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Messages - Counselor
1
« on: October 18, 2014, 05:28:05 PM »
With all of the work they have done the past two years, they have inadvertently turned 128 into a raceway. Cars pass WAY too fast including in terrible driving conditions. I used to travel it every day and now mostly avoid it, choosing the slower, bumpier and safer Woods Hollow Road on my way to work. I will see what it is like when the snow flies, but I have a feeling it wont be much better. Gone are the days of courteous driving as everyone is in it for themselves. No one even pays attention anymore to how to navigate a 4 way stop even. If its clear, GO! never mind if it is not even your turn ...
2
« on: October 14, 2014, 05:58:07 PM »
I would have to say that if there was a "best" it would be the honey produced in the fall as it generally has the most hay fever producing pollens/ nectar in it ... Ragweed, Golden Rod etc. I have several jars, but this was a bad fall honey crop in terms of production for me.
3
« on: September 25, 2014, 04:28:29 PM »
Comb honey is meant to be eaten as a whole. Spread it on toast or take a spoonful and chew it up like a natural gum. Feel free to swallow the wax, it won't hurt you. If you want local honey NOT in the comb, PM me and I can make sure you get some.
4
« on: August 26, 2014, 06:15:05 PM »
Perhaps I am a bit biased, but we have a fine library that provides our community with many different services, most important being, perhaps, instilling a love of books and reading in our children! My mum, who read to all of us as soon as she could prop us up on a chair, would have been thrilled at the amazing reading done by our kids!
We need to be proud and biased  of our library and kids. In a day and age where so many have their heads in video games, too few seem to be drawn to the imaginative, creative, fun world of books. I know that comparatively speaking only a small number of school aged kids participated, but having the resource in the community library to get, house, organize, support etc all our readers is amazing. I LOVE watching my daughter make up stories and I love being biased and bragging about our community library. Though maybe small in stature, it is quite large in the community it serves, especially when so many other community libraries are closed more than open and much smaller. I think we have a library, staff and community support that even Ben Franklin would be proud of. (BTW - he was the founder of the first public library.)
5
« on: August 21, 2014, 06:41:23 PM »
That is awesome! Thanks for another great year/ summer of reading in the Library. Our daughter LOVES going to the Library every saturday to pick new books!
Cheers!
6
« on: August 02, 2014, 06:02:54 PM »
Indeed! A ton of fun was had by my family and we are already talking about making sure we are in town next year so we can do this again
7
« on: May 29, 2014, 11:07:47 AM »
Was not saying that people were petty etc, was just pointing out that (and there is a post or two that have been deleted from this thread) the message about salaries, unions etc being a burden to the community/schools (and I am paraphrasing a post no longer here to cite properly) MAY NOT have been the ONLY message the two voted down budgets sent to the community.
I also pointed out the need for fiscal responsibility and appropriate spending. As such, I do NOT think a bus needs to be a part of my school budget. Let it be a separate item. A new bus is a luxury item, just as new technology is. How much does a new bus cost in relation to another faculty member. If amortized over time the two are similar, I would vote for smaller classes than newer transportation. Heck, I would even be in favor of limiting the bus runs which may even force ME to provide my own children with transportation to the school which i OK with me if certain other responsible decisions are made.
Again, I was not saying that people WERE petty, just that it may have possibly been just one of MANY messages the school received ... Fiscal responsibility as well as providing high quality teaching is key to all of this and that is what we need to advocate for and support.
8
« on: May 28, 2014, 08:47:09 PM »
What I mean is more people came out to vote then the past 2 votes. My other point is the budget should not be passed when their are obvious cuts that were made after they took a closer look. So if it passed the first time around we as tax payers would have been paying for things that were not needed as discussed in the posted new budget plan. I believe their is still more work to do to continue to be fiscal responsible and always look at effective ways to keep costs down while giving the children an adequate education without the main focus on teacher benefits and union demands over the children's education.
How is this possibly the only message that was sent? What about the message that the community wanted to be petty and vindictive against educators? What about the message that we simply need to be fiscally responsible, period. Its not always about salaries, unions etc. Sometimes the increase in cost is simply about good quality education. The message we send should be about supporting just that, good, high quality education without the divisiveness.
9
« on: May 24, 2014, 05:07:35 AM »
I questioned before & I question again: why another kindergarden teacher when enrollment shows a few years back we had more children than we do now in elementary than we do now; guess I'd like to see the enrollment for the class now & what it is projected to be. I could not attend the meeting due to other commitments but I have been attending when possible, following & voting. But I need to say the board has made every effort & made cuts; kudos to you who are so dedicated!
I am not sure of the exact numbers, but there are a couple issues at work. First the board has set a max on the number of students in kindergarten BEFORE they hire a new teacher. That number was 65 I believe spread among 3 teachers. They have passed that number this year and each teacher currently has or has over 22 students. Though each class currently has a classroom aid, it is still a very large number for Kindergarten. I don't know for 100% sure, but I do not think they are increasing overall staff, just reassigning a third grade teacher who would like to work with that team. Again, I could be wrong in this last piece. 22 students in kindergarten though, quite a large number.
10
« on: April 26, 2014, 08:15:35 PM »
Thanks! much appreciated.
11
« on: April 23, 2014, 05:43:29 PM »
If they are new and in decent shape I will take them.
12
« on: April 22, 2014, 03:22:27 PM »
I haven't been keeping up on the SelectBoard meetings. Why did the Town sell two parcels recently?
They were tax delinquent two years. After the second year the town can sell it at auction to recoup the taxes ... and more. There were actually four properties sold last Feb. Not sure the status of them all now, but once it is "sold" the original owner has a year to reclaim the property by paying the back taxes etc.
13
« on: April 19, 2014, 11:56:08 AM »
Mortgage lifter is different than the mortgage breaker. Unfortunately I cannot find these seeds or plants.
I am checking into this with some friends on my favorite tomato board. So far, the experts weighing in are saying that these are both the exact same tomato that had its name changed somewhere along the way. We have posed a question in the Seed Savers Exchange organization and I will report out what we find there. Seed savers Exchange is a great place to shop and you can often ask for things that may not be listed as there a 100's of growers that contribute ... This kind of thing happens quite a lot, where someone saves seeds from something they grew, forgot the real name, or save the seeds from a unique fruit they grew from a tomato with a history like Mortgage Lifter and then re-name it something close and then distribute seeds under the new name. If they are different and I can get seeds I will start a few for you or save them and start them for next year, your call but I will let you know what I find out. For now, here is a link to my favorite tomato database. There are upwards of 10,000 varieties cataloged here. The only listing Tatiana has here is for Mortgage Lifter. there are a couple different strains and colors, but they are all "Lifter". nothing listed for "Breaker". http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Main_Page
14
« on: April 15, 2014, 05:09:55 PM »
I agree with Mr. Hibbard on this point:
"Also, if a budget is voted down by voters, that is a sign. Our board did not take that seriously. The position taken was that if they made a minor change, their supporters who did not voted would come out and support them. They need to wake up and put together program costs and suggest meaningful options. Cutting utility estimates and positions that weren't staffed anyway are not real cuts when you're adding a position the costs more than all the suggested cuts combined. It's not worth debating costs if they don't take a hard look at costs."
We just cannot cut salaries. As an educator, I am very good at my job, I treat the kids as if they are my own, I love them, I am on committees, stay late at work often, take work home with me often, work on the weekends, work every single summer, buy materials with my own money, take the required (and mandatory) professional development courses, have taken pay cuts and pay freezes, etc. On behalf of others like me, please do not lump all of us together in the 'hate' pile. Of course there are teachers who don't work as hard as others, it is the same in every single profession, every single job.
As far as merit pay, here are my thoughts: I would never blame my mechanic if my car died (he told me to change the oil), I would never blame my dentist if I got a cavity (he told me to brush and floss), I would never blame the firefighters for not saving a house on fire (family was told to clean the chimney) so I am wondering why would people blame teachers if their child fails? Teachers cannot be held responsible for what happens once children leave the walls of the school. Are they getting a good night's sleep? Are they eating well? Are they doing their homework? Are the parents reading to them, asking questions, engaging them in social activities? Not quite sure why we blame teachers all the time.
Before we revoted last Thursday I wondered if anyone else had questions about the proposed $85K position. I didn't read any comments about that so can only assume it is ok with the townspeople. It's not ok with me. Has anyone else looked at the FWSU budget? I was curious and saw that regarding the Business Office, salaries in 2012 were $120,586, in FY'15- $196,767. Continuing Ed/Conf 2012-$928. FY'15-$3000. Mileage '12-$1528, FY'15 $2000, Conferences - '12-$136, FY'15-$3000 (how is this different than Cont Ed/Conf?) Mileage Reimbursement 2014-$2000. Supt. Office budget for Conferences Expenses- $3000. , Continuing Ed $2000. Membership Dues $5000. (would like more info on this), equipment/furniture $1250. (is it really that bad?), Student Support Services Dir - $2000 in mileage reimbursement, $2000 for conference expenses, Curriculum Coordinator- mileage reimbursement of almost $3000.
Just a reminder that our tax money goes toward Central Office budget as well. Perhaps we could look there for cuts that could be made. School based positions that are not needed should be eliminated. More questions need to be asked.
In a district with a supervisory union, the issue of District Office expenses is a WAY more valid argument at THIS time than teacher salaries. Special Education costs are also a HUGE portion of any school budget. As is pointed out here, there are significant savings to be found with in the SU budget w/o solely looking at salaries. Most of your teachers here in Fairfax, live in fairfax and essentially pay portions of their own salaries. Those of you who have not had significant pay raises, do you get paid, only to have to pay taxes in order to pay your salary? The issue of a separate line item for the purchase of a school bus has not come up at all now that is has been lumped into the overall school budget. If this is eliminated and voters allowed to choose to support this expense separately, I would imagine significant savings would be realized. Blindly looking for the easy answer (salaries) is ... well ... easy. Most of us are fans of some sports team, are we walking away from those allegiances when an athlete who plays A GAME is paid nearly 300 MILLION dollars? Education is essential to our nations continued progress. A game ... not so much. Do we need to find alternatives and have difficult conversations about finding, Yup. Is this the time to point to just salaries? I do not believe so. Don't take the easy path and point fingers. Stand up, participate, assist in working to find solutions ... did not a teacher teach you, that change can happen even if it is difficult? Just my .02...
15
« on: April 15, 2014, 04:50:33 PM »
MKR- As a collector of OP and Heirloom tomatoes/seeds (over 300 varieties), I believe that these are actually the same variety, just a different name. Great tasting variety that can regularly get well over a pound. As this is a readily available commercial variety, I do not have seeds or plants, but perhaps Red Wagon in Hinesburg or Depot Home and Garden in Essex have plants. Here is a link for Bonnie with a bit of history. Looks like they are a national retailer so Wal-Mart and Home Depot may have these too. http://bonnieplants.com/products/new-for-2012/mortgage-lifter-heirloom-tomato
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