Meeting with Superintendent Tarzian

Today, Denise and I met with Superintendent Dawn Tarzian. I came prepared with two pages of prepared material. The first outlined our concerns and the second contained copies of the Oregon statutes that are in question.

This was what was on the first paper:

Points of Concern:
1. District 509J has failed to train their principals on bussing regulations.

At the 2007 Kindergarten Night at Adams School, Principal Pearson instructed the attending parents that there would be NO bussing provided for half-day kindergarten. When presented with information given to me by Kathy Rodeman (that bussing must be provided upon request), Principal Pearson responded that she had never been informed of such a policy.

2. District 509J charges tuition for 5-day full-day kindergarten programs. This appears to be a violation of OAR 581-022-0803(1) and ORS 339.141(3)(a).

If there is no clear distinction between the "classes or courses of study ... which are not a part of the regular school program" (as authorized ORS 339.141(2)), and the regular school program, then it must be assumed that the entire daily schedule fails into the regular school program. This distinction in the daily schedule is clear for the 3-day full-day program (allowing students to attend 2.5 days of the program). In speaking with kindergarten teachers, no such distinction appears to be made for the 5-day full-day program.

3. District 509J authorizes tuition waivers to a pre-determined number of students based on a random lottery. This appears to be a violation of ORS 339.147(1)(a,b)

Some students who qualify under 339.147(1)(a,b) are currently paying tuition for "courses not part of the regular school program".

Requests for Resolution

1. All 509J elementary principals be instructed regarding bussing policies. At a minimum, all parents of students in half-day programs should be informed that busses are available upon request.

2. If the district should choose to classify a portion of the 5-day full-day program as "classes or courses of study ... which are not a part of the regular school program", then it should allow open and free enrollment in that portion of the program that is classified as the "regular school program".

3. Allow open and free enrollment for ALL kindergarten programs for students who qualify under 139.147(1)(a,b). This policy should be explained clearly at the Kindergarten Night for each elementary school in District 509J.

I won't post the other page on the blog, because all I did was copy state laws from the appropriate websites. These were the quoted laws:

OAR 581-022-0803
(from http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/rules/
OARS_500/OAR_581/581_022.html)

ORS 339.141 and ORS 339.147
(from http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/339.html)

We were in Superintendent Tarzian's office for about a half hour. We had a very good talk. We felt like she was very interested in our concerns. We felt like she even agreed with us on most of the issues. As opposed to the meeting we had with Kathy Rodeman, we felt like Superintendent Tarzian wants to get this resolved and has to power to do so.

These were my notes on the things that Superintendent Tarzian promised us would happen
- Work with school to communicate the availability of the free programs. This should be the first option presented to the parents.
- Investigate the transportation problem.
- Create a full menu of choices for parents who have children with differing needs and developmental interests.

Superintendent Tarzian said that it was her understanding that the district needed to provide bussing at the end of each regular school program, and that she would get back to me on this issue within 24 hours.

She said she would try to get back to me on the other two issues by the end of the week.