Beth Preston by Dawn https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk Made with an aura of mystery en-us 2019-04-07 14:07:14 UTC 2026-03-05 18:04:50 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Apple.png cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349249641 2019-04-07 14:09:50 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349249641 Hi Dawn!Here is the letter! I wasn't sharing this to cause uproar or make waves, all I wanted was to give someone credit and also to make the board question some of the cuts that are rumored to be made. I will be happy to talk to you more!Thanks! cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349249825 2019-04-07 14:11:47 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349249825 Hi Dawn,I just want to follow up with you about the letter that Beth Preston gave you. She asked if she could share this with a board member because she felt the need to recognize the importance of support staff. Beth had the opportunity this year to have some time from Kelly Warren and found her help to be a real benefit to her students. She specifically wanted Kelly's efforts known. We have a very compassionate, dedicated, and skilled group of ed techs working in our building. Praises need to be sung every once in a while. Thank you for taking the time to read through the letter.Darlene PietzPrincipal/China Primary School/RSU18 cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349250190 2019-04-07 14:15:09 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349250190 I asked Keith to help me out to understand why and what of the letter. He wasn't sure about it. cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349250408 2019-04-07 14:17:22 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349250408 I asked Carl to read the letter and he said there were 2 kindergartens this year at the primary school and they took the Ed Tech that had worked with the kindergartens and had her be a floater to help other teachers. Next year there will be three kindergartens and she will be an ed tech in kindergarten rather than helping in other classrooms. cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349250497 2019-04-07 14:18:14 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349250497 Actually, I'm home sick so anytime today (Saturday) would work!On Fri, Apr 5, 2019 at 2:44 PM Elizabeth Preston <epreston@rsu18.org> wrote:Sounds good to me. I'm at 861-1161. Saturday or Sunday evening would probably be the best time to talk.Thanks!On Fri, Apr 5, 2019 at 1:00 PM <cbcastner@roadrunner.com> wrote:Hi Beth, That is what I thought you might be thinking. I haven't heard any rumors of cuts, but I definitely want to talk with you to gather your perspective. Please, no worries about any uproar or waves, that won't happen, the "sea" is calm. Talk this weekend? I'll need a number to reach you at. Have a wonderful weekend from another 2nd-grade teacher! :) Dawn Castner---- Elizabeth Preston <epreston@rsu18.org> wrote: > Hi Dawn!> Here is the letter! I wasn't sharing this to cause uproar or make waves,> all I wanted was to give someone credit and also to make the board question> some of the cuts that are rumored to be made. I will be happy to talk to> you more!> Thanks! cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349251936 2019-04-07 14:31:40 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349251936 Guess what, I am home sick today too,but I think I'd better talk tomorrow, ugh!! I just want to get your perspective regarding what you see needed for success with the children as it related to having the assistance this year. That kind of thing. Dawn Hope we both feel better tomorrow. cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349252100 2019-04-07 14:33:17 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349252100 Hi Dawn, Good to see you last night. Feel free to send the letter to me and I'll take a look. I have one preliminary comment, even before I see it: If the letter appears to address some kind of personnel matter that is an appropriate subject of a grievance under the teachers union contract, then a direct communication with a Board member generally isn't appropriate and might have a negative effect on the employee's legal rights and the legal process down the road. However, if you showed the letter to Carl and he didn't make a comment about that, then I assume there is no issue in that regard. I assume that the subject matter isn't something where the teacher wants to challenge an action by Carl that might need to result in discipline. Sharing information outside the context of a Board executive session could also potentially taint that process. Again, I assume that isn't the case with this letter. Over the years that I've been on the Board, I've had teachers/other employees reach out to me. Sometimes I've had to tell them that there was nothing I could do and that they needed to deal with their building principal or with Carl. Other times I found that the substantive information that the person wanted to share was very helpful to me in that it gave me insights into something that was going on at a particular school or in the district generally that the Board was not aware of. I never would have known what a mess the RSU's attempt to implement "Mass Customized Learning" was if it hadn't been for some teachers who were willing to share their concerns with me. The administrator who was driving that implementation and who created a climate of fear and mistrust and serious roadblocks for our teachers in their attempts to successfully teach their students is no longer with the district, thank goodness! Things have been improving dramatically since her departure, but it has taken time and a lot of effort on Gary's and Carl's parts to restore trust and a positive learning environment. Another time a parent sent me a letter thinking I was a Sidney representative and complained about a computer program called EPGY that was being used to teach math. I made some inquiries and learned that it was being pushed by the same former administrator and a math teacher at the high school. It was essentially a program where kids were parked in front of their computers and left to work on their own class after class without class discussion or much interaction with their teacher. I then reached out to a close friend who taught math at the time and learned that she was very upset about it but hadn't had the courage to speak up. I started to question what EPGY was, why we were using it, and asked for a chance to observe it in use. Eventually other Board members questioned it and the Board decided that the program would become an extra resource for students, not the primary teaching tool. There were some accusations that the program was something that the high school teacher's relative had developed and that she was helping to sell it for financial gain, but we never explored that. Another more recent example is that some teachers reached out to me regarding problems dealing with special needs students and students with behavioral issues and the need for smaller class sizes and more ed techs. That's a reason that I've questioned class sizes at Board meetings and privately with Carl and also the need for more aides. I think in the case presented to you, since Darlene is aware and apparently supportive of the teacher reaching out to you, and since Keith and Carl didn't seem to question the teacher's right to reach out to you, it sounds like no one would think you have overstepped. Whether what the teacher is requesting is something the Board can address remains to be seen. I'll look forward to reading the letter and sharing my thoughts. Take care, Becky cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349252300 2019-04-07 14:35:07 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349252300 Hi Dawn, Good to see you last night. Feel free to send the letter to me and I'll take a look. I have one preliminary comment, even before I see it: If the letter appears to address some kind of personnel matter that is an appropriate subject of a grievance under the teachers union contract, then a direct communication with a Board member generally isn't appropriate and might have a negative effect on the employee's legal rights and the legal process down the road. However, if you showed the letter to Carl and he didn't make a comment about that, then I assume there is no issue in that regard. I assume that the subject matter isn't something where the teacher wants to challenge an action by Carl that might need to result in discipline. Sharing information outside the context of a Board executive session could also potentially taint that process. Again, I assume that isn't the case with this letter. Over the years that I've been on the Board, I've had teachers/other employees reach out to me. Sometimes I've had to tell them that there was nothing I could do and that they needed to deal with their building principal or with Carl. Other times I found that the substantive information that the person wanted to share was very helpful to me in that it gave me insights into something that was going on at a particular school or in the district generally that the Board was not aware of. I never would have known what a mess the RSU's attempt to implement "Mass Customized Learning" was if it hadn't been for some teachers who were willing to share their concerns with me. The administrator who was driving that implementation and who created a climate of fear and mistrust and serious roadblocks for our teachers in their attempts to successfully teach their students is no longer with the district, thank goodness! Things have been improving dramatically since her departure, but it has taken time and a lot of effort on Gary's and Carl's parts to restore trust and a positive learning environment. Another time a parent sent me a letter thinking I was a Sidney representative and complained about a computer program called EPGY that was being used to teach math. I made some inquiries and learned that it was being pushed by the same former administrator and a math teacher at the high school. It was essentially a program where kids were parked in front of their computers and left to work on their own class after class without class discussion or much interaction with their teacher. I then reached out to a close friend who taught math at the time and learned that she was very upset about it but hadn't had the courage to speak up. I started to question what EPGY was, why we were using it, and asked for a chance to observe it in use. Eventually other Board members questioned it and the Board decided that the program would become an extra resource for students, not the primary teaching tool. There were some accusations that the program was something that the high school teacher's relative had developed and that she was helping to sell it for financial gain, but we never explored that. Another more recent example is that some teachers reached out to me regarding problems dealing with special needs students and students with behavioral issues and the need for smaller class sizes and more ed techs. That's a reason that I've questioned class sizes at Board meetings and privately with Carl and also the need for more aides. I think in the case presented to you, since Darlene is aware and apparently supportive of the teacher reaching out to you, and since Keith and Carl didn't seem to question the teacher's right to reach out to you, it sounds like no one would think you have overstepped. Whether what the teacher is requesting is something the Board can address remains to be seen. I'll look forward to reading the letter and sharing my thoughts. Take care, Becky cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349252522 2019-04-07 14:36:56 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349252522 Hi Dawn,I just want to follow up with you about the letter that Beth Preston gave you. She asked if she could share this with a board member because she felt the need to recognize the importance of support staff. Beth had the opportunity this year to have some time from Kelly Warren and found her help to be a real benefit to her students. She specifically wanted Kelly's efforts known. We have a very compassionate, dedicated, and skilled group of ed techs working in our building. Praises need to be sung every once in a while. Thank you for taking the time to read through the letter.Darlene Pietz cbcastner https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349307197 2019-04-07 22:10:37 UTC https://padlet.com/cbcastner/y3tvop45kddk/wish/349307197