News 10 Sacramento came out to interview us today. Coverage will be at 6pm so make sure to watch!
We are hoping more coverage on this issue will at the least bring answers. I will keep everyone updated as more media occurs. In the meantime, urge everyone to attend the community meeting this Wednesday at 6pm.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
School Board Meeting June 23rd
Four parents came to the school board meeting last night on June 23rd. We came emotionally charged as a bureaucracy was taking steps to ruin what is near and dear to so many. We had to fight to find the words to express our feelings without too much emotion and we spoke from our hearts. Our first parent to speak focused on the quality program we had based in Knights Landing; the questions of why the district is taking something so precious away from us as a community with no regards to the parents. He gave a general overview of the program and it was a moving and touching speech. It was a hard speech for me to follow afterwards. I could not have been more eloquent than he.
I spoke next, and I spoke mostly about the legalities of their decision to have us vacate without even a thirty day notice and possible estoppel by silence, putting us at a disadvantage by withholding information to our detriment. We have to believe that they knew their plan well in advance of June 20th. By keeping silent we lost time to find a new location and obtain licenses. I also directed them to their own budget agenda that night that called for no increase of expenditures as of this date. I tried to explain that hiring two unionized teachers in place of two salaried teachers with no benefits was not budget tightening. That starting up a program from scratch was an expensive undertaking and while they will move into our old room, they will have to purchase all of the supplies. I do not understand their reasoning logically, and we hope to hear the reasons soon.
Lastly, a parent spoke with passion about how we will keep the belly of child who is hungry full, will WJUSD do that? That we will clothe a child who is cold, will WJUSD do that? That we will provide gas money to a parent in need, will WJUSD do that? She asked if any of the members had been to Knights Landing, not simply passed through. Have they come to see our program? Have they gotten the chance to see what a success it is with their own eyes? I am not doing her speech justice, but it hit home and almost brought us to tears. You can't compete with what we have here, you can't come close.
Let me be clear that we heard that this decision to take over and turn KLCC into a state pre-school only was not made through the board. The faces of the board members showed shock and disappointment. I can only use conjecture to what they were thinking when we spoke. We don't know, but I do believe that there is support out there. I urge you to contact the members of the board to have them put this issue on the agenda and to figure out who made this decision and why. We need answers.
I spoke next, and I spoke mostly about the legalities of their decision to have us vacate without even a thirty day notice and possible estoppel by silence, putting us at a disadvantage by withholding information to our detriment. We have to believe that they knew their plan well in advance of June 20th. By keeping silent we lost time to find a new location and obtain licenses. I also directed them to their own budget agenda that night that called for no increase of expenditures as of this date. I tried to explain that hiring two unionized teachers in place of two salaried teachers with no benefits was not budget tightening. That starting up a program from scratch was an expensive undertaking and while they will move into our old room, they will have to purchase all of the supplies. I do not understand their reasoning logically, and we hope to hear the reasons soon.
Lastly, a parent spoke with passion about how we will keep the belly of child who is hungry full, will WJUSD do that? That we will clothe a child who is cold, will WJUSD do that? That we will provide gas money to a parent in need, will WJUSD do that? She asked if any of the members had been to Knights Landing, not simply passed through. Have they come to see our program? Have they gotten the chance to see what a success it is with their own eyes? I am not doing her speech justice, but it hit home and almost brought us to tears. You can't compete with what we have here, you can't come close.
Let me be clear that we heard that this decision to take over and turn KLCC into a state pre-school only was not made through the board. The faces of the board members showed shock and disappointment. I can only use conjecture to what they were thinking when we spoke. We don't know, but I do believe that there is support out there. I urge you to contact the members of the board to have them put this issue on the agenda and to figure out who made this decision and why. We need answers.
Who We Are
Knights Landing Children's Center is a non-profit organization created by the parents of Knights Landing who wanted quality early childhood education for their children. As parental involvement is a requirement of enrollment, it helps build a sense of community and camaraderie that is missing from most pre-school programs. In addition to quality curriculum and continued evidence-based instruction, we provide child care to help parents work. State pre-school is only a three hour instruction, leaving parents unable to find employment. As this community has a large migrant population, the closure of our program and institution of a state pre-school will leave many parents unable to find suitable daycare for their children.
When we discuss the cohesive environment that is unique to KLCC, we are talking about children from all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds being on a level playing field and interacting and creating friendships. Unfortunately, turning the program over into a state pre-school will not promote equality but rather segregation. I will mention that state pre-schools are notorious for being low quality, and we feel that by replacing a quality program with an inferior one, we are being insulted as a community.
As a program, we not only work on language skills with children, helping Spanish speaking students learn English skills, but we provide information to parents about nutrition, positive parenting, and the availability of community resources. As a community based program we also care about each and every family in a way that a bureaucracy cannot. We know when a family is in need and we take care of them.We have clothing swaps, food giveaways, we provide coats to children in need. We are more than a simple pre-school, we are an outstanding program dedicated to this community and see children as our future.
When we discuss the cohesive environment that is unique to KLCC, we are talking about children from all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds being on a level playing field and interacting and creating friendships. Unfortunately, turning the program over into a state pre-school will not promote equality but rather segregation. I will mention that state pre-schools are notorious for being low quality, and we feel that by replacing a quality program with an inferior one, we are being insulted as a community.
As a program, we not only work on language skills with children, helping Spanish speaking students learn English skills, but we provide information to parents about nutrition, positive parenting, and the availability of community resources. As a community based program we also care about each and every family in a way that a bureaucracy cannot. We know when a family is in need and we take care of them.We have clothing swaps, food giveaways, we provide coats to children in need. We are more than a simple pre-school, we are an outstanding program dedicated to this community and see children as our future.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
WJUSD closing another Knights Landing School, Pre-school Co-Op
Here we are again, getting slapped in the face as a community. The WJUSD is closing another school, another community resource.
Knights Landing Children's Center has been a beacon of outstanding early childhood education, combining both state pre-school and private pay children in a cohesive environment. Spanish speaking children playing with English speaking children, learning language skills and social skills in a unique environment that only we as a community can provide. Your question may be, why? Why would WJUSD close a program that is working when so many of their state pre-schools are failing? Good question!
Sadly, or predictably to this community at least, is that they won't answer. Call them, call the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, give it a try. They won't answer. Not only will they not answer, if you try too many times they will tell you to stop calling. They just don't care enough.
If you want to know the attitude the school district has for this community, let me illustrate the way we were informed. A letter dated June 20th was sent to the director and was two sentences long. It said we must vacate by July 15th and they will personally come to take the keys. The end. Is that fair notice? Can one evict with less than 30 days notice? Great legal questions that I am waiting for an attorney I know to answer. They might have shot themselves in the foot with that one.
It begs the question, why would they handle the matter in this fashion? Does it not reek of disrespect? Is our community respected at all or do they figure we don't have the brains or passion to fight this? I think you know the answer, and it's time to do something about it. Yes, the co-op is OURS as a community. We may have to move locations, find start up costs, fight to find scholarships for the children in need. Children deserve and need a quality pre-school program to be successful but apparently the WJUSD does not agree.
You may not have children of the age that this affects you in the least. But it does. These children are your neighbors, these children are our future of the community. I believe they deserve better, do you?
I urge you to voice your complaints and to show that we ARE a community that cares. The assumption that we don't needs to end today. Write letters to the district, call them with your complaints, help us move and find a suitable location, and donations will be needed. Please e-mail me and let me know what you can do to help. Let's band together on this issue and show what we are all about. A tiny town that is strong in community ties, strong in our belief that we deserve resources, a town that we enjoy and won't allow to be destroyed.
Knights Landing Children's Center has been a beacon of outstanding early childhood education, combining both state pre-school and private pay children in a cohesive environment. Spanish speaking children playing with English speaking children, learning language skills and social skills in a unique environment that only we as a community can provide. Your question may be, why? Why would WJUSD close a program that is working when so many of their state pre-schools are failing? Good question!
Sadly, or predictably to this community at least, is that they won't answer. Call them, call the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, give it a try. They won't answer. Not only will they not answer, if you try too many times they will tell you to stop calling. They just don't care enough.
If you want to know the attitude the school district has for this community, let me illustrate the way we were informed. A letter dated June 20th was sent to the director and was two sentences long. It said we must vacate by July 15th and they will personally come to take the keys. The end. Is that fair notice? Can one evict with less than 30 days notice? Great legal questions that I am waiting for an attorney I know to answer. They might have shot themselves in the foot with that one.
It begs the question, why would they handle the matter in this fashion? Does it not reek of disrespect? Is our community respected at all or do they figure we don't have the brains or passion to fight this? I think you know the answer, and it's time to do something about it. Yes, the co-op is OURS as a community. We may have to move locations, find start up costs, fight to find scholarships for the children in need. Children deserve and need a quality pre-school program to be successful but apparently the WJUSD does not agree.
You may not have children of the age that this affects you in the least. But it does. These children are your neighbors, these children are our future of the community. I believe they deserve better, do you?
I urge you to voice your complaints and to show that we ARE a community that cares. The assumption that we don't needs to end today. Write letters to the district, call them with your complaints, help us move and find a suitable location, and donations will be needed. Please e-mail me and let me know what you can do to help. Let's band together on this issue and show what we are all about. A tiny town that is strong in community ties, strong in our belief that we deserve resources, a town that we enjoy and won't allow to be destroyed.
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