Racial Profiling?

Victor Nunez Ortiz appears before Amherst School Committee 3/17/15

If Amherst police had paid me a visit because a Crocker Farm School (where my daughter does attend) employee had given them a description of an gray-haired chubby Irish guy, I would probably be a little unhappy with the reality check, but would not argue that I don't fit the profile.

In fact Victor Nunez Ortiz seems to argue that he did fit the profile and as a result was being profiled.

   Victor Nunez Ortiz MCAD Complaint

Which becomes a chicken and egg scenario. If police stop you simply because you're not white and they had no lead whatsoever on the race of the Perp, then that strikes me as profiling.

But if police stop Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because they have a description of a very tall black man, that strikes me as being good police work (as long as they let him go after finding out who he is).

 Last nights League of Women Voters Candidates night

The High Cost of Safety

Dare I even breath the word?

Dare I remind you of that stunningly sad Friday morning when our run of the mill routine was suddenly and forever broken.  By a madman ... with a gun.  Unleashing barrage after barrage of .223 caliber bullets on our most innocent, priceless possession: Children.

And the teachers and staff parents entrusted them with, who died defending their helpless young students in a heroic attempt to uphold that trust. 

Newtown.  Sandy Hook Elementary School.  A tragedy of epic proportions now forever known by either moniker.  What 9/11 did for airline security, Newton has done for school security. 

Take Amherst's three elementary schools for instance.  This morning the schools director of facilities and maintenance Ron Bohonowicz paid a visit to the Joint Capital Planning Committee to defend capital item requests for the upcoming fiscal year.

Ron Bohonowicz, Director of Facilities and Maintenance, right 

One such item is $150,000 for new "columbine" locks on all doors in the town's three elementary schools (average cost $300/lock) ) as well as panic bars for the inside of doors.  Currently the Middle School and High School have such locks. 

In addition to physical upgrades the schools have also instituted new security procedures for parent pick up, lock the main doors and use security cameras to screen visitors, plus have periodic security inspections with APD and AFD.

$150,000 for locks and panic bars is, indeed, expensive.  But so are the cost of funerals.  

Stability At (almost) The Top

 
 Co-Principal Derek Shea at Crocker Farm concert

Probably of equal importance to last night's announcement that Michelle Tesauro has been named the new principal of Amherst's Crocker Farm Elementary School is the news that current interim co-principal and former assistant principal Derek Shea will return to his position of assistant principal next year.

According to Superintendent Maria Geryk, "Derek is amazing in both roles, and we are all fortunate that he remains at Crocker Farm. He and Michele are a very strong and balanced team. I look forward to seeing where we move with their leadership."

Current  interim co-principal Anne Marie Foley status is still to be determined.  Ms. Foley was a finalist for the position of principal.  According to Superintendent Geryk:

"Annie was asked to come in for one year interim- I will work with her over the next few days to discuss next steps. Annie is excellent and we would be fortunate to continue working with her in whatever capacity."

Leader Of The Pack

Amherst Crocker Farm Elementary School is in the final stage of acquiring a new principal to replace Mike Morris, who was kicked upstairs into Central Office to head up teacher evaluations, a new state mandated protocol. 

Originally 20 candidates -- 9 men and 11 women -- applied for the position.  A volunteer screening committee interviewed 9 semi- finalists and whittled the field down to five finalists, all women.

Earlier in the week the finalists met with parents and other stakeholders.

Two of the final candidates are from out of state so ARPS paid their travel expenses, roughly $3,000 total.

Currently Crocker Farm is being run by co-principals Derek Shea and Anne Marie Foley.  Ms Foley is a finalist for the permanent position of principal.

With two young children of his own and a coaching commitment to Amherst College in the Fall, Mr Shea opted not to put his hat in the ring, but said he "looks forward to coming back next year as Assistant Principal."

Kathy Mazur, Human Resources Director, is currently checking references on the finalists.  Superintendent Maria Geryk will review the feedback forms and then make her decision.  Any offer will of course be contingent on passing a criminal background check.

The new principal will start July 1.

"...here for our kids"

Kathy Mazur (left) In the Hot Seat 

While they may not have carried pitchforks and torches, sixteen concerned parents showed up to voice their strong concerns this morning at a coffee hour with rookie Amherst School Committee member Amilcar Shabazz, who is also the parent of a Crocker Farm second grader.

But the session became more of a give-and-take with Superintendent Maria Geryk's right hand person, Director of Human Resources Kathy Mazur, who found herself defending the budget decisions of the MIA Superintendent.

One major complaint was the decision to promote former Crocker Farm Principal Mike Morris to Director of Teacher Evaluations and moving him to "Central Office," not that anyone was complaining about the job currently being done by co-Principals Deryk Shea and Anne Marie Foley.


 Co-Principal Derek Shea at Crocker Farm concert

To which Mr. Shabazz responded, "Crocker Farm took a hit and that has not been acknowledged by the Superintendent (Maria Geryk)"

Amherst School Committee member Amilcar Shabazz also UMass Du Bois Professor of Afro-American Studies

The move to Central Office by Morris also sank the idea of turning Crocker Farm into an "innovation school."

EJ Mills questions an $80,000 Grant Writer

Amherst has a reputation for being top heavy with administrators so it was only natural the new budget proposal, which calls for two additional administrators in Central Office but cuts teachers and para professionals, would be controversial.  

At $17, 916 Amherst has one of the highest costs per student in the state  (compared to neighboring Hadley at $9,770) and an "administration" cost per pupil 65% higher than state average.

 

Amherst Schools by the (state) numbers

And put up a parking lot

With the closing of Mark's Meadow Elementary School two years ago, Crocker Farm picked up 80 new students and a few more teachers, so now, apparently, it's time to expand the parking lot at a cost of $25,000...although I'm not sure why it needs to expand by 20-25 vehicles.

The current plan is to expand the lower parking lot on the north side of the main access road above and below the current parking oasis for 11 cars.  Yes, it would look as though the two maple trees (planted during the 2002 renovation) will become kindling, but Ron Bohonowicz, Director of Facilities, said they may come up with a design to "incorporate them."

After all the trees lost in the unprecedented October 29 snowstorm--a few of them at Crocker Farm--it seems sinful to now whack a couple more, especially on a nice summer day.

Long Distance Learning

 From Shanghai, China to Amherst, MA, USA

This morning my daughter Kira beamed into her 4th grade class at Crocker Farm Elementary School via FaceTime, from her Mom's iPhone to my iPad2.  Her dozen classmates seemed enthralled, perhaps because they have not seen her in three weeks,  although not stunned and amazed by the Star Trek technology that made it all possible.

No surprise I guess, since these kids have known nothing but digital their entire lives.  

Kira has been keeping up with her homework, taking private tutoring lessons four hours daily (half Chinese and half math), keeping a blog (yes, she's a better writer than Dad) and touring businesses with her entrepreneurship professor Mom.

All in all, a great educational experience.

Making the big time

Donna Kelley and Irv Rhodes teach Junior Achievement at Crocker Farm School

So forget those stodgy A rated, peer reviewed, academic journals so many professors are enslaved to, my lovely wife just made the really b-i-g time for publishing: The Huffington Post. Yikes!

Excuse me while I slip into unbiased reporter mode:

Yesterday at the World Bank in Washington, DC, Babson College professor Donna J. Kelley helped to launch the "Global Woman's Report," which she was lead author. A comprehensive study of women entrepreneurs in 59 countries, the report verified an age-old truism: necessity is the mother of invention.

Since starting a business is one way create a life line, it makes sense that in countries where women have less opportunity handed to them their motivation to succeed is higher.

And in countries like America, where desperation is less prevalent, woman correspondingly have less incentive to risk going it alone with a start-up business.

Kelley just returned to her Amherst home on Saturday after a prestigious Fullbright Scholarship took her to Indonesia for three weeks to teach entrepreneurship while she simultaneously coordinated a Junior Achievement business course at Amherst Crocker Farm Elementary school, where her daughters are enrolled.

The Washington Post also reports

Business Week joins the pack

Planting seeds of entrepreneurship

Kira Kelley looks on as Mom and Irv Rhodes present Junior Achievement

If, as our neighboring city's most prominent pol once stated, "The chief business of the American people is business," the message was lost on Amherst--where 91% of the tax levy comes from residential property and only 9% from commercial/business.

Amherst School Committee Chair Irv Rhodes, Principal Mike Morris, and Donna Kelley, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College, have teamed up to implement an All American solution to that imbalance, while simultaneously offering an antidote to unemployment, poverty and all its associated ills.

Junior Achievement USA brings experienced volunteers into the classroom to explain capitalism and commerce especially as it relates to starting your own business; and even more important, how to nurture that business for long term survival, even in this challenging economy.

In addition to teaching at Babson College, the #1 rated school in America for entrepreneurship, Donna Kelley co-founded a local small business 30 years ago when she first moved to Amherst. Irv Rhodes, founder and CEO of Community Funding Partners, Inc will co-teach the weekly after school program at Crocker Farm Elementary School, where a significant percentage of students qualify for reduced lunch costs due to low income.

"Training at a young age cultivates an entrepreneurial spirit early on," said Kelley. "Besides skill-building, training increases an individual's awareness of entrepreneurship and their intent to start a business, and improves perceptions about their ability to do so."

Her daughter Kira, a 4th grader, is one of the eleven students attending the program and she has already become a skilled negotiator.

Town to Crocker Care: We don't care!

What happens when two B-I-G bureaucracies combine forces to pull the rug out from under you?

Well if you are Crocker Care, a self sustaining after school program vital to parents--especially single parents--whose children attend Amherst's Crocker Farm Elementary School, you post an SOS to remind the community of 25 years of dedicated service dealing with our most precious asset: children.

You do of course have to be polite as the public school provides the roof over your head. But it must be hard--really, really hard--when town officials tell you one thing and then do another, fail to return emails or phone calls and then gives you less than two weeks notice for termination with extreme prejudice.

Apparently the Leisure Services and Supplemental Education empire does not like to compete, so the easy way to make their new after school child care program a success is to get the landlord to lock out the competition. You would think the Amherst Schools, since all they deal with is children, could set a better example by being a tad less RUTHLESS.

And what happens when the LSSE funding grant runs dry and they have to be self supporting like Crocker Care has been for its entire existence (not that they gouge the customers)? LSSE took over public swimming at the indoor Middle School Pool, renamed it the Amherst Community Aquatics Center and then just a couple years later shut it down because they could not make it self supporting--not even close.

When LSSE went into the pavilion rental market a few years ago with a bold prediction of $45,000 in revenues actual revenues came to under $10,000. So they are not exactly used to hitting projections when it relies on actually dealing with individual customers rather than one big fat check courtesy of a federal, state, or town grant.

One of the things I noted at last night's blockbuster attendance Town Meeting was how children were being used by adults as pawns in a political process (holding signs). In this case of competing after school programs, the children are the prize.

School officials--especially at Crocker Farm--should practice what they preach: Cooperation, Accountability, Respect, Empathy.

A better place to be

My darling daughter Kira only transferred to Crocker Farm Elementary School on Monday, and since then she's assisted with after school "Horse Lovers Club" on Wednesday afternoon and tonight--again with her little sis--attended their first "Friday Night Social" for a couple hours of games, food, music, and hanging out with new found friends.

About sixty kids congregated in the gymnasium and a dozen or so more too cool for organized play roamed the halls. Parents met in the cafeteria for food and conversation.

Superintendent Maria Geryk seemed to enjoy her busman's holiday, and trying to keep up with her children.