One week into school and sixth grade students at Brownell Middle
School are enjoying classes sans books. Meanwhile, parents are
scratching their heads wondering when their children will bring
home their texts and begin homework.
One week into school and sixth grade students at Brownell Middle School are enjoying classes sans books. Meanwhile, parents are scratching their heads wondering when their children will bring home their texts and begin homework.
The books are there, Principal Greg Camacho-Light said. They’re just not in the students’ hands yet. They will be by the beginning of the next week, he said. Nevertheless, teachers have been assigning homework, he said.
“We’ve just had some worksheets to take home,” said Ashley Lozon, a sixth grader who didn’t mind carrying around a backpack unburdened by heavy books. “No books at home or in class.”
“I feel bad about it,” Camacho-Light said. “I wish everyone could get their books on the first day. Unfortunately that didn’t happen this year.”
Several factors contributed to the confusion, Camacho-Light said, including lack of personnel, lack of an adequate book room and the fact that recently released standardized test scores are still being used to determine which students are eligible for which classes.
“We were unaware it was an issue until today,” Superintendent Deborah Flores said. “We will give them additional resources to get books out to sixth graders as soon as possible.”
The district is sending an extra set of hands over to Brownell today to help organize and distribute books, she said.
“We have the books,” she said. “It’s just the distribution that’s been the challenge. We are more than glad to come over and help ourselves. We’ll get this done.”
“Every student should have a text in their hands within a couple days in the four core subject areas,” she said. “It’s a new team (at Brownell). They probably just didn’t know they needed to ask us for help.”
Camacho-Light said that each seventh and eighth grader should have their books by week’s end. Sixth graders will receive theirs after the long weekend.
South Valley and Ascencion Solorsano middle schools also ran into a few bumps when distributing books this year but not to the extent of Brownell. Due to the number of students transferring to Solorsano from schools in Program Improvement, Principal Sal Tomasello said he was short on language arts books this year. They are on their way, he said. Meanwhile, teachers are compensating by having their students share books, he said.
“As far as materials, we’re pretty good this year,” said Greg Kapaku, the new principal at South Valley. Only a handful of seventh grade language arts books and seventh grade algebra readiness books came up short this year due to increased enrollment. Students at SVMS have a classroom set of books and a copy to take home, he said.
“I got great training at Solorsano,” Camacho-Light said. “I know what needs to get done, but it won’t happen overnight. It takes time.”
Camacho-Light expects Brownell to enter its fourth year of program improvement this year and aims to “meet every student where they are and challenge them for the rest of the year.”
While some parents are wondering why their students don’t have books, others aren’t worried just yet.
Cathy Rodrigues said her sixth grade daughter doesn’t have books at home or in the classroom.
“I’m not concerned yet,” she said. “She’s been doing homework.”
She added that, frankly, she wouldn’t even mind if her children began their school year after the Labor Day weekend passed. “It’s 105 degrees outside.”
