Submitted by Anonymous
The letter was originally sent to Arizona Board of Education, but the parent was told the letter needed to be sent instead, to The Arizona Superintendent of Education. The email address for any other concerned parent, concerned about the level of education being received from the PUSD is here.
questions@azed.gov
Some of the more concerning “learning activities” suggested for the students to do, are in bold below.
To Whom It May Concern,
I have two children in the Payson Unified School District. A year and a half ago they changed to a four-day school week. In doing so, they did not build any snow days into the schedule in a region that does experience snow each year. This past week, unaware that a storm was in the forecast for the weekend, they did not send Chromebooks home with the elementary school children as they have in the past when a storm is expected. (Middle school and high school always have their Chromebooks with them.)
Monday (1/23/23) in the early morning hours, we did receive quite a bit of snow and roads were hazardous. I decided not to take my children to school due to the weather and the condition of the roads but I have friends who did. One of my friends slid into another car during the morning drop off and also saw another car slide into a school bus due to the unsafe condition of the roads. A little after noon, once the school district could count it as a school day, I received a text from the school indicating that buses would not run in the afternoon and to “please feel free to pick up your student early”. Please note, as of January 1st, 2023, buses are only provided for students living out of town. On Monday of last week, these students were taken to school on the bus but then parents/guardians were required to pick up their student(s) with very little notice.
I believe PUSD10 chose to keep school in session on Monday, January 23rd, simply to meet their minimum obligation of school days for the year. Furthermore, I do not believe the children of Payson are receiving an education that will make them competitive when they go to apply for universities or when they enter the job market. On a side note, at the end of the last semester, PUSD10 called a “remote learning day” due to a snow storm. When my children failed to login due to inadequate Wi-Fi at our home, I received a call from the school. The woman who called said my children simply needed to sign on using their school issued Chromebooks for a few minutes to get credit for the entire school day. Really? Is that considered an acceptable amount of time to learn anything or was PUSD10 simply trying to get credit for that day?
A four-day a week school schedule is not enough time in the classroom to learn all that they should be learning. Furthermore, considering “distance learning” as an adequate substitute for in-person education is a disgrace. With no other alternatives in Payson aside from homeschooling, I am begging you to please look into this. The schools are supposed to have the best interests of the children in mind and I believe PUSD10 is falling short. Worse yet, I believe they are willing to put the safety and education of our children at risk to maintain a four-day a week schedule. I respectfully ask that you look into whether or not PUSD10 is meeting their obligations to the community they are entrusted to serve.
PS: After I drafted the above email, PUSD10 called for a “remote learning day” on Tuesday, January 24, due to the weather. However, the elementary school students again did not have Chromebooks. Below is the copied email I received from Principal Yates at Julia Randall Elementary School. I ask you, how is it legal for the school district to consider this content a “remote learning day”? Is it unethical and even illegal for PUSD10 to receive funds for this content?
EMAIL FROM PUSD10 on 01/24/2023:
“Good morning, JRE Families!”
The District has called a remote learning day with a two hour delayed start time. Although Chromebooks did not go home with JRE students yesterday, here are a list of recommended learning activities for your child:
Reading: conduct three 20 minute reading sessions during the day. Read to an adult, read to a brother or sister, read to a pet or one of your animals, read to a neighbor, just read. What should you read? Everything! Read your library book, a recipe, the newspaper, an interesting website, etc.
Math: have kids time themselves making their bed or doing another other chore and record your time. Have your child time themselves getting ready in the morning–how long does it take to get dressed, make your bed, take a shower, brush your teeth, comb your hair, and get to the breakfast table? Cook something from a recipe, reading the recipe and measuring ingredients.
Practice math facts. Make a grocery shopping list and estimate the total cost of purchases, rounding to the nearest tens and hundreds. Record the temperature three times throughout the day and figure the change in temperature each time.
Writing: have your child write about their day, tell their teacher what they did, how they felt about it, and how you could make this day even better. Write about the chores they had or have to do each day. Write directions on how to make their bed, cook breakfast, brush their teeth, or make a sandwich.
Social Studies: Record the events of the day as if they are writing a historic account. Write about an interesting news article read online or in the newspaper. What was the article about? Who are the important people in the article? What happened that was important? Why should we know about this event?
Science: research snow. What has to happen in the atmosphere to make it snow? Why is there a layer of ice under the snow? By what time did it melt? Why did it melt?
Community Service: Help the family! Shovel snow, do an extra chore, check on a neighbor and shovel their snow.
Teachers will be available on Google Meets from 9:45 AM to 2:50 PM. Students are NOT required to log on; however, If you have a device at home, your child can log into their Google Classroom and access their teacher’s Google Meets to check in with teachers, ask questions, let them know how they are learning today, and connect with their classmates. All school and district events have been canceled including the JRE Spelling Bee. The Spelling Bee will be rescheduled for Wednesday, January 25.
Have a safe and warm remote learning day,
Kim Yates, Principal
EDITOR’S NOTE: Our very high property taxes pay teachers and administrators to fumble the ball on our kids?
A four-day school week is bad enough, and this adds insult to injury. It has been found a four-day school week typically saves districts a small—but not intangible—amount of cash. [13] Several years after adopting a four-day schedule, researchers have found, those districts saw slower rates of student progress than similarly situated districts that retained a five-day schedule. This coincides with studies done in the 80’s in child development where they found younger children’s learning capacity over longer periods of time each day was found to be counter productive verses a few hours a day consecutively. Year-round learning did improve the students’ level of understanding and retaining the lessons learned. [14]
Since Covid, Payson still has school playgrounds locked up tight and the public is not allowed to access the schools WE PAY FOR! We want access to OUR SHOOLS – after school, on Fridays, and holidays.
The public schools belong to the public, the taxpayers. It’s apparent those that choose to be “public servants” have amnesia about serving the people that pay their salaries. We need to remind them who they work for.
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