Happy New Year 2008!

Happy 2008.
Let me be the first to wish you all a very happy and healthy new year. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and are looking forward to a prosperous and successful new year.
Looking ahead and moving forward, now begins the first of many “crunch-times” in 2008. February 11 will kick off the filing [...]

The screw-ups at GCS hurt taxpayers, hurt our children

(source, Rhino Times)
It is no secret that Guilford County Schools is a broken system. And for this past year, this blog has helped to expose just how broken it is, along with my strong, intense desire to fix things. I won’t be able to fix the mess on Eugene Street alone, but with new blood [...]

GCS Teacher Turnover Rate High (HPE)

It is no secret that we have a disproportionate number of unhappy teachers in Guilford County. As a result, some of them choose to leave GCS. Some go to other school systems, some retire, some are fired. Some leave the teaching profession altogether.
The High Point Enterprise discusses some of the reasons for teacher turnover [...]

Northern Elementary School opens next week (GCS)

From GCS:
Northern Elementary will open the doors of its new campus to students on January 3, 2008. Students and their families will be invited the day before to find their new classroom and see the facility.
Address: 3801 N.C. Highway 150, Greensboro, NC 27455
Phone Number: 336-656-4032
Fax Number: 336-656-4043
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E.C.

Deena Hayes: Then versus Now

Guilford College’s student newspaper The Guilfordian ran a focus piece in February, 2003 highlighting the then-campus shining star Deena Hayes. This ran right after she was elected in November, 2002 to her first term on the GCS Board of Education.
Here’s the short article…and see if you can pick out the many contradictions just dripping [...]

GCS: The Year in Review (HPE)

Both today and yesterday, the High Point Enterprise has run a pretty good series reviewing this year’s top events out of Eugene Street. Some high points, but unfortunately a lot of low points.
Obviously, the focus is on High Point area schools, but the high and low points are notable in nature.
Click here for part [...]

The victimization of our children has to stop

I said back in October that everyone in Guilford County who is concerned about the sorry state of race relations here lately should buy this book.
This is Bill Cosby’s new book, titled “Come on People: On the Path from Victims to Victors” (click here to buy it now from Amazon.com)
Seems as though [...]

Twilight School almost ready (N&R)

The News & Record’s Amanda Lehmert had a short piece yesterday on the new GCS Twilight School, set to open in January on the Smith Academy campus.
Student recruiting is already underway, Lehmert reports.
See this excerpt:
Starting early in the new year, school officials will recruit students for the “twilight high school” — an afternoon program [...]

San Diego Watch: Retiring school chief puts on political hat

Still no word as to whether GCS superintendent Terry Grier will load up the truck and move to San Diego. But here’s an interesting tidbit to share.
From the Voice of San Diego comes a lengthy Q&A with retiring San Diego city schools chief Dr. Carl Cohn. And after he retires in the next few [...]

Bruce Davis answers Alan Duncan

Guilford County Commissioner Bruce Davis (Dist. 1-High Point) has responded (via this website) to GCS Board Chairman Alan Duncan’s lecture last week about restoring $3 million in funding that the embattled school system requested earlier in the year.
Duncan chastised County Commissioners for failing to fully fund schools (specifically $3 million that the schools [...]

Christmas Week highlights coming up

Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope Santa brought you all the toys and Barbies you wanted and that new Lexus.
Here’s what’s coming up later in the week when the blog resumes:
1. Last week, GCS Board Chairman Alan Duncan lectured to us about pressuring the County Commissioners to restore $3 million in yanked funding [...]

Deena Hayes is obsessed with race

I thought GCS Board member Deena Hayes’ “slaves and slavemaster” comment put her over the top last year. I was wrong.
Her “aunt jemima” comment was pretty borderline back in the Spring. I was terribly wrong.
Even when she walked out of that meeting with Guilford County Sheriff B.J. Barnes a couple of years ago, or [...]

Christmas and Holiday Wishes

Many of you are preparing to hit the road for holiday travel or settle in for a week of celebration and sharing with family and friends. As for me, I’ll be right here, celebrating with family, and out and about around Greensboro, Jamestown, Adams Farm, and High Point.
And while I won’t be posting a lot [...]

Post-Grimsley fight analysis: Community meeting scheduled

Kudos to the News & Record’s Amanda Lehmert, for posting the skinny on a just-called meeting tomorrow to discuss the recent Grimsley H.S. fight, its effects, and what the community can do over on the ChalkBoard.
The meeting is set for tomorrow, Dec. 22 at 10am, at the Warnersville Community Center on Doak Street in Greensboro, [...]

NCLB Crashing and Burning

I have the distinct feeling that No Child Left Behind will fade away into oblivion. Someone mark my words, please.
After all, and if you noticed, we were lectured to last night by GCS Board chairman Alan Duncan during his closing comments…he said while he understood the comments by several onlookers lately talking about how [...]

Duncan plays blame game, slams county board on funding cuts

GCS Board chairman Alan Duncan last night got some digs in during his closing comments.
He openly criticized Guilford County Commissioners for slashing $3 million out of the school system’s last budget, which, he said, would have helped to pay for new anti-school violence prevention efforts.
Chairman Duncan also recognized the many public speakers who have [...]

No action on saving the arts

Click here for my comments I made at last night’s Board meeting on arts elective time restoration.
Our illustrious school board took no action last night on whether to restore the lost art/music time cut from our elementary and middle schools in favor of No Child Left Behind test prep.
News & Record excerpt:
 District officials and [...]

Remarks made at the 12/20/07 GCS Board meeting

Good evening Mr. Chairman, Dr. Grier, members of the Board.
            As many of you know, I’m the proud father of a seven year old daughter, who’s a second grader at Pilot Elementary School. And she told my wife and I the other week that she wants to participate more in both visual and cultural arts.
            [...]

Welcome and Kudos to our new visitors

The incident at Oak Hill Elementary School, coupled with full coverage of the Grimsley H.S. fight, coupled with wide-world coverage of Terry Grier’s possible departure to San Diego has literally burned up this blog over the last four days.
I want to welcome ALL of our new and recent visitors to this website/blog. I’m [...]

San Diego Watch: Interim chief named while search continues

Major update on the San Diego-Terry Grier watch, via the Voice of San Diego.org blog:
San Diego Unified will be temporarily led by William Kowba, the district’s current chief administrative officer and chief financial officer.
The district originally planned to announce its new superintendent Tuesday. Instead, the school board has named Kowba as acting interim [...]

The e-mail that’s about to land Grier in hot water with English teachers

As if Terry Grier didn’t have enough problems on his plate right now…every English teacher in Guilford County is likely about to raise cain with Grier…over an e-mail.
This is the e-mail Grier sent out this morning noting the incident at Oak Hill Elem. School last night:
I spoke to the principal of Oak Hill Elementary School [...]

The answer to increased school safety? More money, more programs

Okay, everyone, pull out your scorecards:
1.
Page High School’s cafeteria brawl in October.
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2.
Last month’s fight at Southern Guilford H.S.
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3.
Last Friday’s brawl at Grimsley.
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4. And not to mention the rash of fires that occurred on at least four campuses this fall also, along with the Noose incident at Andrews [...]

Ferndale decision may come tomorrow

Today’s High Point Enterprise reports tomorrow is doomsday for Ferndale Middle School in High Point. Our school board can either make the right decision by leaving Ferndale alone and not using that school as a Grier-guinea-pig-experiment by extending their school day/year…or they could go ahead and do it and risk political suicide.
Considering we’re going [...]

Parents fight at Oak Hill’s Christmas Program (FOX-8)

DEVELOPING STORY/UPDATES BELOW…
It’s bad enough when the kids duke it out on the schoolyard. It’s worse when the parents do it…in front of kids…at a Christmas program!
That’s apparently what happened last night at Oak Hill Elementary School in High Point. According to a story that led on FOX-8 last night, at least three adults [...]

San Diego Watch: No word yet

No news yet out of San Diego as to who the next superintendent of schools being named for the San Diego Unified School District will be (whether it’s Grier or someone else); this from the Voice of San Diego.
See this short blurb from blogger/reporter Emily Alpert at 3:54ET:
San Diego Unified isn’t likely to announce its [...]

Tonight at 11: Your teacher on YouTube

I ran into this article from Education Week (registration may be required) by accident, but it is very pertinent in today’s instant hi-tech world.
Students are using cellphones on a regular basis to film their classroom teachers and are posting them in record numbers on the popular YouTube website. And it is becoming a cause [...]

Ferndale parents tell GCS to “back off”

Angry Ferndale Middle School parents filled the school’s cafeteria last night, rightly telling GCS “leaders” to back off and to leave their school alone.
This, via today’s High Point Enterprise. Parents unhappy with a loosely-and-poorly-designed proposal to extend the school day/year at Ferndale told gathered GCS Board members not to use their school as a [...]

Big problems brewing at Western H.S.

The next school we may be reading about in the news is Western Guilford H.S. The home of the Hornets may become the hornets nest if we don’t address some serious issues there…and fast.
A poster with intimate knowledge of the school writes in with some frightening details:
I visit the school often and have [...]

More Grimsley fight spin

 

Today, GCS Board members speak out on last Friday’s massive brawl at Grimsley, via today’s News & Record.
uh boy…
Sometimes, I wish some of them wouldn’t open their mouths at all; it would be less painful.
Better buckle up, here we go.
N&R:   Four days after a fight disrupted activities at Grimsley, school officials say they [...]

Analyzing the Grimsley situation

(courtesy N&R)
This is now the third time in as many months that I’ve tried to analyze (with little luck) a massive brawl/melee/fight/disturbance (call it whatever you desire to call it) at a Guilford County high school.
This is getting tiring.
Again, if you’re keeping score at home…we had the big fight at Page H.S. in October, then [...]