[CALIBK12] Ed Code and Volunteers

Fri Jun 6 09:45:07 PDT 2008

Jo,

I can't agree with you more.  It might seem harsh to close our doors, but
that is the only way to get the point across.  We keep trying to do with
less and it has gotten us nowhere.  Our district has always had 1 teacher
librarian for 8 elementary schools, 1 in each of the 3 middle schools and 1
in each of the 2 high schools.  This year the superindentent has proposed 1
TL for each grade level.  He seems to think that the same level of service
will be offered with clerks in each of the schools.  Our only hope is that
the board will vote against him.  After 11 years in this district I am
seriously considering taking a position elsewhere instead of working in 3
schools. When is ed code going to address certificated positions being
filled by classified staff?

Thanks for your thoughts - I do think we need to stand up for what we know
is best for our kids.

Sheryl Grabow-Weiss
A.E. Wright Middle School
Las Virgenes Unified School District

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 8:41 AM, <carsonj at mdusd.k12.ca.us> wrote:

>
> Heidi:  I can make a case for closing a library part of the day rather that
> using volunteers in place qualified staff.  Having worked as a parent
> volunteer
> for 7 years, as a library tech for 5 years and now as a fully credentialed
> librarian for 10 years, I believe it is bad practice to use parent
> volunteers
> to replace employees who have been layed- off.  As a volunteer, I worked
> with
> paid staff only to help with check out (before automation) when classes
> came
> in, read shelves, shelved books and served as an extra pair of eyes.  I use
> volunteers now 45 minutes a day to cover the time when I go to lunch.
> Voluteers do none of the instruction or library technical work.  This year
> I
> have been cut to 80%.  I will be teaching a class one period a day.  The
> library will remain closed during 7th period.I will teach a course I
> designed 3
> years ago when I was cut 40% and taught 2 periods a day...Information
> Literacy.
> It may sound harsh to close the library, but our kids need full time fully
> trained library media teachers.  If we make do with volunteers and give the
> appearance that everything is running smoothly, there is no incentive to
> hire
> professionals with the proper credentials.  The concern is not just about
> loss
> of employment.  It is the students who lose out over the long term by not
> getting a proper education from a fully credentialed library media teacher.
> Check the statistics...surveys in (I think it us up to 18 states now...
> Lance/Loertcher) demonstrate that schools who employee fully credentialled
> Library Media Teachers score higher on standardized tests. I have been
> teaching
> my Information Literacy course for 3 years now...one year on my own and two
> years in collaboration with a classroom teacher.  Next year I will be
> on my own
> again.  Seventh grade  teachers tell me that research projects they
> assign seem
> to go more smoothly in 7th grade for those students who took my course in
> 6th
> grade.  They tell me it makes their job much easier.
> Just my two cents.
> Jo Carson, LMT
> Pleasant Hill Middle School.
>
> Quoting Heidi Snively <hsnively at manhattan.k12.ca.us>:
>
> > http://law.onecle.com/california/education/35021.3.html
> >
> > When the library positions were reduced in our district a few years
> > ago, I did desire that parent volunteers be allowed to assist me.  I
> > was able to retain the use of volunteers even though my paid employee
> > hours were reduced because I had proof of established past practice
> > of heavy volunteerism in the library by showing all the years of
> > volunteer sign-in sheets.
> >
> > It certainly is a fine line; on the one hand, if the service is
> > valued and desired, the employee deserves to be retained and paid for
> > the desired service.  On the other hand, who ultimately suffers?  The
> > kids, of course, when the doors of the library are locked, and no one
> > wants to see that.
> >
> > Heidi Snively
> > Library Media Specialist
> > Grand View Elementary School
> > Manhattan Beach Unified School District
> >
> > hsnively at manhattan.k12.ca.us
> > 310-546-8022 x5404
> >
> > http://www.grandviewlibrary.info/ <http://www.grandviewlibrary.info/>
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> >
> > From: Liana Smith [mailto:SmithLiana at dublin.k12.ca.us]
> > Sent: Thu 6/5/2008 3:42 PM
> > To: calibk12 at listproc.sjsu.edu
> > Subject: [CALIBK12] Ed Code and Volunteers
> >
> >
> >
> > The Media Technicians (classified position) in my school district
> > will be reduced next year to some degree or another. It could be
> > anywhere from 1/2 hour per day to 1 1/2 hours per day. Most of the
> > principals are going to request funding from our local parent group
> > (PFC). One principal said he was going to ask parent volunteers to
> > make up the shortage instead of funding it. I mentioned to the Media
> > Tech at that site that we are officially having a layoff of hours and
> > that it is against Ed Code to staff any part of a position with
> > volunteers. Is this correct and where in Ed Code is this addressed?
> > She said that he would need proof of where this is stated.
> >
> > Thanks so much for the help.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Liana de Wit-Smith
> > Fallon School (K-8) Library Media Technician
> > 3601 Kohnen Way
> > Dublin, CA 94568
> > (925) 875-9376 ext.6308
> > http://www.dublin.k12.ca.us/Fms/index.htm
> > "What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it feels
> > about education"
> >
> > ~ Harold Howe, former Secretary of Education
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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