A site for Bibb County faculty, students, parents, and concerned citizens who desire to share their thoughts, feelings, and concerns regarding our current state of education in Bibb County in an uncensored, and unedited forum without fear of retaliation or retribution.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Honey Badger

I have repeatedly gone to the meetings about the Macon Miracle seeking answers but it is now clear to me that all any of us are allowed to do at this point is vent our frustrations. I have the same issues with the Miracle as many others but I want to implore the Board and Dr. Dallemand to answer for the runaway spending for which nobody appears to be accountable.

In a video that Mr. Dallemand commissioned, Macon was described as the fourteenth brokest city in the country. It is high time he started acting like it.

Members of the Board: A superintendent that YOU chose and YOU hired has apparently been given carte blanche to redecorate, travel, spend and entertain to promote a personal agenda. In true "let them eat lava cake" fashion, this administration is traveling and spending as if they are corporate jet setters while teachers are not allowed to attend professional conferences at their own expense due to the cost of substitutes! Parents and teachers (also known as tax payers and voters) are the ones trying to "do more with less" while the district is hemorrhaging money on extravagant travel upgrades, dining and entertaining. Aside from the monetary value of this style of "doing business", can you really afford the cost of morale of the ones who work with the children?

If you want to know what one values, just watch how they spend their money. As taxpayers, we want highly trained, motivated, passionate teachers, enough furniture and books for every child, 21st century technology that will open classroom walls to a world at their fingertips, and most of all, a safe environment where discipline is enforced.

However, what we are getting for our tax money is exorbitant spending at the highest level of leadership, flat screen monitors and working computers, ipads, iphones and the latest, greatest technology gadgetry for employees of 484 Mulberry and the Welcome Center. Neither of these facilities hosts a single child but you cannot deny that far too much of the limited resources that we have is siphoned away from the children to provide amenities for the infrastructure. Seriously? You need a ridiculously expensive conference table when there are multiple conference rooms already in the board office? Why not just rearrange the furniture you have? This district is full of classrooms with computers with floppy disk drives, broken computers, labs full of twentieth century technology and Windows 93 software. There are classrooms without adequate desks and tables but you cannot find conference rooms like that for the leadership team. Our children are served government food in the lunchroom while the dream team dines on shrimp and steak under the same roof. Our teachers are cutting paper towels in half, reducing  the number of copies allowed, or repairing broken classroom furniture because there is no budget, instructional or otherwise. Their mantra is"we have to do more with less". Do the members of the leadership team conserve resources the same way? I suggest there is evidence that they do not.

There were numerous stacks of receipts submitted when citizens began to demand that Mr. Dallemand account where our money is going. It is unconscionable to travel, spend, redecorate, outfit, and entertain when it comes at a cost to the children; the ultimate reason that any of the leadership team or board members exist. I agree with the theme of the protesters; If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention!

138 comments:

  1. Well said!! Could not have said it any better.You need to send to the editorial section of the paper! I am one of many teachers that feel we have to keep quiet so we will not lose our job. Thank you for your support. There are many teachers out there that truly appreciate all that you all are doing. Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can the Dr get in legal trouble from the way he has handled tax payers money? This is absolutely ridiculous. He should not be able to get away with this! What can be done?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you are still around! Was getting worried you had given up. Keep up the great work. We need more people like you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Please send this comment you made to ALL the board members!

    ReplyDelete
  5. My concern is about the spending we do not know about. I fear he has tampered with federal funds. Can we get that investigated? This tearing our community apart and will soon drive many teachers away.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Keep your eye on the ball...follow the money. If it is not a crime to deplete precious few resources at the expense of the children, it should be.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm in a complete outrage! I can not believe the race issue has come up again! I'm Puerto Rican and if you don't know, my country is filled with people of all colors and hair types. My country was the stop off of the people who could not survive the rest of the trip from Africa and European countries. I could not have a racist bone in my body. We come blonde hair blue eyes to black as tar and kinky hair. Back to what this is all about, THE CHILDREN PEOPLE! We need and want answers! Dallemand's blog has not answered any questions asked in the forums. Now his expenses are exposed. Who and what in the world allowed him to do this!? Why Dallemand do you have to leave the state to find out what other schools are doing? Do you realize how many school districts in GA. Hell there is one 30 miles south of Macon. Go to Houston County and see what they are doing. We as parents are not asking for much. Just answers and to be held accountable for your actions! Stop blaming him or her for what you are doing! BOE commissioners, I would start sending resumes elsewhere because I refuse to re-elect any of you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rochester is also multi-ethnic with professionals at Mayo Clinic and IBM from around the world. Our district has something like 60 native languages spoken by their students. Yet EVERY hint of criticism against Dallemand's actions or policies was immediately labeled racist. Has he hired his buddy in Portland (or Seattle?) to come in and teach all of the teachers and parents how racist they are yet? "Examine your whiteness"...even if your parents are Chinese, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Malaysian, Guatamalan or Native American...say nothing about the horrible European genes in the upper midwest. In Dr. D's world, if your skin is not dark black, YOU are racist. Funny one, huh. "Courageous Conversations" seemed to be extremely one-sided. Don't dare actually participate in the "conversation" unless you agree with the presenter.

      Delete
  8. From the Telegraph's article today about the public "forum" Thursday evening...Thursday’s forum also drew local political leaders like Macon City Councilwoman Elaine Lucas, who is a retired educator. “It is time for us to make a change,” Lucas said. “I support the Macon Miracle, and you are a fool if you don’t, too.”

    Elaine, the only fools are those who will blindly fall for this plan without having read it and have they mysteries found in it answered and vetted. On another subject - please vote for the consolidation of Macon and Bibb County - this may be a really quick way to remove elaine lucas from office.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Somebody (MT - are you reading?) needs to ask what happened at Central today (Friday).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. what happened?????

      Delete
    2. A student threatened to blow up the school; back in class on Monday.

      Delete
    3. wow! In the district I work in, that would be immediate expulsion or transfer to either YDC or the alternative school. We have a zero tolerance policy, which seems to work because these incidents are few and far between. Oh, and we have a black superintendent and he is AWESOME!! He is respected and supported by teachers of all colors, because he consults the teachers before he makes any major changes (and listens to them)! He has improved our graduation rate from 50% to 75% in 3 years, and he rarely ever leaves our district. :) Imagine that.

      Delete
  10. Please check out his newest blog entry.... I may vomit!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dr. Dallemand didn't ask permission before he promoted ALL students regardless of whether they passed their classes or required CRCTs this school year. This is fact, and it resulted in students coming to the 9th grade at a huge disadvantage. How can we expect them to pass Math I or other high school courses when they never passed a grade before?
    Dr. Dallemand didn't ask permission before he removed the system of referring repeat offenders and chronic and dangerous students for hearings. This is fact, and it resulted in these students knowing that they could get away with disrupting the learning environment of others.
    Dr. Dallemand has proposed a "plan of action." He apparently didn't need a "plan of action" to place my children and YOUR children in danger from students who were not served in the manner in which they needed to be. He talks about wrap around services. Why does he suddenly need a "plan?" If he believes that counseling will help the delinquent students, then he should act. He should put together alternative environments where the students who are so far behind that they can't catch up can actually have a chance to graduate one day as well as the students who have no sense of accountability so they can learn skills to control their behavior.
    Dr. Dallemand's "plan" is to "develop" and "research" these things. See below for the actual "plan" proposal. What has he been doing all this time??? We need ACTION NOW!!! We need these students to be helped NOW!!! -not just for the safety of our children but for the future of these troubled students!
    He didn't seem to need permission to spend our money on crabtini's and the like. Maybe he should stop focusing on dividing our community, spending our money on his own luxuries, "developing" ideas, and actually put OUR CHILDREN first!!!!!
    The plan states:
    "Focus on Structure of Schools: Goal 2: Strategy 1: Develop transitional, yet sustainable educational alternatives for students who perform better in a non‐traditional school setting.
    Action Step 1: Research effective alternative school structures (i.e., nationally and internationally) and identify those that maximize student learning.
    Action Step 2: Develop a steering committee to create a plan for a minimum of two alternative schools."
    Once again.... what has he been doing all this time? This should have been part of his resume that the BOE looked at BEFORE he was hired, and then his ACTION after he was hired. Instead, he has succeeded in destroying teacher morale - these are the people who look after our children for 7 1/2 hours (or more) a day! Dr. Dallemand, stop being selfish and practice what you preach - put children FIRST!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am appalled that he has spent one year accomplishing NOTHING! It is now apparent he was hired with no expertise and no track record. His first year has been spent stringing all the entire school district allowing EVERYTHING(except the Welcome Center and Efficacy Training) to fall into disarray, all the while traveling around attempting to educate himself and find some "interesting ideas" that do not come from "inside Macon or Georgia".

      Delete
    2. Don't let the Welcome Center "fool" you. It is a mess, as well... PK registration this month should be fun to watch.

      Delete
  12. Note to all...I just tried to post this on Dr. Dallemand's blog, addressing him under his most recent post. The message popped up that "message will be posted after approval." So much for community input, huh? I guess he only posts positive comments. I don't care to fight this fight any more. I am a teacher and WE NEED ACTION! We don't need to approve a bogus excuse for a "plan" that should have been his proposal before being hired. We need for children to be helped NOW!!!! Sure there are children who live with drug addicts and even worse. Well, HELP THEM NOW!!!! I wonder about his inflated ego when Dr. Dallemand will not even TRY to address the issues that the teachers told him were the problem at his "strategic planning sessions." He needs to stop spending our money and letting kids get away with disruptive, dangerous behavior and do something to make OUR CHILDREN SAFE!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dallemend states on his blog today, March 2nd, that he has not heard one person speak against his plan, and he is ready to move forward. I am outraged that he can say this in public. Has not heard a single one of us speak against his plan. Perhaps we have been too subtle in asking questions. Perhaps he is unable to read between the lines. Perhaps we all need to speak more emphatically and quit trying to be nice about it. He needs to know and we must make sure that he doesn't pass this plan as it is now. How arrogant of him to ignore us, and to state that he is ready to move forward with it now. Unbelievable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can't be subtle...but I hope you are a "stakeholder" instead of a district employee. As a parent, I was point blank...but polite...at a public "meet and greet". When he obviously had no answer for me, one of his friendly school board members stepped in and gave a politically correct answer FOR him and basically took the blame for his lack of ability to "manage".

      Delete
  14. Last night I listened to about half of the comments made at the forum and have even more questions now.
    1. What is a bad school?
    2. What do the schools/children on "the North side" have that the children on the South/East/West do not?
    3. Many of the speakers, including one who was a recent graduation coach, are current long-term employees of the school system, or retired after long tenures, yet they were not able to educate ALL the students. Why not? What prohibited them from being successful?
    4. What is the issue of exclusivity, or selectivity, that one speaker feels prevents all students from succeeding? I believe the special education program probably has the most money spent on it and has the lowest staff to student ratio, and those students probably have the lowest performance scores (I think they graduate, though). Surely she is aware of the black students that have excelled and gone to college from this school system.
    5. The school system does not fail all students. The 44% that do graduate includes white, black and other students. A percentage of all those students go to college, though my impression is that it is not high enough across the board. Why are those students succeeding, but the rest are not? Which schools have the most successes? Why?
    6. An implication exists that the North schools are failing students, yet aren't they the better performing schools? But why is that?
    7. Which schools have the highest percentage of black teachers? What is the performance of those schools?
    8. Why do students who leave poor performing schools not perform any better when they go to the latest school that makes AYP? (there is research about this)
    9. One speaker encouraged everyone to read the supporting research to the plan, but where is a list of that research? My independent quests have not turned up much.
    10. If the financial aspects (costs and sources) of the plan are inadequate, can the plan succeed?
    11. Does Dr. Dallemand have any interest in attracting ALL Bibb County students FROM the private schools? Or vice versa? By the way, many of the private schools offer scholarships and financial aid.
    12. Specifically how can the accusation be made that our local media is racist against blacks and have been critical of the plan? If anything I have observed the opposite.
    13. Many of the speakers actually graduated from Bibb County schools and WENT TO COLLEGE and became successful. Why were they able to accomplish this but many students cannot now? Did all of their classmates do as well as they did? Why not?
    14. How can so many employees of the Bibb County School district hold so much disdain towards white people?
    15. What in the world did that one woman mean by stating this is the civil rights issue of the century? Is it because of the racism that is mounting against white people? This could make history with the American Civil Liberties Union.
    16. What is the red pill? Surely red does not imply communism (as in the Confucius Institute)?

    Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/03/01/1927764/thursday-crowd-more-supportive.html#storylink=cpy

    ReplyDelete
  15. And one more question:
    17. Does Jadun McCarthy, recent Bibb County and Georgia Teacher of the Year, African-American success story (graduated from Northeast High School, went to college, including law school, and came back to Northeast to teach mostly black students among mostly black colleagues), have any words of wisdom? Are all of his students college ready?

    ReplyDelete
  16. I attended the forum Thursday night and was MORTIFIED at what I saw and heard. First of all, how do some of these people ever get hired as teachers? (I believe we need an overhaul of the Human Resources Dept!) There were only a few intelligent speakers (of both races), but there were MANY who professed to be teachers or former teachers who showed nothing but ignorance and a total lack of class (not to mention the thuggish manner and poor grammar). It's no wonder our black kids are failing, if these are the people who are teaching them! I would LOVE to see a breakdown of school performance and race of teachers in each school, though I know what the numbers would show! There is a reason why Howard High School made AYP, and it has NOTHING to do with the "opportunity gap."

    If Dallemand cares so much about the black people, why did he choose to live (rent) in a white neighborhood in north Macon, and why did he choose to send his kids to Howard? Oh, and why is the man throwing our hard-earned tax dollars away on RENT (which I'm sure is VERY high in Barrington Hall), if he intends to see this 10-year plan through?? Why haven't either of his Minnesota assistants bought property in our county? Because they have no intentions of sticking around, people!!!

    This is all about HIM, he cares nothing about how the poor black children in Macon, GA fare. The man spends no time with these children as Superintendents in other counties do. He can't enter a school without fanfare like he is the President of the United States. He can't eat the same lunch that the students have to eat. He doesn't even attend his own son's sporting and musical events. But he is playing the race card (slick move!) and the ignorant, gullible people are buying it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sad to hear that his MN minions didn't buy property. Please don't let them return to MN. Dallemand's "replacement" in Roch is Hispanic...which means Dallemand would still call him a racist. Dr. Munoz (a REAL PhD!) made an unannounced visit to mingle with some kindergarteners on their first day of school and told them he knew how they felt because it was HIS first day of school in Roch, too. Instant connection with the kids, parents, teachers, entire community. There ARE better sups out there. Keep looking.

      Delete
  17. And when I said "few" intelligent speakers, I meant "relatively few."

    As for research, the research strongly supports teaching children multiple languages, but I could find NO research that said it has to be Chinese or that it even matters what language it is! It just has to be a FOREIGN language to have neurological benefits (to increase the amount of gray matter in the brain, specifically). So don't be fooled by that Chinese business - that is some kind of financial and/or political deal, I'm sure (as I'm sure the Glenn Singleton stuff is as well).

    I did find quite a bit of research supporting portfolio schools, I will give him that.

    ReplyDelete
  18. If you go to open.georgia.gov, you can get to Local Boards of Education (I believe that is how it is written) and search by Title (Superintendent) and get info on every superintendent in the state. You can click on Salary or Travel or whatever column to want to sort it high to low, so you can see how each compares to others around GA. I find it interesting that Dallemand's spending on travel is close to the top, and the amount is much lower than what was reported in the Macon Telegraph article ($16,000). Why are they under-reporting travel expenses to the state?

    ReplyDelete
  19. I am thinking the travel expenses are for the last school year (FY 2011), and the website is behind several months.

    But let me propose that the expense reports may only be the tip of the iceberg. I would love to know what the consulting fees are (Efficacy training starting several months back, and let's not forget all of the Appreciative Inquiry folks that staged the Strategic Planning days, all to acquire ideas and feedback that ultimately was tossed out when Dr. Dallemand said the ideas had to come from outside of Georgia).

    This last year has been a waste. I now believe that Dr. Dallemand is ill-prepared to lead our school system down any path. His strategic plan is rehashed from his previous jobs and it took him an entire year to get the thing reprinted. Many of the points are simply space-savers until he figures out what will be done. He has no original ideas, hence the need to go to 18 conferences, and cannot provide backup for any evidence that some of the viable bullet points listed in his "plan" will work.

    On the Compass Points blog, Mr. Judie talks about establishing two alternative "Ombudsmen" schools to receive students returning from YDC. That was what Sharon Patterson had going on, but this administration dismantled it almost entirely, and presently students returning from YDC are going right back into their schools. So when is this going to be reinstated?

    In the meantime, teachers are still trying to teach the Common Core standards amidst rising student discipline problems, rising racial tension, rapidly deteriorating technology, lack of supplies, and no professional development. The registrar offices are being dismantled (equipment is being sent to the Welcome Center), so there is going to be a NIGHTMARE whenever the new school year begins, especially in high schools. Which brings up the point of next year's calendar. When will it be published? We don't even know when the first day of school will be.

    Then we have all the "supporters" (in past times we would have called them brown-nosers) vying for position and hailing Dr. Dallemand as though he were liberating them from a concentration camp. The racial vile is

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Fiscal Year goes from July to July, I believe, so his travel expenses reported on open.georgia.gov would have been for a partial year, right? (he started in feb 2011, correct?) If so, the expenses reported would have been for February 2011 to June 30, 2011, which is only 5 months! And he is toward the top of the list compared to supers who traveled 12 months! Wow.

      I am also wondering about the over 1,000,000 (1 million!) dollars spent on the VIF Program that is listed in the system expenses. (http://www.vifprogram.com) Do we currently have foreign exchange teachers in the system, or has he already paid a million toward the Chinese teachers??

      Delete
    2. We currently have VIF teachers in Bibb County.

      Delete
  20. So what do we do now? The Telegraph has removed all of our comments, due to timely technical difficulties. There is absolutely no ongoing news about this in the Telegraph or on WMAZ. Dallemand stepped in it when he said he hasn't heard one word against the plan...but we all know that isn't true. I am so disgusted and frustrated, and I don't want to just sit back and wait this thing out.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The latest post on Compass Points is outrageous! I listened to some of the forum (couldn't stomach the whole thing) and in between those who were comparing Dallemand to Jesus and saying cancer patients don't ask questions of their doctors (hello, any educated, informed person would question their doctor. At the least get a second opinion, but I digress...). In between the nonsense, there were several speakers who had serious questions, especially concerning the lack of any mention of discipline in the plan. For him to say he "did not hear a single person who was against the Plan" shows that either he is not listening or we are not being specific enough.

    Before this, there were some points I could deal with. Now, I'll go on record to say there is nothing I support about this plan! How dare he speak for everyone like this and make these broad, sweeping statements! I agree with the above poster: where do go from here?

    ReplyDelete
  22. speaking of the Welcome Center, it has been said that their nice new state of the art computers were paid for with TITLE ONE money, a misappropriation of funds. MT please look into this!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Dear Dr. D,
    Thanks for your hard work.
    Love,
    Stratford, Mt.De Sales, Tatnall, and FPD

    ReplyDelete
  24. I am beginning to think that Dr. Dallemand will only be happy when all of the white people are gone in the public schools!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why would he care, he gets our tax dollars without the hassle........We need Charter schools or vouchers in this town.....

      Delete
  25. I agree. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? WHAT CAN WE DO? I have yet to find one teacher that is for this plan. Including all races!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I honestly do not know. I have never been more depressed about being a teacher here in Bibb county.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dr D has achieved exactly what he set out to do --- all of us teachers are tired --- tired of teaching with few supplies ; tired of teaching (or at least trying to teach) students who only want to cause trouble; tired of all the negativity surrounding our profession -- everyone knows he has made "promises" already - with all of these vendors - that we will use their programs in our GRAND plan - we will hire certain consultants to push all of this stuff on the staff - on and on and on .......... It is so very sad --- he is just waiting for all of this to blow over so he can get on with more spending on his "friends "

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PLEASE hang in there until he's gone. Teachers are the best hope American kids have...even if they don't get the recognition they deserve. He WILL be gone...just look at his history. He's a scam man from the beginning and gullible districts (Roch included) get stuck with him. He is in over his head, he takes the buyout after a couple years of destruction and chaos, moves on, repeat. He'll be gone and you as a a teacher can continue trying to figure out what's best for your students without a psycho running the show.

      Delete
  28. Anybody know if and when there will be a forum in the Howard/Springdale district???

    ReplyDelete
  29. I am now totally against this entire plan, I have absolutely zero confidence in dallemand, and I too am asking, "What do we do now?" I was at the forum at Southwestern, as well as Central, and marched, holding my sign, along with the others, only to hear the one, of two voices of reason on the BOE, state that he didn't know anymore than we did. Someone has said there is to be a Q&A with dallemand and the board this Wed, but I haven't seen anything else about it, so don't know where or what time. And it really doesn't matter to me...I am through with waiting for answers. I am not expecting answers from this man, as I honestly don't believe there is anything he can say, at this point, to change my mind. He needs to be removed.

    ReplyDelete
  30. How do we get him removed?

    ReplyDelete
  31. I don'tknow, but there is planning in the works. I should know more later today. We are not giving up, and we are not going to back down. This is far from over.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am a teacher in Bibb County, and I come to this blog for hope that people will make something happen to get rid of the garbage and let us get back to teaching. I am going to be in this county again next year--in spite of this drama, certainly not because of it. Not many professions go home with a person the way teaching does. Please, keep working. I am afraid of what next year will look like with a bunch of colleagues leaving because they can't take it anymore. Who will be available to work here? Incompetents? Lazies? (Yes, I made up the word.) All newbies? If Dallemand doesn't scare you parents, then just imagine the people who will be hired to replace those teachers who refuse to take it anymore! That ought to scare you!

      Delete
    2. Unfortunately, I have to go. I am a teacher and I can't do this here.

      Delete
  32. The Bibb County Board of Education will hold a Called Board Meeting on Wednesday, March 7, 2012, at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held in the 4th floor Board Room of the Administrative Offices located at 484 Mulberry Street.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Second comment I posted on Dallemand's Compass Points article/propaganda, Overwhelming Support for The Macon Miracle:

    "Some questions and comments will not become published." Why not? I posted a comment several days ago, right after this article was posted. My comments were on topic and there was nothing uncivil about them, yet it has not been posted. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has made comments that have never appeared.

    I can understand moderating for foul language or berating comments, but not for differing opinions. How does it promote two-way communication to not post comments just because they have a differing opinion? At the bottom of this page, you state "Thanks for sharing your thoughts and perspectives with me." This should include all thoughts and all perspectives.

    March 5, 2012 10:00 PM

    How much you want to bet this one won't be posted either?

    ReplyDelete
  34. It will be very interesting to see how many schools make AYP after hoardes of highly qualified, competent educators (who DO use correct grammar) flock to surrounding counties. Houston and Monroe Counties will reap the benefits of this debacle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TeachGeorgia is a very busy site right now! Bibb's outlying counties will have their pick of teachers. I know that I'm applying.
      -Central HS IB teacher

      Delete
  35. You are correct about teachers flocking. They are headed out in DROVES!

    ReplyDelete
  36. I'm just sick about tonight!!! Please tell me there is something that we can still do!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Parents...vote for next years calendar here and leave your comments.
    Schools.bibb.k12.ga.us/calendar

    ReplyDelete
  38. I went to that form and it says: "Results of the survey will be tabulated, and the option with the most votes will be moved forward for approval to the Board of Education on March 15, 2012.
    Please provide your vote and feedback by the end of the day on Friday, March 9, 2012. Feedback received after that time will not be considered."

    I looked at the calendar options and can't figure out what the heck the school days would be! When is the first day of school? Can't figure this out - am I looking at it wrong?
    When was this form put up, and how are we supposed to choose an option when both are so vague? Tomorrow is the deadline??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who knows. I respoded with a note about the whole process being short and messed up. There is a comment section. I filled it up...not that they will listen.

      Delete
  39. I looked again, and it seems to be a calendar for the teachers and staff - the academic calendar is very similar to the current year. First day of school is marked, Aug 14th, and last day is May 22 on both. Just didn't see it the first time.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I just saw this in the comments section of the MT:
    "The ONLY difference between the two calendars is that one has an extra teacher planning day at the beginning of the year, and the other has it at the end of the year. Once again, giving the appearance of choice when no choice actually exists".

    ReplyDelete
  41. Overflow the comment part on the voting page at schools.bibb.k12.ga.us/calendar

    It probably won't do any good, but you will feel better. Plus they think that one day difference is a choice. Ha.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I am quite confused as to why "the discipline" item had to be part of the plan! That should have been his job from the beginning!!!! This played right into Dr D's "sick thinking". The parents were THRILLED with this addition! He sure looked good on that one.

    What has he been doing in his job since he arrived? Instead of a zero tolerance plan, he backed way off because suspensions (fewer students) take money away from the district. Suspensions went from 900 to 20. Another pat on the shoulder for him!

    HE CREATED THE PROBLEM!!!!!!! He probably will have to fire the Principals, who were only following his direction? He will not take any ownership for lack of discipline regarding the disturbing incidents that have taken place in the last few weeks.

    Tell me what does he do...in addition (1) going to a number of conventions, that in no way that I can find, contribute to the education of students, (2) spend luxurious amounts of money on self and travel companions; while teachers (who are directly responsible for teaching our children) can not enrich their ability to do so because…… there is not enough money.

    His lodging and travel arrangements are wonderful, food choices far above what others would order. He has been busy making sure that he and his direct staff is comfortable with extravagant and unnecessary updating in order to make visitors more comfortable. They have the latest in technology.

    Do you have a Director of Technology who is charge, or is that "his" responsibility.

    Tell me what the students and teachers have in their buildings for technology. Tell me what they have for textbooks, paper, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.

    Is this about the students? He is not truthful in many situations!

    ReplyDelete
  43. The calendar options are both ridiculous and specifically designed to make us want a year-round calendar the following year. There is no fall break (which we didn't have this year) and also no winter break (just President's Day, as opposed to 2 extra days this year), and only 3 days at Thanksgiving.

    He is hoping that everyone will be so burned out (we already are) and then he can say "adopt the year-round calendar and you'll have more frequent breaks". I can see this coming a mile away!

    Also, no planning day in January before students come back. Teachers need that day!!

    The student start and end dates are what is making it this way. This year, the first day of school was August 9th and the last day is May 24th. For next year, it's August 14th to May 22nd. That's a loss of 5 days. There's the 2 extra days for Thanksgiving and 2 extra days in February, and the teacher planning day in January. If they would start school a week before, that would be so much better.

    I'm including this in my response to the survey, not that it will do any good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please read tongue-in-cbeek: The poor simpleton employees of the Bibb County School District wouldn't know what's good for them, so let's keep it simple.

      Delete
  44. When I was contemplating and discussing my move to Macon with colleagues, I was warned about the response I would receive and the challenges I would face. I had heard that relations between African Americans and whites had improved little from the 50's and 60's in Georgia - and after being in Macon for a year, I see that observation is absolutely true. I have sought to develop a plan to move Macon forward. Yes, the idea of a "Miracle" may be far fetched, or even impossible in Macon, but I least I am trying to put forth a solution. I am amazed at how this has turned into a race issue - with unbelievable responses from both sides. May I speak freely and identify specifically one elected official - Elaine Lucas, while I appreciate your support of the Macon Miracle, I will NOT tolerate your calling those who are opposed to the plan FOOLS. I was floored when you publicly made this comment, though I did not express my shock publicly. Elaine, I hope consolidation occurs in Bibb County so that you will be known as a FORMER Macon City Councilperson.

    In conclusion, please understand that I am doing all that I can to ensure the success of the Bibb County Public School System. I know that we are the laughing stock of the entire State of Georgia and that I should have only looked to Macon's neighbor to the south - Houtson County - for all the example of what I would need to get the Bibb BOE on the right track. I am fully aware that the brightest teachers will be flocking to teach either at one of the many private schools in Bibb County or to try to get on with the school systems in Houston or Monroe Counties - and I don't blame you. Under my direction, the Bibb BOE is the Titanic and I am afraid the vessel is full steam ahead for the iceberg.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poor race relations do not exist for ALL black and white people.

      Delete
  45. http://www.macon.com/2012/03/10/1940844/third-howard-high-student-in-5.html
    9 days suspension for possession of a weapon

    ReplyDelete
  46. This story is inaccurate. It was an Airsoft gun in the kid's car (disassembled). Just another MT blunder (or perhaps Gowan blunder)...sorry to see this, my kids love HHS and I am impressed with it as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How is the story inaccurate? An airsoft gun is a high powered pellet gun. The article did not suggest that any students were in danger. It simply reported that the student was suspended for having contraband in his vehicle.

      Delete
  47. The writer above is correct. Many wrong statements in article. We were never in any danger at Howard. Will we see a retraction???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Still no retraction to this article. This incident happened on Thursday, but the memo from Risk Management was sent out on Friday which precipitated the article on Saturday. Notice that the article didn't even mention when this happened.

      According to Infinite Campus, the student did not leave school and was accounted for the entire day. The parent called back to say she was mistaken in reporting that the student returned home during the school day.

      The article accurately stated that the student was suspended for nine days, but failed to mention "pending an evidentiary hearing."

      News reporting at its finest. Good lesson on the importance of checking sources and determining reliability. I don't think I would put the Telegraph on a list of reliable news sources.

      Delete
  48. It is nice that Dr. Dallemand wants to hire mental health therapists, but therapy does not work for students who are socially maladjusted / conduct disordered. This is a value and character issue that cannot be changed by therapy. These students are not emotionally disturbed and typically do not have mental health issues - their behavior is by CHOICE, and they know right from wrong. All the therapy in the world cannot change basic values that are taught (or not taught) in the home and that are ingrained from a young age. I am surprised that Dr. Dallemand does not know this, since his resume states that he has a degree in emotional disabilities. Any mental health services for DELINQUENT behavior should be implemented at the elementary level, or at the latest the middle school level. Otherwise they are wasting taxpayer money.

    ReplyDelete
  49. http://www.annarbor.com/news/glenn-singleton-of-the-pacific-educational-group-says-ann-arbor-schools-on-the-right-track-on-closin/

    Be sure to read the Comments.

    Also:

    http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/142129013.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From the Star Tribune article:

      What comes out the other end of PEG's ideological pipeline? Singleton points to Graig Meyer, a "district equity coach" in Chapel Hill, N.C., as PEG's ideal white educator and "anti-racist leader."

      "The truly difficult work is looking deep within myself to recognize where my own reservoirs of Whiteness reside," he quotes Meyer as saying. "My White guilt tends to creep up most when I'm forced to reflect on the power I wield."

      Meyer goes on to condemn his own "engrained Whiteness and my own blindness to its perpetual presence." He laments "the deepest vestige of my own White supremacy that feeds this need to know it all, to be right, and to be in charge."

      This sounds like brainwashing to me. I shudder to think of this being forced on teachers. It is the single most disturbing aspect of this whole plan to me.

      Delete
    2. I agree. This is not what I want my child, or her teachers to have to participate in and I have a sick feeling that teachers will be "recruited" to lead workshops about this. Those who don't volunteer will be put on a "list" of uncooperative teachers, right??

      Delete
    3. Jane Drennan, then the principal of an elem. school in Rochester, sent the entire staff out the door at the end of a staff meeting with the instruction to "examine your whiteness". This was after Jane ranted about people who disagreed with Dr. D and a teacher dared to question her logic on the rant. The staff in Rochester,MN was not all "white".

      Delete
  50. Is anyone planning on going to the meeting tonight in Lizella? What's up with Joe Allen and Darren Hatch telling everyone to remember they will be in God's House tonight if they attend?

    ReplyDelete
  51. More PEG information.

    http://principals.mpls.k12.mn.us/sites/ee869d27-88e5-478a-97e1-b5e41772b8f7/uploads/Feb_21_Powerpoint.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  52. Someone please tell me how Dallemand determined that there is "systemic racism" among our teachers?? Where is the data? Before you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars addressing a problem, you should know that a problem exists! You must have data to substantiate that problem! How did he determine that this is indeed a problem that needs addressing? Did he observe teachers, survey teachers to determine their attitudes about black students, WHAT?? I have worked in the schools for 27 years (in many different counties in Georgia), and I have never ever known of a teacher who did not expect the same from black students as white students. I want to know HOW it was determined that this is a problem that taxpayers need to pay hundreds of thousands of dollaras to have addressed. My own personal opinion is that this is actually a BUSINESS DEAL between Dallemand and Glenn Singleton, someone with whom he has been associated for several years (according to newspaper articles online dating back to at least 2009). How in the world can our board approve spending all of this money addressing a so-called problem in our district that has never even been established? Or if it has, please show us the data Dr. D!

    ReplyDelete
  53. I cannot post on macon.com or 13wmaz.com or the so-called Compass Points (for fear of retaliation), so please feel free to cut and paste this question! I really would love to know the answer.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Speaking of data, I have been running some figures from the State Dept.'s website re: Bibb County Schools' 2010-2011 Report Card...I am finding a DIRECT CORRELATION between the performance of the high schools and the percentage of black teachers they have! Our two worst-performing schools, Southwest and Northeast, have an OVERWHELMING percentage of black teachers (and black students). Our best-performing schools, Howard/Rutland/Westside, have the LOWEST percentage of black teachers yet still a large percentage of black students (Westside 83%,Howard 53%, Rutland 46%). And they want to make this a "white teacher" issue that requires throwing away hundreds of thousands of dollars to Glenn Singleton to gain better understanding of the black students??

    Interesting that Howard only has 9 black teachers but is the only school that made AYP AND the only school not on the "worst-performing schools in the state" list! Obviously their white teachers "understand" their black students. :)

    I think that only the black teachers need to be required to attend those PEG sessions, because they are the ones who are producing the worst results!! I'm sorry, but data does not lie. Why is our central office not studying the data and addressing the REAL problem in this district? This all makes me sick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Excellent analysis!

      Delete
    2. Please analyze the elementary schools the same way.

      Delete
    3. In process...but there are a lot of elementary schools so stay tuned. I am also trying to get my taxes done. ha

      Delete
  55. StrangerOz, please email me at janetdoe44@yahoo.com so I can know how to contact you directly. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  56. This was sent to faculty at a Bibb elementary school:


    Daily Information
    • During the past couple of weeks, there have been a lot more students being placed in ISS or OSS. As a result, they are missing valuable instruction, which is critical now more than ever since we are only days away from the CRCT and are entering into the final nine weeks. In addition to the district reviewing ISS and OSS data, we were recently informed that the DOE may also start using the total number of ISS assignments as an indicator on the school’s report card in the future (in addition to OSS, which is already used). Therefore, it is critical that we implement strategies that are “proactive” instead of “reactive.” For example, many of the disciplinary referrals have been for physical aggression, fighting, or bullying, and the incidents are occurring while standing in the breakfast/lunch line or in the restrooms. This means that students need to be supervised more closely in these areas to prevent possible incidences from occurring. At this point, NO students should be going to the restroom UNSUPERVISED. Each teacher needs to escort the entire class to the restroom during scheduled restroom breaks and ensure that no more than 2 boys and 2 girls go in at one time. Also, please ensure that your Classroom Mgt Plan is being CONSISTENTLY implemented as CONSISTENCY will be the key to ensuring that these final 2 months will be a success! Thanks to everyone for all of your hard work and dedication to our students. You are truly appreciated!!!


    in other words.........its all the teachers fault and you better not have students sent to ISS or OSS because that will reflect poorly on your classroom management skills

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sorry - meant to say Thanks for this analysis, and Agreed with post below!

      Delete
  57. WOW. And HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW ARTICLE ON MACON.COM????? VIOLENCE IN THE SCHOOLS IS RAMPANT AND GETTING WORSE AND WORSE!

    PLEASE DOE HELP US!! WHAT CAN WE DO SO OUR CHILDREN CAN GO TO SCHOOL WITHOUT WORRYING WHETHER OR NOT THEY WILL LIVE THROUGH THE DAY??

    WHO CAN WE CONTACT IN ATLANTA ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON? I HAVE HAD IT!!! THIS IS NOT ABOUT CRABTINIS ANYMORE, THIS IS ABOUT THE POTENTIAL DEATHS OF OUR INNOCENT CHILDREN.

    ReplyDelete
  58. The 6th grader in the fight at Howard Middle is 16, yes SIXTEEN YEARS OLD!!

    ReplyDelete
  59. Replies
    1. yes, that's what I've been told by teachers at Howard MS. Also, the same boy was caught having sex in the bathroom earlier in the year...and sent back to class. He was "high fived" by students throughout school!

      Delete
  60. FYI, the McGladrey accounting firm is from Rochester, MN and a member of the "2020 Workforce Coalition" - of which Dallemand's school system was also a member! See pp. 9 and 12 of this document:

    http://www.rochestermnchamber.com/advantage/pdf/AdvantageFebruary09.pdf

    And they said we need "centralized purchasing," which is straight out of the strategic plan.
    How can a superintendent get away with the things he is getting away with??

    ReplyDelete
  61. Is it true that hiring of teachers is being centralized? Does anyone have any clue when contracts may go out?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, most districts across the country already do this. Centralized hiring ensures that you strategically place your talent where it is needed most. Besides. You don't get to pick and choose who you will teach. The principals will have to deal with who they are sent.

      Delete
    2. Dear BOE employee (ie:plant or mole),
      YOU are incorrect. MOST districts do NOT do this. And yes, we do get to pick and choose where we teach just like YOU got to pick and choose to come to Bibb. The surrounding counties and private schools DO let us pick and choose. I for one, am picking anc choosing.

      Delete
  62. If this happens, we are going to lose some great principals, and scores are going to go DOWN not up. SAD.

    ReplyDelete
  63. As a Bibb teacher, I want to keep an open mind about the efficacy training. I do not want to make up my mind about it before I experience it. I have found several on line articles against Glenn Singleton and PEG. I have found very few in favor of him. I want to try and have a balanced amount of reading about this. So, #1. Can anybody provide some pro PEG article links? #2. I want to say that I will never feel embarassed or ashamed about being white, just as I would never expect my African-American, Asian, Latino or any other racial/ethnic group to feel that way about themselves. As an educator, I am in the business of building up students, not tearing them down.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Statistics do not lie and cannot be manipulated at the state level by Dr. D.

    The data on the 2011 HS graduation test (ELA) shows that the BLACK students in high schools that have a very high # of black teachers (e.g., Northeast - 37 of 54 are black, 69%; Southwest - 49 of 67 are black, 73%) perform MUCH WORSE than schools that have a very low # of black teachers (e.g., Howard, 9 of 77, 12%; and Rutland, 17 of 72, 24%).

    Let's look at 3rd grade CRCT Reading scores...Rosa Taylor (2 of 39 tchrs black, less than 1%) - 11% of BLACK children failed; Springdale (5 of 41 tchrs black, 12%) - ZERO% of BLACK children failed! King-Danforth (19/26 teachers are black, 73%) - 37% black children failed; Burghard (20/31 teachers are black, 65%) - 25% black children failed.

    What does this mean?

    THAT THE BLACK STUDENTS IN SCHOOLS WITH THE GREATEST # OF WHITE TEACHERS PERFORM MUCH BETTER THAN THE BLACK STUDENTS IN SCHOOLS WITH THE GREATEST # OF BLACK TEACHERS!!

    And the BOE is going to spend upwards of a million dollars on PEG to fix what exactly?? Why address a problem that does not exist? Where is Dallemand's data that systemic racism is a problem? If anything, the black teachers are spending too much time talking about it and not enough time teaching!!

    Let's focus on #1: hiring great principals, regardless of color; and #2: hiring great teachers, regardless of color. I agree that we need a lot of black teachers, but the ones we have apparently are not getting it done. This is not a racist statement, it is a FACT backed up by DATA. You can see for yourself at:

    http://archives.gadoe.org/Repo...

    Click on "Report Card" for each school to see all test results, demographics, etc. for the past 3 years. Please someone show me where the data indicates that our white teachers are racist and cannot teach black children!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here's that link:

      http://archives.gadoe.org/ReportingFW.aspx?PageReq=111&PID=62&PTID=69&CountyId=611&T=0&FY=2011

      Delete
    2. Oops, guess that link doesn't work. Do this...go to:

      http://www.gadoe.org/Pages/Home.aspx

      click on School Reports / District
      click on Bibb
      click on Schools tab at top
      click on school name
      click on Report Card on left

      Delete
  65. What 2 entries above tells me is that many of our traditionally black colleges ate failing at educating their teachers they are producing.

    ReplyDelete
  66. I've never seen the Bibb County Teacher Recuitment Fair as DEAD as it was yesterday...sad!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The other counties were not dead. I am a Bibb teacher and was there talking to the other counties as were a lot of people I teach with. We were ALL avoiding the hall Bibb County was on.

      Delete
  67. FYI answering a question from this weekend. A bill was passed 2 years ago by Perdue to extend teacher deadline contracts from April 15th to May 15th, due to changes in the budget. So teachers you may not know until May 15th that you will be non renewed.

    http://rn-t.com/view/full_story/6741675/article-New-Ga--law-extends-teacher-contract-deadline-

    http://rn-t.com/view/full_story/6741675/article-New-Ga--law-extends-teacher-contract-deadline-

    ReplyDelete
  68. Wanted:

    Individuals opposed to the Macon Miracle. If you are a "Nobamist"or consider Bretibart.com as your main news source, or find yourself yelling at people who have a different opinion "Liberal!", then please don't respond.

    I'm beginning to wonder where I fit in with everyone who is opposed to this...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am a big liberal. And I am opposed to a great deal of the plan. This is not about black/ white nor dem/rep nor liberal/conservative. This is about a man with no moral compass; who had the chance to unite, but chose to divide; who has fattened his pockets while asking me to trim mine. This is about the future of our community, which while it was already in peril, is still important enough to put a stop to this nonsense. Will we succeed? Who knows. But we cannot afford to sit back and do nothing. Otherwise, we deserve what we get.

      Delete
    2. I am also quite liberal; however, that does not mean I could support this plan. I heard yesterday that teachers at one of our middle schools could not get subs for the remainder of the year. There is no money available to provide buses for field trips. How can we afford a six figure consultant?

      Delete
  69. David Lucas (interviewing dolly on radio)just said, the kids needed to learn Mandarin Chinese because YKK and the cherry trees are from Japan.......really!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yet this man keeps getting re-elected!!!

      Delete
    2. ...and that's why we need to vote yes on consolidation!

      Delete
  70. One thing Dallemand said on the Lucas interview that was positive in my mind is an alternative school for pregnant girls, that was the first time I'd heard that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There was a school like that in Bibb County a few years ago before the economy made schools so broke that they resorted to furloughs. Babies came to the school for daycare while teen moms took self-paced classes and got high school credits. I think we'd do better to prioritize removing the thugs than the pregnant girls. Maybe we'd also reduce the pregnancy rate that way, too?! Pregnant girls aren't usually going to endanger anyone's safety.

      Delete
    2. Pregnant girls send the wrong message and are distracting in a school setting. I agree they usually don't endanger others, however a few years a go at Southeast/(west? not sure which one is still open). Two pregnant girls got into a fight over the "baby daddy"(same daddy of both babies)in class, while he sat back and enjoyed the show. He thought it was funny!
      This is not a situation that is conducive to learning.

      Delete
  71. In case you missed it, this morning on the Kenny B and Charlie E show a caller asked what would be done about the sagging pants problem in the schools. After some chuckling their reply was that it was a city council issue and some members on our city council don't want to touch it because they don't want to offend anyone, and besides, they said, it's already in the dress code.

    After some more discussion about this, Charlie says that it's ultimately because principals aren't doing their jobs.

    That man will say and do anything for Dallemand. Amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  72. I get SO tired of him blaming the teachers and principals and making blanket statements that are totally unfounded. How much time does he spend in the schools?? And to think that listeners take what he says as fact just eats me up.

    ReplyDelete
  73. On a brighter note, did anyone see the Letters to the Editor in the MT today??? Yay!!

    ReplyDelete
  74. Look at this - deja vu! Same speech in 2009.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnwx7Ulz6WA

    starts at approx. 1:10

    ReplyDelete
  75. I still want to know how it is "right" that McGladrey & Pullen are doing the audits, given that they have been affiliated with Dallemand and (especially) Griffin-Ziebart in the past? I found evidence that they were affiliated with Griffin-Ziebart in several community endeavors in Rochester (First Step, Diversity Council, Rochester Area Foundation). All you have to do is Google their names together and you will find the same. Of course this company is going to "find" what Dallemand wants them to "find," and ignore what he wants them to ignore. Why are we not using an impartial accounting firm from Macon or Atlanta? Did we pay for the airfare and hotel bills for the Minnesota firm? Of course we did! And I bet Dallemand wined and dined them at Marco too.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Why is no one talking on this site anymore? I heard recently that Dallemand has given orders that no employees are to blog anymore, is this true???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rochester employees were also "discouraged" from writing letters to the editor, appearing at rallies, or voicing any contrary opinion of "the administration". Rochester just settled it's final law suit sparked by Dallemand (it involved a desk, too!). Our district is well into repair mode by our new super who actually LEADS instead of issuing proclamations. Good luck to you. You will be money ahead buying him out of his contract and let him move on to destroy another district for a couple years till THEY buy him out. I think he'd be very effective helping out school districts in Haiti. :)

      Delete
  77. What is happening with the mirage? What work is taking place to move him on? Can someone update us? MANY teachers are interested! They are looking to surrounding counties, but unfortunately not all will be able to be absorbed. Does anyone know what is happening with Bibb teachers, principals, contracts, etc? Help us!

    ReplyDelete
  78. How many of ya'll are there? Are teachers at the point that they are ready to come forward yet? If the contracts have not come out yet, its best for ya'll to voice your concerns now, because if you don't get renewed your complaints will fall on deaf ears as the BOE will claim retaliation. I really wish that the teachers would stand up but I know jobs are hard to come by.

    ReplyDelete
  79. There are a lot of us out there, but teachers have families to feed and Ga is a "right to work" state. If we standup, we will not have jobs; that has been made clear! Those of us who can are leaving for the surrounding counties - and you can bet that many of your better Bibb teachers will be hired. While there will still be good teachers in Bibb, the numbers will diminish significantly. I, personally, know of 5 teachers (ones you want teaching your own children!) who have been hired in the surrounding counties; I'm sure there are many more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mass is the only way to go, there has to be enough teachers to come forward to remove firing as a tactic, actually the truth is, it is idle threat. 1) Once you go public about him, you are protected from retribution because of fear of lawsuits 2) Dallemand has proven time and time and time and time and time again (yes I typed in for all 5 of the times he placed people on admin leave including the 2 the papers don't know about) his bullying DOES not pass muster when attorneys get involved, if the teachers could have faith, I know an attorney who would represent a collective body. But alas I really do understand the plight and fear so I don't blame ya'll. I feel VERY sorry for ya'll, but as far as backing up his threats he has been VERY VERY unsuccessful, sometimes faith is a faulty step but worth it! I do know that during spring break while my child was testing at a private school one of the Bibb County teachers I know came in for an interview...hope all who seek employment get fed up and UNITE......

      Delete
  80. Too late for me. I have just signed a contract with another county. The problem is that there is nothing specific that teachers can call him on; he doesn't speak to us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am glad you got out, has Bibb sent out their contracts yet? But there is precedent for implied and perceived directives he is truly foolish if he thinks he is protected ONLY because nothing is in writing. Our own military has struggled with injustices and consequences of IMPLIED ORDERS. Mainly because he has not taken an action to remedy the perception is confirmation enough. If the potential for momentum is there I may have to contact the owner of this site to renew the efforts but frankly I was SO HUMILIATED by the lack of response the first time around. What message are the kids getting about bullying when the supreme leader is the biggest one of all?????????

      Delete
    2. No contracts yet. Our "zone" person said they "were working on that" and that ALL hiring would be via the central office. Several of us pointed out that we would lose/are losing teachers because the surrounding counties were taking teachers easily. Essentially, the other counties/private schools have their choice of many of Bibb's (former to be) top teachers! Very sad, but I simply can NOT sit through the Singleton saga. Nor can I continue to work with students who can and do (really!) cuss at teachers with no recourse.

      Delete
  81. http://www.2012waic.com/participants/

    THIS WEBSITE ABOVE WILL GIVE YOU THE ABILITY TO LEAVE A COMMENT ABOUT ROAMIN $MON ON THE WAIC WEBSITE - FILL IT UP WITH COMMENTS AND LOOK ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE FOR THE TWEETS THAT HAVE COME IN. ADD YOUR TWEET TOO!! PASS ALONG THE ABOVE WEBSITE TOO!!

    ReplyDelete
  82. One more point: it seems that the new central office staff is very light (no pun intended) on gray matter. They use big words (often pronounced incorrectly and with the wrong word choice for the meaning) but they have nothing of substance to add. In addition, they simply do not know of the current processes in GA (Class Keys, etc).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you think teachers are at the point to be UNITED? What will it take?

      Delete
  83. Has anyone else heard that Dolly has put in an application in a New York school system? I pray that it is true and that they are dumb enough to hire him!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! So glad they are just renting. ;))))))

      Delete
  84. Dallemand is not interested in what teachers think. The only thing that is going to make any difference is for the parents and community to unite and voice their opposition to this non-plan. It is only because of the community that year-round school calendar was put off for a year.

    At this point, what I am hoping is that by the time most of the points of this plan are to be implemented, he will be gone.

    ReplyDelete
  85. From the WAIC 2012 website, the description for Dallemand's workshop presentation, "The Macon Miracle: Connecting Strengths, Reinventing Education, Helping Children Flourish" ...
    "A small city in rural southern Georgia, USA has pulled off the largest face-to-face Appreciative Inquiry summit in the world. This community, faced with a 44.6% graduation rate and a devastating drop-out rate, decided to come together, identify their strengths, and design an education system that will graduate 100% of its students by the year 2020. More than 4,300 people attended the Bibb County School District’s (i.e., BCSD) Appreciative Inquiry Summits to participate in the development of a comprehensive Strategic Plan designed to ensure each student “demonstrates strength of character and is college ready.”Workshop participants will learn how this large-scale summit was organized, what emerged from the two days, and where BCSD is headed next. In addition, they will engage in conversations around AI and strength-based schools, positive school culture and innovative practices in teaching and learning from around the world. Please join us to discuss positive, innovations in teaching and learning."

    ReplyDelete
  86. Someone needs to look into the money that Howard High collected for the baseball team. Businesses donated 350.00 each for signs, shirts, etc. that never materialized. At least 30 were sold. Now that all monies are sent to central office this is very suspicious!

    ReplyDelete
  87. will forward appropriately, is there a booster club or did this go through the school accounting funds?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No one knows, but many are wondering!

      Delete
  88. Has Ms. Allen-Carter been fired? Does anyone know what happened?

    ReplyDelete
  89. I heard several department chairs and academic coaches are leaving; no one leaves those jobs so it must be bad! Anyone know how many teachers, etc. are leaving?

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to voice your opinions here.