Janelle Kraemer, HP mother and ABPA Member questions Amy Titus and Sam Dalton.
SENT TO BOTH CANDIDATES
I read your questionnaire on the Dallas Morning News website and respect that you took the time to answer the questions. I would like to get your opinion on the questions below before casting a vote.
1) Have you seen the documentary Race to Nowhere? (For those of you not familiar, ESD, Da Vinci and HPISD have all sponsored viewings. The President of Emory University, Jim Wagner did a Q &A in Atlanta after several large private school viewings.) If yes, is it applicable to HPISD & what type of changes would you propose?
2) What is your opinion on eliminating foreign language in the elementary schools?
3) Why not go back to half day program for kindergarten to save money?
4) Technology/ Computer usage at the kindergarten and first grade level? I have yet to see a study sighting benefits of computer usage at that young of an age.
5) Your opinion on offering ice cream and chips every day to elementary aged school children.
I have attended the ABPA kindergarten readiness and round up programs and was quite surprised with the large number of parents that raised these same concerns.
Janelle Kraemer
RESPONSE FROM AMY TITUS
Janelle,
Thank you so much for taking the time to email me and to ask these questions. I find your questions to be much more relevant to our district than the ones that the DMN sent me.
1) I have not been able to see the "Race to Nowhere" yet, but I would like to and from what I do know about it, I believe that it is relevant to HPISD. I think that we need to institute some kind of screening for AP class admission and additionally have the teachers let the students and the parents know 6-10 weeks into the school year if the AP class is really appropriate for each student enrolled and move the students who should not be in the class to another class. It does not serve anyone to let everyone take these classes. Of course a student who is 'on the cusp' and who is truly motivated should be kept in the class. Since I have not had a chance to see the documentary, it is difficult for me to properly answer this question, but hopefully this gives you a taste of how I see things.
2) As a foreign language major who spent a summer once learning Dutch for fun, I would really like to see our kids starting a foreign language much earlier than middle school. My son, who is good at learning languages, did not get much out of the program when it was offered at Armstrong and I don't think that we lost much when it was cut, because it was too little and too watered down. It is my understanding that it was cut because of time constraints to fit in all of the state's requirements and not primarily a budgetary cut as the PTA's were paying for it. In an ideal world, I would put in a foreign language program that starts in kindergarten and that meets daily, but I don't believe that our current financial climate is the right time to try to institute this big and expensive of a change.
3) I have two kids and my older child (son, 12th grade) attended a half day program and my daughter (7th grade) did attend full day kindergarten at Armstrong. I cannot say that I can see any difference in how they performed in 1st grade or since. I think that this is certainly an option that we should explore. I would like to hear from the parents of current pre schoolers as to what their thoughts and needs are. I would not want to make this decision based solely on numbers, but would like to hear from the parents and the kindergarten and first grade teachers. The factors should include academics as well as social skills and the child care needs of the families. I have read some articles that seem to indicate that starting school later, skipping preschool and kindergarten altogether result in higher test scores, particularly for boys. We need to look at all of these factors and possibly consider offering a choice to the parents. The area church schools used to offer reasonably priced after school enrichment programs and had vans that picked the kids up from the elementary schools to accommodate working parents. I'm sure that they would step back in if there was a need for this type of program.
4) Our kids get plenty of early exposure to technology at home. I also do not feel that the use of technology in the early grades actually teaches anything that is significant later on. I don't think that playing with a computer in first grade improves programming skills in high school. Our kids are very attracted to technology and it can be a good tool for getting their attention, but I don't think that we need technology in any grade just to have the latest gizmo. I would rather see more students have the opportunity to take programming classes in later grades than emphasize technology for the younger grades. I do see some value in using technology to attract students' interest.
5) This question really hits home with me. My son and I both struggle with our weight and I have been disturbed by how much junk is available in our school cafeterias. I would like to see ice cream and dessert as a Friday offering and possibly also reduce the availability of chips and other less nutritious items. Maybe, we could look at how the chips are displayed and just make it harder for the kids to buy them, or not offer them to the younger grades at all. When I asked about this 10+ years ago, I was told that the cafeterias make too much money off of this stuff to get rid of it. I find that to be a very weak argument for keeping it. Availability certainly makes a big difference in the choices that kids make and there is no reason to offer everything under the sun to the younger kids. When I worked in the cafeteria, I also found that too many choices make it much harder for the kids to get through the line and have time to sit down and eat their lunch.
I hope that this gives you not only an idea of where I stand on these particular questions but also a little insight as to how I approach issues and how I think. Please feel free to contact me again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Amy S. Titus
RESPONSE FROM SAM DALTON
Janelle -- I apologize for not getting back to you sooner on your questions. I've had a lot going on at the office this week, especially with the tax filing deadline on Monday.
I appreciate you raising these very important questions. Please realize that neither Amy nor I are experts on any of these subjects, and neither of us have served on the school board yet. I've dealt with some of these things during my five years of service on the Board at Highland Park Presbyterian Day School, but not in any detail. As a parent of four, I've dealt with these things as well.
Right now, I'm focused on studying the big picture issues facing the district -- primarily the multi-million dollar budget shortfall we're about to face. I have confidence that the current HPISD administration has done a credible job of addressing the issues you raise.
I have not seen Race to Nowhere, so I can't comment on it. As far as eliminating foreign language, I understand that this was a decision made by the school board several years ago after considerable debate. With the current budget situation, it seems unlikely that we'll have the funds to add programs. In connection with half-day kindergarten, again this was a decision made by a previous board. It is my understanding that the elementary school principals in our district are supportive of a full day program. As far as technology, there are obviously pros and cons, and I've heard opinions both ways. Finally, with regard to food offerings at the schools, I have seen vast improvement in this since my oldest child started at Armstrong nearly a decade ago. Parents can now limit the choices of what their child can buy during lunch (through DineRite). I believe that nutritional education should start in the home. Having worked with Karen Jacobsen (our district Food Services Manager), I'm confident that she is on top of this issue.
I look forward to studying the issues that are challenging all grade levels and will address those after becoming familiar with the various aspects of each issue. Thank you for your interest in our schools.
Sam Dalton
BubbleLife would like to invite you to send a question to the candidates. Over the next few weeks, we will post the questions to both and post their answers. If you have a suggestion for a question, please email me at saffie@bubblelife.com