Gilroy
– Time and teamwork are two aspects Robert Heisey sees as
crucial for a productive school board.
As the parent of two Gilroy High School sons
– one who graduated in 2003 and one currently enrolled as a
freshman – Heisey said he has become increasingly frustrated with
how much time it takes the district to address parent concerns.
Gilroy – Time and teamwork are two aspects Robert Heisey sees as crucial for a productive school board.
As the parent of two Gilroy High School sons – one who graduated in 2003 and one currently enrolled as a freshman – Heisey said he has become increasingly frustrated with how much time it takes the district to address parent concerns.
In recent years, Heisey said, he and other parents have approached the board with several concerns, ranging from the high school’s lack of ninth and tenth grade honors classes to its weak English reading list, Heisey said. Although the issues eventually were addressed and the end result was positive, he said he doesn’t understand why the process took so long.
“The school board isn’t paying attention, and administration is not getting attention from the school board,” Heisey said. “There’s a lack of communication.”
Heisey said having a parent representative on the board is a good first step to closing that communication gap, because a parent member could encourage other parents to get involved. Although many parents are involved in their children’s extracurricular activities, Heisey said, education usually takes a back seat unless things get really bad.
“What the district calls an ‘achievement gap’ would be helped by more parent involvement,” he said. “The achievement gap is the difference between parents that don’t value their child’s education as much as they should and parents that do.”
But Heisey said he understands why some parents might be hesitant to get involved, especially if they feel they’re not being heard.
“Parents have concerns. If they’re not greeted with respect and taken seriously, you don’t get much communication,” he said.
Heisey said he thinks the board should form the district’s educational backbone, and the administration should then follow that philosophy. Too often the board defers important issues to the administration, which then devises plans that sound positive but rarely are implemented, Heisey said. And just as the board should listen to parents, it also should listen to teachers, he said.
“Teachers are key. We have a lot of good teachers in this district, and students depend on them,” Heisey said. “We need to sit down with them and say, ‘What do you think we need to do to make things better for teachers and students?'”
Heisey attributed part of the district’s high turnover rate to low salaries, but he said retaining teachers has more to do with increasing teacher morale than increasing pay.
“If I’m a teacher and I know I might be let go because I’m ‘not a good fit,’ I’m not going to stick around,” he said.
He said one of his biggest goals for the district is to establish a standardized curriculum and more programs that intervene during the early stages of education. He named Saturday school and summer school as two strategies that could help achieve better early learning.
Heisey said he also wants to establish stronger agricultural and vocational programs for students who decide not to go to college, as well as a district-wide recycling program that involves students as part of a community service program. Other priorities include establishing objective teacher evaluations.
Heisey said he sees testing as a good way to identify deficiencies in the district, but he wonders if time spent testing might better be used teaching.
“Testing is a good thing. Kids will be taking tests their whole lives, so testing now helps prepare them for that,” he said. “But how much of that time is taken away from teachers? Maybe we could get parents or paraprofessionals to supervise tests instead.”
While the district is in need of improvement, Heisey said, it’s important to focus on making progress rather than focusing on lost time.
“We’re not going to be a world-class education system,” he said. “We don’t have the resources to do that. So let’s be the best we can be, and use what we do have.”
