Gilroy
– Gilroy Unified School District is unattractive to teachers
because of low morale. Or, this district is so desirable that some
qualified teachers commute 30 miles each day to work here.
An Accountability Task Force will effectively keep the district
on an upward course. Or, the task force will be a futile
exercise.
Gilroy – Gilroy Unified School District is unattractive to teachers because of low morale. Or, this district is so desirable that some qualified teachers commute 30 miles each day to work here.
An Accountability Task Force will effectively keep the district on an upward course. Or, the task force will be a futile exercise.
Six school board candidates set themselves apart on these and a number of issues facing the district, based on responses made during a televised forum Thursday night. In the three-part, 90-minute forum, candidates were first given two minutes to respond to three general questions asked by The Gilroy Dispatch staff and editorial board. Next, specific candidates were asked questions, and given two minutes to respond, with another candidate given a one-minute rebuttal. Last, questions were posed to candidates by both the studio and at-home audience.
Two candidates emphasized support for teachers, but had different opinions on whether GUSD appeals to qualified teachers. Pat Midtgaard, a retired GUSD teacher and principal, quoted a University of Tennessee study that said “A qualified teacher is the most accurate indicator of student performance.”
“It might sound very simplistic, and yet if we don’t focus on the classroom first, and the teachers in the classroom, then we sometimes spread our energies elsewhere,” Midtgaard said. “We can never forget that the classroom teacher is the greatest asset that this district has.”
Citing teacher dissatisfaction with GUSD, Rhoda Bress said the board needs to adopt a policy that says all resources will be dedicated to helping teachers do their job.
“The main reason why they do not want to work for Gilroy Unified is, they do not believe it is a healthy environment for them to work in,” Bress said.
Midtgaard rebutted that she has experienced exactly the opposite.
“In the last four years, I’ve had four teachers – just exemplary teachers – who came from Santa Cruz every day, and I used to hope every year that Santa Cruz was hiring because I didn’t want to lose them,” she said. “So these are teachers that will make the extra effort to come to Gilroy Unified, felt they were being supported, felt they were successful.”
When asked to grade both the school board and district, Trustee Bob Kraemer gave the administration high marks for improving.
“This district has been turned around in the last four years so that there is significant improvement in virtually every area,” he said.
Most candidates gave the board a C grade, but Bress awarded the lowest grades: C for the administration and D for the board.
“I am a parent and I’m evaluating the results of the district on how our students are doing, and we can’t get around the fact that 70 percent of our students are (not proficient),” Bress said.
Thursday’s forum was aired live on Community Media Access Partnership (CMAP) ED-TV, Channel 19. Present were incumbents Kraemer, John Gurich and Jaime Rosso; with challengers Bress, Bob Heisey and Midtgaard.
Most candidates were in agreement about what issues are most pressing, often discussing academic rigor, support for teachers, and communication. Declining scores were a reference point for much of the discussion.
Midtgaard said she thinks school principals are being held accountable for their students’ scores. She said the evaluation process is fair and clear, and principals know what is being asked of them.
Heisey said he supports a higher level of accountability for principals.
“In the real world of business and industry, when your results fall, you either get fired or you get reassigned,” Heisey said. “I know that’s not possible in a school district, but I think there has to be some way that we can hold our administrators to a higher level of responsibility.”
The district plans to convene a task force that will hold the entire district accountable for meeting improvement goals, something Bress has questioned in her campaigning and again called a “huge distraction.”
“When I look at the make-up of the task force, it includes a few teachers, some administrators, and some community members, and then when I look at what the main purpose of the task force is – that’s to improve student achievement,” Bress said. “I cannot connect those dots. I cannot see how people from the business community, no matter how well-intentioned, are actually going to be able to get into our classrooms and focus on what needs to be done there.”
Instead, administrators should be in the classroom, said Bress, who supports focusing on the classroom as GUSD’s first priority.
Board President Rosso said he supports the task force, drawing similarities between it and the facilities oversight committee, which also is made up of community members.
“The Accountability Task Force will evaluate … if we’re meeting our success and our goals that we set for ourselves in the district,” Rosso said. “So that it’s not we, the district, telling people yes, we’re making it or, no, we’re not.”
With two women running, it’s possible one or both could fill a trustee’s seat this fall, the first time in two years the board would have a female member. Rosso said he thinks it is important to have a woman’s point of view, as it is important to have a parent on the board. Responding, Bress said a GUSD parent is needed to bring a sense of urgency to the board.
Kraemer answered a request for information on the district’s settlement with fired English teacher Kristen Porter by saying administrators and board members are held to confidentiality as part of the agreement.
“Yes, I’m aware of what has happened in the district, I believe all trustees that were at the meeting – closed session – where it was discussed are aware, because it was talked about,” Kraemer said. “And I am aware of the … limits for the district negotiation.”
He would not discuss details of the settlement, adding that there were some he did not know.
Gurich reiterated statements made earlier in the week that he was left in the dark.
“I know of no parameters or I can’t give you any details of the settlement, because I know of none,” Gurich said.
Following the debate Gurich said that, if he was absent from that particular closed session, he still should have been informed of what was discussed.
Gurich defended his attendance record, which bears the most absences of any trustee – eight – and shows that he has left meetings early or arrived late. The trustee said he was with his son, possibly attending out-of-state events.
“I can tell you that there’s probably not too much that’s gonna come in front of him, or my family,” Gurich said. “‘Often late?’ I think I left early one time, one meeting, an hour before (adjournment.)”
He left for a family emergency, he said, and the fact that he works in San Jose does not impact his attendance.
Heisey said attendance records should be an issue, but suggested holding one meeting per month instead of two.
“A lot of what’s being discussed at the school board meeting could be done by e-mail, or by some other way rather than having people sit there and listen to each other talk,” Heisey said.
