Climate, safety surveys in
Guilford County Schools employees gave Guilford County Schools a fair grade during a climate survey administered in February and March. On a scale of 1 to 4 (4 being strongest), the district received in the 2.5 to 3.5 range in the caterogies of workplace environment, facilities, goals and leadership, employment, professional growth and development and value and appreciation.
Eric Becoats of Guilford County Schools will update the board on climate and student safety surveys taken this year. You can read the report on the agenda and more in Tuesday's paper.
Becoats will also speak about the student safety survey, which was administered online to 5 percent of middle and high school students. About 16 percent of the respondents reported being in at least one fight during the school year; 23 percent were bullied and 39 percent had "hate" words used against them.
You may remember us reporting June 1 that the number of gang-related incidents reported at schools had gone up from last year. Well, 52 percent of students in the survey said there are gangs at their schools.
Comments (11)
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Morgan and Jennifer,
Last night during the board's vote on the Mission Possible training, Deena Hayes abstained. Someone told me that she allegedly works for the company that provides this training. Do you know if this is true?
Posted on June 27, 2006 9:10 AM
Numbers,
Deena is a trainer for the People's Institute, which I believe is the one handling this round of training. However, back in 2005, she told us that she does not do any Guilford County training.
Posted on June 27, 2006 9:50 AM
....and so the Cycle of Back Scratching Kick Backs continue in the Guilford County School system....
No Wonder Deena has taken the Pressure off of Grier,,,,,,with the Minority Contractor Scam and the Racial Work Shop Scam going at the same time,,,,she has to be careful not to step on the wrong toes.....
Posted on June 27, 2006 9:59 AM
On a scale of 1-4, I give Deena a 1. Normally I give liars a zero, but in this Feel Good School System, a zero is not possible.
Posted on June 27, 2006 11:28 AM
Hey Banned, actually no one can be a "4" then either because it would imply someone is clearly superior.
How about 2.5?
Or I think Curlee of the 3 Stooges once wore something with 7/8 on it.
Posted on June 27, 2006 3:23 PM
The People's Institute is the same group that does the "Undoing Racism" workshops.
Hmmmm, did Deena abstain from votes on those workshops? As a "trainer" for these workshops, there is a conflict of interest everytime GCS hires this group. I still have a hard time believing that the problems of GC can all boil down to race relations, but regardless, it seems odd that we keep seeing Deena's hand in the pot. She better take it out before it gets burned.
Posted on June 27, 2006 5:20 PM
If Deena is a trainer, ( I do not know but I will inquire) she probably would NOT be getting any monetary compensation. This group has mostly volunteers that facilitate workshops. That is the norm for this type of work. Just FYI.
On the issue of gangs in schools... the Guilford County Council of PTAs in cooperation with the Greensboro Police Dept., Youth Focus and GEA are planning workshops on Gang awareness. ( We already had our first meeting on May 30th)
We do have gangs in our schools. Right now, principals are still denying this. This denial is not helpful.
We need to address the issues of safety and school climate at our middle and high schools. We have not done that in any meaningful way so far. We also do not have an action plan for dealing with known gang members at school. We need one.
A five percent participation could not be considered statistically significant. If you want significant participation, you administer the survey at school by allowing time during the school day. If it is truly important for you to gather the data, you would do it that way.
Does GCS really want to know what the students and staff think? If they did, I believe they would collect it in a more efficient and focused manner. And if they collect the data, then they are responsible for it.
Maybe they do not want to really collect accurate data because they do not want to be accountable to do something about it.
Just a thought.
Posted on June 27, 2006 11:14 PM
.
Posted on June 28, 2006 12:37 AM
Terrina,
You are absolutely right! When I taught on the west coast where gang were and still are prevalent, we were required to attend seminars and workshops on gang awareness. The school districts and local law enforcement banned together to educate everyone on the issues. We were given information on gang clothing, signals, etc. After all how can you fight back if you don't even know what or who you are fighting, and to add insult to injury, have our administrators deny that there is a problem?
Posted on June 28, 2006 8:27 AM
A 5% survey is a joke. Apparently GCS does not want to hear what is going on.
Deny, Deny, Deny.....It is easier that way.
Re Deana. Even if it is not personal monetary compensation it still is pushing an agenda for friends who may benefit in a monetary way. Not unlike pushing minority contracts when your husband is a contractor getting many of the jobs. It is using a political positon to get what you want. There is an ENTIRE school district out there with needs. Not just black children.
Posted on June 28, 2006 8:39 AM
Terrina,
So these Gang Awareness Workshops will be geared towards Principals? Are you sure they're in denial, or just that they have a gag order hanging over their heads? Don't be so quick to judge.
We don't need "Awareness" clinics, we need alternative schools for the thugs. Your PTA and the Police dept. should be encouraging GCS administrators to allow pricipals to expell the offenders. Most are already "aware" Terrina. Take your Nanny 911 methods and HELP the principals instead of bad-mouthing them.
Posted on June 28, 2006 3:38 PM