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If we've heard it once, we've heard it a thousand times: "We've had a Hurricane"! The district administration and boot lickers continue to whine this reality as if no one was ever affected by Hurricane Ike except them.
It's pitiful and disgraceful.
The latest debacle in GISD is the acceptance of the new class of 5th graders at the Austin STEM Magnet program. This is the group of current 4th graders who were unlucky enough to have their TAKS tests, Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) test and absences taken while dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.
Remember how you felt in March 2009, only 5 months after Hurricane Ike? We're you dealing with your recovery at the top of your game? Do you think 8 and 9 year old children were dealing well with their recovery after Ike? Well apparently the Magnet School Committee must think they were just fine because not only did they raise the points required to gain acceptance into the Magnet program apparently without the Lack of Trustees' approval but they also have made no provisions for excused vs. unexcused absences or the fact that some displaced GISD students were not subject to the ITBS while attending other districts while their families struggled to recover and return home!!
Many angry parents are now filing Level 1 complaints against the district for denying acceptance into their "School of Choice" because of the lack of ITBS and because excused absences were counted against the students.
If a child attended a different district such as Clear Creek ISD while their home was being repaired, they were not subjected to this national standardized test and therefore were give ZERO points in that part of their scoring rubric. That's not the fault of the child.
As the Superintendent-in-Training and her minions continue to cry, "WE'VE HAD A HURRICANE!!"
Now given the choice between excusing this administration-from-hell and the children who were right in the drama of Ike recovery, I'll choose the children over the "wolf criers" any day. They want us to excuse their idiocy due to Hurricane Ike, but they won't even make adjustments for the children! Nice!
If a child had fever and followed GISD student policy and did not attend school, they were penalized even when the absence was "excused". So sick children who's parent kept them home and honored the district policy as well as other students had deductions taken from their scores and ultimately were denied access into the Austin Magnet School, their "School of Choice".
The State pays GISD for excused absences as part of their Average Daily Attendance but they are not paid if the absence is "unexcused". So why are parents who kept their sick children home and sent in a note to have the absence excused penalized, while GISD is NOT??
Remember the Swine Flu pandemic? GISD's website under Departments: Special Programs outlines the district's response to the Swine Flue issue. "'We are also urging parents not to send their children to school if their children seem to be suffering from any flu-like symptoms,” said Cleveland."
The Magnet Matrix is flawed in reality to our district's situation and punishes children needlessly. In fact, why is GISD basing enrollment in the Magnet 5th grade on 3rd grade scores and not 4th grade scores? Fourth grade is a much greater indicator of ability and success in 5th grade than from 3rd grade. The application process to the Magnet Program begins in January well before the next set of TAKS tests and ITBS tests. There is plenty of time to get the results of those tests prior to generating the list of accepted students. It's not a matter of planning because the school plans for a set number of students per grade per year. The applications are supposed to be input into a computer program that spits out the top 100 or so students for acceptance. The process seems easy enough. Why is the application process so early?
Here are the Board Policies for Public Complaints:
GISD Board Policy GF (Local) Public Complaints
GISD Board Policy GF (Legal) Public Complaints
And here is the Public Complaint Forms .
We urge any of you to file a complaint to have this situation rectified by the District. Anyone may file a complaint. You must follow the complaint form and process exactly as it is written because that is how this wonderful, open administration disqualifies Complaints from reaching the Board and the Public!!
The "Schools of Choice" plan in GISD is a BIG FAT SCAM. The Magnet School is the first to have its flaws exposed.
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