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What are Kennedy's biggest concerns?; Tell us
Topic Started: Oct 23 2005, 04:12 PM (1,463 Views)
grantmom
Principal
QUOTE (Guest @ Oct 26 2005, 10:02 PM)
Yeah Kennedy Parent! I, too, agree that this is not so bad! Our kids get instrumental music back and foreign language in addition to computer classes. I'm happy that the Demographic's Committee found a way to save the money needed to keep the district afloat and they offered fifth and sixth graders MORE! Kennedy gets to keep its neighborhood school...but we do have to bus our kids in 5/6. We can't always expect "someone else" to pay the price. The plan looks fair to me.

Let's be positive! For our kids sake.



I just wonder how Kennedy parents would feel about the K-4 proposal had the boundries been different and they would have been slated to go to Cooper/Emerson/Franklin? Since Churchill stayed their High School they seem to be fine with this proposal. Talk to me if I'm wrong about this.
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kennedy dad
Kindergarten
[ * ]
Being a life long Livonia resident (40 years) and a product the C'ville district I am proud my kids are in the LPS system. I must admit that when I first heard of all the changes several months ago my biggest concern was the boundry changes and the possibility of not being in the Church Hill district.

I was not to concerned about Kennedy closing, that didn't even cross my mind for some reason. Kennedy is a great school that one of my daughters had already went through and another one is currently in 2nd grade. The teachers are great as well as the parents.

As others feel I do not like the idea of my youngest riding a bus for 5th and 6th so far. But I do feel the benefits out weigh the negitive feeling I had with the bus ride. I really like the idea that my daughters 5th grade class will be her graduating class in high school, that for me is a huge bonus. Plus the addition of music and language classes.

So I would have to honestly say that since this does not affect my family I am in support of it. But again, I would have to honestly say that if it were Kennedy closing I would feel much different. If it were Kennedy closing though we wouldn't have much choice other than to accecpt it and make it work for the kids.

I do have family and there kids are in Adams and understand there anger and frustration. I feel bad for them and all the parents that this affects. Plus the problems that come with a vacant building in your neighborhood.

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Anna Krome
Principal
Folks, I really appreciate your comments. There is lots to see and learn on this forum and the website. For example,

There are conversation streams which explain that the extra programs are not what you think they are. Recess will be eliminated, which is proven to be essential for young children (kids get more excercise on the playground than in gym--fact). The language class only entails 45 min. a week/canvassing 4 languages for about 10 to 20 weeks. Parents who have had these programs did not think they are "worth" much, at all. The kids do not learn to speak a foreign language. As for music, it is again a gloss over.

Two years ago, the Board cancelled these programs and they will most likely chop them as soon as they perceive they need to. First to go again.

Home values usually drop 10% when your local school closes. So, everyone is really affected.

The demo committee consisted of only 35 people (5 who were Board members). This is a large majority of adminstration, who obviously must tow the line and cannot honestly do things independently. Half of the committee does not live in Livonia and cannot be vested in such a major overhaul because it does affect them.

And, how can the Board honestly vote, when 5 of them obviously support the findings they were involved in creating.

No cost has been established, except that it will costs several million to get this plan up and running and will only MAYBE save less than 1% of the yearly budget.

Schedules for coming home are running into 4:30 territory, with an hour bus ride home, during rush hours.

Overwhelming scholarly and national trends are the complete opposite of what was suggested.

The Board violated many of their own codes of conduct, really concerning people and creating strong feelings of "no confidence."

By the Board's own admission, 9 to 1 of the community does not favor this plan.

There is much "mystery" regarding any financial "crisis."

The distric is sitting on millions of dollars in properties and "holding" funds, if you will.

Please post your questions or concerns. This is very complicated.

Anna Krome
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Grant
Member Avatar
Principal
This whole reading on a bus this is comical...I went to K-12 in MD and PA. I rode the bus to Jr. High and High school...Walked or Driven by Parents to K-6....I don't recall ever seeing anyone read on a Bus, much staring out the window and carrying on, but no reading... One thing I do remember vividly to this day is around xmas time we had a substitute bus driver...The guy wore a Santa hat....How nice...Drove like a maniac around turns..ran a motorcyclist off the road(scrapped down the side of the bus going the other way)...refused to stop despite the students screaming at him..... A student ran straight to the office to report the event when we got to school.... I never found out what exactly happened to the poor motorcyclist except that he wasn't killed....For you other parents fond of busing, perhaps you saw the news about the poor young girl in southfield who was killed by someone with no patience for the bus she was trying to get on. Busing is not a bookmobile, but it does add risk to students.
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Anna Krome
Principal
They're talking about 2-3 lto a seat (79) per bus. No one extra on the bus to handle the kids. How safe can it be with a bus driver constantly looking into the overhead mirror and not the road?

Extra significant bus traffic (plus all the trucks to Walmart) on too-narrow roads during rush hour and bad weather. Yikes.

Extra pollution to beautify our city, and about 2 mil spent on at least 25 to 30 new buses to MAYBE save 1.5 mil? Hmmm.

My neighbor-bus driver says no way to 45 mins. He's talking over an hour on a good day.

Kids are often bullied on buses. It's the longest time unsupervised. Kids will be very vulnerable. Overcrowding and long rides--not good things.

Potential newcomers to our city do not want their kids on long bus rides. That's one reason they live in the city and not the country. Convenience. Ask your realtor.

My oldest has about an hour on the bus now because of her transfer at Frost. She is an avid reader, but hates to read in moving, bumpy bus rides. She's 12, and after 6 years, she still does not like it.

Just doesn't jive.

Anna Krome
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Timetoheal
6th Grade
Stop misquoting stuff. Don't accept rumor as fact until you are certain that it is fact. Are you relying on your neighbor the bus driver to tell you how many kids will be on the bus? I doubt they really know. Only one board member said that the community was 9-1 against the proposal. I did not hear that as a blanket statement by the board.

There are people in the community that support this proposal (yeah, you don't really want to hear their comments) You don't know what these restored programs are really going to be like, so don't be so quick to dismiss them. Where were you years ago when the Board first started making cutbacks? You should be concerned with the quality of the instruction in the classroom and keeping the level of instructional programs high. It is possible that there are children who are actually looking forward to these programs and will enjoy being exposed to them.

You complain about the fact that your child is going to have a long bus ride, but then you admit you already have a child with a long bus ride. So, were you complaining 6 years ago when this started? Is one of your issues that you have a child that may be in a school that just happens to be located in Westland?

Maybe the reason that some kids are unruly on buses is because of lack of parenting and discipline at home. (I am certainly not suggesting that this is true in your case.) I can guarantee you that if my child was acting up, there would be consequences for bad behavior.

And about all these comments about conflict of interest. The Board was elected by the people. How many of the last Board elections can you say you've voted in? If a Board member is on the Committee, I expect that he/she is doing so, not because they have something to gain personally or financially, but because they are acting in what they believe to be the best interests of the community and can make valuable contributions to the committee's work. Same is true of administrators and staff who were on the committee. No one is reaping financial gain, so get off this conflict of interest business. And think about how you are insulting the other members of the committee, who volunteered their time to serve, who don't fall into your broad based brushstrokes. No, I was not on the committee and no, I'm not on the board or a staff member. Conflict of interest, I don't think so.
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Anna Krome
Principal
Thanks for your reply. I am being factual. I stand by what I wrote--firmly. You also have me confused w/another poster in some of your comments.

As for Cooper: We attended there for 2 years. I lived in Westland for 10--I am proud to say it. We moved as soon as we could, because we were very concerned about the toxic waste site across the street from old Whittier, now renamed Cooper.

As for taking information from the informed, I really do not see how this is illogical. For example, informed teachers have told me about the new "specials," and what they will entail. I also know about them from my experience with my own kids. And lastly, I have looked into the Board's plans.

I am not the type to post unless I have made careful consideration of the facts. I recommend you do the same.

As for my daughter, I will disclose that she is in a special ed. program. We made the decision to deal with the bus for the larger gain of her education.

This plan has no merit nor larger gains.

Anna Krome
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heymom
Principal
Couldn't figure out why I found an old GI Joe bound up with fishing line until my son informed me that it is for the "bus" next year, ala Napoleon Dynamite. Looks like I'll be driving him for sure. Little Stinker. ;)
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Cindi
Member Avatar
Principal
There are Kennedy parents who are against this proposal.............how many, I am not sure. But I sure did hear more grumbling when the Demo Board proposed all 3 proposals (only recommended one of course), if K-6 was supported and voted on I suspect you would have heard alot more from the Kennedy group.

I'm not sure why Kennedy has been so quiet........maybe they do support the plan. The Kennedy parents who read this site know that I too am a Kennedy parent and I do not support this plan...Thankfully I am emotional, because emotion is what brought me to conduct research and I have yet to read how more tansitioning, large schools, a total of 16.67 hours of a variety of foreign languages-per year, less physical activity (yes..meaning recess--but now they might throw it back in) and long bus rides (6.1 miles from my house to Johnson--so I do assume it will be a long bus ride) will benefit my child??? SO...if anyone has real research, not opinions to help persuade me...please post it. I am open minded and I want what is best for my children---that is WHY I chose LPS.
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ThatSuzyGirl
3rd Grade
Want2move
Nov 30 2005, 04:58 PM
I find it interesting that all these unregistered "Guests", are the ones who are ok with the 5/6 split. ;)

I just found these forums and registered today and I am okay with the 5/6 split. Granted, my child isn't in school yet and the transition will be well over with by the time she gets there.
:)
Suzy
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Anna Krome
Principal
Hi Suzy,

What do you like about LI?

Please let us know.

Anna Krome
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ThatSuzyGirl
3rd Grade
Anna Krome
Jan 5 2006, 11:15 AM
Hi Suzy,

What do you like about LI?

Please let us know.

Anna Krome

Let's see. My husband and I both attended the meeting in October. (As a side note, we were VERY surprised that so few families came to the original meeting.) We moved to our neighborhood in the Spring of 2005 when I was 7 months pregnant with our first child. As you can imagine, we have a lot invested in this. We consciously chose our neighborhood because of Kennedy school and we consciously chose Livonia because of the schools. We looked at many of the outlying suburbs as places to reside as well, but kept coming back to Livonia.
We like:
* The special attention that our child(ren) are going to receive during the tender transitional years of grades 5 and 6.
* The reinstatement of music and other specials.
* The valuable lesson our child(ren) will learn with the school changes they will be making during those years. Life is about change and we really believe that a new environment at 5th, 7th, and 9th grades will help our kid(s) out in the long run.
* The costs savings for the district.

We aren't thrilled about:
* A long bus ride to Johnson.
* My sister possibly losing her classroom and being moved to a cart.
* My dear friend having to take on a new job within the district because she is below the senority line in her department.

Thanks for asking!
Suzy
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grantmom
Principal
ThatSuzyGirl
Jan 5 2006, 11:59 AM
Anna Krome
Jan 5 2006, 11:15 AM
Hi Suzy,

What do you like about LI?

Please let us know.

Anna Krome

Let's see. My husband and I both attended the meeting in October. (As a side note, we were VERY surprised that so few families came to the original meeting.) We moved to our neighborhood in the Spring of 2005 when I was 7 months pregnant with our first child. As you can imagine, we have a lot invested in this. We consciously chose our neighborhood because of Kennedy school and we consciously chose Livonia because of the schools. We looked at many of the outlying suburbs as places to reside as well, but kept coming back to Livonia.
We like:
* The special attention that our child(ren) are going to receive during the tender transitional years of grades 5 and 6.
* The reinstatement of music and other specials.
* The valuable lesson our child(ren) will learn with the school changes they will be making during those years. Life is about change and we really believe that a new environment at 5th, 7th, and 9th grades will help our kid(s) out in the long run.
* The costs savings for the district.

We aren't thrilled about:
* A long bus ride to Johnson.
* My sister possibly losing her classroom and being moved to a cart.
* My dear friend having to take on a new job within the district because she is below the senority line in her department.

Thanks for asking!
Suzy

Suzy....How would you have felt about the LI had Kennedy been one of the schools slated to close? How about if the boundries had been different ie..straight down Farmington Rd. and Kennedy would have been directed to Cooper, Emerson and Franklin (Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Emerson or Franklin)? I'm just wondering if your feelings would be different since you choose you neighborhood for the schools like so many parents did and now they're being shuffled all over. (it is so hard to do this in writing...I mean no negative tones to my questions, I'm just asking. :)
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Anna Krome
Principal
Hi Suzy,

Thanks for your balanced and thoughtful reply.

As for attendance, lots of folks watched the LI unveiling on TV that night. No questions were allowed to be asked at that particular meeting, so we stayed home to watch it, too.

The specials are the result of losing afternoon recess--and actually account for a 5 minute decrease in "specials" time per week. Having recess has been proven to be essential for kids' well being. And, it is going to be legislated very soon that 2 recesses are required per day. So, you see, the specials will be discontinued very soon.

In addition, the specials are designed to be "surveys"--offered about two times a week. The kids will not have adequate time/instruction to learn to speak another language, and many parents do not feel this major change is "worth" it.

The BOE discontinued these very specials about 2 years ago. They will most likely be cut again, as soon as it becomes "necessary" to the BOE.

Change can be good. But my little one will switch schools 5 times. That is too many for me.

Plus, we will go to Cooper, which is across the street from a toxic waste site (fenced off and with danger signs).

We are nervous about this, because no studies have been done since 1991. No one really knows if it is safe at Cooper.

As for keeping kids together, well, the kids will all go to the same string of schools, but in a 900+ school, they might have trouble finding each other.

It would be a logistical nightmare, and the BOE is already talking about a large "community of learners," not a neighborhood of learners.

As for the budget. It is going to be necessary to spend millions on buses and updates to the schools--the BOE is not really sure how much this will cost. So, the math is a little fuzzy here. Spend millions to gain, well, no one is sure.

The "savings" are estimated to be less than 1% of the annual operating budget.
Busing will increase drastically. There have been no traffic or safety studies. People are concerned about the long bus rides for children, because it is believed that bullying increases on the bus. And, kids will miss a large portion of their afternoons and have to wake even earlier. Cranky, hungry kids = lethal combo.

I say this respectfully to you. What do you think?

Anna Krome

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ThatSuzyGirl
3rd Grade
grantmom
Jan 5 2006, 12:07 PM

Suzy....How would you have felt about the LI had Kennedy been one of the schools slated to close? How about if the boundries had been different ie..straight down Farmington Rd. and Kennedy would have been directed to Cooper, Emerson and Franklin (Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Emerson or Franklin)? I'm just wondering if your feelings would be different since you choose you neighborhood for the schools like so many parents did and now they're being shuffled all over. (it is so hard to do this in writing...I mean no negative tones to my questions, I'm just asking. :)

We thought about that. We would have been upset if they had closed Kennedy and as we learned, there was a pretty good chance of that happening. If our children were to go to Cooper/Emerson/Franklin that would have been disappointing but fine. My husband and I went to Emerson and Franklin and somehow are managing. ;)
Both my husband and I think that we've got to roll with the punches. If they had slated to close Kennedy, I am sure we would have spent the next few years thinking about what we wanted to do for our daughter. Maybe move to a new neighborhood in Livonia, maybe carpooling with other families nearby, maybe Catholic schools, maybe going with the system. It has been our plan all along to assess her educational needs and work to meet her needs by any means necessary. Whether Livonia changes or not, we're going to keep her our priority. I realize that this is what so many other families on this forum are doing. Keeping their families first in their priorities. :)
Having said that, I still think that the proposed changes are a positive thing and I know I say this from a privledged place.
Suzy
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