Once again the facts are getting lost. Yes 310 people lost jobs but that does not mean that there is extra space in North Ave. 10% of that 310 positions were Technology Integration Analyst who had no office space at North Ave and worked directly in the schools. Others who have lost their positions were in fact housed in other buildings around the city - not at North Ave. In fact departments at North Ave. Curriculum and Community/Parental Involvement have been expanded under the new administrative structure put in place with the new budget. Those that lost jobs in many cases only worked at North Ave on paper. More smoke and mirrors. Further more there are rumors that other departments will be moved out of North Ave - presumably to make room for the CEO's latest stunt - a school at North Ave. Sara are you on summer break or working hard to report the facts.

"With Dr. Alonso and a half-dozen other school system officials up at Harvard for a conference this week,"
Wow Dr. Alonso suspended all out of state travel for all school system employees months ago. The reason was so that all resources could be directed towards students and schools. Is this group paying for their own travel expenses? I guess what's good for the goose is not good for the gander. Hmm --- is this real reform in action.

Last I checked, it was the parent's responsibility, uh, let me see..as parents, right! to improve the behavior of their own children. Institute policy and sanctions in the home, for your children. Teach them the value of education and respect for other citizens. Do you think a brand new classroom in a new building and more money will improve their behavior. I don't think so.

A new classroom in a new location isn't the point. The point is that too often the folks at North Avenue lose sight of the students whom they are supposed to serve on a daily basis. And to put this particular group of students in the Puzzle Palace should serve as an excellent reminder of the actual human beings who are attached to these otherwise abstract names and numbers.

Likewise, the physical location of the 310 people who are being relocated or laid off is immaterial. They were probably on the North Ave payroll rather than that of the school to which they were assigned. Consequently there is a cost savings involved in this action. Plus, plenty of people who ARE (or were) housed at North Ave have been relocated to other buildings, so there's little doubt that there's space being created there. In fact, if the new school is going where I think it is, then the affected office (which isn't losing staff, so far as I know) will be moving to another building.

Lisa in Baltimore -

Are you trying to say there shouldn't be alternative schools? So what's your proposal for persistantly violent students? You're vague concept of making the parents deal with it isn't working now. Keeping them in the schools where they're having the problems isn't working now. I'm all for pointing out problems, but how about presenting something constructive?

There will also be a school at the Professional Development Center on Northern Parkway.

My recommendation is for "A Former Teacher" to stop worrying about where Dr. Alonso is. A conference at Harvard sounds like a good thing for him to be doing and it's not taking away from any teaching time. Clearly, there are different needs for the CEO than for teachers in classrooms. Please.

Putting students in the faces of the school administration is a good idea. I completely agree with this move. I also completely agree that "North Avenue" should be broken up completely and staff scattered throughout the city. I would think workers would want that, too. It's a very depressing building.

I'm just glad I'm no longer a teacher at Chinquapin MS...I just don't see the alternative school "over-age" students adding much educational value to the student body there. Why add this element to a school already on the "state takeover" list?

When did PARENTING BECOME A VAGUE CONCEPT (specifically addressed to the other Lisa in Baltimore). IF parenting is vague then perhaps we shouldn't have been parents in the first place. The first priority of school is to EDUCATE! The priority of the school system shouldn't be dealing with aggressive violators and repeat offenders who continue to disrupt the school day for everyone there who works and learns. Finding ways to deal with this children SHOULD BE UP TO THEIR PARENTS.

And furthermore, to respond to the parent at 1:45 p.m., Being a Mom and/or Dad to your child IS A CONSTRUCTIVE SOLUTION. It is neither the City nor the State's responsibility to be the primary educator and disciplinarian for your child. That should have started at home on Day One.

I am sorry - some may have missed Sara's report today. She insinuated in her reporting that because of the layoffs, those people would not be working at North Ave and therefore there would be space in at HQ for a school. When in fact the layoffs did not create demonstrable space at North Avenue for a new school. As for the assumption that the money that was attached to those people is lying around to be used to create a new school is also false, as the money for those positions either does not exist due to the underfunding of Thornton or it was devolved to schools that now have to pay for the toilet paper. So Claude the cost savings is minimal.

To a BCPSS Parent - how dare you insinuate that a teacher, a professional should not have the same right to attend a professional conference that would help him or her further develop his or her skills, bring new ideas back and also share with others the great things that are happening in BCPSS. The CEO should indeed have that very right as should every teacher in the school system. This however is an argument of principle – Dr. Alonso put in place a ban on travel because he felt that those resources would be best used in schools for students. As an educator I can understand that in tough times all available resources should be directed to meet the immediate needs of students. So if the rule is no travel to conferences and the reason given is so that those resources can be directed towards schools and students don't turn around and break your own rule. I am not aware that the school system is any better in a finical position so has the CEO lifted the ban or is it that he deems himself more important than others.

There has been a lot of talk about respect for teachers on this blog and how North Ave shows disrespect for teachers and this is a prime example - to say no to a teacher and tell them it's for the kids and then to go off to a conference at one of the leading learning institutions in the world where I am sure the Dr and his team are receiving high quality professional development at a healthy price. Some would call this hypocritical are the dollars being spent on the improvement of the CEO and his staff somehow not needed in a school, have all the needs of our students been met?

I would argue that you may feel differently if it was your child’s teacher going to a conference and bringing back to your child new ideas about teaching and learning. It would be your child and the other students in your child’s school that would benefit directly as teachers shared the information they gathered. We can not hope to grow and change if all we do is pass the same information and research back and forth in house. Schools are going to struggle this year to provide high quality professional development for teachers with extremely limited budgets and over worked staff. I am sure that the CEO will bring back perhaps one golden idea from Harvard that will solve all of our problems and then it will be okay.

Maybe if the big wigs at North Avenue see the kinds of behaviors that some students exhibit in a classroom setting, they will be more inclined to support the teachers and administrators who have been dealing with violence, disrespect, and harassment every day for years. I think it's worth a shot.

Lisa, if a parent has a misbehaving child, and the child got that way because the parent wasn't doing their job in the first place, what makes you think they will magically become good parents? Because you asked them to?

You're simply begging the question no matter how many capital letters you use. Keep living in "should have" land, the people who care will actually attempt to address the reality of the situation, which is that unfortunately more is required to turn things around.

"Now, everyone who works for the city school system will have to interact with students. What a concept."

What a concept indeed. Thinking about some of the stuff that goes on at North Ave -- HR, finance, IT, legal -- I don't get it. I would like these functions to be performed as businesslike as possible. Sorry, I just really don't see the point of having some geek from IT or some bean counter from finance "interact" with students. This whole thing strikes me as a big publicity gimick. I'm sure there are more efficient ways to find a space for this program instead of spending all that money re-configuring north ave.

To several of the commentators:

I would guess that the rule laid down on travel was not that all was banned, but that all would have to be approved. I've never really heard of teachers leaving school during the year and traveling to conferences. I'm sure there are valuable exceptions, but I for one know that this is taxing on a classroom. That's why we have days to do it in the system (though the quality may be lacking). Whatever the policy is, I'm pretty sure that BCPSS does not have the money. But to turn it around and say use this to criticize the CEO doesn't seem reasonable. At his level, and for those staff that he has chosen, anything that will move our thinking forward is justified. And it should start with the leaders.
So my thought is this: if there was a lot of traveling going on before, maybe it needed to be reined back because it could not be justified in cost, etc. But then after the fever has been broken, we resume "normal" activities? I'm hoping that whatever they're doing at Harvard, that it will be sensibly cascaded to the rest of us? I always hope for better Professional Development activities, since so many of them have been to gather us in one place and waste time on sessions not differentially focused on each of our skills/content.

Thanks for speaking truth a concerned parent.

VoiceforSchoolTruth - just a quick post to let you know that all travel was indeed banned. It's no longer a matter of having to get approval (which was the policy before), we were told that no travel (even local mileage for professional development in Baltimore) will be approved.

Voice for School Truth,

If the rule make becomes the rule breaker why should he not be held accountable. The last time I checked BCPSS was a public entity run by rules and regulations that apply to all not to just some as we are using the tax payers’ dollars.

Travel was banned. Contrary to your point of view teachers through out the system did travel to conferences to gather the best practice from around the country and the world. I know that this is still happening but at the expense of the teacher. That is why I find it infuriating that the CEO and his group of chosen individuals are at a conference on the dime of the school system and therefore the tax payers. I don't deny that the head of the school system should travel and attend the best of the best conference to bring back great ideas to help transform the system what I do have problem with is when he breaks his own rules to do so.

By restricting teachers and school based personnel in this way you are forcing people to look up for information, to wait for it to come down from on high, this runs contrary to this new model of school autonomy. Would it not behoove a school to send people out to enrich the school community quickly rather than wait for ideas to descend from upon high? You may not be aware of this but there will be no centralized professional development offered this year – all of the professional developer were cut lose and it will be the schools responsibility – the principals responsibility to see to the professional development of his staff. So in this new model it would seem to me that it would be more important for school based staff to attend conferences rather than those removed from them at the top of the system. Oh wait that’s right there is a school at North Avenue now – look at that public relations problem number one solved.

Being a parent biologically is a pretty concrete concept, it's being a "good" parent that's the vague concept. Some of the kids who would be going into these alternative kids probably have "bad" parents. Some might have behavioral diagnosis (like MR or ADD or ADHD or lead poisioning or whatever). The question is, given that these kids exist what should we do? Alternative schools let people focus on these kids' issues and allow the schools that they were removed from to focus on education rather than their behaviors. It's hard to imagine anyone really saying they don't want alternative schools to be open. There might be controversy about where these schools should be located and which kids should go there and how long they have to stay, but rationally we can't say "make the parents parent better so we don't need alternative schools."

On the issue of locating one on North Ave, I'd say dispersing the administrative functions might make everyone realize that administration is not apart from the schools, but a support for what's really important - the education of students. It's hard to imagine any changes making the schism between North Ave and schools any worse. These alternative schools will have to go some place. The downside of the North Ave location is that the space will have to be renovated. The downside of locating these schools within other schools is that they could very well be disruptive. Take your pick, but they have to go someplace.

I think the only issue is finding a property that BCPSS has that isn't being used. I guess this proposal shows that there is free space on North Ave.

I hear a lot of blame on parents when it comes to our disruptive children. Have we not forgotten that years ago when the law passed that you could no longer spank your child (not kill them) our children were allowed to then basically do whatever they wanted. If a child is out of order in school and the parent comes up to discipline them, they are told you can't. There are a lot of good parents on and off of the system who have been crying for help for their children for years. Putting a children on medication and labeling them as ADD or ADHD because the child is bored or cannot grasp work is frustrating for a child, it becomes more frustrating when teachers are told that they cannot fail a child. Hands are tied--we cannot always go back to the way it used to be, but we have to allow the parents a chance, we have to understand that our children have emotional scars, that no one wants to deal with and at times no one is aware of. Look at how many of our children are being raised by their grandparents, how many are homeless. Hopefully this new school will work, but another question is being raised as to how will those who are employed at North Avenue be safe, how do you keep these students, (who look like adults) from roaming the floors of North Avenue. We have one guard at the front desk and one at the Guilford entrance. These are things that need to be thought about before. Now will every door have to be locked when one person leaves their work area. Will there be cameras now put in place to monitor theses young adults. All this while offices all over the building are still trying to move from one area to another. Which will become harder as it gets closer to schools opening.

Yes the CEO and Central staff need a reality check. Everyone will be closely monitored and watched I am sure.This alternative program is definitely a step in the right direction. It gets the worse problem students away from the general student population and give more support services to students with severe behavioral or emotional problems. This will help the regular students and teachers get on with learning if used effectively.We need programs to focus on preparing kids for the world of work.We need to teach reading and math to all of the students so they can highest potentials and become good citizens.There will be security and crisis intervention in the immediate area. Some are good kids that made bad choices. Lots are gang members and part of DJJ so will they be part of the daily process?They will have social serivces and pysch services available and behavior modification as part of training for staff. Most students will be doing MSA or HSA online classes.