Higley Schools Blog

27 Comments

1. azfam:

   If HUSD is reducing their staff and teachers- then why are members of the HR department out at job fairs looking for new recruits?
   Does HR have money to be funding that venture? With all these layoffs, you think the HR staff would be busy enough processing all the pink slips.

   April 27, 2009, 7:30 pm

2. Geoff Johnston:

   What did they say when you asked them?

   April 27, 2009, 10:31 pm

3. Katie:

   azfam, why are they attending job fairs if they are not hiring? That is what I would like to know. It seems to me if they are looking for new teachers, they should keep the ones they have currently waiting in limbo. What about all of the first year teachers that are having to reapply for positions even though the principal at their current school WANTS to keep them? We have a new school set to open in a matter of months, are any of OUR teachers/staff going to be employed there or are they planning to allow the new principal to bring along staff from where ever she is currently working?

   This whole district seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. It has become a joke to even mention that my children attend the district with such problems. No wonder the morale is so low. Governing Board Members, I sincerely hope you are paying attention and will FINALLY do something to stop the madness.

   April 28, 2009, 11:36 am

4. azfam:

   I do not ask the administration at HUSD questions any more. I do not get a valid answer, if i even get an answer at all. I would just like others to be aware of things that happen, maybe someone can shed light as to why some things happen.

   April 28, 2009, 6:47 pm

5. Katie:

   Not getting straight answers seems to be a common thread. I have heard that quite a bit. It is sad when you sit at a board meeting and hear employees get so discouraged when trying to get answers. You have to feel bad for these hard working employees that sit on the edge of their seats, daily, not knowing if they are secure in a position they work so hard each day to do. Not knowing if they can trust ANYONE, watching their friends/coworkers, many who have been working there for years, being let go, only to be replaced by people who are not competent or worse yet, having to do the additional work for someone that was not replaced. Those too afraid to say anything in fear of being let go.

   April 29, 2009, 7:20 am

6. Special Needs Parent:

   Well what about that Special Eduction Department. I have a special needs child in the district. I have become good friends with my childs teacher and the speech therapist. I was shocked to hear that Dr. Cisar will not be returning back next year. I’ve talked to my child’s teacher who is a special education teacher. She mentioned to me that the reason the director not returning next year is because she got pushed out by two obnoxious parents. Apparently, these parents are very good friends with Greg Land. This new board basically wants someone in that director position that will be their Yes Man. Who cares how much it costs the district but oh well we will be making parents happy with whatever ridiculous demands they want. Hey Greg Land, can I be your buddy also! The teacher also has told me how badly messed up the Special Education department has gotten reduced to. They have no more Record Specialist, and their Student Specialist got her pink slip for June 30. And soon no director. What happened to stability! Our special needs children need stability in their lives. What’s going to happen to their classrooms, are they going to get shuffled around again. I know just build us shed in the back of each school as long as they have a chair and a desk these kids should be happy. Is this what it has been reduced to? I’ve been told that the Special Education in every district through out the U.S. is the department that brings in the most money from their state to federal monies. I hope something happens where it will bring attention to our special needs children here in the district. Their voices have to be heard as well as the other children in the district.

   April 30, 2009, 9:46 pm

7. Katie:

   Special Needs Parent, with a child in the program myself, I can tell you that I also wonder what will happen to the program. I can tell you what I have recently learned, which is even more disturbing. I have learned that not only is Dr. Cisar leaving, but Shawna Miller, one of her staff members, will be taking on the Summer School Principal role for the K-8. Don’t forget that the file clerk for Special Needs as well as the clerical file person positions have both been disolved effective June 30. That means the only person in that fancy district office, I believe, will be Cynthia, whom I have never had a positive experience with. I cannot imagine she will be any more pleasant having to take on the duties of the entire department. Hopefully, she will get a talking to from the Superintendant as a reminder that MANY people are effected by the layoffs and take on more responsibilities, however, she is fortunate to still be employed. Maybe then, her attitude will change. If not, this department, as well as our children are doomed.

   May 4, 2009, 8:16 am

8. Ann:

   I have a special needs child in the district.
   Cynthia is a very pleasant lady. I had a positive experience with her. The problem is that sometimes as a parent, we are very demanding. Let’s be reasonable. Do we have a choice?
   Katie?

   May 4, 2009, 7:34 pm

9. Katie:

   Ann, I feel as a parent, whether our child is special needs or not, we have the right to be respected, treated fairly and have our calls returned in a timely manner. I feel our questions should be answered and if the answer is not known, don’t pretend you know it. I feel that we are entitled to a conversation without obvious attitude and short tempers.

   My previous post just stated that I am worried it will become a large load for one person to carry throughout the summer and it could cause some of the children to get lost in the shuffle. My understanding is that Cynthia is not a 12 month employee either. Perhaps I am misinformed though and for the sake of ALL children, I hope that is the case. If she is not employed through the summer, who will fill the shoes of the ENTIRE department?

   May 4, 2009, 9:21 pm

10. azfam:

    I am a little idsheartened by SPecial Needs Parents comment about Dr. Cisar resigning. Since the board didn’t call for her resignation, why are spedicif board member’s names even being mentioned? If her resignation was called for, there is a 5 member board who votes on it. If board members are looking into the quality of the HUSD administration, then they are doing exactly what I voted them to do.
    If stability is a concern, why wait until the 5th sped director in as many years to bring it up. The district must not be concerned with SPED stability if they are letting go of the sped department employees. Or maybe they feel that what they have now is not working, so they are “re-organizing”. They “re-organized” the entire cirriculum and human resource departments just 12 months ago.
    And it’s not just the sped students who are getting shorted. The general ed kids and the honors kids are all affected by the changes and the decrease in funding. Teachers and staff leaving, over crowded classrooms, not enough materials in the classrooms….these are the things I am concerned about.

    May 5, 2009, 8:33 pm

11. Special Needs Parent:

    As I can recall, the Special Ed Department was reorganized a couple of months before the end of that year. As a matter of fact that weird Director who had no knowledge of Special Ed was the Director prior to Dr. Cisar. Everytime I would schedule a meeting to meet with her, she had no idea what I was talking about. She would always tell me to talk to my childs psychologist back at the campus. The gods up in heaven must of heard my prayers that year to get rid of that director that was no help. Then sometime after that they brought in new people for Special Ed. Then afterwards Curriculum and HR got reorganized.

    May 5, 2009, 9:12 pm

12. Special Needs Parent:

    Does anyone have an idea who they will be hiring for the Special Education Director? There is no way that Cynthia the Administrative Assistant can run the whole program. Who will they put in Dr. Cisar’s place till they hire the new person. I hope its not those two dummies from Curriculum, those two Directors.

    May 6, 2009, 8:25 pm

13. Special Needs Parent:

    Sorry about that, I meant can’t run the whole program

    May 6, 2009, 8:26 pm

14. Special Needs Parent:

    They’ll probably put someone Dr. Birdwell knows. Isn’t everyone from district office from Dysart. I hope not! If their anything like those two directors from Curriculum, were doomed! Why didn’t Birdwell just not accept her resignation. I heard she resigned just because she was tired of all the political games. Just like what Special Needs Parent stated, they want a YES Man. Have you all seen all those posting for employment. So I still don’t get it. Why did they give all those people pink slips and they are hiring for all those positions. Couldn’t they have placed them in one of those positions, instead of having them leave.

    May 6, 2009, 8:34 pm

15. Katie:

    According to the information I have received, the current contract for Dr. Cisar is in effect until June 30. Seeing how things have happened in the past, they probably won’t even begin interviewing until well after that contract is over. It seems crazy that they would not get someone in there before hand to work beside Dr. Cisar and make the transition together, but knowing the district, they will claim there is no money. That position has had more turnover in the last 4 years than any other. Each time they bring in the director as an “interum” position and then just continue to have them in that spot. It would be nice to have some stability in such a position.

    May 6, 2009, 10:16 pm

16. Vicky:

    Okay, What’s up with all those positions on Higley’s website??? I thought they had to RIF all these people because there was no monies in the budget. Did the district miraclously find money somewhere? Have you seen the past minutes of upcoming Director positions? Or is it just me, I’m starting to see things. I have many friends who were RIF’d, this doesn’t make sense!

    May 27, 2009, 9:39 pm

17. azfam:

    It would be nice if HUSD would let the public know where the money is coming from to pay for these new positions. I understand that some money can only be spent on certain things- so if HUSD would let the public know, people could be more informed, especially if they want us to vote on future over rides and such.
    But I agree, there are a lot of postings on the website, and apparently even more position shuffling going on than many know about. HUSD says that they offer these positions to be comparable to other districts. How about get my kids good teachers, some texts and supplies, and a decent student/ teacher ratio, then we can worry about if our non-teaching jobs are “comparable”.
    Last summer we got whole departments revamped, and many of those positions were given raises within months of thier hire dates. Are you telling me that they can’t work for their paychecks a little harder while we are in this crunch?

    June 7, 2009, 4:24 pm

18. Ashley:

    Well all those directors are all coming on board July 1st. But there is no where to put them at in district office. Apparently there will be making room for all these new employees by relocating some of the departments to the old run down section of Higley High School. As a parent I am appaled at this decision. Some of my friends who work for the district were upset of this news. One main department that will be relocating is the Special Education Department. The district office doesn’t know if that will be the only department moving or not. It depends if all the directors that are coming on board will demand an office or if they are willing to work in cubicles. Why does Special Education always get the short end of the stick? Morale is not so good there at district office since the clock is ticking for all those people who got told they had till the end of June to have their jobs. I wonder if the district is going to offer them their jobs back since the news is that we got all this stimulus monies from the government.
    Upset Parent & friend of several employees!

    June 15, 2009, 4:35 pm

19. AnywhereButHigley:

    Higley district will continue to not find anyone competent to answer the phone, never mind manage the special education department. SMiller is an idiot who lies to teachers, parents and administration equally well. Miller has no special education experience AND no teaching experience. SMiller is a snake in the grass and hopefully for our children, will be gone…
    The district lost so many outstanding people for our kids this year and kept a superintendent whose only need is this last of three years, for the big fat paycheck, in order to retire with her 3 best out of ten. What kind of population continues to vote onto a school board, a woman who HOME SCHOOLS her kids?? The human resource manager is a derelict. Look what happened at Cortina! Let’s fire the Assistant principal and the principal and then give them pay raises to work at the district office in jobs they’ve just created to avoid lawsuits! My neighbors lost all respect for Mrs. Munoz when she took a job working for the same idiots that lied to her saying her position was cut, and then was replaced her with someone even Higley EL doesn’t want. We are very grateful that we live so close to a district who respects the rights of their special needs kids. My kids’ favorite teacher left Higley district by her own decision. (We really cant blame her.) She was phenomenal. She teaches any subject beautifully, and the kids love her. Higley will continue to lose any special ed experience and disregard their special needs kids for some thinly veiled “master plan” to attract “gifted” children. District parents are removing their children from the Higley school district in droves. Gee, we wonder why?!?!

    June 21, 2009, 10:22 pm

20. azfam:

    HUSD has a totally new SPED Dept starting 07-01. SO- we will see how it goes…
    I for one am not holding my breath. The new Director 2 of alternate education (or whatever title they created for her)is from Dysart (mmmmm…) And her husband is the SPED compliance manager (mmm…). However there is a Director 2 of SPED, maybe he will be ok if he is allowed to do his job. I have not heard much about the new SPED managers yet. I just hope that someone is making sure that my student’s pysch is keeping up on things at the school. I know I battled with that last year.

    June 22, 2009, 6:05 am

21. Katie:

    I am really hoping things with Special Education are on track. My child’s IEP is due for review and updating and in the past I have been able to speak to Dr. Cisar, who is no longer there. With so many new people in that department, I am wondering how long it will take to have the program up and running and what changes will occur between now and the start of the school year.

    I was concerned about the new positions as well. I was expecting some sort of mentioning of all of them at the previous board meetings, however very little was said. There just seem to be more and more directors coming aboard. One would only assume that they are looking out for the best interest of the children. I do find it odd that so many people are being hired from Dysart district again. That is a little coincidental, in my opinion.

    June 23, 2009, 10:44 pm

22. Stacy:

    Public Education Supporters,

    It has been an interesting year beginning in January when the State ran into budget problems and cut education funding mid-year. It has been a roller coaster ever since. The ride is not over. Due to both a lack in state generated revenue and cuts to education funding HUSD has cut their budget by 10%.
    With the funding sources from outside of the district shrinking and HUSD’s needs growing the district has asked the community to support a K-3 override. This will allow HUSD to increase it’s budget by 5%. This budget increase will allow HUSD to hire 23 new teachers and lower K-3 class size. This will also increase the dollar amount that HUSD spends on students. The yearly cost to homeowners will be $23.00 per $100,000 of their homes assesed value. It is never a good thing to have to pay more taxes but this is an investment in our kids education. The dollars go directly to them.

    This is the last new budget increase HUSD can request. By law the max amount that a district can override its budget is 15%. HUSD re-newed a 10% maintenance and operations (M&O) override last November. Therefor this 5% increase will bring HUSD to the 15%.

    GIlbert and Chandler have both a 10% M&O and a 5% K-3 override in place.

    I ask you all to support this override. Support our schools. Support our children by investing in education.

    If you would like to be involved; If you would like to help make HUSD a great place to learn and grow please email me. stacylagoy@yahoo.com

    I look forward to hearing from you!

    Stacy LaGoy
    parent of 2 Gateway Pointe children

    July 9, 2009, 2:21 pm

23. stacy:

    My bad. I apologize. Gilbert and Chandler do not have a k-3 override inplace.

    August 4, 2009, 2:46 pm

24. azfam:

    I will not be supporting this override. HUSD needs to learn how to properly spend the tax dollars they get before asking for more. I understand that they are in a budget crisis- aren’t we all. Maybe they should do less hiring at the administrative level, cut down on their administrative benefits, stop hiring friends and relatives for 6 figure salaries. If they had used their money to put aides in the classrooms, buy classroom supplies, or something that actually helps the kids, then I would be inclined to support the override. However, I think that HUSD is going to spend the 60k needed to initiate the vote, not win the public vote, and be farther in the hole than they already are.

    August 6, 2009, 9:59 am

25. azfam:

    I will not be supporting this override due to the improper spending at HUSD. I would be more inclined to give more of my tax dollars to the school if they quit hiring friends and relatives at the administrative level aming 6 figures, cut back on the administrators’ benefits, and focused more of their spending on the classroom. Let’s get some aides back in to assist the teachers, get more classroom supplies, and spend our money in ways which actually helps the children.
    I think that HUSD is going to spend the 60k that it takes to get the override on the vote, the vote will not pass because the public is fed up with ridiculous district spending. I understand that they are in a budget crisi- but aren’t we all.

    August 6, 2009, 10:04 am

26. Pamela:

    I will NOT support another override either. In the last year I have seen less and less go to my children’s education, classroom or school. I have watched the teachers struggle with oversized classes, first hand by volunteering in the classrooms and I have been there for the fundraisers and watched the VOLUNTEERS and Teachers make an effort to raise money that I actually see spent in the right areas. I speak with the parents at PTO meetings and our feelings are quite similar. The district has a way of candy coating answers when we ask questions. They tell the media what they want us to hear. As a parent, it is my job to protect my children and get them the education they deserve. I don’t see why it is also my responsibility to provide classroom supplies because the district cannot budget enough for the teachers to teach with. When I was a child, I had my own text book to bring home with me each night for each subject. I was able to do my homework and if needed, ask a parent to help me. I have NEVER had a child of mine bring home a text book and the reason is they belong to the classroom and there are never enough to allot for each student. How is it that we have enough money in the district budget to continue to hire on more and more staff at the District Office? How about spending some of the benefit money on classroom aides to assist the teachers with their 28-32 students? Don’t tell me we are not hiring more and more people. I attend board meetings and see them introduced all the time. Let’s be honest, for once, and tell us where the last money you asked us for last time.

    August 6, 2009, 1:34 pm

27. azfam:

    Amen Pamela! I agree with you that our children are the ones who will suffer without the override. But even if the override passes- the money will not get spent on them. So we may as well keep the extra tax dollars so we can buy our kids’ classroom supplies and help out the teachers with what they need to get their job done.

    August 7, 2009, 10:44 pm

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