What a difference a year makes. On Friday Oct 3rd of last year the Register ran a story of the “ribbon cutting” of a new performing arts/gymnasium building at La Paz Intermediate school in Mission Viejo that was funded by passage of Meas B, SVUSD School Bond, in 2004.
Exactly one year later the same school principal drops a bomb on parents and teachers as follows.
On Friday, October 2nd Jean Carroll, Principal of SVUSD’s La Paz Intermediate School, sent the following letter to parents. Rather than commenting on the text I will close with a rebuttal from someone closer to the current situation than myself.
“Dear Parents,
Meeting the needs of all students is our top priority at La Paz Intermediate School. At the same time, the district is obligated to staff our schools in a fiscally sound manner. Unfortunately, the actual number of students attending La Paz is significantly below the predicted 2009/10 enrollment determined at the end of last year. As a result, La Paz must lose one teacher, and that teacher will be reassigned to a school that has enrollment above predicted enrollment. This letter is to inform you that your child’s schedule has been changed and to share with you the details behind the schedule change.
In reviewing the average class size in all courses, it is evident that a reduction in our elective program will ensure reasonable class sizes in English, math, science and history classes.
Although I greatly value the experience our elective program provides for our students, I recognize that given these difficult times, I must make some difficult choices. Thus our elective wheel will be condensed, and Spanish 1, a yearlong high school elective, and Read 180, a reading intervention class, will no longer be offered. Students who were enrolled in Spanish 1 or Read 180 may elect to take a yearlong elective or the elective wheel. Students who are currently enrolled in the elective wheel may be changed to another elective course due to the need to minimize the impact on students’ core subjects. Please note that although students will not have the opportunity to take Spanish 1 at La Paz, they will be able to take four years of Spanish in high school. Taking four years of a foreign language more than meets college entry requirements. Students who wish to enter the 9th grade at the Spanish 2 level should consider taking Spanish 1 at the community college or through an online institution that is approved by WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges.)
I truly understand how difficult it is for students to change teachers once the school year has begun. We have worked hard to make the least number of changes possible. In the event, your child’s new schedule reflects an incorrect math or 8th grade honors placement, please contact our counselor, Mrs. Nosbusch, immediately. Given the need to balance all class sizes and provide a sound educational program for all of our students, we cannot accommodate requests for individuals teachers, communities or specific elective courses.
We are looking forward to a smooth transition for your child and appreciate your support.
With Leopard Pride,
Jean Carroll, Principal.”
And now for a rebuttal from an unnamed source.
“Considering the content of this letter and knowing some background facts, the first sentence is entirely false. These changes are not helping to meet the needs of the students. In fact they are hurting many by eliminating vital programs.
The district did make this decision. Laguna Hills needed and wanted a math teacher but instead got a Spanish teacher. Word is that they are not happy about it. This also means that La Paz has lost its certificated bilingual liaison between school and parents and since the principal had already chosen to give up the bilingual instructional aide in order to use those funds for other purposes, a serious communication gap with non English speaking parents now exists.
Closing READ 180 means that La Paz has no reading program to help those students that are behind in reading. This program is for students at least 2 grade levels below in reading and the district has already paid for 20 site licenses for the program. This program has helped many students reach grade level reading proficiency before entering high school. Now these students have no program and the district has wasted the funds (those licenses will sit unused at least for this year). All three other intermediate schools in the district still have and offer the program.
Closing Spanish is a first in the entire 42 year history of the school. La Paz is the only intermediate school in the district that is not offering Spanish (or any foreign language for that matter). Taking Spanish 1 in the eighth grade counts for one year of high school Spanish and enables students to complete their foreign language requirements early or to take the 5 years of foreign language required for the high school IB program. (note: students might be able to make this up by going to a community college)
La Paz chose to keep careers (5 content area teachers have been required to teach one period a day of this each and 4 periods of their content area meaning that they are spending time creating this curriculum in isolation rather than using precious prep period time to plan with subject alike colleagues), ceramics video production, digital photography and other electives instead of READ 180 and Spanish.
Major stake holders in this decision, the parents and motivated students, were not consulted nor were they even apprised of the situation during the decision making process until it was an accomplished fact. It was sprung on them on a Friday. It would appear as though the full details (such as the cutting of Spanish I and READ 180) were not even shared with the district until all arrangements had been made. The teachers nor the leadership team at La Paz was consulted or in any way had input into these decisions.
These changes are not helping meet students’ needs nor thinking of students first. In fact these decisions by principal Jean Carroll have been severely detrimental to many students, their learning and their future educational goals.
Spanish I, Intro to Language, and READ 180 were sacrificed on the altar of 8th grade communities. Eighth grade communities that were instituted by the principal even though many of the eighth grade teachers do not want this structure nor thinking it is beneficial to the students.”
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