Get Schooled

By Ernest

September 20, 2006 11:53 AM | Link to this

On topic but a different extra curricular activity, HS Band. My son’s play for one of the most recognized bands in the metro area. We pick them up from practice after 8:00 most school nights. Not only do they play in the games but they also participate in many ‘Battle of the Bands’ on weekends around the Southeast. I’m not a ‘band’ person but recognize the need for an outlet other than focusing on academics all the time.

I allow their participation with a simple rule, I expect nothing lower than a B in all course work. This serves as their motivation and I’m proud of their accomplishments. Admittedly, one son is now on ‘probation’ because he brought home a ‘C’ on a 3 week progress report (4 A’s & 2 B’s in other courses). Despite his begging and pleading, he cannot participate in performances (we did allow him to go to 2 practices, only because they were learning new routines). We have noticed renewed effort in the class he made the ‘C’ in so it’s quite possible he will perform again before the end of the season.

I do worry about many children that do not have the ability to ‘multi task’ and balance school work with extra curriculars. Obviously, it is the duty of the parents/guardians to ensure ‘curricular’ activities always take precedence.

By jim d

September 20, 2006 12:10 PM | Link to this

Extra curricular.

Some of us parents actually understand that.

By Joy in teaching

September 20, 2006 12:15 PM | Link to this

I don’t make any particular accomodations for students involved in extra curricular activities because it is a CHOICE for students to be involved in those activities. I do keep a school calendar up and try to consult it when scheduling tests, but other than that, that’s just about it. It is very difficult for some kids to adjust to budgeting their time and I see this sort of extra curricular involvement to be beneficial to those types of kids. For instance, my 6th grade research class has research papers due tomorrow. They have been working on them for the past three weeks in class, but some of it has been done at home. When one kid raised his hand to say, “but we have a game the night before that,” it gave the entire class a marvelous opportunity to discuss time management skills and how he shouldn’t wait until the night before to do the bulk of his assignment.

By SET

September 20, 2006 12:30 PM | Link to this

Football programs here in CA usually have a GPA requirement. As the teams age through 12th grade the team gets progressively “less diverse”. To combat this the teams (especially at the Catholic High Schools) have a major tutoring & homework component which parents really like. Keeping the player’s grades in the safe zone becomes a strong team activity complete with peer pressure to do what it takes to stay in the game. The parents like this.

Having said that there are other aspects of the football teams that are a real concern to me. The thug/gang mentality. Some of the more hormonal and less intelligent players get a false sense of security of what they can get away with - and there are problems with their deportment in public when they are not under direct supervision of the coaching staff. When you combine alcohol and late hours (i.e. 1am on a Friday Night) you see problems such as sexual assaults (“her story!”) reckless driving and aggressive behavior in general. Steroid use makes this all much worse.

The teams try drug testing but that doesn’t impede the alcoholism, and the individuals I’ve dealt with said they were able to mask the steroid use (until the psych problems - “roid rage” sets in).

Yes non-footballers can have some of these problems too. But it’s the footballers everyone cares about when they have a really bad night. They seem to carry these issues notoriously.

Would I want my kid in football? No, I would not. I have known aged former college pro footballers. None of them had a happy life. Exciting, yes. Stable and happy, not in the least.

I know several colleagues with kids in HS and College football programs. Their sons wanted to do it and the parents had no better alternative. So far the results are exactly what I expected for them (behavior concerns). The grades are kept to at least the minimum required and college admissions are not a problem. I just hope they actually graduate with a degree - my experience is that they don’t.

By Ernest

September 20, 2006 01:00 PM | Link to this

SET, normally I agree with many of your comments however your cynicism must be at an all time high for you to say, Their sons wanted to do it and the parents had no better alternative. So far the results are exactly what I expected for them (behavior concerns). My recollection of statistics show that at most colleges, graduation rates are higher for athletes that non athletes. Most of this attributed to the additional services, i.e. tutoring, they receive.

As indicated earlier, I’m not a ‘band’ parent but I have to admit it has open the doors to college (band scholarships) for many student who may not have had that opportunity. We can all admit sports has probably done the same. Yes, there are a LOT of knuckleheads out there that do not take full advantage of this opportunity. By the same token, there are many that do then offer a hand or advice to those coming behind them to ‘buckle down’ and get their act together. I’ve been told I wear ‘rose colored glasses’ and can only see the positive if folks at times.

One former pro football player I played with in HS is now making significant contributions with kids in the community he lives in. He would honestly say that if it was not for his athletic ability, he would not have gone to college.

By SNY

September 20, 2006 01:18 PM | Link to this

Well, my daughter isn’t a football player but she is a cheerleader and I see a big difference in her study habits during the season. She is up a little later than usual but she is serious about getting her homework done. Of course, she doesn’t cheer for school, she cheers for Gwinnett Parks and Rec. But she loves it and she wants to go to college and be a cheerleader and then cheer for the Falcons or the Cowboys. I think that letting children be involved in football (cheerleading) gives them the opportunity to learn to be responsible and gives them the opportunity to multitask. Although today I did call her teacher to find out how she was feeling because she didn’t get to bed until 9:45 last night and she is a little cranky. We’ll work on that, but since the season is so short, sometimes I allow her break the rules but only if she can handle it. I love this time of the year (I’m her Head Coach) because it gives us plenty of time to spend with one another.

By SET

September 20, 2006 01:43 PM | Link to this

Ernest: I agree with you!!

Remember, the points I make on the blog are usually contrarian positions. I’m also looking to see what the experiences of the readers are.

Experience is often called Cynicism - your observations of my positions are political comment and welcome.

I have had a close friend - another lawyer - tell me that the football tutoring program gets through to her son in a way that other tutoring programs (she has tried them) didn’t. The other issues she feels she can deal with. I stand by all my football comments, that’s my experience here. Yes, football does offer a route into college. I’m not sure about the graduation rates. When I plan a college career with a student I am also planning a route into grad school. I know very few footballer who completed grad school. Those that did (who I’ve met or worked with) all have fantastic careers, better than their grad student peers. There just aren’t a lot of them.

I don’t approve of the HS football culture. I don’t like the attitudes that go with it. And I’ve seen too many of them broke, in jail, in psych wards, and in the criminal courts. Football was the high point of their life and not a step on the way up. But that’s my experience here and it certainly may not transfer to other people in other places - or maybe it does. To each his own.

By HS Teacher Too

September 20, 2006 01:56 PM | Link to this

This is a great topic, and really can piggy-back on the topic of the other day, about parents being involved. As a high school math teacher, I also tutor. It always astounds me to hear parents beg and plead that their children need help, help, help, they will do anything in their power, money isn’t an object, we’ll meet as often as we need … etc., etc., etc., but then when it comes down to setting tutoring sessions, we have to work around football, band, etc.

Of course, this is also reflected in the students’ cries at school, when they tell me how HARD they are working, but I can point to umpteen things they are doing that are not at all productive, and in fact probably counter-productive … but the kids truly believe they are working hard and making an effort — much the way their parents think they are doing “everything in their power,” when really they are not.

Maybe I am old-fashioned, but when and where I grew up, extra-curriculuars, as Jim said, were EXTRA. Coaches, sponsors, PARENTS — everyone seemed to understand that. Also, I am fairly confident that it was BY LAW that practices didn’t go as late as they seem to here in Metro Atlanta, games HAD to start by certain times — and were called if they weren’t finished by a certain cut-off. I often wonder why there aren’t similar rules in place here. (For that matter, BY LAW teens could only work until a certain hour at night, and how late they could work was based on their age. Now granted, not all employers abided by the rules, but if I had a nickel for every instance one of my students had to “work ‘til close” here in the metro area, I’d have long ago been able to retire! We complain about our schools and our academic competency, but we don’t impose rules to force the issue.

I am curious as to everyone else’s experiences. Does ANYONE else think that practices for 7-year-olds going until 8:30 at night is just a little too late? Or am I just woefully out of touch?

Thanks!

By Leia

September 20, 2006 02:04 PM | Link to this

HS Teacher Too - I too, was appalled when I read that this 7 year old had practice every night until 8:30! My 12 year old nephews (7th graders) have football practice 3 nights a week from 7:30 to 9:00. Why would a 7 year old have more practice than a 7th grader?

By SET

September 20, 2006 02:05 PM | Link to this

SNY: I think you have said you have a military background - I think that’s wonderful.

I’m concerned that if your daughter gets into cheerleading as a serious thing - and ends up on the road with the teams, etc. She should have a serious understanding of male pack behavior in general and combat training specifically. Plus a good working knowledge of drug and alcohol issues.

I know I have a long history of playing the skunk at the garden party, I can’t help it.

Since early childhood the phone would ring at night and my father - a trauma surgeon - would take off after 1am. We’d hear (a censored) version of what the patient was doing when they got injured over dinner the next day. Some of these people were family acquaintances. As an adult I eventually got the uncensored versions of what really happened at the parties and car crashes. All this goes back to the mid 50’s - before seat belts. Things are worse now (trauma at 2am!) even with air bags. Air bags don’t stop bullets.

Now as a lawyer I read file after file (the people hardly ever tell you as much as you get reading the reports and witness statements from the scene) of these stories. They often start with Friday Night after midnight.

Sorry to be a party pooper. It’s pretty rough around this place nowadays. Going out at night into an urban mob scene isn’t a good idea in CA.

By HS Teacher Too

September 20, 2006 02:10 PM | Link to this

Leia,

Thanks for the reassurance! Here in Gwinnett, youth football is (in my opinion) a little bit out of hand. I can appreciate the community spirit of it, but when I heard about my neighbor’s practice schedule I couldn’t believe it — and worse, anyone I mentioned it to thought I was the one who was crazy!

By HS Teacher Too

September 20, 2006 02:15 PM | Link to this

Leia,

Thanks for the reassurance! Here in Gwinnett, youth football is (in my opinion) a little bit out of hand. I can appreciate the community spirit of it, but when I heard about my neighbor’s practice schedule I couldn’t believe it — and worse, anyone I mentioned it to thought I was the one who was crazy!

By HS Teacher Too

September 20, 2006 02:15 PM | Link to this

Leia,

Thanks for the reassurance! Here in Gwinnett, youth football is (in my opinion) a little bit out of hand. I can appreciate the community spirit of it, but when I heard about my neighbor’s practice schedule I couldn’t believe it — and worse, anyone I mentioned it to thought I was the one who was crazy!

By HS Teacher Too

September 20, 2006 02:24 PM | Link to this

* Sorry, everyone,* for the multiple posts. My wireless connection went haywire and I didn’t realize I had already sent the message when I tried to re-post. My flub!

By Ernest

September 20, 2006 02:29 PM | Link to this

SET, good to know we are on the same page. I understand your position. We each bring different ‘life experiences’ to this blog hence our postings reflect that.

BTW, I think I’m near your ‘neck of the woods’ today (San Jose). If this is close and you can get together with me this evening, check with Patti for my email address.

HST Too:

IMO, 8:00 IS to late for 7 year olds. I’m assuming practice begins around 6-6:30. If they were able to complete their homework after school prior to practice, I might relent.

By a high school mom

September 20, 2006 02:31 PM | Link to this

My son, a high school sophomore, plays high school football. He actually participates in sports all school year. Granted, he is not a starter, but he works just as hard as the “A” players. He is at football practice everyday after school, usually till 6:40 or so, and is required to attend varsity games. He takes a tough course load…all honors classes: Spanish 3, Pre-Calculus and AP World History. He also takes band. He has always made the honor roll.

I find that my son budgets his time much better during the sport seasons. It took him all summer to do two assignments for Language Arts. He had to read two books, each with a written assignment. No joking, he was up at 6 a.m. on the first day of school putting the final touches on an essay. He manages time much better when he has less of it.

Academics do not come second to anything, and he has never stayed up late to do any type of homework assignment or project. The one thing he has not had a lot of time to do is to practice driving. My husband works Saturdays and Mom is not yet ready for the white knuckle grip on the passenger side arm rests. Not rushing him to get that either. Everything in due time.

By mo

September 20, 2006 03:30 PM | Link to this

I am a parent of (count ‘em) TWO elementary school boys who plays football. They are in the same association, but on different teams (One on the 8-year old team and the other on the 7-year old team.)

When it comes to school and football, it goes like this:

They come home around 2:30PM and immediately go into homework. They complete homework between 4 and 5PM. By 5PM, they are eating dinner. At 5:30PM, they are putting on football gear and between 5:45 and 6PM, they are out the door.

They practice from 6:30PM until 8:30PM. By 8:45 they are in the house, eating a very light snack. By 9PM they are in the shower, by 9:30PM they are in bed.

In other words, my yard needs some more attention, but the grass is cut. My car needs to be washed, but it doesn’t look that bad. My house needs cleaning, but it is still clean enough for the surprise visitor to come by. And on Sundays, the only thing that is truly lacking is my church attendance, and I am working on that!

WELCOME TO FOOTBALL SEASON

By SNY

September 20, 2006 04:26 PM | Link to this

mo,

You must be a stay at home mom. I work until 4:30 don’t get home until 5:15 or 5:20. I rush my daughter to get dressed for cheerleading, get her a quick snack and run out the door. I stop at daycare and pick up my son and off we are to practice. My daughter goes to a babysitter afterschool because I can’t afford afterschool care for her at her private school. She gets most of her homework done then. We are practicing for CheerOff right now and those practices run a little longer than regular practice. We finish around 7:30 and we are off to the house. Once we reach the house bath water is ran while I cook dinner. I throw my son (3 yrs old) in the bath, play for about 5 minutes and go. Then my daughter takes a shower. I get them to the dinner table around 8-8:10. Then my daughter finishes up any homework that she has (usually not much. Sounds crazy but she loves it. I asked her if she wanted to find another way around the craziness and she said no. Of course, last night was a little late, but it won’t happen again. She works great under pressure.

By John

September 20, 2006 04:47 PM | Link to this

I had children (they all are in college now) involved in football, drama, band, baseball, golf, etc. at various times during their school years. All of these consumed major amounts of time but football and drama were the busiest. We just established schedules and explained to them that school work had to be done when they came in. If there are long term assignments (book reports, projects, etc.), set aside time on Saturday before or after a game or after church and dinner on Sunday for work.

Above all—don’t make the child drop the activity. Students with the most activities make the best grades and students involved in activities or sports make their best grades during their busiest times of year. Colleges and employers look far more favorably on students who have played sports or done other intensive activities than students who don’t.

By Jeff

September 20, 2006 05:27 PM | Link to this

Former band geek here (are you ever truly a “former” band geek????). Both younger bros played (play, in one case) both football and wrestling.

While none of us have ever really had to fight when it comes to academics - particularly me and the youngest -, sports season did make it extra important for the two of them. Band wasn’t that bad.

As far as making exceptions for the kids: Um, no!!!!!!!!!! NOT IN THE LEAST!!!! I don’t consult the school calendar, I don’t excuse the abscence, nothing. My due dates are my due dates and my test dates are my test dates, end of discussion. I too was raised by parents that understood the “EXTRA” attached to that curricular, and I make sure my students understand it, whether or not their parents like it.

On a side note though: Because of my own involvement with our HS-side football team, I found out today I have to leave work at 1:15 Friday!! (Though I also have to be at two games that technically occur on Fridays that we are off!)

By Jeff

September 20, 2006 05:28 PM | Link to this

Former band geek here (are you ever truly a “former” band geek????). Both younger bros played (play, in one case) both football and wrestling.

While none of us have ever really had to fight when it comes to academics - particularly me and the youngest -, sports season did make it extra important for the two of them. Band wasn’t that bad.

As far as making exceptions for the kids: Um, no!!!!!!!!!! NOT IN THE LEAST!!!! I don’t consult the school calendar, I don’t excuse the abscence, nothing. My due dates are my due dates and my test dates are my test dates, end of discussion. I too was raised by parents that understood the “EXTRA” attached to that curricular, and I make sure my students understand it, whether or not their parents like it.

On a side note though: Because of my own involvement with our HS-side football team, I found out today I have to leave work at 1:15 Friday!! (Though I also have to be at two games that technically occur on Fridays that we are off!)

By Chris in sports

September 20, 2006 05:36 PM | Link to this

Having both played and covered high school sports for the better part of two decades, one of the most prevalent things that I have seen is that most student athletes actually make better grades during their season, i.e. students that play only baseball tend to have better grades in the spring than during the rest of the school year. The reason that I have considered and that most coaches agree with me on is that your time is so regimented during your sport season so you don’t have a lot of time to goof off and get into things other than your school work and your sport. I played football and baseball in high school and my grades were significantly better during the season. In the winter, I had time to slack off and could say that I would get to my homework later and then it was time to go to bed. But during the sports season, I knew when I was practicing and when I had to do my homework.

By luvs2teach

September 20, 2006 06:55 PM | Link to this

My daughter ran track for a couple seasons when she was younger, and my son played football (I was even team mom - while I was working, too). His coach used to tell them that their priorities were God, family, school, football - and in that order. So his players were to make sure that things were taken care of in that order - that included church on Wednesday for some and homework and chores for all. Woe was the player who tried to use football as an excuse for not getting something done.

It was tricky, and it took good time management, but I thought the experience was worth it. Neither of my kids played on traveling teams (thank goodness - that’s an insane commitment). Curiously, neither played sports in HS, and the time factor was cited as a major reason why - both had established other interests and hobbies.

As a teacher, my general policy is one of no excuses - I often quote my son’s old coach. I like the comment above about the child who couldn’t finish a project because there was a game the night before - despite the fact they had been working on it for three weeks. I see that often (even had a parent write me an excuse note once), which tells me that they have been allowed by somebody somewhere to use that excuse in the past.

By jim d

September 21, 2006 08:39 AM | Link to this

My child starts wrestling practice (2-3 hrs. daily) a few weeks after school starts and goes through early spring. What I’ve experienced, is coaches insisting on maintaining grades to participate. Even to the point of having a chat with a student, at a parent’s request, when a grade slipped below a “B”.

I’m confident however, with all the emphasis on sports today, that concessions may be being asked for by some parents and even made in some instances, but you won’t read about them on this blog.

By veryinvolvedparent

September 21, 2006 08:58 AM | Link to this

First and foremost my son and daughter were not allowed to watch television or play video games during the week from Kindergarten until the end of high school (believe me it works); for one, they didn’t have time and (2) we wanted to make sure study and reading skills were in place before allowing them to participate in recreational or extracurricular activities; my son started football in 8th grade and by that time he had already established years of good grades and study habits, and same for my daughter; by the time he graduated from high school with four years of late football practices under his belt and participating in Spring sports, he became well disciplined and recv’d very good grades throughout high school and eventually became the recipient of a full scholarship to a very good college; if parents were to instill the study habits first and then incorporate the extra activities, students would have no problem adjusting to whatever practice came along; football practice is no different than any other after-school activity; young boys and girls need to stay busy and active doing whatever fits their personality whether its football, track, soccer, piano lessons, etc.; if kids aren’t active, they either get into trouble if not monitored by an adult or watch too much television or playing games; if a parent thinks the child can’t handle the practices each evening (especially at age 7), talk with the coach and work out a schedule that is feasible to your family, especially if the child is struggling in school; it was always known to my children that grades came first and activities second.

By jim d

September 21, 2006 09:05 AM | Link to this

Patti,

You do realize of course how rediculous this question is in Dacula, don’t you?

Ask Doc Larry Neace.

By kaba

September 21, 2006 09:27 AM | Link to this

I don’t have any football players in the house, but my girls ran cross county, swam and played soccer in high school. One played select soccer from age 11 through HS, and we traveled on many weekends all year long, all over Georgia and out of state. She also played in the HS orchestra. Both girls graduated in the top ten of their HS classes of 300 to 400 students, kept their HOPE at GT, and graduated with high honors. Athletes are organized, don’t waste time and healthy bodies make healthy minds. For this reason colleges like athletes, and employers like them, too.

By mo

September 21, 2006 09:33 AM | Link to this

Naw, I’m not a stay-at-home mom, but my wife is.

Oh, if she worked anytime after 2:30PM, our whole family situation would reap the whirlwind.

I look in absolute awe at women with small kids who work full-time. My wife, before we started having kids, made less than $40k a year. For her to stay at home was a simple decision. And she loves it.

But for those women who works full-time and have their kids in school for, I don’t know, 10 or more hours a day- God bless you!

By V for Vendetta

September 21, 2006 09:39 AM | Link to this

Lol, good one Jim.

I like this thread, I think it is a very important issue that often gets people off on tangents and rants. Kudos to everyone for staying more or less on topic!

As a former high school and college athlete, I can attest to the time it takes to practice and still maintain a high GPA. But I think sports are necessary, and for most kids, a beneficial thing. I am currently coaching at the school I teach at, and I expect the BEST out of my student-athletes. I meet with them individually if their grades slip, and I work with the parents if they have any concerns over time management issues.

Because of that, I have only had one or two GPA issues that caused kids to lose their eligibility. But when it came down to it, I was the one who booted them off the team, because to play for me, you gotta make the grade in more ways than one.

By Ernest

September 21, 2006 10:20 AM | Link to this

V, I like the approach you take because I’ve seen cases where the coach/sponsor gets ‘blinded’ by the fact that academics are suffering partly due to the activity. I’m curious, do you get ‘push back’ from parents when you express concern or boot someone from the team? If so, how do you handle it?

FWIW, in our county (probably in most), there are board policies that addresses the ending time for activities for middle schoolers on school nights. It does not have similar a policy for high schoolers. There is a ‘gray’ area when 8th graders participate in HS activities. Ultimately, it is the parents responsibility to see that the policy is enforced.

By Joy in teaching

September 21, 2006 12:21 PM | Link to this

Um….shouldn’t a 7 year old child be in bed by 8:30? Children that young really need about 10-12 hours a sleep a day in order to function well.

By JustMe

September 21, 2006 12:22 PM | Link to this

Schools already make some allowances for altheletics by allowing them to leave early on certain game days for travel time, and so on. I feel no reason to make further academic allowances in my classroom. Sports is an extra curricular activity. I support students in sports, but we have to remember the #1 reason why they are in school - to learn.

If sports ever gets in the way of learning (and low grades as a result), then the students should reduce the time in sports and not reduce the time for learning.

By Danielle

September 21, 2006 12:31 PM | Link to this

Hello, PATTI GHEZZI—- I am devastated that the principal at Shiloh Middle School in Gwinnett County is retiring October 31. Her announcement came as the biggest surprise to everyone. Some people think it’s because of not making AYP. It’s so hard having her leave in the middle of the year. The replacement hasn’t been found yet. The principal is Karen Robinson. Not one person wants her to leave. How can this happen? What do your viewers think of a great leader and educator leaving as a surprise and in the middle of the year?

By Yep!

September 21, 2006 12:42 PM | Link to this

Danielle -

Administrators leaving in the middle of the school does happen. And, it sounds like in that case, the leaving was planning although not announced. A school not making AYP in consecutive years is becoming a measuring stick for administrators.

Even though there is an administrator shortage in GA, I am shocked that the school system did not already have someone ready to fill in the vacancy instead of just a temporary “fill in.”

By Patti Ghezzi

September 21, 2006 01:11 PM | Link to this

Hi Danielle,

Thanks for the news tip. I’ll pass it along to Laura Diamond, our beat reporter in Gwinnett. I’d like to refrain for speculating at this time on why Ms. Robinson retired. Feel free to comment on what it’s like to lose a principal midyear.

By Taxpayer

September 21, 2006 02:35 PM | Link to this

Patti, don’t want to get us off topic here, but football has come up …

I would appreciate a blog or responses concerning booster clubs in Georgia. I understand that ALL booster clubs (for athletics, bands, etc.) may have some new rules to follow starting this year. Any news about this? A booster club at our high school regularly asks for $100 from each kid in a particular activity. When they asked for it this year, a group of parents balked and wanted to know what the money went for. Who oversees these booster clubs and how they spend their money?

Thanks for any info!

By Patti Ghezzi

September 21, 2006 02:45 PM | Link to this

Taxpayer, I’ll have to look into that one, and I’m buried right now. I’ll try to get to it next week and report back what I find out.

Patti

By KA

September 21, 2006 03:07 PM | Link to this

Taxpayer, When my kids were in high school, I was involved with soccer and cross country booster clubs, and we had bylaws and a budget that had to be approved by the booster club membership, and was overseen by coaches and ostensibly by the principal. The soccer coaches pretty much dictated how the money was allocated as they ordered uniforms, equipment, goals, balls, etc. The $250.00 that each player was asked to contribute did not cover all of the costs of running the sport for the season. We did have funds that we could use for players who didn’t have the money, but they could still do the fundraisers to help. We did extra fundraising and had profits from the concession stand to help cover the costs, too. Soccer also contributed to the field maintenance and the fieldhouse fund, built by privately raised funds, not school system funds. School systems contribute virtually no funding for any extra curricular activities, hence all of the fundraisers. You should be able to ask the booster club officers to see the bylaws, a budget and an accounting. If the coach is doing it all without any review by the booster club officers, then you could have a problem.

By Joy in teaching

September 21, 2006 04:20 PM | Link to this

Administrators do not work 190 days a year like teachers. Most get paid for 240 days a year but put in many more than that. Additionally, most administrators contracts start differently than most teacher contracts which traditionally start at the beginning of the school year (and, yes, I know there are exceptions to that.)

If the principal is retiring at the end of her 30 year tenure as a school teacher, why the fuss? Is she supposed to be put off her well deserved retirement just to make a few folks happy? If the county doesn’t have a replacement in the wings, then that’s poor planning on their fault. The teacher retirement system in the state of Georgia requires that those intending to retire must fill out a series of papers well in advance (months) of the actual retirement date. Meaning, that her retirement isn’t such a sudden mysterious occurance after all.

By Taxpayer

September 22, 2006 08:15 AM | Link to this

Thanks for the response, KA. Do you happen to know how things were handled for kids who could not afford the fees? I know some kids at our school don’t participate in sports because they can’t afford uniforms, fees, etc. I’d like to help them out, but no one seems to know how that works.

By Taxpayer

September 22, 2006 08:18 AM | Link to this

Thanks for the info, KA. I’m astounded at the $250 fee you were asked to pay. How was this handled for kids who couldn’t afford it? Some kids at our (public) school are skipping sports altogether because their families can’t afford the fees.

By Ernest

September 22, 2006 09:26 AM | Link to this

Taxpayer, if I recall, you are in DeKalb County. There is a board policy, IDE(1)-R, that speaks to your point with regards to bands. It reads, Provisions must be made for students who are eligible for participation but are unable to provide the necessary funding required. One might assume it could apply to other extra curricular activities also. I’m sure that’s why some area groups are in debt currently.

I am compassionate but who decides who can and can’t pay? I know this has been a topic at several booster club meetings I’ve attended.

By Taxpayer

September 22, 2006 09:45 AM | Link to this

Thanks, Ernest. My kid is involved in a sport, but I’ve tried not to reveal any identifying info in this blog. The provision you quoted would definitely apply at our school. I agree: who decides who can pay and who can’t? Better to have fundraising for all and try to reduce the costs for all parents, I think.

The parents at our school who didn’t pay to join the booster club have taken it upon themselves to pay directly for meals, equipment, etc. because they saw no evidence last year that any of their fees were used to benefit their kids (money seemed to go to one team but not another).

I’d like to see the cost of all these uniforms and equipment go down. And yes, I’d be happy to sell something to help reduce the cost for ALL the kids on the team.

By KA

September 22, 2006 10:11 AM | Link to this

Taxpayer, There were always kids whose parents who couldn’t afford the voluntary fee. ALL players participated in a dribble-a-thon at the beginning of the season, and they solicited pledges from whatever source they could; the community, neighbors, businesses, or family members. We even had one Varsity player who volunteered to work in the concession stand on game days when the JV team played. In cross country we also had an overnight running event that all the cc runners participated in and they got pledges for that, too. The players fundraising efforts went to cover their sport, but there was a fee pd to the football booster org. to help retire the debt for the private renovation of our fieldhouse that many of the sports used.

By KA

September 22, 2006 10:16 AM | Link to this

Taxpayer, One more expense that we had in the sports was a stipend supplement for the coach, or to fund an assistant coach. Teachers are basically voluntary coaches, giving hundreds of hours of their time for just a little extra income. They are not getting rich with their coaching, especially with the time they spend every day after school for practice or games/meets, and many evenings or weekend days travelling with the team to their games and meets.

By Em's mom

September 22, 2006 10:36 AM | Link to this

As far as I know, our booster club does not offer a stipend to any of the coaches, or at least not the coaches of my kid’s team. Our teams incur no debt for using existing county facilities. I think that many parents guessed correctly that their booster club “donations” were going to fund another team. I have no problem paying booster club fees or fundraising, but booster clubs should be open with their expenditures and records. I’d love to see the booster club budget, meeting minutes, etc. on the school website.

By KA

September 22, 2006 10:44 AM | Link to this

Em’s mom, Call the school, and ask for the name and number of the booster club pres, or an officer, and CALL that person and ask to see the budget and books! If you want to see it on the web, they will probably ask you if you would do the web work and manage the website…

By Roger0213

September 26, 2006 01:40 PM | Link to this

To the DeKalb School Board I suggest you do two things. Replace those “my child is an honor student” bumper stickers you give away to every child with “my child failed the CRCT” and have all the applicable parents put them on their car. Second, get rid of 90% of the administrators paid the high salaries so you can use the money for more teachers. Greed of administrators and parental lack of responsibility have changed DeKalb schools.