STOP THE CHANGES TO P.E. AND MUSIC IN REDMOND

April 2008 there was a decision made to make changes to our P.E. and Music programs in the Redmond School District.  These changes will cause our P.E and Music Teachers to bounce back and forth between two or more schools.  That will mean that a lot of our programs will be cut and the children will have to suffer.  This decision was not made in the correct way and I believe if it had been discussed more openly and included the teachers in their discussion that they could have reached a much more effective decision.  I am asking you to please stand up for the children and sign this petition so that we can take it to the School Board and ask that they re-visit this decision and look at all of the ways that this will hurt our children.  I am including my letter below for you to read and see just a few of the many reasons why it is so important that we don't loose these valuable teachers and programs.  Thank You

Dear Parents and Community,

My name is Krystaal Bulkley-Weaver and I am a concerned parent and community member here in Redmond, OR. My son currently attends M.A. Lynch School. I am EXTREMELY concerned about Vickie Fleming%u2019s recent decision to make changes in our current P.E. and Music classes at our schools. I am attaching the article regarding these changes so that you can look it over. My biggest concern is what I feel will happen due to these changes, something not mentioned in this article.

First of all, the teachers that are being affected by this are a HUGE part of my child%u2019s day at school. I am going to talk about %u201CCoach%u201D Jake Roberts. He is the Physical Education Teacher at Lynch School. You can ask any Teacher, Student or Parent who is at Lynch School and they will tell you how wonderful Coach Roberts is, and how much time and effort he puts into making sure that the children have a safe and fun experience in their classes. He is a part of so many different aspects of the children%u2019s experience at school. He has a before school Fitness Program that the children participate in to get moving in the morning and more time to be active, which is something a lot of Lynch children might not otherwise get to do. Coach Roberts has also put together the %u201CAnnual Lynch Olympics%u201D. This is an event that students, parents and teachers look forward to every year. The event begins a couple of months in advance: classrooms choose their country and learn about it, and they choose captains and coaches for each of the events they will participate in. On the %u201Cbig day%u201D they get to take part in the Olympic games like the %u201Creal%u201D Olympics. There is a beginning torch hand-off ceremony and an ending awards presentation. The students take great pride in how they are a part of this day. It takes a lot of time, effort and planning to make this all happen. Again this is something that Jake is passionate about, and goes above and beyond the call of duty to create a fun and exciting day for our children. For some of these kids, school is the only time they are able to exercise and participate in sports. They learn that they can have fun and at the same time, learn how to keep their bodies healthy. With the rise in obesity in the nation, we need to help students learn how to be healthy in all the ways we can. I can go on and on about the ways Jake makes our children%u2019s lives better. I know there are a lot of teachers that just do their job and go home. But he is not one of them. In addition to all that he does, he still finds time to make it to 90% of our PTO meetings. This is huge, as we do not have a lot of parental support at our school and very rarely are their any teachers that consistently attend.

I have told you all this so that you can have a glimpse into why I am so heartbroken that the district office would make a decision that will take away all these things and much more. With their new plan, Jake will have to split his time between more than two schools and will no longer have the time to put into special activities. He will not be a day to day fixture in our school. Instead, he will go from one school to another and be %u201Cthe guy who teaches our P.E. class%u201D. He is so much more than that. He is Coach Roberts, a friend and mentor to the students, parents and teachers. I wish the district office cared enough to take the time to put in some more research and treat these teachers like the valuable part of our children%u2019s lives that they are.

Not to mention that in the R.E.V. (Redmond Educational Vision) process over the past year, where Vickie Fleming herself stood in front of the Community and said that she was going to do things differently. She promised to make decisions based on what is best for the children and the community. She promised to include the needed people in decision making, such as teachers, parents, administrators, etc. Instead, what she has just done is make this decision and not include any input except from two other district employees. She has not visited at Lynch to see how their decision may affect the children. I don%u2019t know about you, but to me this is not consistent to what she has been preaching over the last year. She says that she wants the communities trust and input. Why? She appears to make decisions all on her own that obviously aren%u2019t in the best interest of our children. Had she gotten more input, I know we could have reached a much better decision that would benefit everyone.

I hope you will join me in fighting back for our children%u2019s sake. I will be meeting with Ms. Fleming this week and would like to be able to voice the concerns of others. Please contact me via phone or e-mail so that we can work together to let the District Office know that we are here and are interested in helping make decisions which affect OUR children.

Krystaal Bulkley-Weaver

541.420.7873

Krystaalweaver@gmail.com