Homeroom School

Homeroom School

Homeroom School

Austin school board set to vote on superintendent’s contract extension

By Melissa B. Taboada | Friday, September 23, 2011, 06:52 PM

Austin school board members are set to vote on whether to extend Superintendent Meria Carstarphen’s contract for one year, until June 20, 2014.

Her current four-year contract began July 1, 2009 and ends June 30, 2013. Her compensation, including a base salary of $283,412, will remain unchanged.

District administrators on Monday also will unveil their long-awaited plans for how to make better use of district facilities, including a recommendation for changes the 2012-13 school year that could include specific plans for schools, boundaries or policy changes.

The school board meeting is at 6 p.m. Monday in the board room, 1111 W. 6th St.

Below is the complete press release sent by the district:

The Board of Trustees of the Austin Independent School District (AISD) is scheduled to take action on a proposed amendment to extend the term of Superintendent Meria Carstarphen’s employment contract by one year at the Monday, September 26 board meeting.

On March 23, 2009, the Board of Trustees approved the employment contract of Dr. Carstarphen as the district’s Superintendent for a four-year term commencing on July 1, 2009 and ending on June 30, 2013. The proposed amendment would extend the contract by one year to June 30, 2014. All other provisions, including compensation, remain unchanged.

The board meeting begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Carruth Administration Center Board Auditorium, Room B100, 1111 West 6th St., Austin, Texas.

While the actionable agenda item related to the superintendent’s contract is scheduled for 10:10 p.m, the President’s Update regarding the superintendent’s evaluation is scheduled for 8:50 p.m. (This board agenda also includes two public hearings, an executive session of the Board and citizen’s communications.)

Board of Trustees President Mark Williams released the following statement today:

“I am pleased with the work and leadership of Dr. Carstarphen. The proposed extension to her contract shows the Board’s commitment to the direction she is taking the district, as well as the need for stability in district leadership to ensure continuity and ongoing focus to the tremendous work that still needs to be done. Nationwide, urban school districts that experience high turnover with their superintendents creates instability, which adversely affects district and student performance. Dr. Carstarphen is a strong leader, and has put together a capable team to tackle the various and complex budget, human capital and other challenges we will face in Austin for the foreseeable future. Therefore, I look forward to the Board’s action on this proposed extension on Monday night so that we can make clear our commitment to Dr. Carstarphen, and her commitment to Austin ISD.”

In response to the Board’s proposed agenda item, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen released the following statement:

“I am delighted at the Board’s show of confidence in what we are doing for the children of Austin Independent School District. I believe if we continue to prioritize our work, stabilize our plans around a proven set of standards and optimize our resources, there is no limit to what we can accomplish. I look forward to continuing our work to get our students ready for college, career and life in a globally competitive economy.”

Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools

Who knew that when starting at a new school that my food allergic child would cause more stress than the school itself? We’ve always known that our child has a great deal of difficulty with change, even if she doesn’t show it anywhere but in the safe confines of our home. I’m not sure if she’s this way because of the food allergies or whether she would have been like that regardless, all I know is that change creates a great deal of anxiety.

Before school started, we had a great meeting with the school counsellor assigned to our child and got a better sense of how they handle food allergies and how we could work together. We were all pleased to find out that they have dozens of food allergic children in the school, which makes sense given the current statistics. But still, it was a consolation to Megan to know that she was not alone.

After that, our next step was to take a new picture of Megan to update her anaphylaxis poster plus recraft a letter for the parents in her classes and send those off to the counsellor for distribution to all staff. The first mistake I made was including Megan in the process. I figured that since she turned 15 the previous week, she should be included in making a new letter for high school. Apparently, nothing I said was right. In the end, after many tears, it basically came down to the fact that she didn’t want to be singled out as different. I get it, believe me, I do, but our reality requires everyone around her, including her peers, to be educated.

The next wrong move was having her check out the updated anaphylaxis poster before sending it off to the counsellor with instructions to post on neon paper and put in all Megan’s classrooms and staff areas. Blowup number 2 came at that point. I’ve done these posters every year since she started school, including when she moved to new schools. But at the age of 15, the idea of a poster if mortifying. Again, I get it, but in my book food allergies are one time when people need to know who you are. And that comes from experience when I didn’t know all of the students in the school I was teaching at.

So once that was done and my child wouldn’t even look at me, she went off to her first day for just a morning of orientation.
Megan started off the school year with a homeroom teacher who has peanut allergies. Sounds good right? Until the part when they realized that during the day when she isn’t in homeroom, they have special needs kids and Aboriginal kids (we have a reserve very close by) working with different counsellors, etc. All good except when those kids are hungry, guess what they feed them? Yup, peanut butter sandwiches. And the concern expressed by the aides who feed the kids was that some of those kids may be a bit smeary and not clean up well. I was really pleased that the counsellor informed me of this situation; I felt that the staff had Megan’s best interests at heart.

Therefore, that afternoon I moved Megan into a homeroom that is a science lab because no food is allowed in at any time. The school was great in providing the suggestion and in making it happen fast but Megan imploded. For me to move her after she got comfortable in that new classroom that first day and after I sent a letter plus posters to be posted up all over the school with her face on them, was unforgiveable. She figured she’d get through her homeroom for the next 3 years (they stay in the same room with kids of all ages), by not touching anything. Highly unrealistic to the logical thinker but completely normal to a kid ready to run screaming into the night. All I could think about was how teenagers have the highest risk of anaphylaxis and now I know why.

I was a basket case. How do you handle when the parents and school are working together great but the child is completely not on board? It caused me more than one sleepless night and many heart to heart talks with my husband. In the end, Megan did apologise to me when she realized she was being unreasonable and that we all had her best interests at heart. So we seem to have settled down but I’m still dancing on eggshells a bit.

Just don’t let Megan read this blog – I’m not sure our house could survive it.