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Show VIEWPOINTS A-27 www.parkrecord.com Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, March 18-21, 2017 EDITORIAL New Kimball committee could pull together an unwieldy area T GUEST EDITORIAL School board, take a step back MEG LEAF Park City Over the last four years, the Park City School District has undergone intense change with dual language immersion (DLI), all-day kindergarten, removing 25 Reading and ESL instructors in grades 1 through 5, new curricula, new grading system, new testing and assessment tools. Currently waiting in the pipeline are: new start times, a high school expansion, new curriculum (again), grade realignment, new elementary school, maybe a second high school, and new 5th/6th grade school. Change is appropriate when fully understood and vetted, thoughtfully planned with stakeholders, and well executed across a timeline that works. Fundamental project management tools nicely pave the way. Our district leadership did not employ such care over the last four years, however, and, as a result, we lost quality in our classrooms and the ability to retain teachers. To precisely evaluate our losses in numbers and exact comparisons is nearly impossible, but the following information helps paint a picture about the state of our district. The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Editor Nan Chalat Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger Scott Iwasaki Bubba Brown Angelique McNaughton Griffin Adams Contributing writers Tom Clyde Jay Meehan Teri Orr Amy Roberts Steve Phillips Tom Kelly Joe Lair Interns Jessica Curley Emily Billow Copy Editor Frances Moody ADVERTISING Classified advertising Jennifer Lynch Office manager Tiffany Rivera Circulation manager Lacy Brundy Accounting manager Jennifer Snow Advertising director Valerie Spung Advertising sales Lori Gull Jodi Hecker Erin Donnelly Lisa Curley Photographer Tanzi Propst Production director April Hendrix Production Nadia Dolzhenko Ben Olson Patrick Schulz According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), during the 2011–2012 school year, 84 percent of public school teachers remained at the same school, 8 percent moved to a different school, and 8 percent left their jobs before the following school year. Two school districts comparable in size to ours (but larger) in Utah are Sevier and Uintah. Sevier district reported that an average of 18 teachers left their positions in the last three school years; 12 in a typical year. Uintah reported an average teacher retention rate of 85 percent over the last two school years. Palo Alto School District in California, which is over double the size of ours lost 136 teachers in the last two years (approximately 20 percent). PCSD currently has approximately 340 instructors (including classroom teachers and aides who teach our students). In the last three years, 172 (51 percent) of them were hired and subsequently left their positions. Of those, 29 (16 percent) resigned. During this same period, overall, 167 (49 percent) instructors vacated their positions. Of those, 98 (29 percent) resigned, 28 (8 percent) retired, and 20 (6 percent) were either terminated or non-renewed. We have had 189 (56 percent) instructional job openings since 07/21/2015. Last Fall, our teacher survey revealed serious concerns in two major categories: 1.) ineffective execution of strategy and decision making and 2.) limited organizational effectiveness. Results were clear. Notwithstanding pockets of excellence in our students’ education, the picture coming into focus here is one of frequent, hastily implemented program changes and seismic shifts in our instructional base over a short period of time. For a small district that pays teachers better than elsewhere in Utah and receives the highest amount of money per capita, we are hemorrhaging resources like none other. Consequences are not limited to dismal teacher retention rates, but include high student:teacher ratios (currently averaging 18-23:1 in our elementary schools after the promise of 18 or fewer, and 26.5 in our middle school), packed facilities, safety issues, wider gaps in achievement, lower SAGE scores, and less than ideal graduation rates. (According to 2015 national graduation rates published by The Hechinger Report, hechingerreport.org, Park City High School’s 87.0 percent graduation rate ranked in the lower 39.7 percent nationally, while 60.3 percent of high schools ranked above it.) Our district cannot move forward in achieving the educational excellence it promises without first looking back at the omens that predict otherwise. It must pull itself up by the bootstraps and overhaul our leadership team, starting at the top. For the record he Summit County Council is poised to appoint citizens to a new Blue Ribbon Committee to help devise a cohesive vision for the neighborhoods surrounding Kimball Junction. It is a great idea. The Junction, with its increasingly entangled shopping centers and interwoven residential complexes, is hard to characterize. The once sleepy intersection of Interstate 80 and State Road 224 is now a churning sea of commerce, an essential hub of economic activity for the entire county. It has also become, increasingly, an important source of affordable housing for both seasonal workers and young professionals seeking to get a foothold in an otherwise unattainable community. During the summer, Kimball Junction residents convene outdoors at the weekly outdoor concerts on the plaza and on the trails that thread through the new developments. However, on busy afternoons, especially during ski season, the area is bisected by a constant stream of vehicles and only a handful of pedestrians are brave enough to cross the roadways. The new committee members that councilors hope to pick next week will have an opportunity to envision a future for Kimball Junction as more than an interstate on-ramp, to help enhance existing amenities, and to advocate for more. The areas under their purview will include Redstone, Fox Pointe, Newpark, the Village at Kimball Junction, Park City Tech Center, High Bluffs (which includes Walmart), Canyon Corners, Tanger Outlets, Utah Olympic Park and just about everything in between. Once established, the committee needs to look no farther than Park City as a role model of a community that is working hard to ensure residents’ quality of life is the top priority. Last Wednesday, Park City residents gathered at an open house to look at plans for new municipal projects including plazas, sidewalks, affordable, new transit routes, parking management, special events, public art, recreation facilities and environmental initiatives. Imagine a committee dedicated to bringing the same sort of imaginative thinking to Kimball Junction! The Summit County Council is to be commended for taking a proactive approach to an unwieldy, unincorporated area. Now it is up to the residents there to participate. The council is hoping to enlist a cross section of business and property owners along with residents to dream up a bright and sustainable future for this vital area of the county. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR There’s no room for hate in Park City Editor: As I was on my way to work today, I saw a vehicle with messages on it that said “no room for hate” and “love all.” It was unexpected but heartwarming to see that. It was shortly after I got to work that I saw the article of the racist slurs written on a building at Aspen Villas. I am a resident of Aspen Villas. I am a Caucasian white female and live with two other Caucasian females. We are of the minority of our complex and we are absolutely fine with that. It broke my heart to see hateful messages could be made about my neighbors. This is their home. This is where they work hard to live and raise their families. I grew up in Park City and have loved to stay here. I was grateful to find a place that wouldn’t cost half of what I earned to stay in this city. It doesn’t matter your race, we should all get that same opportunity. I admire those of the community I live in. I see those out at 4 a.m. digging out our sidewalks after a crazy snowstorm. Or those that leave at 6 a.m. to get their kids to school and get to work. Those that come home in uniforms and go on walks with their kids and pets. I will never feel anything but love and respect for those that live in Aspen Villas. We may have different skin colors, but that will never matter. Love is what matters and having mutual respect for others. I have been in Park City for twenty years and I’m baffled by the hate I’ve seen in the past week between this incident and what happened at Java Cow. I just want all the residents of Aspen Villas and this community to know that we are one. This is a community of love and support. We are not a community of discrimination. Macael Ivie Aspen Villas resident A thank you note for Park City mayor and City Council Utah law will not keep drunk drivers off the road Editor: We, at EATS Park City, are delighted with the City Council of Park City’s declaration of March as Park City Nutrition Month. Our Mayor and City Council deserve praise for recognizing the importance of good nutrition in the health of our community and especially, our children. Bringing awareness of nutrition to the forefront of our city’s concerns is a major step toward reversing the growing trend toward obesity. In the United States, two thirds of all adults and one third of all children are either obese or overweight. In Utah, childhood obesity has increased from 16.9 to 21.3 percent over the last 20 years. Raising the community’s awareness and educating our children to recognize the wide variety of fresh, nutritious and appealing food contributes greatly to offsetting the pervasive advertising and availability of fast food and sugars. The city council’s action to highlight healthy food choices is a significant contribution toward maintaining the healthy, able lifestyle of the citizenry of Park City and Summit County. This action helps to create an environment that surrounds our young people with positive, healthy messages that reinforce what EATS Park City is promoting. All of us owe thanks to the City Council of Park City and our Mayor for their support and for this exceptional recognition of a communitywide effort to improve our lives. Well done and thank you Mayor Thomas and Council! Editor: Regarding The Park Record article, “Legislators opt to stiffen state’s DUI benchmark,” March 15, 2017, I have a few observations. 1. Governor Hebert states “An example of effective state regulation can be found with how Utah governs alcohol.” Really? Does anybody except the Temple quorum think that the Zion curtain has any effect? 2. There is a problem with our CDC 160-pound man, for whom three drinks would take him to .05. Drinking one after another, spreading the time out, eating at the same time? These are important factors. The statement in The Record from the CDC is all but meaningless. 3. Rules do not help deter the folks who like to get blasted. But for the rest of us, we have choices. We can purchase a personal bloodalcohol tester, check ourselves with a self-administered or friend-administered field sobriety test (see your doctor about this) or use Uber or Lyft. Blood-alcohol testers will never be found in public places due to high potential liability. But with individually-purchased units, the manufacturer will take the risk. Drunk driving takes a terrible toll on the victim and the intoxicated driver and cannot be taken even the least bit lightly. But Utah law does not and will not solve the problem. The solution is with the imbiber. Ann Bloomquist, Executive Director/Co-Founder EATS – Eat Awesome Things at School Robert S. Mindell, MD Heber City Get info, scores, play-by-play updates for Park City, North and South Summit high schools. Follow here for all things sports in Summit County. Photos by Rachel Jones Asked around town How did you decide to spend the winter while working in Park City? Margarita Hartung Huntsville, Alabama “My dad used to ski out here 25 years ago, and I asked him where’s the best place to ski, and right off the bat he said, ‘Park City, Utah.’ Because its some of the best powder snow he’s skied.” Chris Gómez Teaneck, New Jersey “I wasn’t ready to guide ice-climbing this winter, so I thought what else could I do? I really love snowboarding.” Carly Major Wilmette, Illinois “I was going through a transitional period in my life, had a small existential crisis, and found myself in Utah. I said, ‘Screw it. I’m going to be a ski instructor. I’m going to have fun’” Joshua Leard Loomis, California “[The] NAC (National Abilities Center) and Park City has a really good feel compared to some of the other ski towns I’ve lived in. It’s got a pulse to it. Its got everything that I love.” McCara Cullen Whitefish, Montana “I have family and friends in the area and they said Park City was an awesome place I would enjoy... I take and sell photos everyday on the mountain while getting to interact with guests.” See these photos and more by following The Park Record on Facebook.com/parkrecord and instagram.com/parkrecord |