PEACE RALLY

There is an organized peaceful rally that has been set to happen at Apollo High School from 8:30-3:15 (Monday, March 29th). The intent, as expressed by people who have organized this event, is to share their perceptions of staff members in District 742. This particular group, that represents a very small number of Somalis, intends to illustrate that there's an injustice as to the way some staff members treat Somali students (they have assured me that this is not about the way some students treat other students).

Many Somalis have expressed that this is not the way to resolve what they perceive is happening in the district. I have heard from the Somali Elder's Board, members of the Somali Elder's Council, the Islamic Center, CAIR, several who attend the Mosque and our Equity Services Department Cultural Navigators. They are aware of this event and are not pleased that this is happening. Therefore, you must understand that this is not the result of most Somali people in this community.

We will continue to treat this as a regular school day. The organizer of this rally said, "We don't want to disrupt learning during this rally."

Our job is to make sure that this will be a routine day where safety is our number one concern. Please understand that this is completely legal whether or not you feel it's the right way to address an issue. Law enforcement is aware and will be present to keep this peaceful. We will continue to connect with parents and students of all groups to settle issues and concerns like this.

COMMUNITY LINKAGES STUDENT FORUMS

The Board of Education Community Linkages Committee sent out a survey to obtain ideas for themes for linkage events/forums for the 2010 year. At the top of the list was “Ways parents could promote student achievement.” The Community Linkages Committee is bringing forth a proposal to hold two forums (one at Apollo and one at Tech) on the topic of “Exploring Student ‘Success’: A Dialogue with Students of Color. Students of color and their parents/mentors will be invited to the dialogue sessions. Dr. Les Green and Eddah Mutua-Kombo will be the moderators for the forums.

The questions to be discussed within the dialogue groups (guided by the SCSU moderators) will include:

1. What is student ‘success’ and how is it determined, measured, valued and celebrated in terms of scholarship, leadership, service, and character?
2. What is the role of the student in achieving his/her success?
3. What is the role of a student’s parent(s) or adult mentor in their child’s success?
4. What is the role of the teacher and the building administrator in the student’s success?
5. What is the role of the community in the success of students in the school district?
6. How can the qualities and traits of success of some students (values, behaviors, practices and commitments) be exported to other students?

As follow-up to the forums, it was suggested that talking points be created and shared. Information obtained could be incorporated into the District’s Strategic Plan/VisionCards, as well as building improvement plans.

Superintendent’s Cabinet and Principals are very supportive of the forums and indicated the information obtained will be valuable.

The tentative dates for the Community Linkages Forums are:

Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Apollo High School – Learning Resource Center (North End)
6:00-8:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tech High School – Learning Resource Center
6:00-8:00 p.m.

Principals will identify and invite Apollo/North students and their parent(s) to participate in the forum at Apollo. Principals Ziemann and Williams will identify and invite Tech/South students and their parent(s) to participate in the forum at Tech. Principal Ray will identify students and their parents to represent the ALC. A suggestion is to have approximately five students from each school; an attempt will be made to have balanced representation (grade levels, gender).

Invitations to the families will include the list of questions in preparation for the forums. The forums will be taped for future use at the elementary level. The forums will be publicly noticed with invitations to attend going out to all District staff, as well as community representatives.

WORKING TO EASE CULTURAL TENSIONS

In a community that has opened its doors to immigrants, refugees and displaced Americans, District 742 has set its sights on creating a reality where all students are welcome, safe and "belong." Contrary to a recent MPR story suggesting minimal efforts of the school district to ease cultural tensions, district teachers and administrators point to the pursuit of reading and math achievement for every single student; increased participation in advanced placement (AP) courses, honors classes, extra-curricular activities and gifted and talented opportunities for students of color; adoption of inclusive curricula and on-going efforts to increase staffing diversity.

The district's core value of excellence is founded on the pursuit of highest standards of rigor and relevance for all students, including students of color. The district's strategic plan clarifies our vision of closing the achievement gap between groups of students and precisely measures our annual progress toward that goal.

District 742's core value of learning focuses on providing opportunities to learn, think and succeed in different ways for different students. Jumpstart programs, Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) strategies, Responsive Classroom strategies, Cultural Navigators, inclusive curricula, professional development through equity retreats, inventories of personal intercultural development and student cultural awareness panels are all examples of district "learning" to improve both learning and practice.

District 742's core value of leadership requires courageous action and collaboration with all constituencies to make equitable decisions involving programs, policies and procedures. Advisory Councils, Leadership Teams, Parent and Student decision-making groups actively seek to reflect the cultural diversity of our school district.

District 742's core value of partnership and interdependency requires engagement with student, staff, family and community stakeholders. Partnerships with community businesses and non-profit organizations, local colleges and Common Ground inter-district groups set the stage for building trust, sharing resources and mutual understanding.

District 742's core value of respect is evident at the Welcome Center, in the 9th grade Respect Retreat, Link Crews, and Student Listening Sessions. Working together, depending upon one another and supporting each other are integrated into instructional practices and extra-curricular activities to solidify respect for one another.

District 742 will continue to improve in strengthening relationships among all cultures. We invite our community - our neighbors, parents, businesses and organizations to join us in these efforts to speed our progress.

Re: Revenue for next year and beyond

Yesterday the leaders of MASA met individually with leaders at the Capitol. We met with representatives in the Governors Office, the Senate Majority Leader and all the chairs of the Education Committees. We asked them what they saw as the final outcome of the whole legislative process in regard to K-12 funding for next year. We listened closely, and are now providing you with our best prediction. We are aware of many legislators arguing hard to not cut K-12 funding. We will continue to be tenacious in our defense of K-12 school funding.

Our revenue projection for 2010-11:

This is our best projection based on assembling a lot of financial and political information. Recognize that we are not infallible. However we are as close to the process as anyone. We believe that there will not be a cut in the basic formula funding for 2010-11. You may find some smaller cuts in a few programs and may also receive some limited levy authority for funding for some increased costs.

State borrowing from schools:

The state will likely delay some payments next year and we may see some additional shifting of state aids to make up some of the budget shortfall. Thus being prudent in preserving your fund balances would serve your Districts well.

Still rough times in 2011-13 and 2013-15:

The longer-term structural deficit for the next couple of bienniums is in the range of $5-8 billion in each biennium. New taxes can address possibly $2 billion of these problems and a recovering economy might solve another $2 billion in each of the bienniums. This still leaves a sizable deficit.

Team 3244 - The Granite City Gear Heads

Apollo's Robotics "Team 3244 - The Granite City Gear Heads" has their website up and running. The site is in its infancy; more content will be coming soon. The students are doing great, and their robot held their own at a recent pre-invitiational put on by Eagan H.S. I am pleased to report Apollo's team held their own against all the larger and more experienced metro teams, and had a record of 4-1 overall for that competition.

The official regional competition is fast approaching and the team has the lofty, yet attainable goal of advancing to nationals in Atlanta, Georgia. The kids are dreaming big, and at the rate they are going they just might pull it off!

We are working hard to find sponsors and creative ways to raise funding. I recently challenged my team to raise enough money to convince me to do something crazy like dye my hair purple, etc. (we'll see what they come up with...). I probably should be scared! If Team 3244 makes it to nationals, we will need to raise a significant amount of funding.

If you or anyone you know would be remotely interested in helping the cause in any way, please forward this link. Feel free to inquire via email or phone, and I also would encourage you to check out www.usfirst.org as well. I hope to hear from you; all ideas are welcome. Let's put St. Cloud on the map!

www.apollorobotics.com

Thanks!
Mark Weimer
Apollo H.S. - St. Cloud, MN
Technology Education Teacher - PLTW
Robotics Coach

SCHOOL MESSENGER

We were recently provided an overview of the training that will be needed for the implementation of School Messenger in District 742. The District has purchased the training, which will bring a trainer on site. Prior to the trainer coming in, a webinar will be held for our Student Information System staff. Some file setup has already been done, and it will be a fairly easy installation. The onsite training will be for those that will be sending messages, i.e., Principals, Assistant Principals, Directors, and District-Level Administrators. The training will be one day for all groups. Currently Apollo and Tech are using a school messaging system for their attendance dialer.