The WakeEd blog is devoted to discussing and answering questions about the major issues facing the Wake County school system. How much will the new Democratic majority on the school board do to undo the changes made by Republicans since 2009? Will the new student assignment plan be a hybrid of the last two models or primarily be a return to the use of busing for diversity? Who will replace Tony Tata as the new superintendent of the state's largest district? How will voters react to a likely request in 2013 to borrow potentially more than $1 billion to build and renovate schools?
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Those pesky AC problems are cropping up at Salem Elementary again.
School was dismissed early at 12:45 p.m. due to the AC acting up. Wake had been working on Salem's AC unit in June as well.
With temps possibly hitting 100 during the next week, AC units will be working overtime.
UPDATE
School will reopen Thursday on a normal schedule.
Comments
It seems kind of sad that a
Mon, 01/19/2009 - 12:27 — fireball11It seems kind of sad that a school district can't maintain their own AC units and keep them in working order, kids should not be missing school due to a lack of air conditioning. This means that kids are missing out on an education because the faculty are not doing their jobs in either maintaining the school or seeing that the school is maintained by a private contractor.
Does the district not have a maintenance staff like most other districts? Are they doing their jobs? Do they have the proper qualifications? Do they not hire a contractor to perform routine maintenance on the HVAC systems, this would seem like an obvious task that would have shown the condition and life of the units themselves, therefor allowing the district to take appropriate actions before it comes down to kids missing school.
I am sorry but it sounds like really poor management and planning on the schools part. :(
Mike
http://pnhnetwork.com
Another Busing Blunder - Strike 3
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 21:00 — Voice_of_Reason_When Salem ES had an early release due to AC problems yesterday WCPSS made their notification about 30 min. prior to kids boarding the buses. A lot of parents were upset. ABC Ch 11 news did a piece at their 6PM newscast. WCPSS blamed parents on this one, saying contact info was not up to date. It was notworthy the parent that spoke up was hidden in her interview like the people that rat on the mafia. Are we that afraid?
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/channel?section=news/local&id=5755643
I had to wait to post this because I was so upset and afraid of what I would say.
Devil's Advocate
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 21:06 — Dadof3We're playing that a lot lately. Our family was approached by one of the news stations (I forget now) about doiing a blog where one family was "pro" and was was "against" MYR. While we let our feelings known here, as well as down whereever the clowns roost, we also don't want our children being "poster children" for the cause. They have enough on their plate. I'm not worried about retribution, heck, the WCPSS can't manage what's on their plate, let alone vengence, it's be like the keystone cops.
But being out there has costs, even if only as peer issues, or teacher - student issues.
I understand Dadof3
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 21:29 — Voice_of_Reason_I know why they chose the secrecy (given the atmosphere) but in my mind it is still noteworthy. I do agree that the school system isn't up to the task of being vindictive at a PERSONAL level.
REALLY? really, now?
Fri, 08/01/2008 - 06:41 — bigwinnieREALLY? really, now? don't be too sure of that....
AC Issues
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 16:10 — Louise Lee (not verified)Just imagine, if year-round schools had not been mandated, these AC problems would affect very few schools - not to mention the enormous increase in electricity spending to run them (which has been pointed out to the powers-that be, with some good back-up data, for years). AAAHHHRRRRGGGG!
If I were Boss
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 16:55 — Voice_of_Reason_Well I would use the military approach we used very well in the US Air Force and the one I am very familiar with. I don't know why the approach should be different here.
Assuming I am in Dr. Burn's position - Note: My number one priority is safety of the people I have in my charge (includes children). This is above and beyond education. I probably would of done a top to bottom look at how safety is integrated in the organization when I took charge.
First - I would treat this as a serious incident that should be reported to me as soon as it is known. If the media was in the loop, I would inform them what my plans were and ensure the public I would get the problem fixed.
Second- I would contact the parent and express my concern with them directly and offer an apology. I would ensure them I would do all in my power to make sure it wouldn't happen again.
Third - I would demand from the head of transportation a full explanation of what happened. I would ask him the following: - What was the training the driver received related to this type of occurance? How was it documented? When was it last re-inforced? - Was there any exceptions to stated policy? - What could of been done to prevent this from happening and what can we do to ensure it doesn't happen again?
Third - If I did think this was due to poor execution of policy or lack of training, I would probably ask for his/her resignation. If it was purely the driver's fault -- (unlikely) Then the driver would be fired. [ It might seem harsh, but a message is made, loud and clear ]
Fourth - I would make changes as necessary to training programs/policy and make sure every driver would be re-trained on dealing with these situations and document that training.
Fifth, I would follow up with the parents on what has taken place.
If I were on the BoE. I would ask Dr. Burns what he is doing about the situation. If the answer was very much different from what I just said, I would ask for his resignation because it indicates very poor leadership. I would also ensure a letter of apology would go to the parents from the BoE also.
But that's me; this "administrative management" will not be that concerned because LUCK is what they stated they go on...i.e. "we are lucky this doesn't happen more often." I would be labled a disgruntal wacko by their friends. I guess that why we have Educators, not leaders, running the show.
Interesting, at my son's MYR
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:53 — Anonymous (not verified)Interesting, at my son's MYR elementary school the AC units are always going down and they are never sent home. Kids have to sit in the sweltering heat and try to learn.
Flawed Policy
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:26 — Voice_of_Reason_"Being on the notification list is not a substitute for monitoring your local media (newspapers, radio, TV and so on) in situations where a delay in opening or school closing is an obvious possibility (such as when the weather forecast calls for snow or hurricane)."- from WCPSS website - e-mail notification system. THIS IS NOT AN OBVIOUS POSSIBILITY, OR SOMETHING THAT WOULD GET WIDESPREAD MEDIA ATTENTION !! Full-time E-mail is not a requirement for being a parent last time I looked. Also what about special needs kids?
PM - FYI -your policy link did not work.
What is your solution
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 10:01 — pmIf you were boss, what would you implement?
I tingle
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 10:12 — Dadof3In short: return the core mission of schools to education and not social engineering. Reduce the size of the school district to where the districts better reflect their mainstream demographic. Massively simplify the infrastructure. Everything flows out of that, including early release protocol and managing bus driver skills. I can't pretend to walk in the shoes of an F&R parent; I haven't lived in those conditions since my 20's. To do so would be patronizing at best. But I bet the F&R parents have some great ideas on this and other fronts. Enable them to work their destiny; not some grotesque bureaucrat.
My view is that we have a way too complex a beast. Not even the brightest minds with the purest hearts could put this Humpty-Dumpty back together.
In the meantime, rattle the cages with every tin cup. I won't get sucked into wag-the-dog problem solving. It's a co-dependency-enabling waste of time, and there's better temperaments here for that. I want systemic change, not facade tweaks.
Here it is
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:49 — pmhttp://www.wcpss.net/emergency/
http://www.wcpss.net/notification_list/
like usual...
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:58 — gunfam..in many ways its vague. It assumes you get the phone call or email, or see it on the news. Does not say anything about bus service.
Thanks for the links!
What about the F&R crowd?
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:29 — Dadof3How is Mom or Dad F&R (the honest ones) going to do this? (The dishonest ones follow along on their HD-TV.) They're out in jobs without the means to media access, phones, what have you.
Break this monster up, already!
Agree and then not
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:51 — pmHow is Mom or Dad F&R going to do this?
Agreed. Very difficult.
Break this monster up, already!
What is the critical difference that would
allow a smaller district to reach the same F&R parent?
Question for Mr. Hui
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 08:58 — Voice_of_Reason_In the case of early dismissal for AC Problems, what is the policy if the parents can't be notified or can not be at home in time. Are the children just bused to their stop and dropped?
Granted I was home...
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:15 — gunfam...and at the bus stop, but best I can tell, all the kids that normally take the bus were on the bus. We (another mom and I) told the bus driver that all the kids at our stop were going to be taken care of, but I too wondered about the official policy of doing this, and how unwise it was.
Oh, and I *did* get a call on my cell phone (as did my neighbor at the bus stop), but it was an odd number (411-000-0000) and they did not leave a message on the cell phone (my neighbor did not answer it, then I got the calll and did).
I did not receive an email (though I am signed up for email notificaitons)
Official Policy
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:07 — pmHere is the policy.
Here is the process to get notified.
I'm pretty sure you can email a cell phone, but yes, horrible to consider what would happen if parents did not have access to media/email/cell phones during work.
Anecdotally...
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:01 — Dadof3We had to pickup our child, and a neighbor's child, due to mistakes at the school. The good news is I work from home. This is a big deal for parents without this flexibility (say, the honest F&R parents)
how many more you ask?
Wed, 07/30/2008 - 19:50 — g88ky07LOTS MORE! The MYR AC's will be giving out, burning up and needing to be replaced at BIG costs in the coming months and years with ALL the overtime they now receive thanks to round the clock cranking compliments of poor planning/decisions from our illustrious PRETEND school board and Al Gore's climate crisis!
Maybe we should have a bond for the problem!
Correction
Wed, 07/30/2008 - 21:36 — Voice_of_Reason_You are mixing the word PRETEND with DISFUNCTIONAL. I know it does seem like a B-Grade Fictional Novel somtimes. But you make a good analogy with global warming, only Al Gore got to line his pockets royally with that one. The press promoted that hook, line, and sinker until now that house of cards is falling finally. People believe anything these days because they rely only on the mainstream media to get their "facts." If you refute what you hear from them, you get labeled a wacko. Facts be damned.
and we wait
Wed, 07/30/2008 - 17:05 — Dadof3We wait to hear from the principal on what the deal is for tomorrow...
I wonder...
Wed, 07/30/2008 - 14:11 — gunfam...how many more units will have problems in the coming months/years when we keep pushing them more and more. Salem is not even a very old school.
I'm just glad I was home to meet my kid at the bus stop, and have neighbors to call on if I wasn't.