From reducing stress to the future of high schools, parents asked the school district's new Superintendent Kevin Skelly for his two cents on Wednesday.
The question-and-answer session was organized by the Palo Alto PTA Council, the same group that rounded up school board candidates for a whopping 15 forums and coffees this election season.
About 100 people came to Jordan Middle School to hear Skelly speak. Betting on a vocal full house, organizers had borrowed numbered deli tags from the sandwich counter at Piazza's, said Carrie Manley, co-chair of parent education with the council.
Yet the mood was calm and even subdued as parents laid their varied concerns before Skelly. One asked about teacher tenure -- determined by state law, Skelly pointed out -- and another about community service, which Skelly agreed was an essential part of education.
Palo Alto Online videotaped the two-hour session and made a short video of excerpts.
Comments
Palo Verde
on Oct 27, 2007 at 8:31 pm
on Oct 27, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Thank you, Dr. Skelly, for putting the elephant to rest in the room.
Fortunately all the school board candidates were there to hear you say that we all need to move on from the MI decision.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 29, 2007 at 9:45 am
on Oct 29, 2007 at 9:45 am
In response to PA Parent - who seems to want to keep this in the forefront:
Funny, MI is the only thing that Skelly wants to 'move on' from, but everything ELSE the board considered last year is open for revisit. Curious, why is that? 'Cause it's a political hot potato, and he'd REALLY like it if he didn't have to deal with it? (ie: wishful thinking)
The fact is that EVERYTHING about MI is in our future. The only thing that's in our past is the board vote to approve. The development, the site location choice, the pilot analysis, the district staff time to implement, the Ohlone site staff time, the lottery, the reporting for the feds, the student performance results, the Ohlone community impact, etc etc etc. All in the future.
Skelly might ~like~ the idea of moving on (ie: sticking head in sand) but the sorry fact of the matter is that NONE of us get to move on and ignore MI. Unfortunately - for everyone - (including Skelly), its ALL out in the future to be dealt with.
And that cold hard fact is even MORE true for the supporters of MI than for the opposers.
Nothing would be more beneficial to the district than if we could actually put it behind us and move on.
Old Palo Alto
on Oct 29, 2007 at 12:58 pm
on Oct 29, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Parent:
You're down to a party of one at this point on your MI rants.
People are tired of hearing the SOS.
Keep going if you want, but at this point no one's listening, even the newly installed Supe.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 29, 2007 at 2:10 pm
on Oct 29, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Don't worry. MI will have to be heard in about three years' time when the discussion turns to where MI will be housed next!!
Professorville
on Oct 29, 2007 at 9:31 pm
on Oct 29, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Parent's not down to a party of one.
This whole thing was an absurdity from the beginning. How it was rammed through I am not sure. The only thing I saw was the public threats that MIers delivered.
Greenmeadow
on Oct 30, 2007 at 7:50 am
on Oct 30, 2007 at 7:50 am
Yes, MI has a future, including monitoring and assessment of the program to determine if three years from now it should move forward. It may not.
However, MI is not in everyone's future, and I hope the party of two won't spin too many wheels trying to make it a clinging part of TownSquare's future.
There's many more important things in the school district's future than MI.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 30, 2007 at 8:27 am
on Oct 30, 2007 at 8:27 am
If you don't want to read the MI threads on Town Square, you don't have to. However, I suspect it will be on Town Square for years to come and since most of us remain respectful and present our thoughts eloquently, I don't see a problem.As with any Town Square thread, if you don't like the content, don't read the thread. But leave those of us willing to discuss the matter courteously to do so.
Thank you.
Palo Verde
on Oct 30, 2007 at 8:59 am
on Oct 30, 2007 at 8:59 am
Here's another poster joining the party. Grace Mah, PACE and the school board have taught us well how to get what we want in this district. Be relentless. Be persistent. Keep the issue on the school board agenda. Never give up. Don't take "no" or "not now" for an answer. If all else fails, threaten a Charter School.