[Volcano_Vista_HS] APS District 2 Update: April 15, 2011

Hello everyone:
 
What happened this week:
 
-- Policy Meeting, Tuesday, April 12: The board approved an updated Special Education policy. Here is the link to all APS policies, both newly approved and older: http://www.aps.edu/about-us/policies-and-procedural-directives/policies The special education policy update will appear very soon, I'm sure. The board approved next year's student handbook as well.
 
-- Special Board Meeting, Friday, April 15: The board heard an update on the elementary school start/end time discussions taking place in the elementary schools right now. Schools are asking their teachers and parents whether they want to eliminate the Wednesday half days and revise start/end times. All schools' votes are due by May 1. If a school's teacher and parent community approves of the change by 66 percent, then the school will move to the new schedule this August. 
 
Agendas are posted and minutes will be posted here:
http://www.aps.edu/about-us/board/meeting-archives/meetingsfolder_view?past:int=100&-C=
 
-- Thank you to the Volcano Vista High School community that welcomed me this week. Nice to meet all of you.
 
-- Some of you asked about Maintenance and Operations and why APS doesn't contract out. Well, I learned in training this week that indeed APS does contract out most of the work we need to have done at the schools. These are just a few of what APS contracts out:
 
-- janitorial services at the administrative offices
-- electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fire inspections, tree and grounds maintenance.
 
The M&O Department is funded by SB9, HB33 and operational money (received in SEG funding). The operational funds it receives is put toward the department personnel, those folks who oversee each of the  M&O operations. This pool of M&O supervisors has been cut in past years and will face more cuts this coming year.
 
The plus of contracting services: SB9 money pays for it and reduces the operational funds burden on APS so it can devote more operational dollars to instruction and less on Maintenance and Operations.
 
The minus: The state requires minimum wage rates for all contractors and works with Workforce Solutions to make sure all contractors are paid according to statute and these wage minimums. So it costs more, actually, to contract out. For example, these are the minimum wage rates for a few jobs:
 
-- Average journeyman receives $27 to $28 an hour
-- Pest Control: Averages $55 per kitchen/145 kitchens a month (required by law)
-- Roaches: Averages $125 a month/145 kitchens a month (required)
-- Fire Marshal inspections: Required two times a year. An average of $55 an hour.
-- Electrical contractors average $46 an hour
-- Electrical apprentices average $26 an hour
 
I received receipts for just some of the contract work done by the district and paid for with SB9 funds. Here's one:
 
-- It cost $9,793 to remove/replace a sidewalk at Highland.
 
Folks, these are our taxpayer dollars. And may I emphasize: APS contracts out because districts can use Senate Bill 9 monies to pay for maintenance and contract services (we cannot use SB9 money for salaries).
 
So two years ago, APS eliminated 15 HVAC technicians to save from the operational fund $825,000. Now APS contracts out those services but it costs APS in SB9 monies $3.4 million just on HVAC work in our schools. (M&O received $909,000 in operational funds last year for 297 employees and 558 custodians.)
 
HB33 money pays for rebuilding and new construction projects only - no maintenance.
 
I could go on and on. I have asked John Dufay, who leads M&O to post online the brochure I was given. I think it would also be good to post receipts of contract work, and I just thought to request that! So I will.
 
I am just hitting the tip of the iceberg here. The M&O department is really trying to streamline processes and get the best bang for operational dollars. It is making headway on both counts with much work to be done. 
 
Upcoming:
 
--As you know, APS is one of 34 districts statewide whose records will be audited by the Public Education Department. The district views this as not a bad thing, but something to be able to put all questions aside and show that our records are honest. Audits should find whether all functions are being addressed with honesty. If mistakes are being made, then it's a chance to fix them. Our district officials say they welcome the chance to prove the district's numbers are good. The PED says initial results of the audits will be ready by April 27.
 
-- Tuesday, April 19 at 7:30 a.m.: Finance Committee Meeting. Find the district's financial reports here: http://www.aps.edu/accounting
 
-- Tuesday, April 19 at 6 p.m.: West Side Stadium Community Presentation. Volcano Vista High School Lecture Hall. We will present the same information presented to other community groups. We are bringing the information to the Northwest part of the district for this presentation. Please come and learn about the project, what it is proposed to look like, and the history of the stadium and why here, why now. Find out about the stadium here: http://www.aps.edu/news/curious-about-the-west-side-stadium. There will be a community question-and-answer session at the end of the presentation. I am hosting/moderating this meeting.
 
-- Wednesday, April 20 at 5 p.m.: General Board Meeting
 
Agendas will be posted here 24 hours in advance: http://www.aps.edu/about-us/board/meeting-archives
 
Good News Around the District:
 
I had the opportunity this week to accompany Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce officials on a tour of some of the district's schools and a look at some district initiatives taking place to address the achievement gap. Wow. There are some exciting and amazing things taking place in our district with the No. 1 goal of eliminating the district's achievement gap:
 
-- NexGen Academy: At this school, which will house up to 450 students on a campus in the Del Norte High School campus area, Sandia National Labs and Intel teamed up with APS to create a school at which students are learning with technology. Among the exciting things I saw:
1. Students each have a laptop provided by Intel
2. The campus looks like a business, with lots of open areas and conference tables and sofa chairs, including glass conference rooms where group learning projects can be done.
3. Each student carries a lanyard with an ID, their flash drive, and if they are achieving 80 percent or higher on work ethic, a card key that allows them access to the glass conference rooms to work with their group. If one group member does not have the key, the whole group has to work in classrooms or out in the hallways where the sofas are. (And the students' peers grade each other on involvement, along with the instructor)
4. Promethean white boards in each room. What is a white board? http://www.aps.edu/whiteboards-engaging-students-in-learning-1 (by the new school year, 3,000 of these will be installed in schools across the district)
5. Minimal textbooks.
6. A sophomore team showed us their 15-page research document on the Promethean white board, written in different fonts (one font color for each team member) so you could see who contributed to the report.
 
The list goes on and on. This school was incredible and a great collaborative effort between the community and APS. if only we had the funds to bring a laptop to every high school student in the district!
 
2. At Ernie Pyle Middle School, one of two schools with a restructure plan in the district. The principal spoke about getting parents involved. I was the dubious observer who asked, "OK, that's great that you have a resource center with Title 1 funding and a way to give teachers $3,000 stipends for going through extra training and being here after school and during evenings to bring more parents into the school community. What about schools that don't have that advantage?"
 
He blew me away with one of his cost-effective tips on luring parents into the school and making them feel engaged. His answer: He asks teachers each day to give him a name of a student or students making improvements, doing a good job, etc. And he calls five parents a day. Simple. No Cost. He tells the parents what a good job their child is doing. He gives the parents a pat on the back. And on the school's last parent night, more parents showed up because they feel welcomed at the school. Wow!
 
3. At Highland High School, students talked about AVID. AVID is a new initiative in the district. It stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination). This program targets the middle kids: those whose work is not in the As and Bs level, but they are not flunking either. Not every middle or high school has the 2-year-old program yet. And it's limited because of funding. But its highlight is that students must apply to be in AVID and then they are given a contract they must follow and very hands-on assistance throughout the year learning such skills as organization, planning for the future, etc.
 
Read more about this at: http://www.aps.edu/news/schools-complete-first-year-with-avid-program
 
One of the students who talked to us told us AVID is changing his life. He knows he has to work hard to achieve his dream of being an engineer. He told us how the organizational skills alone helped him. Each AVID student has a binder and they must keep their work in order. At the end of every week, they must hold out their binder upside down. If papers fall out, they flunk the binder test for the week. Wow! Type A at its best!
 
There are so many more  things I am learning. I am giving you just a nutshell of all the information I am receiving each week. I encourage you to go into the APS web site and learn about what this district is doing!
 
And I'll continue to highlight my learning each week in the hope of educating you, too!
 
Have a great weekend,
Kathy
 

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