Attrition Update - May 13th board meeting

There has been a suggestion that since the end of April attrition numbers had decreased, that the exodus from Gilbert Public Schools was slowing.  Unfortunately, the reason for the low numbers was vacation and a short work week.  The mid-May numbers continue to show an alarming trend.  Attrition to date in 2014 is up 176% over 2012!!

It's not the public comment, it's the board!

Dr. Rice was interviewed and quoted several times yesterday regarding the new public comment policy.  He made two points to which I would like to respond:


"Meetings would drag on for hours and this keeps them on track"

• Yes, meetings certainly drag on for hours
• No, the public comment is not responsible
• The January 28th meeting was 4hrs in duration and had 51min of public comment
• The February 11th meetings was 4hrs25min in duration and had 59min of public comment
• The Dec 10th meeting was 5hrs46min and had 33min of public comment
• Public comment was 16% of these 3 meetings
• There have been 2 meetings since the new policy was put in place
• The April 8th meeting was 2hrs50min in duration and had 30min of public comment
• The April 22nd meeting was 3hrs51min in duration and had 25min of public comment
• Public comment was 16% of these 2 meetings

• What does make meetings drag on for hours?
• Breaks that take too long
• Board member discussion - especially on non-education topics

"Several of our teachers went to a conference.  When they were introduced as being from Gilbert, other teachers snickered and giggled.  Other teachers told them that our board meetings are really entertaining."

• Dr. Rice is absolutely right and we should be embarrassed.  However, it is not the public comment that others are laughing at.  It is the behavior of majority board members acting in ways that are detrimental to public education.

Please don't penalize the citizens of Gilbert for the behavior of a few board members - we are suffering enough already!

Burk, Colvin and Smith vote to spend $361/hr on Lawyer

At the March 26th Board meeting, the GPS board voted 3-2 to hire a lawyer at $361/hr instead of using a lawyer that has already been paid for through the Trust.

Watch the details below:

Attrition comparison - Gilbert vs Mesa

There was quite a bit of discussion at the last board meeting about attrition.

Below is a comparison of Mesa vs Gilbert Public Schools attrition.  Mesa has about twice the number of employees as Gilbert.

Additional data that says our GPS 2014 attrition data is abnormal and needs to be addressed.

Attrition Update - March 26 Board Meeting

Below are the update attrition numbers as well as my comments to the school board at the March 26th meeting.

Good evening, Board members, Dr. Rice, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening.  My name is Blake Sacha.

I am here again tonight to talk about attrition.  Unfortunately, no additional attrition information has been provided by the district since the last board meeting.  Therefore, I must again provide you with data which I have been able to gather.  In 2012, 211 certified employees resigned or retired.  In 2013, 264 certified resigned or retired.  This is an increase of 25%.  In the first three months of 2012 51 certified employees resigned or retired, in 2013 this number was 47 and in the first three months of 2014 91 certified employees have resigned or retired.  This is an increase of 94%.

I hope you will all agree that an increase in attrition of 94% is a significant problem with a multi-year impact on the education of our children.

I would ask you to take the following actions

1. Request an open letter from Dr. Kishimoto to all employees talking positively about the future – done by Dr. K
2. Discuss attrition at the next board meeting - review the complete data and have a constructive and open discussion
3. Remove all items from the board agenda other than budget approval and development of a hiring/retention plan until these items are complete
4. Request a review of a hiring plan at the next board meeting - provide teachers and the community with a Principal hiring time line – started by Dr. Rice
5. Conduct exit interviews to understand why teachers are leaving
6. Pull in the date to offer contracts to teachers – started by Dr. Rice

2^nd, I would like to address the police investigation as it relates to attrition.  Ms. Burk indicated at the last meeting that the information which she and Mr. Colvin released to the police was the result of public records requests which she submitted.  If so, that information was publically available information and therefore should be immediately released to fellow board members and the public.

Instead this information has been used to link attrition to this police investigation.  Sources released information to blog sites implying that the attrition is due to fears regarding the police investigation.  I can only speculate regarding these sources but Mr. Colvin and Ms. Burk appear to be the only ones with access to this information.

The result of these rumors, innuendo and potential libel are that the 94 people who have resigned or retired in 2014 have been cast under suspicion.

Who does this include:

• Wendy Peterson, who didn’t work in the district in 2011
• Jane Hecker, who was lauded by members of this board three weeks ago

This needs to stop and it needs to stop tonight with the release of all information that was or is public record.  I have submitted a public records request for information currently in the possession of Ms. Burk or Mr. Colvin pertaining to this investigation which is or was public record.

Will you agree to take these 6 actions regarding attrition?

Will you release these documents this evening?

Will you do what is best for students and teachers?

Our teachers are our schools - Please take action

Below is the email that I sent to our school board, town council, Superintendents and local media.  Please share if you support.

I found out after school today that 6 more teachers have resigned from Campo Verde High School either effective immediately or at the end of the year.

 

Currently available attrition data:

	2012	2013	2014	% inc
Certified Employees	211	264		25%
Certified Employees - 1st 3 months of the year	51	47	55*	15%

           * - through 2.5 months number is 45, I personally am aware of 10 teachers leaving, actual number is probably higher

 

Despite our differences, I believe we can all agree that this kind of attrition is bad for our students, bad for our teachers and bad for our community.

 

I would recommend the following actions:

1. An open letter from Dr. K to all employees talking positively about the future (everyone that I know who has met her has been impressed)
2. Discuss attrition at the March 25th board meeting - review the complete data and have a constructive and open discussion
3. Remove all items from the board agenda other than budget approval and development of a hiring/retention plan until these items are complete
4. Request a review of a hiring plan at the March 25th board meeting - provide teachers and the community with a Principal hiring time line
5. Conduct exit interviews to understand why teachers are leaving
6. Pull in the date to offer contracts to teachers

• Many other districts are offering contracts earlier.  Teachers that don't want to leave are doing so because they are concerned about not having a contract.  I know that we have significant budget concerns.  However, given the number of teachers leaving, I think it would be unlikely that this would cause the budget to over run.  I wouldn't favor it, but you could do this by subject area if necessary; offering contracts earlier to teachers in more difficult to fill areas.

 

I would ask you to seriously consider these suggestions.  We have a significant problem and it needs to be addressed quickly.  It will take many years to replace the lost experience, and we need to start now.

March 11, 2014 GPS School Board Meeting

I filmed tonight's special board meeting since there was no livestream.

A few questions to consider as you watch the video:
- Dr. Keegan's letter stated that the School District had not been contacted by the police.  What type of investigation can have been initiated without the police contacting the District?
- Why such a hurry to do this tonight in an emergency meeting with 1 board member unable to attend?
- Is it appropriate for individual board members to release information to the police and not share it with fellow board members?
- Claims have been made by others that this investigation is somehow responsible for the 25% increase in certified employee attrition.  Do you believe this?
- Will the Arizona Attorney General's office investigate complaints of Open Meeting Law and Conflict of interest violations in regards to the release of this information to the police prior to board action?