Peoria United Parent Council Newsletter

Peoria United Parent Council
Standing for Kids
e-bulletin: December 6, 2005

Hello! In this e-bulletin, please find an update and highlights of Peoria United Parent Council’s (PUPC) efforts to change Peoria Unified School District’s (PUSD) lunchtime policy, a.k.a. open vs closed campus issue and communications regarding this matter with district officials. In addition, you’ll find information about how you can direct your tax dollars to help students and teachers in PUSD. And, you’ll find a quick Challenger Center update as well as information about PUPC’s 2006 Used Book Drive. At the end of this bulletin there is a list of Board members’ contact information, which we will routinely include for your ease in communicating with these elected representatives.

I. PUSD’s Lunchtime Policy, a.k.a. Open vs Closed Campus Issue

Community members can sign a petition that asks PUSD to close all HS Campuses at lunchtime, in front of the Bashas’ store, located at 75th Ave. and T-bird on Sunday, December 11th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. PUSD policy currently allows all junior and senior students to leave campus for the approximate 38 minute lunch period.

Anyone who currently has a petition should contact committee chairperson, Kathy Entringer, at 623-878-4717 ASAP. If you would like to help circulate petitions, please contact Kathy as well.

*See brief history of this issue and a recent news article after the numeral VI, toward the end of this bulletin.

II. Tax Credit Dollars Help Peoria Schools

Please consider directing a portion of your tax dollars to Peoria Schools. The AZ tax law allows taxpayers a TAX CREDIT for those that contribute to extra curricular activities at public schools. This year, as per Jim Cummings, tax dollars can be directed to Grad Night Celebrations---safe parties for seniors. You can access more information about the tax credit program by visiting the district’s website at www.peoriaud.k12.az.us or pick up a form at your neighborhood school. Mail (postmark by December 31st) or hand deliver your form to the Peoria Unified School District Administration Center, 6330 W. Thunderbird Road, Glendale, Ariz. 85306. Maximum-$300 per family. For more information, please call 623-412-5250.

III. Challenger Update

As you may recall, after a tremendous effort and many, many hours of time dedicated by members of the Peoria United Parent Council, the PUSD Governing Board finally removed funding from the budget that was being diverted to the Challenger Space Center, a private organization and not a part of the public school system. At this point, the district is having discussion about selling land to the Challenger Space Center. Dr. Erb has agreed to notify our organization when information regarding sale of the land becomes available. PUPC has unofficially asked for public records regarding the land transaction and repayment of the current debt to the district from the Space Center, which is approximately $800,000.00. Dr. Erb has communicated that there is no new information to share at this time.

IV. Used Book Drive

We will begin collecting used books from the community during our January meeting. It is our understanding that the district will once again assist us with collection efforts and they are looking for a space somewhere in the district to store the books as our collection grows. The used books will be given to children in the district that may not have books at home to call their own. Last year, PUPC collected more than 3000 books and distributed them with the help of students from the Cactus High School Hockey Club to students at Peoria Elementary School and Sun Valley Elementary School.

V. Your School Board and PUSD Superintendent

Pati Coury, pcoury79@cox.net Diane Douglas, dmdouglas@cox.net Pat Galbraith, patlgalbraith@aol.com Debra Raeder, debraeder@aol.com Pam Ferguson, pamferguson@cox.net

PUSD Superintendent: Jack Erb, jherb@peoriaud.k12.az.us

VI. RE: Open vs Closed Campuses. Article published in the North West Valley News

The leadership of the PUPC does not understand why Board members would make the statements made in the article below. The issue of closing campuses for all HS students has been discussed with district officials, by both Parent Council representatives and by individual parents repeatedly and for a long, long time.

Only HIGHLIGHTS: This issue was brought to the attention of Dr. Erb during a meeting with a parent in February of 2004. PUPC discussed forming a committee to pursue this issue during their December 14, 2004 meeting. On December 15, 2004 an e-bulletin announcing the formation of this new committee was sent to everyone on the database. The district’s Superintendent and the President of the PUSD Governing Board, Debra Raeder, as well as other Board members, regularly receive all announcements, meeting summaries and e-bulletins from our organizations, including this one.

In January of 2005, our PUPC Secretary met with the Deputy Superintendent and corresponded with an assistant Superintendent regarding this issue. Also in January, Debra Raeder and Pati Coury attended a PUPC meeting where Debra Raeder was one of our guest speakers and another speaker, Dr. Jennifer Johnson, addressed the topic of open vs closed campus. The following was copied from an e-bulletin that followed the January meeting. Again, the PUSD Governing Board President and Superintendent receive our bulletins.

Dr. Johnson offered background into how the closures came about and her experiences as principal on a campus when it was closed. She said parents at Thunderbird High School, along with administrators sought a solution after nine Thunderbird High students were killed in traffic accidents (not all were at lunchtime, however). In addition to safety concerns, administrators in the GUHSD looked at absentee rates and discipline referrals following lunch on an open campus. Following the study, the school closed lunch to any vehicular traffic, only allowing students to walk off campus for lunch. After three students nearly died of drug overdoses at a fast-food restaurant, the school closed completely at lunch, requiring all students to remain on campus during lunch. Dr. Johnson said, while she wasn't the most popular principal among students for making the change, she and her district recognized that adults are charged with making the best decisions for the safety of students, who don't always make the best decisions for themselves.

Between January and May of 2005, Jan Wilson and Kim Olsen had multiple conversations/communications with district administrators regarding closing all HS campuses. In fact, Kim Olsen, Co-Vice President of PUPC, had two face-to-face meetings with Dr. Erb regarding this issue as well as many others. During this time frame, district administrators agreed to meet with PUPC representatives specifically about this issue after PUPC’s May meeting, the agreed upon meeting never occurred.

In May of 2005 PUPC held another meeting where the open/closed campus issue was the main topic of discussion. In addition to Governing Board members, all PUSD HS Principals also received a special invitation to this meeting. Governing Board members Diane Douglas and Pati Coury attended, a PUSD Assistant Superintendent was one of our guest speakers, and Jim Cummings, PUSD’s Director of Public Relations took notes as he regularly does during all PUPC meetings. Approximately 80 parents and community members attended this meeting. Only three individuals in attendance signed in favor of keeping campuses open and there were pages of signatures collected in favor of closing campuses during this same meeting.

After each and every contact with district officials, members of the Parent Council followed the district’s step-by-step instructions, including contacting Principals after being told it was a site decision, asking for a investigatory committee and communicating with specific administrators. Early on, when PUPC asked for a district committee to study the issue, as instructed to do, no such committee was ever formed. Since all efforts to follow the chain of command had been exhaused, in August of 2005, the PUPC Executive Board allowed the committee of parents to begin collecting petition signatures at an event where two Board members were present.

Also in August, the PUPC officers wrote to Debra Raeder, Dr. Erb and Dave Moore, on behalf of hundreds of parents within our organization, again asking for a committee to study the issue and that this issue be placed on a PUSD Governing Board Agenda for public discussion.

In September, after more than 30 days had passed with no reply, the PUPC Executive Board again wrote to the President of the Governing Board, the Superintendent, and an assistant Superintendent with the same request.

In the meantime, Diane Douglas, the only Board member to recognize that the community wanted to be heard on this issue, asked five times for the PUSD lunchtime policy be added as an agenda item for a public meeting. Each time the other four governing board members did not indicate any interest in this topic and Ms. Douglas’ requests were denied.

Dr. Erb finally responded to PUPC on November 1, 2005 as follows, “this (open vs closed campus) presently is not being considered as an agenda item. If it changes, I will let you know. We will have staff in attendance at your meeting (November) in case there are other questions that they can answer.” Staff members did not attend this meeting as promised, except for Jim Cummings who said he was just an interested observer and refused to answer questions from those in attendance.

During this 3rd meeting, on November 17, dedicated to the lunchtime issue, only one person signed in favor of keeping campuses open while 45 signatures in favor of asking PUSD to closed all HS campuses for all students during the lunch period out of concern for student safety was collected.

On November 22nd, Jan Wilson, President of PUPC, gave an impassioned plea, along with other parents, to the governing board during a regular board meeting asking them to allow public discussion on this matter. To date, more than 500 PUSD residents have signed a petition in favor of closing HS campuses.

Yesterday, the leaders of PUPC asked Debra Raeder, President of the Governing Board, exactly what else parents could have, or should have done to bring this issue to the attention of the proper district authorities.

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THE ARTICLE BELOW WAS TAKEN FROM THE NORTHWEST VALLEY NEWSPAPER

Publication: Northwest Valley News; Date:Friday, DEC 02, 2005; Section:News; Page 4
PUSD board to debate open campus policy

Jennifer Prine Northwest Valley News

After nearly a year of campaigning, the parent group that has pushed to change the Peoria district’s lunch leave policy will see t h e d i s c u s s i o n o n a n upcoming governing board agenda.

Board President Debra Raeder and members Pati Coury and Diane Douglas said they would like to see the item on a future agenda after presentations from the community urging the district to close campuses during the lunch hour.

"I think we are a responsive board," Raeder said. "Up until this point, I hadn’t been contacted. I hadn’t been presented with the information that shows this has become a priority issue for so many."

Currently, junior and seniors at Peoria’s six high schools are permitted to leave campus to eat lunch. The policy has been the source of debate pushed by the Peoria United Parent Council — a group that describes itself as an informational outlet for parents. There have been three community meetings on the subject sponsored by the parent group since January.

"People are saying this needs to be done," said PUPC President Jan Wilson. "I personally have not had one single person say they want (campuses) open."

PUPC members said they are concerned students are putting themselves at risk for accidents while rushing between campus and eateries during the short lunch period. The PUPC first brought up the issue in January and later led a community informational meeting in May.

A third meeting was in November, and parents could sign petitions the group had taken around the community. Also at the November meeting was a presentation by Donna and Dennis Ebel, who have worked to close campuses around the Valley. The couple started the "Drive Kind" program after their daughter, Krystal, died in a lunch-hour accident near Mesa’s Dobson High School last December.

"People are passionate about this," Wilson said. "For every one parent that wants campuses open there another 24 that signed a petition to have them closed." She and a few other community members made presentations to the board about closing high school campuses during the Nov. 2 2 g o v e r n i n g b o a r d meeting.

Douglas asked the board to consider a discussion on closing the campuses for more than two months. However Raeder, Coury and board member Pat Galbraith said in past meetings that they did not feel the discussion was necessary for the time being.

Raeder said she changed her mind after receiving more responses from the community.
"Certainly this issue would have been brought to the board sooner, but it seemed as though this was all done without involving (the governing board)," Raeder said. "As soon as we became aware that this had become a community issue, we moved on it."

Coury said additional information came to light that convinced her to change her mind about the discussion. "Additional input that provided additional insight is what pulled it over for me," Coury said. "Putting the issue on as an agenda item for discussion is a good beginning. I still don’t know if closing campuses in the answer, but I think the answer will come about by looking at all aspects of the issue."

The item likely will appear on the board’s Dec. 13 agenda, district officials said.

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Please mark your calendars and plan to join us:

On Sunday, December 11th at the Bashas’ Store, located at the NW corner of T-bird and 75th Avenue, between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5p.m. to sign or turn in a petition regarding the open vs closed campus issue.

On Tuesday, December 13th at the district office during the regularly scheduled PUSD Governing Board meeting, PUPC will once again ask that the district to form a committee charged with determining whether or not it is the community’s will to maintain the current PUSD lunchtime policy as well as to determine the steps that need to be taken, immediately, if it is determined that campuses should be closed for all students.

For the next Peoria United Parent Council’s meeting at 7 p.m., on Thursday, January 19, at the district office.

The Peoria United Parent Council is a large group of parents and community members who have come together to advocate for the children of Peoria Unified School District. You can contact us by writing to PeoriaUPC@aol.com. If this free bulletin is being forwarded to you and you would like to receive it directly, please send your email address to PeoriaUPC@aol.com.