Contact: CHPSPO, chpspo@gmail.com, Bella Dinh-Zarr (dinhzarr@dinhzarr.org) or Robert Zarr (RLZARR@yahoo.com)
Parents and Students Hold Baked Goodies Event to Support DCPS Libraries
Washington, DC- On Wednesday, July 11, 2012, parents and students from across Washington, DC will be raising funds to support funding school librarians in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).
Baked Goodies to Support DCPS Libraries
Wednesday, July 11, 8:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW (Penn side)
DCPS says they can’t support their school libraries, so let’s help them. Bring a dozen baked goods with you to the Wilson Building on Wednesday morning (July 11). All donations will be donated to Kaya Henderson for the school libraries. It’s a great way to involve your children…they can help you bake, practice their math as they count money on that morning, and learn some civics about what it takes to be an involved citizen in our world.
We want DCPS to:
– Budget a librarian in every school (at least ½ time in smaller schools).
– Move librarian position to core staff category (not flexible/optional).
– Provide a “per student” budget allocation for books/materials.
UPDATE – Thanks for your support on the 4th of July bake sale. We raised $90 in donations and sales. To date, $346 has been raised in support of DCPS libraries… Have we managed to raise awareness? You decide. Tell the Chancellor and Mayor you support DCPS Libraries!
Where: 10:00 AM on Barracks Row (if you’re walking with your school, no later than 9:30 AM)
Want to help Save School Libraries?: Carry a “Save School Libraries” sign while you walk in the parade – pass it on! After the parade, stop by the CHPSPO table on Eastern Market Metro Plaza, say hi and show your support of DC Public School Libraries!
Ludlow-Taylor meeting with DCPS on Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Request is to move librarians out of flexible categoryto core staff; , check if Mary Levy and DCPS are willing to meet to discuss discrepancies in budget; ask about ‘in-class’ libraries and what that looks like on the ground; Peter MacPherson and Robert Zarr to attend June 20 meeting.
Bake Sales: Add petition to sales; July 4 @ Barrack’s Row; July 11 @ Wilson Building (organized by Ludlow Taylor); look for other wards to support other bake sales; Future bake sales: have other wards host, request mtg w/ Kaya Henderson to deliver donations check.
Enjoy Reading (http://enjoyreading.org/), (Ali Hoffman): Stanton Elementary in Ward 8; at schools 2 days/week
Children’s Budget report (smoscosomills@hotmail.com): Points raised: How are the Mary Levy report and DC budget discrepancies addressed? Request granularity around DCPS budget vis a vis libraries; Why is DC Parks and Rec not represented if they are now running aftercare in many schools? TAKE QUESTIONNAIRE ONLINE: www.dmhhs.dc.gov
Grade DC (www.grade.dc.gov) (lauramarks@gmail.com) Raise that DCPS should be included in agencies to be graded and raise library issue here, too.
Ward 6 State of the Schools Followup, All
What are DCPS’ next steps? Suzanne to draft letter back w/ key points we heard and want follow up (to be sent on behalf of CHPSPO).
Vertical and horizontal articulation: convene all principals w/in feeder pattern to discuss what this means
At young grades, start thinking of themselves as class of 2023; Introduce feeder-wide activities – Ex: robotics
Ward 6 MS Plan Liaison
Libraries
Ask to publish consolidated list of follow up items that were recorded in the meeting
School foods expectations
Afterschool programs
How can we hear from the kids, who no doubt have opinions re: librarian, food, aftercare? Video recorded interviews of children w/ their feedback on all of the above
4th of July Parade on Barrack’s Row. July 4 @ 10 AM.
The Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization will meet on Tuesday, June 19 at 6:30 p.m. I don’t have a location yet, and will send a note around before Tuesday with the location. We’ll be discussing what we want to do to follow up on the library funding issue and the Ward 6 State of the Schools meeting. If you have other agenda items, please let me know.
The Bake Sale to protest the funding cuts DCPS is planning to make to school libraries raised $264, and was on Channel 9 news on Friday evening! Thanks to Peter MacPherson for his continued leadership on the libraries issue, and to Laura Marks and Sandra Moscoso-Mills for their help in organizing the bake sale.
Parents and Students Hold Bake Sale to Support DCPS Libraries
Washington, DC- On Friday, June 15, 2012, parents and students from across Washington, DC will be raising funds to support funding school librarians in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).
Bake Sale to Support DCPS Libraries
Friday, June 15, 7:30 – 10:30 a.m.
DCPS, 1200 First Street, NE
DCPS says they can’t support their school libraries, so let’s help them. Bring a dozen baked goods with you to the DCPS headquarters on Friday morning. All proceeds will be donated to Kaya Henderson for the school libraries. It’s a great way to involve your children…they can help you bake, practice their math as they give out change on Friday morning, and learn some civics about what it takes to be an involved citizen in our world.
Parents and Students Protest DCPS Cuts to Libraries
Washington, DC- On Monday, May 21, 2012, parents and students from across Washington, DC will be protesting school librarian cuts by the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) in the FY13 budget. The event will take place in front of DCPS headquarters at 1200 First Street, N.E. between 1pm and 6pm.
In the FY13 DCPS budget, important changes were made that dramatically impact school libraries:
No funding was provided for the school librarian position for schools with 299 or fewer students.
Funding was provided for the school librarian position for schools with an enrollment of 300 or more students, BUT:
The school librarian position was moved from “core” staff to “flexible” staff.
This allows principals to choose whether or not to have a school librarian. Principals can now use the school librarian allocation for other positions.
As a result of the new Budget Guidelines for 2013, 34 additional schools did not fund school librarians for 2013 bringing the total number of schools without a school librarian to 57. In 2013, almost 50% of the DC public schools will be without librarians. Over 16,000 students will be without a school library, if these cuts go through.
Research has shown school libraries positively impact teacher effectiveness, increase the likelihood that students will become literate and independent learners, and support at-risk students. Yet DCPS is choosing to ignore this research, and make deep cuts to its school libraries.
The Breakdown
57 schools with no school librarian budgeted for 2013 by Ward.
Ward 1
Ward 2
Ward 3
Ward 4
Ward 5
Ward 6
Ward 7
Ward 8
4
4
0
8
10
10
12
9
57 schools with no school librarians budgeted for 2013 by grade level.
Elementary (63)
Education Campus(20)
Middle (13)
High (18)
Alternative (10)
24
9
7
7
10
Chancellor Henderson is being asked to:
provide a ½ time librarian at schools with 299 or fewer students;
move the librarian position to the core staff category; and
provide a per student allocation for the libraries dedicated to support collection development and other necessary materials.
Cutting Libraries During a Recession is Like Cutting Hospitals During a Plague.Eleanor Crumblehulme
Please join with the Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization in protest of cuts in school librarians by the District of Columbia Public Schools.
The event will take place in front of DCPS headquarters at 1200 First Street, N.E. between 1pm and 6pm. on Monday, May 21st.
If these proposed cuts go through 58 District schools, with an enrollment of 16,600, will have no librarian. And no librarian will inevitably mean no library either. The chancellor, mayor and city council need to continue to hear in a loud and sustained voice that school libraries are essential to a vibrant, sustainable and successful school system.
Please attend. Bring your children. Encourage everyone you know to take part. School libraries and those who staff them are crucial to literacy development.
Find out what other schools are doing to make thechange to locally-grown, freshly-prepared meals. Stay for a discussion after the film with filmmaker Richard Chisolm and some of DC’s leading school food experts.
Tony Geraci, as food-service director for Baltimore’s public schools, embarked on an ambitious project: to “green” the lunches of the city’s 83,000 students by replacing pre-plated, processed foods with locally-grown, freshly prepared meals. A charismatic chef from New Orleans, Geraci describes himself as a “little bit lunch lady, a lot P.T. Barnum.” His bold vision includes school vegetable gardens, student-designed meals, meatless Mondays and nutrition education in the classroom. Over the course of two years, the film documents the efforts of parents, teachers, administrators, farmers, chefs and dozens of creative and motivated students to overhaul a dysfunctional nutritional system. Healthy food advocates Michael Pollan and Will Allen and First Lady Michelle Obama also make appearances. Directed and produced by Richard Chisolm and Sheila Kinkade.
The Capitol Hill Public School Parent Organization will hold its May 15 meeting at 6:30 pm at Miner Elementary (601 15th St., NE). We will be talking about school libraries, middle school issues, the upcoming Ward 6 State of the Schools meeting, and more. If you have other agenda topics, please let me know.
A huge shout-out to Sandra Moscoso-Mills for organizing a terrific Bike to School Day on May 9!
Ward 6 Public School Parents Organization 