Great Things Going On
It was exciting to have former Center Schools employee Ben Kern on campus last Wednesday teaching area physical education instructors and administrators about how to produce and support high-quality PE instruction. Mr. Kern was traveling in Colorado to do other such presentation, on leave from Illinois where he is in the midst of a PhD program, and was kind enough to take the time to come to the San Luis Valley to share what he has learned.
I understand Skoglund Middle School Principal Luis Murillo took time out of his busy schedule this week to learn more about the many services our Fyock Community Library staff provide to support student learning and literacy in the community. I appreciate that he made the effort to learn more about these important services. On another library note, district librarian Rebecca Reed was approached by a generous donor in the Denver metropolitan area who is hoping to share her personal library collection with a community library. This donor, as it turns out, had a college roommate who was a Center High School graduate a long time ago. When she learned that our library serves both school and community, she felt she had found the right place to share her treasured collection. This donation may bring as many as 1000 good quality titles of adult interest to the Fyock Community Library.
I understand Skoglund Middle School Principal Luis Murillo took time out of his busy schedule this week to learn more about the many services our Fyock Community Library staff provide to support student learning and literacy in the community. I appreciate that he made the effort to learn more about these important services. On another library note, district librarian Rebecca Reed was approached by a generous donor in the Denver metropolitan area who is hoping to share her personal library collection with a community library. This donor, as it turns out, had a college roommate who was a Center High School graduate a long time ago. When she learned that our library serves both school and community, she felt she had found the right place to share her treasured collection. This donation may bring as many as 1000 good quality titles of adult interest to the Fyock Community Library.
I want to thank the Haskin elementary school staff members for hosting a wonderful parent and student math night event this past Wednesday. Our Haskin educators set up tables in the auxiliary gym and engaged parents and children in playing various games that can be used at home to support learning math concepts It is nice to see our staff teaching ways parents can interact with their kids to help them while also having a bunch of fun! I especially want to thank Haskin Elementary 2nd and 3rd grade math instructor Jessica Stevens for the extra effort she put in coordinating this event.
Finally, I would like to take a moment to congratulate all our wrestlers, and especially Will Weatherford and Salomon Chavez, who traveled to Denver, competed in the 2015 CHSAA State Wrestling Tournament, and who placed 4th and 5th respectively in there weight classes. Great season guys!
Big Things We Are Working On
If the weather holds up, we'll have our mid-year external evaluation visit at Haskin Elementary site visit this coming Monday. This is a process we conduct each year where we have an outside expert come in to view the quality of our instruction, our progress toward achieving our stated improvement goals, and the process by which we support our teachers toward improved instruction. We also look at mid-year student achievement benchmark data to make sure we are on track for adequate growth. Wendy Birhanzel, Harrison School District's curriculum coordinator, will once again come to conduct this process. Wendy has been working with us on since the beginning of our turnaround efforts and we have learned a lot from her visits. If we have to cancel because of weather we'll reschedule in the near future.
I believe recall election ballots will be mailed to Center School District's registered voters this week. This means the recall election will, in essence, be conducted from now until Tuesday, March 17th. Voters should receive their ballots sometime this week and, as I understand, can either turn them in directly to their county clerk office (Saguache, Rio Grande, or Alamosa) or place them in the mail.
I believe recall election ballots will be mailed to Center School District's registered voters this week. This means the recall election will, in essence, be conducted from now until Tuesday, March 17th. Voters should receive their ballots sometime this week and, as I understand, can either turn them in directly to their county clerk office (Saguache, Rio Grande, or Alamosa) or place them in the mail.
The Past Week
I spent last week in the Mexican state of Jalisco visiting public schools as part of the Binational Educator Exchange Program with the country of Mexico. During my time there I had the opportunity to visit schools at all levels. On Monday we visited an Escuala de los niños, serving children ages 4 to 5 and a grade 1 through 6 primaria facility. On Tuesday we had the opportunity to travel to a rural primaria school in the remote town of San Sebastian de Oeste. Our entire day on Wednesday was spent at a secondaria campus. Much like our U. S. middle schools, the three levels served at secondaria are equivalent to our 7th through 9th grades. On Thursday we had the opportunity to take a look at two high schools, one a profesional (vocational) program and the second a preparatoria (college prep) school. We had some time set aside on Friday to enjoy the Puerto Vallarta area as tourists, but I elected to move my flight up a day to beat the big snow storm that was due to arrive in Denver. I encourage you to learn more about the details of my visit by clicking on this link.
The Week Ahead
We won't have school on Monday, as we have already called a snow day due to bad weather. However, I will be working on February payroll items late into the evening on Sunday and early in the morning on Monday. On Tuesday I will attend many student response to intervention (RTI) meetings aimed at supporting better behavior and academic results for students in grades 6 through 12. I will leave for Denver early Wednesday morning with school board president Michael Lobato where he will testify at the capital in front of Colorado's house education committee about general issues regarding public education and Center Schools. Michael, board director Richie Barela, and I will remain in Denver after this session to attend the Colorado Association of School Boards winter legislative meetings held in the downtown area and around the capital on Thursday and Friday. I will return home to Center on Friday evening.
Extra Points
A few weeks ago a good man I have known for twelve years came to my office unexpectedly, looked me in the eye angrily, and described to me how he has “kind of hated my guts” for the past three years. When I asked him why this was the case, he told me when he had applied for a job with the Town of Center several years ago somebody told him I intervened and asked that they not hire him. When I stared back at him dumbfounded, he realized I had never actually done this. This man had been told this lie by a person who was once mayor of our town and is currently serving on the town board.
At first I shook the encounter off as just another example of nasty Town of Center politics. However, as I proceeded with the rest of my day, taking my usual bike ride to the post office and politely waving at the many people I encountered along the way, I began to grow suspicious of just how many had been told similar things about me that are just not true.
Why should this matter? Should it make a difference what people know or believe about me? My answer is yes, especially if what they are being told is not true. As the long time leader of the Center Consolidated School District and as a proud resident of the community of Center it is important that I maintain the trust of the families and children I work for. As many of you know, in September current board of education directors James Sanchez and Phil Varoz called for me to resign from the position of superintendent of schools I have served in for the past 18 years. Their first claim was I should do so because of poor student achievement outcomes. When that effort did not gain traction they shifted their attention to my work habits and how much I am paid. When that didn’t work either they tried to embarrass the district with a one sided view of an effective, though imperfect, alternative to expulsion program we operate that keeps kids off the streets and on track to graduate. Their latest tactic has been to claim that I lied on the witness stand during the Lobato v Colorado lawsuit. Since September they have experienced a political firestorm that I hope will lead to their removal from the board of education through a fair, honest, and democratic recall process.
This all being said, I want to return to the unfortunate habit some of Center’s long time political leaders have adopted in their effort to seize and hold on to power. Most of us would call it lying. As the leader of a public organization guided by a governing board and paid for by people’s hard earned tax dollars (of which I pay my fair share) I have no problem with a person coming directly to me to ask why we do certain things, attending public meetings to learn more about what we are doing, or outright criticizing specific actions I have taken in an effort to effectively lead the district. This is all part of democracy. However, when a person openly lies about another in such a way as was described to me by this gentleman, I have to be very concerned. Add to this the fact that these very people who also supported the election of Phil Varoz and who have now been supporting Sanchez and Varoz’ retaliatory recall effort against Yuridia Cendejas. These are people who have openly lied to many of the people they approached to sign recall petitions, and I believe there is reason for all of us to be extremely concerned. Should we trust people to run our schools who knock on doors asking citizens to sign a petition because “it will bring us more federal funding” when in fact it will possibly remove a fair and effective director from the school board? Should we trust these people to run our town? Should we trust these people to judge us in a court?
I am close enough to the happenings of the Center Committee for Truth and Transparency to know that when their petition circulators collected the 450 or so valid signatures they acquired asking voters to remove Sanchez and Varoz from the school board, not one of them ever had to resort to lying to disguise their true intent. Meanwhile, in barely getting the 92 valid signatures needed to place Yuridia Cendejas on the ballot for recall this other group, as always, began collecting their signatures at our local Head Start. I assume they got people to sign to whom they have been lying about the school and local politics for years or who sign out of fear of losing jobs. They then branched out to others whose personal well-being they do not control, often resorting to lying about what the true intent was in collecting signatures.
The result is this: We are now faced with a recall election that will pose the question whether or not we should retain or get rid of current school board members Yuridia Cendejas, James Sanchez, and Phil Varoz. Please know that if Sanchez and Varoz retain their seats, and if Yuri Cendejas is removed and replaced by the hand picked Head Start candidate, my education career in Center will come to an end. If I have to leave I will not take a large sum of money away from the children like Varoz did in 1992 when he was bought out of his contract, rather than being allowed to complete the school year. Though I still have one year remaining on my contract I will simply finish this school year, resign and relocate my family to a place where people don’t fear having an educated population that can think for itself, and where locals value public discourse that includes truth telling.
If this election is a referendum on whether I should remain as your superintendent of schools, as they have made it in their most recent letter, I unfortunately find myself up against people who are completely comfortable with not telling the truth.
Personally, I will vote to remove Sanchez and Varoz from the board. I will also vote to keep Yuri on it. My 28 year-old daughter, who is still on the voter registration list in Saguache County even though she has not lived here since 2006, will NOT vote in this election. I wish I could believe that many of the people who signed Sanchez and Varoz' retaliatory petitions who clearly no longer reside in the Center School District would do the same.
You see, lying is just a gateway to cheating. Perhaps even worse.
In the mean time, if you have been told by some of these folks that I have done something evil to you, please behave like the kind gentleman who finally came to meet with me face to face a few weeks ago. My office at school is always open to those who seek truthful answers and want to actually solve problems. You can also just knock on the door to my house on Third Street where I have lived for 19 years.
Thanks for listening once again.
George
At first I shook the encounter off as just another example of nasty Town of Center politics. However, as I proceeded with the rest of my day, taking my usual bike ride to the post office and politely waving at the many people I encountered along the way, I began to grow suspicious of just how many had been told similar things about me that are just not true.
Why should this matter? Should it make a difference what people know or believe about me? My answer is yes, especially if what they are being told is not true. As the long time leader of the Center Consolidated School District and as a proud resident of the community of Center it is important that I maintain the trust of the families and children I work for. As many of you know, in September current board of education directors James Sanchez and Phil Varoz called for me to resign from the position of superintendent of schools I have served in for the past 18 years. Their first claim was I should do so because of poor student achievement outcomes. When that effort did not gain traction they shifted their attention to my work habits and how much I am paid. When that didn’t work either they tried to embarrass the district with a one sided view of an effective, though imperfect, alternative to expulsion program we operate that keeps kids off the streets and on track to graduate. Their latest tactic has been to claim that I lied on the witness stand during the Lobato v Colorado lawsuit. Since September they have experienced a political firestorm that I hope will lead to their removal from the board of education through a fair, honest, and democratic recall process.
This all being said, I want to return to the unfortunate habit some of Center’s long time political leaders have adopted in their effort to seize and hold on to power. Most of us would call it lying. As the leader of a public organization guided by a governing board and paid for by people’s hard earned tax dollars (of which I pay my fair share) I have no problem with a person coming directly to me to ask why we do certain things, attending public meetings to learn more about what we are doing, or outright criticizing specific actions I have taken in an effort to effectively lead the district. This is all part of democracy. However, when a person openly lies about another in such a way as was described to me by this gentleman, I have to be very concerned. Add to this the fact that these very people who also supported the election of Phil Varoz and who have now been supporting Sanchez and Varoz’ retaliatory recall effort against Yuridia Cendejas. These are people who have openly lied to many of the people they approached to sign recall petitions, and I believe there is reason for all of us to be extremely concerned. Should we trust people to run our schools who knock on doors asking citizens to sign a petition because “it will bring us more federal funding” when in fact it will possibly remove a fair and effective director from the school board? Should we trust these people to run our town? Should we trust these people to judge us in a court?
I am close enough to the happenings of the Center Committee for Truth and Transparency to know that when their petition circulators collected the 450 or so valid signatures they acquired asking voters to remove Sanchez and Varoz from the school board, not one of them ever had to resort to lying to disguise their true intent. Meanwhile, in barely getting the 92 valid signatures needed to place Yuridia Cendejas on the ballot for recall this other group, as always, began collecting their signatures at our local Head Start. I assume they got people to sign to whom they have been lying about the school and local politics for years or who sign out of fear of losing jobs. They then branched out to others whose personal well-being they do not control, often resorting to lying about what the true intent was in collecting signatures.
The result is this: We are now faced with a recall election that will pose the question whether or not we should retain or get rid of current school board members Yuridia Cendejas, James Sanchez, and Phil Varoz. Please know that if Sanchez and Varoz retain their seats, and if Yuri Cendejas is removed and replaced by the hand picked Head Start candidate, my education career in Center will come to an end. If I have to leave I will not take a large sum of money away from the children like Varoz did in 1992 when he was bought out of his contract, rather than being allowed to complete the school year. Though I still have one year remaining on my contract I will simply finish this school year, resign and relocate my family to a place where people don’t fear having an educated population that can think for itself, and where locals value public discourse that includes truth telling.
If this election is a referendum on whether I should remain as your superintendent of schools, as they have made it in their most recent letter, I unfortunately find myself up against people who are completely comfortable with not telling the truth.
Personally, I will vote to remove Sanchez and Varoz from the board. I will also vote to keep Yuri on it. My 28 year-old daughter, who is still on the voter registration list in Saguache County even though she has not lived here since 2006, will NOT vote in this election. I wish I could believe that many of the people who signed Sanchez and Varoz' retaliatory petitions who clearly no longer reside in the Center School District would do the same.
You see, lying is just a gateway to cheating. Perhaps even worse.
In the mean time, if you have been told by some of these folks that I have done something evil to you, please behave like the kind gentleman who finally came to meet with me face to face a few weeks ago. My office at school is always open to those who seek truthful answers and want to actually solve problems. You can also just knock on the door to my house on Third Street where I have lived for 19 years.
Thanks for listening once again.
George