UPDATE

Andy turned in the petition last night and the board seemed to take it seriously.

I gave my own remarks and submitted all of my questions, class size research and notes from my meeting with Principal Cole.

The board seemed unaware of the double classes, on paper it looks like 4 small classes. Dr. Kelley said she had the class lists there with her but saw no large ones.

My remarks

https://youtu.be/P-bWH5xz5o8

One parent from the Sarno class also attended, I saw no staff from Mann School.

Another parent met about this today with Principal Cole and told me superintendent Dr. Kelley dropped in to Mann.

The District Communications person said I should get a call about this by Friday from Dr. Amy Warke, who is the district's chief academic and accountability officer.

Principal Cole has indicated a slight willingness to me to reconsider a small class option--so please keep sharing your thoughts with her.

Again, we like Principal Cole, I think she has good intentions, we just really feel a small class is best for Nola.

Thanks everyone

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Notes from Mrs. Basney meeting with Principal Cole, 5/8/17

o In 2016 the 1 double and 2 single kindergarten classes

o 15/78 met their reading goal

o In 2017, 2 large classes, 31/79 are meeting their goal

Principal Cole to follow up with numbers on illnesses, absences and minutes in large vs small groups

o 36 times in 2016 kindergarten

o 21 times so far in 2017 kindergarten

 One teacher handle behavior

 Other teaches the class (38?)

22/155 parents responded to a survey—only 1 survey has been taken

 The results of the 22 were mixed

 Why the low response rate?

 Insufficient feedback

Current Longfellow co-teacher are enthusiastic about team teaching and coming to Mann next year. This is not common knowledge yet.

Other surveys include PBIS, not specific to co-teaching or class size

There is not data on year-over-year outcomes, parent opinions or how the students performed in later years.

________________________________

We are Robin and Andy Basney, parents of a 2nd grader and an incoming kindergartener.

We apologize for the urgency, we thought a small class experience would be available to our younger daughter.

Our older daughter had Mrs. Sarno for kindergarten. She had a small class and received resource teacher small group support in reading and speech. She had an excellent experience in kindergarten. Upon attending the Open House for Kindergarten last week, we learned of the double class only plan for next year.

After meeting with Principal Cole for over an hour, we do not feel the large class offerings are in the best interest of our daughter. We are requesting placement in a regular kindergarten class in another school in the district. Principal Cole was very professional and we've always liked her, so it feels awkward to have to push this to another level.

We think Mann should at least offer a regular class option, especially as the number of students with sensory needs is growing. There is a school board meeting tomorrow night and we feel we must speak about this need before the year ends and there is no platform for discussion or change.

All are welcome, public comment begins at 7:00. We would like to bring attention and resources to this issue by sharing a petition that other parents agree our school should offer kindergarten class options. Sometimes a petition is all that is needed for change.

We will not amend this wording in any way.

Please sign if you are a current Mann Parent or an incoming Mann parent and agree--you do not need to be a parent of an incoming kindergarten student.

If you have thoughts on this issue, please share them with Principal Cole and school board members.

Thank you.

______________

The Petition

We, the undersigned parents at Mann School, petition District 97 that our school offer at least one regular-sized kindergarten classroom environment. While some students are served well by the double class, others have sensory or learning needs best served in a traditional class, we feel it is important the option is available.