Here are the recent communications related to parent concerns and meetings in our local district. I am happy to have parents taking interest and acting on behalf of our children. Please take the time to read them and begin asking your own questions. We need everyone to participate in the discussions that form our community schools. Be sure to save time to come to our next School Board Meeting, held Thursday night, May 10th, at 7 PM in the Nuview Multipurpose Room. Here is the schedule of board meetings for the remainder of the year: http://www.nuview.k12.ca.us/domain/364.
From: concerned parents of nuevo <concernedparentsofnuevo@hotmail.com>
To:
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 3:17 PM
Subject: Community Awareness Event and Forum
To:
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 3:17 PM
Subject: Community Awareness Event and Forum
Good Afternoon,
You may have received the survey a few months ago asking for your input regarding our district's budget situation. Although receiving feedback, Nuview Union School District and it's board members have given 17.3 teachers pink slips, are going to increase our classroom sizes and still cut back on transportation. As you know it is a terrible time for our economy and many families are feeling the impact daily, but cutting nearly 20% of our teaching staff and making it difficult for families to get their children to school to sit in a very crowded classroom is a little extreme and harsh at this time.
A meeting will be held in the Valley View Auditorium this Thursday, March 22nd from 5:30-6:30 to explore and understand the state budget and the effect on our school district and our students. You are invited to attend to hear the information and other possibilities in order to form your opinion regarding your child's educational future. Please bring any questions or concerns you would like to have answered by the representative.
Thank you
You may have received the survey a few months ago asking for your input regarding our district's budget situation. Although receiving feedback, Nuview Union School District and it's board members have given 17.3 teachers pink slips, are going to increase our classroom sizes and still cut back on transportation. As you know it is a terrible time for our economy and many families are feeling the impact daily, but cutting nearly 20% of our teaching staff and making it difficult for families to get their children to school to sit in a very crowded classroom is a little extreme and harsh at this time.
A meeting will be held in the Valley View Auditorium this Thursday, March 22nd from 5:30-6:30 to explore and understand the state budget and the effect on our school district and our students. You are invited to attend to hear the information and other possibilities in order to form your opinion regarding your child's educational future. Please bring any questions or concerns you would like to have answered by the representative.
Thank you
From: concerned parents of nuevo <concernedparentsofnuevo@hotmail.com>
Subject: Frightening Incident on March 28th outside of Nuview's district office
Date: April 6, 2012 3:43:53 PM PDT
Hello,
On Wednesday, March 28th, a stuffed animal was found by our district office with a wire sticking out from under a Nuview Elementary t-shirt which caused "great alarm" and "had a frightening impact on the district staff." The police or bomb squad was never called to investigate the situation, but instead Mr. Linzey "noticed the wire only attached to a push-pin and moved it as everyone cleared away from it."
With Nuview Elementary, Nuview's Preschool, the bus yard, drivers on the road and residences being nearby, all precautions should have been taken to ensure the safety of those around. Considering the bomb squad was called to destroy a suspicious device in Riverside during the first week of March and our district office was burglarized that same week, this scary incident should not have been taken lightly.
In the email, Mr. Linzey says, "Seeing that negotiations occurred yesterday and our NDTA negotiating team is unhappy with not getting their way as they use intimidation tactics and defamation tactics, it is highly probable that this bear incident stems from the negotiations process." Instead of considering all other possibilities, the finger was pointed at our teachers for this cause for "great alarm" and the "frightening impact upon the district office staff." This email directly accused Nuview District teachers without any supporting evidence and becomes a very serious matter when terroristic allegations are made against people who work with our children on a daily basis. What direction is our district going in if our superintendent is accusing our teachers of possibly attempting to harm staff and those in close proximity? Regarding the email, Mr. Linzey has been legally served by CaliforniaTeachers Association on behalf of the Nuview District Teachers Association. The email is now a legal matter and cannot be dispersed amongst the parents or community. The Nuview Union board members have read and are aware of this email.
As you may know our district has pink slipped 17.3 teachers, almost 20% of our district's teachers. But what you may not know is that our administration is the top paid in our county (7.87% while the county average is 5.5%) and our teachers are the lowest paid (42.25% while the county average is 45.66%). You will find a powerpoint presentation using the actual numbers our district submitted to the county also attached for your review.
Did you know-
Mr. Patrick Leier publicly resigned, but continues to work as a consultant for our district making $55,000 for approximately 9 months of work?
This year Nuview Union School District became one of three school districts (Los Angeles Unified and San Francisco Unified) in the state of California to hire an outside negotiator?
Our district pays our outside negotiator, Mr. Eric Hall, $680 per day for his time spent in the district, research, preparation, planning and travel (not to exceed $10,000).
A position paying $85,767 was created, at the district office, to oversee child welfare/special programs (example spelling bee and science fairs) for 215 days of work and includes benefits?
It has been said the position is partially funded out of the ASES grant, but is her entire salary provided from outside funds? Is this a position needed at this time?
The current contract, held by NDTA teachers and approved by the school board to keep class sizes low has not been honored by our district (along with other violations) and because of this, it has gone to arbitration which incur lawyer fees.
On March 19th a memo stated the Management Team unanimously decided to take nine furlough days during the 2012-2013 school year if the sales tax initiative does not pass.
Would they be willing to take the furlough days if the initiative does pass?
Mr. Linzey is the highest paid superintendent (per pupil) in Riverside County, making $102 per pupil per day and works 215 days per year. Not only will Mr. Linzey receive a 3.5% raise on July 1st, he will also receive a $5,000 bonus for moving Nuview Elementary School out of Program Improvement status if this year's state test scores continue to have shown improvement. Let's not forget the increase in test scores is due to our ability to maintain our low class sizes which provide individual attention to our children. It will be unlikely, we will continue to see an increase in state test scores next year not only because of our increase in class size, but also due to our intervention programs being cut.
This frightening occurrence with the bear and the way it was handled, including accusing our teachers, complied with actions within the past year are alarming. One can begin to wonder if "Students First!' continues to be our motto.
We understand that many parents are upset about several issues within our district, but unless parents and community members come forward to voice their concerns to the board members, we will continue down this path we are traveling. If your child's education is important to you, please take an hour or so to come to the school board meetings on the second Thursday of every month to ask questions and become informed. The school board was elected to make decisions on our behalf that will continue to affect our families for years to come, so it is extremely important to let them know what your concerns are.
If you are unable to attend our next board meeting held April 12th at 7:00 in Nuview Elementary's multipurpose room, we urge you to email Nuview's board members at the following email addresses-
Tommy Thompson, Board President tommythompson11@hotmail.com
Shari Lauda, Board Vice President spasl55@gmail.com
Christine Upton, Clerk of the Board d.thomasupton@yahoo.com
Bob McGinty, Member rmcginty@nuview.k12.ca.us
David McCabe, Member dmccabe@nuview.k12.ca.us
A parent meeting to discuss the issues within our district will be held at the beginning of next week, so if you would like to attend please reply with contact information so you can be given the time and location of the meeting when it is determined. If you are only able to attend one meeting please attend the board meeting to ask your questions, see things for yourself and become informed.
Please share this information with other families that have children on the district, so they too have the opportunity to ask questions and become informed. The voice of the parents and community is very a powerful one and very effective. Let's use our voice to protect our future!
Thank you
From: concerned parents of nuevo <concernedparentsofnuevo@hotmail.com>
Subject: Urgent! Extremely important update!
Date: April 11, 2012 12:44:02 PM PDT
Hello,
We are sorry to bother you once again, but we were just given an extremely important update.
At the board meeting tomorrow night, one of our classified staff will have a ballot to sign that will put a revised educational inititative on the voting ballot in November. Governor Brown contacted the California School Employees Association (CSEA) regarding this initiative and said this "was much better written than his was" and "if we can get the signatures, he will pull his and put this one on the voting ballot in November."
This initative completely funds education with a portion going to First Responders services. We need to collect at least 100 signatures by Monday, so if you are a registered voter in Riverside County please stop by to add your signature.
Also, part of the 59 classified to be pink slipped will be to transportation and preschool. It looks like at least half of our preschool staff and all of our entire transportation department will be cut after these pink slips are handed out. What does that mean for the new students coming in to a half day kindergarten class the following year? What does this mean for our sports teams or for our field trips?
Please stop by to sign this educational reform tax initative.
You can make a difference!
We are sorry to bother you once again, but we were just given an extremely important update.
At the board meeting tomorrow night, one of our classified staff will have a ballot to sign that will put a revised educational inititative on the voting ballot in November. Governor Brown contacted the California School Employees Association (CSEA) regarding this initiative and said this "was much better written than his was" and "if we can get the signatures, he will pull his and put this one on the voting ballot in November."
This initative completely funds education with a portion going to First Responders services. We need to collect at least 100 signatures by Monday, so if you are a registered voter in Riverside County please stop by to add your signature.
Also, part of the 59 classified to be pink slipped will be to transportation and preschool. It looks like at least half of our preschool staff and all of our entire transportation department will be cut after these pink slips are handed out. What does that mean for the new students coming in to a half day kindergarten class the following year? What does this mean for our sports teams or for our field trips?
Please stop by to sign this educational reform tax initative.
You can make a difference!
From: concerned parents of nuevo <concernedparentsofnuevo@hotmail.com>
Subject: Voting to pink slip 59 classified staff
Date: April 11, 2012 11:13:01 AM PDT
Hello,
This is a reminder that Nuview Union's board meeting will be held tomorrow in Nuview Elementary's mulitpurpose room at 7:00 p.m.
On the agenda, district employees (teachers, classified employees and administrators) will be recognized for their outstanding work during 2012 and the board will vote on giving 59 pink slips to classified staff. Classified positions are held by school office staff, cafeteria staff, classroom aides, school custodians, playground monitors etc. Once again, a cut at the level with whom our children come into contact with on a daily basis.
We understand time is valuable and it is difficult to attend each meeting, but these are important times within our district. The board members elected on our behalf, need to know your input and concerns in order to make the best decisions for your child/children. Please attend tomorrow evening or send the board an email expressing your views.
tommythompson11@hotmail.com
d.thomasupton@yahoo.com
dmccabe@nuview.k12.ca.us
spasl55@gmail.com
rmcginty@nuview.k12.ca.us
Thank you once again.
On the agenda, district employees (teachers, classified employees and administrators) will be recognized for their outstanding work during 2012 and the board will vote on giving 59 pink slips to classified staff. Classified positions are held by school office staff, cafeteria staff, classroom aides, school custodians, playground monitors etc. Once again, a cut at the level with whom our children come into contact with on a daily basis.
We understand time is valuable and it is difficult to attend each meeting, but these are important times within our district. The board members elected on our behalf, need to know your input and concerns in order to make the best decisions for your child/children. Please attend tomorrow evening or send the board an email expressing your views.
tommythompson11@hotmail.com
d.thomasupton@yahoo.com
dmccabe@nuview.k12.ca.us
spasl55@gmail.com
rmcginty@nuview.k12.ca.us
Thank you once again.
From: concerned parents of nuevo <concernedparentsofnuevo@hotmail.com>
Subject: Regarding the proposed elimination of transportation, the Vote of No Confidence and the renewal of the superintendent's contract
Date: April 25, 2012 5:42:48 PM PDT
Good evening,
This is a reminder about the Community Transportation Meeting being held tomorrow at 5:30 p.m in Simpson Hall. The proposed elimination of transportation will be the topic of discussion.
What does this mean for school field trips next year? Will the sports programs be affected? Will this affect Bridge High School? With the attempted kidnapping a few months ago and numerous sex offenders in our area, what can be done to ensure our students walking to or from school will be safe?
Are you aware that because Nuevo is considered rural, if the speed limit is not posted the legal speed limit is 55 mph?
Please attend to become informed about these proposed transportation changes.
In other news, Nuview Union's teachers held a preliminary Vote of No Confidence in regards to the superintendent with 96% of teachers voting YES. Although know this, the school board called a special board meeting yesterday morning at 8:00 a.m and renewed Mr. Linzey's contract for another 3 years.
Thank you
This is a reminder about the Community Transportation Meeting being held tomorrow at 5:30 p.m in Simpson Hall. The proposed elimination of transportation will be the topic of discussion.
What does this mean for school field trips next year? Will the sports programs be affected? Will this affect Bridge High School? With the attempted kidnapping a few months ago and numerous sex offenders in our area, what can be done to ensure our students walking to or from school will be safe?
Are you aware that because Nuevo is considered rural, if the speed limit is not posted the legal speed limit is 55 mph?
Please attend to become informed about these proposed transportation changes.
In other news, Nuview Union's teachers held a preliminary Vote of No Confidence in regards to the superintendent with 96% of teachers voting YES. Although know this, the school board called a special board meeting yesterday morning at 8:00 a.m and renewed Mr. Linzey's contract for another 3 years.
Thank you