isn't completed on time or with high quality. For reference, please see our Hudson Student/Parent Handbook. Our discussion on homework begins on page 45. To quickly summarize, our policy states that when assigned, it is due when it is due; and of high quality. The option to take a 'zero' in the gradebook isn't an option. When considered with our philosophy as described in the second sentence above, this would make sense; right? I mean, the teacher has deemed it important enough to assign then it should be graded and feedback provided. Additionally, when not completed on time and of high quality; the student stays after school that day to complete the work. No exceptions. There is no doubt this is an impediment on the students' time, and in many cases an inconvenience for parents who now have to make arrangements to pick up a student who has to stay after school.

From a 'macro' or 'global perspective' our overarching charge is to prepare our students for whatever awaits them when they leave our institution. Indeed there is a lot in that, but from a big picture perspective that really means preparation for the real world of work. While I presume one could reasonably argue a college professor might be more inclined to award a 'zero' as opposed to making a student stay after 'school', a future boss will not. I would find it very hard to believe if your boss assigned you a task, you didn't complete it, and the boss said, 'nevermind, it wasn't that important'.

You see, there are no gradebooks at work.

On the other hand, some may suggest the consequence of not 'completing your homework on time' at work is grounds for immediate dismissal. I tend to respectfully disagree. If it is a repeated pattern of tardiness and shoddy workmanship, then yes dismissal is the appropriate remedy. Missing a deadline here and there? Turning in a work product that isn't quite what I had in mind? More than likely, I handle employees here the same way your boss does where you work. You go home at the end of the day when it's finished, and if it isn't quite what I had in mind I'll give you some feedback and ask for the appropriate corrections. The point is completing the work isn't an option. You have to do it and as such, 'govern yourself accordingly'. Truth be told, you aren't going home until it's finished.

Even in my work, I am bound by those same expectations. Choosing to file a report or meet a deadline isn't optional. Showing up at a school board meeting without preparing an agenda or having thought through my recommendations with research based exhibits is, well frankly inconceivable. So I 'govern myself accordingly'. That means sometimes I have to work later in the evening or weekends, and guess what? That disrupts my free time, and from time to time causes an inconvenience for my family. Shoot, using my work with the school board as an example, sometimes they don't necessarily like what I have proposed and I have to come up with something different.

Staying late at work or school is sometimes inconvenient. But if the work is important enough a teacher (or boss) asks you to do it, the choice of completing that work isn't optional.

Nothing Yet

I am relatively noncommittal our state legislature will resolve the school funding issue this week. I mean, maybe it will happen, or maybe it won't. The real problem though is that the funding decision deadline was Friday. Perhaps there was optimism going into the [last] week; after all both the Senate and the House had introduced competing SSA bills: the Senate at 2.1% and the House at 2.5%. The Senate went first, getting their bill out of the chamber where it bounced over to the House. I had the good fortune of being in the House chamber for a while on Tuesday when the debate got underway. Immediately upon receipt of the Senate bill, it was substituted for the House bill (so basically it was amended from 2.1% to 2.5%). After the preliminaries got underway, a member offered a new amendment to change it to 3%. The debate started, and I watched with interest until.....they called for a caucus/recess. At that point we gave up and came home. I was back in my office a little after lunch and went on with my day, the outcome all but certain. The 3% would (and did) fail and the 2.5% would pass, sending the bill back to the Senate. Which is where it sits right now. 

Iowa House of Representatives debates SSA.

Now I presume a conference committee will be assigned and they'll negotiate a number somewhere in between 2.1% and 2.5%. Fine. Here is what I can't really understand though. We used to know 18 months in advance what SSA (or at that time allowable growth) was going to be. Then they changed the law and said it would be decided for the next fiscal year within the first 30 days of the governor releasing her budget. That is roughly five months in advance of the next fiscal year. Pretty short timeline to plan for the next fiscal year; but okay, fine again. I get it, with it being the law and all. Just tell us so we can get on with our planning. But we are still not following the law.

I suppose it would at least make a little sense if this were a partisan issue. You know, Republicans versus Democrats. The only way that would happen is if one of the chambers were controlled by an opposing party. Or the executive branch was represented by a different party. But this isn't a partisan issue. It's a chamber issue. 

Now, our lobbying groups have called for 3.75%, which I'm sorry friends that was never going to happen. I totally understand (and am certain all my colleagues do as well) that is an unrealistic 'ask' in this political environment. But at the same time it highlights the stress that some schools are under. Nevermind the fact that 3.75% would be affordable, sustainable, and leave plenty of revenue for the taxpayer relief fund. For goodness sake, at its last meeting, the REC estimated revenue growth at 2.1%; but the actual growth is clipping along at 6.16%! There was also a surplus at the end of FY 2019, and based on the current projection the surplus at the end of this fiscal year will be even bigger. All that said, I don't really like it, but I'm ready to move on. I have a budget to set, and don't know the what one of the important variables is going to be.

But here is what I really don't get. The governor said 2.5%. The House said 2.5%. The Senate said 2.1%. They are all in the same party. What exactly is the Senate trying to prove?

View from the Inside

If you have been watching the construction project from the outside it may appear that not a lot has happened in the last couple of months. Looks can certainly be deceiving if this is your only viewpoint. The fact is a lot has happened in the intervening months since the cold weather set in, and each time I stop out to review the project it is exciting to see the progress. From a large empty shell, we can now really start to visualize how the space is going to look! Which is great, considering we are planning to be finished in time for the 2020-2021 school year to begin. 

Currently a lot of the work is focused on the new elementary office area. In the photo included here, I am standing behind the work area that will be assigned to the administrative assistants. Directly to my right and out of view is the principals office. Behind me are teacher work areas and conference rooms. The opening you see to the right will be the only public access to the facility during the day and is a secured entrance; one of the most important and highly sought after features of this space. It will require patrons to pass through the office in order to gain access to the school during the school day. The large openings in front of the desk area are windows that overlook the commons. I am not including any pictures of the commons here because that space still has quite a bit of work to be done. The window to the right is the new medical area, which is greatly expanded from the current space and will be a comfortable place to meet the health needs of our students.

While this project shows steady progress, there is no doubt much work remaining. In my opinion, the work that is scheduled for this summer will eclipse what we have done so far. This includes removing the current west wall in the [current] commons to connect to the new space, the entrance to the academic wing along the south wall, and the final expansion of the media center. Also included in the work over the summer will be removing and rebuilding the north staircase through the valley as well as the addition of a ADA compliant lift. If it sounds like a lot of work in a relatively short period of time, it is!

Those big pieces in and of themselves are enough to keep our construction crew[s] very busy over the summer. But, there are a lot of other components that are incredibly important, but not necessarily as 'eye popping' as the the others already discussed. Remember, this is 'Phase III' of the elementary renovation project. Once concluded, we will have pretty much completely renovated the elementary attendance center. One of the other biggest (and unseen) components scheduled for this summer is finishing the new ventilation systems for both the early childhood wing and the 4th and 5th grade wing. We are hoping to have those wrapped up by the end of June so our maintenance crew has plenty of time to get everything cleaned up and ready to go for the students.

All during this project I have reminded our faculty and staff that progress is sometimes noisy, messy, and inconvenient. With that, there are a couple of things that are scheduled to begin here very shortly that you should be aware of. As a start, immediately following the conclusion of our winter sports seasons, we plan to begin demolition of all four locker rooms. This includes those directly adjacent to the competition gym and those in the basement. Then, once spring break arrives the construction crew will remove the rubble from that work. At the same time, the current elementary office will be abandoned and temporarily relocated. Demolition in that office will commence over spring break as well, with that space ultimately being converted to instructional space. Part of this renovation project has also had the goal of ensuring our elementary school is equipped to handle four sections at each grade level. Currently configured as a three section elementary, this expansion will help us manage projected enrollment growth. This conversion will help us to meet that goal.

From My Couch

For the most part, people seem to understand the challenge of making weather related calls. Deciding whether or not we should cancel school, delay the start of classes, or dismiss early is not easy. I know, it always looks easy three hours after the fact when we are sitting on the couch in front of a warm fire. Yet, in spite of the detailed analysis that goes into making these decisions, we [school superintendents] are almost certain to second guess whether or not we made the right call. When we decide to disrupt the school day or schedule, we pray the radar tract holds up and the storm doesn't stall out or miss us entirely (sometimes that happens). When we decide to stick it out, we pray the storm doesn't change track and hit us at the most inopportune time (that happens too). The truth is, school superintendents are about as well trained as you are when it comes to the weather. I received most of my training at the University of Northern Iowa, and there wasn't a course on meteorology or school cancellations in my superintendent prep program. Granted that was a few years back, but I checked again recently; there still isn't.  

The run up to making any decision like this starts well in advance of the actual weather event; typically days beforehand. We'll get a weather bulletin from the National Weather Service out of Des Moines and take part in webinars or conference calls with the meteorologists. The forecast from our local media outlets are also part of the data gathering process. I have colleagues who will swear by a particular website, meteorologist, or some other prediction tool. Heck, I even know of one school that has a service they subscribe to that gives them the very best forecast money can buy. Yet in my experience, one is about as good as the other. 

However, one of the greatest resources we have at our disposal that the general public doesn't is each other. During deliberations that include such things as checking the latest weather forecast and physically driving roads in the district, there is probably no one that we rely on more than our brothers and sisters in arms: superintendents in the vicinity who too are faced with making crucial decisions with incomplete, unpredictable, and constantly changing data. I sometimes chuckle when an angry parent calls to tell me that we are 'the only one in school today', or 'the only one that cancelled'. I know that isn't true because we have talked. Probably multiple times, usually beginning around 4:30 a.m. Truth be told, we know what other districts are going to do before it is announced publicly. Very rarely will you see a lone ranger that has made a decision that is contrary to what every other school district in the area has done. There is strength in numbers.

Timing is pretty important as well when making these calls. From a practical standpoint, there are some immovable thresholds that can't really be tinkered with. In the morning for example, we have our early morning practices and rehearsals to content with. Those usually start around 6:00 a.m., so it is important to make that decision by 5:15 a.m. I know there are a lot of parents who appreciate knowing that so they don't have to make the trek into town unnecessarily. This is why you will oftentimes see a preemptive cancellation on morning activities the evening before. Not only does that buy a little time in the morning, but it also let's parents know they may not need to get up quite so early the next day! So, if morning activities are preemptively cancelled, that gives extra time in the morning to check roads and see how the radar is tracking. However, the latest we could ever change the schedule would be 6:30; and by then it's really too late as well. With our first bus leaving the barn at 6:45, waiting until then is just cutting it too close!

Plus there are other considerations. As a parent, how would you feel about finding out at 6:30 in the morning that school was delayed or cancelled? All of a sudden you are in scramble mode, particularly if you are already out the door and on your way to work! The same is true when an unscheduled early release happens. I recognize how disruptive this is for families, so we try to give as much lead time as possible. Plus, we try really hard to make sure we get everyone fed before sending the students home. For some of our students, they rely on that lunch because it might be all they get that day. 

Here's the thing though. At the end of the day this is a judgment call based on the best data available at the time the decision was made. That data layered among numerous other variables: student safety, the disruption to the family, when the buses have to move, making sure our students are well fed, and that; regardless of what decision we make, they are someplace warm and safe. Unfortunately I don't have the benefit of making that decision 3 hours after it has started snowing. Sometimes, well I'm going to miss. And we have to be okay with that.