Schools’ ‘Capturing Kids’ Hearts’ was too expensive

Hello Mr. Gless –

I would like to comment on the “metal facade” or as we refer to them: the eaves and overhang work completed at the high school with a portion of the 2018 bond proceeds.

The understructure that supports a portion of the roof and the eaves and overhang structure were original to the 1974 construction (or 44 years old at the time). The sub-structure was failing due to age and the effects of weather upon exterior building materials that comprise the eaves and overhangs.

The district replaced the understructure and then the metal eaves and overhangs as the older metal material was original to the structure as well and there is no way to remove it to get to the failing understructure without further ruining it upon taking it off for the necessary underlying structure repairs.

This 2018 Bond work was completed within the ballot language specifications, scope, budget, and time allotted for this work.

The district takes pride in its structures and the responsibility of our job positions to our great community to maintain these structures. Mr. Huyck, Building and Grounds Supervisor, and I manage a 1 -12 Plan for all maintenance items in the district. We prioritize and address what we can through Casino Revenue Sharing and the larger projects (such as this one) we add to potential Bond work.

I am always available for finance and operations questions. Please email, call, or stop by.

Thank you.

Pat Velie
Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations

Funny, real funny. In my opinion, sounds rather bitter. I know many folks said adios vios con Dios when it came to the recent election. Perhaps now we are seeing why. Perhaps some would be more content if funds were spent on stadiums and wrestling mats. But just my opinon, as a right-wing small town lad.

Mr.Gless,

Of all people, I would think that a person with educational experience would see value in a program that supports relationships amongst its staff and students. As an educator, I would think you should know that the number one tool you have in classroom management is fostering respect and relationships where students feel safe to take risks and be themselves. I would think that also, as a person who talks likes you know all details about the CKH model, would also know that it is MUCH, MUCH more than just the questions you stated. Have you talked to any staff members who have attended the training? It is being described as one of the best professional development opportunities that WUS has offered. It’s not even comparable to just reading about SEL in a “free book.” Have you subbed, or had first hand experience in our district with CKH being implemented to see the benefits of it? How it’s being used consistently across buildings? How expectations are more consistent as well? It is true that no one “program” is perfect. CKH themselves don’t claim that it’s a 100% magical answer to all behavior. But it’s sure better than nothing at all. Quality learning and quality teaching do not happen without positive repertoire among its people. Do you not believe in investing in this idea?

Ms. Velie, yes of course I mean the eaves, specifically the fascia. I took the artistic liberty to refer to it correctly as a facade because it doubles as a metaphor for our school spending money on frivolous decoration instead of our meat-and-bones inner foundation. I recall that a few vertical tiles here and there around the perimeter of the eave had been missing or broken, so maybe the entire thing did need to be replaced. I wouldn’t know. But when I was at Kelloggsville while they remodeled their high school, Owen Ames Kimball covered the entire exterior of the building’s historic brickwork with a full facade of the same metal paneling that we have around our eaves, ostensibly because “it needs to match.” It would be sad if the same thinking factored into our decision-making at WUS. You may recall that I also questioned our need for a new basketball court a few years ago, when with proper care it should have still had another thirty years of life. I was told that there were some problem areas. The sections that I had purchased for a couple former Wayland hoopie friends were still in perfectly fine shape, evenly 1.5” thick throughout. Did the entire surface need to be replaced instead of a few sections of boards here and there? Again, I wouldn’t know.

I have, however, worked in landscaping and lawncare for over a decade, and I am knowledgeable enough to see that our grounds are being neglectfully mismanaged. I’ve worked for some of the larger companies servicing West Michigan, and have no love for the industry. The mode of operation is to maximize profit by providing the lowest quality service while upselling unnecessary additions. At one former reputable company, the running joke among landscapers was to laugh about calling it “job security” to plant potted shrubs haphazardly into the ground so that they will need to be replaced. Many of the shrubs around WUS are dead or dying, and simply pulling them up from the ground shows the lack of care they received in the first place. It is sad that our school cannot do a memorial tree for Jody Tyner because everyone knows the school will kill the tree. The trees at Baker and Steeby are horribly volcano mounded and that rots the trunk and suffocates the roots. The young trees lining the parkway have been terribly abused and need to be replaced at the cost of thousands of dollars. Their trunks have all been string-trimmed to hell. They should have had drain tile guards at their trunk base to protect them from the adolescent doofus lawnmowers that we pay more than our preschool teachers. Those trees should also have gator bags to protect against summer drought (especially since they likely weren’t properly planted in the first place) and they should have burlap fencing in the winter to keep the road salt from poisoning their drip line soil. It is clear that no one at Pro Mow has any basic horticulture knowledge. I wonder if they sold WUS a fert plan saying we “need” two applications in June. It would be worrisome to think of what would happen to our grass stands if they don’t get their necessary fertilizer in June.

To the Wayland teacher questioning me, I have taught at a school that had purchased the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program seven years ago at Kentwood Public Schools. I was also force-fed the Teach Like A Champion BS for an entire year by my WMU intern coordinator, and I’ve gone through years of extensive Public Behavior Intervention Systems training as well. Quite frankly, I believe I am more knowledgeable and experienced in classroom management approaches than the large majority of teachers who have had the luxury to spend their teaching careers at WUS, thanks in part to these sort of training programs. No doubt the content of Capturing Kids’ Hearts is vital to a healthy classroom, but I was surprised to see it was still a thing, as I thought it was another ed fad that had run its course a decade ago, like Carol Dweck’s mindsets. But the essence of what is being repackaged and commodified in these corporate education packages are just timeless best practices. Beyond the four questions, Capturing Kids’ Hearts is also asking kids to share “Good News.” Those are the major points, unless I’m missing something. Asking kids how they’re doing is something I learned from my dad. Beyond the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program telling teachers to be empathetic, they probably also sold every teacher in the district a three-ring binder to be tucked away and never opened again, even though every other district that has every purchased CKH over the past decade would be happy to give away the same tens of thousands of three-ring binders that every single one of their teachers have collecting dust. I don’t know if our district purchased hundreds of trite plastic and metal souvenirs from the CKH organization, but ultimately my issue is with the district giving away its funds to outside education profiteers. And lastly, have Wayland teachers read the old Love & Logic book or watched the old Harry Wong series? It’s all the same stuff, at an exponential fraction of the price tag. I know many teachers adhered to the “C’s get degrees” principle during their stints in college in their late teens and early twenties, but I actually put in the heavy lifting during my preservice education. I will stick to my argument that reading Love & Logic is the same stuff as CKH but at a much deeper level.

I care about Wayland Schools, deeply. Only one person on our new school board is from Wayland. No one on our new school board has any relevant experience in teaching. Let’s not pretend like any of them really know what they’re doing. Capturing Kids’ Behavior Systems Like A Star(tm) provides a lot of timeless educational best practices, but is it worth $65k when the high school mega (computer) lab was essentially non-functional last year? School lunches at the middle school are abysmally deficient as well. Many of the middle school students are larger than myself, and the nutritional offerings do not remotely sustain an average person for the day, let alone the entire school year. The high school courtyard could be a vital heart of the building, yet it’s fallen into decades of disrepair and neglect since Brian Bollone left for a better district. Austin Marsman had solar panels installed at Martin schools *as a student* and while I don’t know how the net benefits of those installations have played out over the past decade, it’s disappointing to not see someone at WUS have the idea to follow that course. Most of our neighboring schools offer a much broader expanse of electives for their students. I am serving my due diligence by questioning whether our schools are investing in our meat-and-potatoes foundation or if they are naively pissing away funding to outside profiteers selling facades.

Once again I would like to thank the WUS District voters for getting the last election 100% correct.

Thanks!

Cheers!!