|
|
 |
Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
BH doesn't renew popular teacher's contract
By Jessica Robertson
Baytown Sun Published March 29, 2007 Barbers Hill trustees chose this week not to renew the contract of a popular special education teacher at the intermediate school.
Donna Hall, who has worked with dyslexic and special needs students in the district for three years, was told Monday night that she wouldn’t be coming back to her job at the campus next year. The decision came as a disappointment to the crowd assembled at the board meeting to support Hall.
“It’s amazing that they wouldn’t renew her contract,” said parent Jamie Mudd, whose 12-year-old son has worked with Hall for the last two years. “Why in the world would you possibly not have this teacher come back to this wonderful job that she’s been doing?”
Mudd’s son has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and has benefited from the extra attention Hall lavished on her students.
“She’s one of those teachers that the kids just love,” Mudd said. “You can get 100 different stories of how wonderful she is and how she’s helped a child go from point A to point B.”
Hall, 53, has filed a grievance with the district and will address the school board in a closed meeting next month with the hopes of having them renew her contract.
“I should be given more consideration and more of an opportunity to express myself to the board and have them listen,” Hall said.
Since she was hired, Hall has been employed as a probationary teacher — a position with no guaranteed entitlement to continued employment within a district.
Still, Hall suspects that the decision not to renew her contract stemmed from a few “difficult moments” she’s had with other teachers and the school’s principal, Barbara Ponder.
After a meeting where she corrected a teacher for referring to dyslexic curriculum modifications as “crutches,” Hall said she was reprimanded and became “unpopular” with administration.
“It probably had the flavor of being unprofessional, and I realize that,” she said. “But when students are severely dyslexic, they need to have one-on-one time or small group time at least three or four times a week.”
Hall is the only member of the special education staff that is certified to teach dyslexic students, although two other language arts teachers are trained in the modification methods.
Hall excelled in modifying curriculum to fit her students’ diverse needs, Mudd said, recalling one assignment where she had students practice reading skills by performing a play.
“It was amazing to watch these kids that would be very quiet and shy and not very articulate come to life by being able to pronounce words and show emotion,” she said.
Another parent, Kim Davis, applauded Hall’s work with her son, 11-year-old Tommy, who has moderate-to-severe dyslexia.
“She’s got him giving speeches in front of the class, which you never would have thought somebody with dyslexia would do,” she said. “She’s made him feel like everybody else, that he’s no different.”
On her own time, she said, Hall created a special reading club for students with learning problems that would meet every Tuesday after school.
Several parents wanted to address the board before a decision was made, but weren’t able to speak until after trustees reconvened from a closed session, where they discussed staff contracts.
“Instead of listening to parents at the meeting, they went directly into their closed session,” Mudd said. “As a parent and a taxpayer, it was like, wow. That said to us that it did not matter if we had anything else to say to them.”
The packed agenda — which included the approval of former Goose Creek administrator Tom Holland as Barbers Hill High School principal and the decision to establish a district alternative campus and police department — required the board to go into executive session before allowing public comment, superintendent Greg Poole said.
State law allows governing boards to discuss personnel issues privately, but any action must be voted on in an open session.
“The board accepted the superintendent’s personnel report unanimously,” Poole said.
The grievance hearing next month will give Hall the opportunity to present her case to board members, he said, who will be allowed to respond and make a final decision on her contract.
Baytown Sun Published March 29, 2007 Barbers Hill trustees chose this week not to renew the contract of a popular special education teacher at the intermediate school.
Donna Hall, who has worked with dyslexic and special needs students in the district for three years, was told Monday night that she wouldn’t be coming back to her job at the campus next year. The decision came as a disappointment to the crowd assembled at the board meeting to support Hall.
“It’s amazing that they wouldn’t renew her contract,” said parent Jamie Mudd, whose 12-year-old son has worked with Hall for the last two years. “Why in the world would you possibly not have this teacher come back to this wonderful job that she’s been doing?”
Mudd’s son has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and has benefited from the extra attention Hall lavished on her students.
“She’s one of those teachers that the kids just love,” Mudd said. “You can get 100 different stories of how wonderful she is and how she’s helped a child go from point A to point B.”
Hall, 53, has filed a grievance with the district and will address the school board in a closed meeting next month with the hopes of having them renew her contract.
“I should be given more consideration and more of an opportunity to express myself to the board and have them listen,” Hall said.
Since she was hired, Hall has been employed as a probationary teacher — a position with no guaranteed entitlement to continued employment within a district.
Still, Hall suspects that the decision not to renew her contract stemmed from a few “difficult moments” she’s had with other teachers and the school’s principal, Barbara Ponder.
After a meeting where she corrected a teacher for referring to dyslexic curriculum modifications as “crutches,” Hall said she was reprimanded and became “unpopular” with administration.
“It probably had the flavor of being unprofessional, and I realize that,” she said. “But when students are severely dyslexic, they need to have one-on-one time or small group time at least three or four times a week.”
Hall is the only member of the special education staff that is certified to teach dyslexic students, although two other language arts teachers are trained in the modification methods.
Hall excelled in modifying curriculum to fit her students’ diverse needs, Mudd said, recalling one assignment where she had students practice reading skills by performing a play.
“It was amazing to watch these kids that would be very quiet and shy and not very articulate come to life by being able to pronounce words and show emotion,” she said.
Another parent, Kim Davis, applauded Hall’s work with her son, 11-year-old Tommy, who has moderate-to-severe dyslexia.
“She’s got him giving speeches in front of the class, which you never would have thought somebody with dyslexia would do,” she said. “She’s made him feel like everybody else, that he’s no different.”
On her own time, she said, Hall created a special reading club for students with learning problems that would meet every Tuesday after school.
Several parents wanted to address the board before a decision was made, but weren’t able to speak until after trustees reconvened from a closed session, where they discussed staff contracts.
“Instead of listening to parents at the meeting, they went directly into their closed session,” Mudd said. “As a parent and a taxpayer, it was like, wow. That said to us that it did not matter if we had anything else to say to them.”
The packed agenda — which included the approval of former Goose Creek administrator Tom Holland as Barbers Hill High School principal and the decision to establish a district alternative campus and police department — required the board to go into executive session before allowing public comment, superintendent Greg Poole said.
State law allows governing boards to discuss personnel issues privately, but any action must be voted on in an open session.
“The board accepted the superintendent’s personnel report unanimously,” Poole said.
The grievance hearing next month will give Hall the opportunity to present her case to board members, he said, who will be allowed to respond and make a final decision on her contract.