Pesticides: A school child’s best friend
by jonpelto
In 2010, New York State passed the Child Safe Playing Field Act, legislation that banned the application of pesticides on the play areas of all schools, pre-K through 12th grade.
The New York bill started out as a ban on all outdoor school grounds, but it was narrowed to cover only school playgrounds and playing fields. It also allows “emergency application of pesticides for infestations.”
Here in Connecticut, pesticides have been banned on school play areas, but only for pre-k through 8th grade.
A bill was introduced this year, House bill 6385, to expand the ban on pesticides to high schools. The bill passed the Education Committee but it now appears that legislation will be changed into a “task force study bill.”
When in doubt, call for a study.
From the Connecticut Environmental Headlines website we learn that;
Windham area superintendents of schools – Please intervene before it’s too late…
by jonpelto
March 22, 2013
An Open Letter to Superintendents in towns surrounding Windham, Connecticut
As a superintendent of schools from one of the potential sending towns to Windham’s new STEM Magnet school, I’m sure you are aware of some of the very serious concerns that have been raised about the management of Windham’s new magnet school.
I’ve written about some of these issues on my blog, Wait, What?
As leaders responsible for the education of your local students, you should be alarmed to learn that Windham’s Special Master, Steven Adamowski, still hasn’t filed an officially approved Operations Plan with the state Department of Education for the new Magnet School. In addition, the application that has been used for the Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy includes some inappropriate questions that will serve to dissuade certain key populations from even applying for the lottery to get into the STEM Academy.
As originally presented last summer, the proposed Operations Plan for the Barrows STEM Magnet School prohibited children from transferring into the school if they weren’t reading at grade level. This language violated the spirit and law underlying Connecticut Magnet School programs and would have especially discriminated against children who face language barriers including those who need ESL services and children who utilize special education services.
When the issue was raised, Windham’s senior school administrators claimed that the offensive language was not in the Operations Plan that had been filed with the state which was available on the Barrows STEM Magnet School website.
Instead, they claimed that the copy that was being distributed and was available on the Board of Education’s Agenda and Minutes webpage was an older copy of the Operations Plan. The claim was an odd one considering the so-called “older copy” had a newer date, was the very document that was given out to Windham Board of Education members, included language modifications that were marked as changes by the Board and was stamped “approved.”
Further complicating the matter is the fact that the Operations Plan filed with the state Department of Education was never approved by the Windham Board of Education, as required, nor did it include the changes that had been approved by Windham’s Board of Education.
As an aside, the changes that were approved by the Board of Education DID NOT remove the prohibition on transfers, so how that language disappeared from the document that is “on-file” with the state remains a mystery.
Even more troubling is the fact that the Operations Plan filed with the state and available via the Barrows STEM Magnet Schools website includes the wrong dates for the opening of the school and in one section claims that 70 percent of the students will come from Windham, while it has an adjacent chart indicating that 66 percent of the students will come from Windham. Another section also mentions the 66 percent figure despite the fact that the actual section applying to the demographics of the facility sticks to the 70 percent number.
Of course, both of these percentages fail to meet the standards in Connecticut state law, at least in the case of the Sheff magnets, which mandate that no less than 75 percent of the slots be reserved for the host community.
Despite the fact that applications were due for Windham students by March 1st and for sending town students by March 29th, neither Windham’s “Special Master” nor Windham’s Superintendent have managed to explain how an unapproved Operations Plan was filed with the State or what they are going to do about actually ensuring that an appropriate plan is filed.
A lottery is scheduled for the end of March for Windham and soon after for the sending town slots, but obviously conducting a lottery without having an approved Operations Plan in place leaves Windham and the sending towns at risk of legal action from parents whose children are unfairly, or even illegally, prevented from getting into the Barrows STEM Academy.
Meanwhile, in violation of federal law, the application being used to sign students up for the new STEM Magnet includes a request for the child’s social security number.
As you are undoubtedly aware, according to the law, “When a federal, state, or local government agency asks an individual to disclose his or her Social Security number, the Privacy Act requires the agency to inform the person of the following: the statutory or other authority for requesting the information; whether disclosure is mandatory or voluntary; what uses will be made of the information; and the consequences, if any, of failure to provide the information.”
However, no such notice is provided on the Barrows STEM Academy.
You can see the Operations Plan here: http://www.windham.k12.ct.us/downloads/schools/chbsa/STEMOperations_Plan20120616.pdf. Please note that the charts on Page 17 reflect the wrong implementation years (a problem that was partially corrected in the later drafts, although the Windham Administration claims that those later drafts were actually earlier drafts). In addition, while the charts seem to suggest that 66 percent of the slots are for Windham students, the language clearly states that 70 percent of the slots of reserved for Windham.
You can also review the application via this link: http://www.windham.k12.ct.us/downloads/schools/chbsa/STEMApplication2013_14.pdf
As I’ve mentioned, the lack of an approved Operations Plan and the violations associated with the application undermine the validity of the entire process. With no approved Operations Plan there is no way to determine if Windham is actually following the rules. Even the question of whether 66 percent or 70 percent of the slots are being held for Windham students cannot be determined.
This situation is an outrage and the people of Windham and eastern Connecticut deserve better.
On behalf of the students, parents and taxpayers of the region, I’m asking that you, as a Superintendent from a sending town, to use your position to persuade “Special Master” Adamowski to refrain from moving forward until the take the necessary actions to follow the laws and regulations of the state.
If you have questions about this matter, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Jonathan Pelto
jonpelto@gmail.com
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