A letter written to the SJS Faculty to encourage 'returning' receives mixed-reviews from teachers. Editors note: We received several copies of this letter from various sources each with personal commentary attached to it. We have decided not to publish that portion of the transmission as we cannot determine the validity of some of the claims made. We encourage anyone visiting this site to make comments addressed in this letter for future postings, but please refrain from using any vulgar language and keep your points specific to this letter so that your comments can be posted. Anonymous emails are read, but may not be posted. It's always best to support your claims and include your name if you wish to have your views published. Date : February 5, 2004 To : Members of the St. Johns Faculty From : Tim Kernaghan Many of you are considering whether you wish to return to St. Johns next year. Many of you are concerned about what direction the school is headed and what surprises might be next. There are too many rumors circulating, and I thought it might be beneficial if you heard directly from the Board. I think that the best way to understand the future direction the Board may embark upon is by reviewing its previous actions. This process began in July 2002. A year and a half ago, we were at ground zero. There will be differences of opinion about how we got there, but it cannot be disputed that the Board was in disarray. There was no school headmaster. There was no vicar of St. Johns Church. Since that time, the Board has been involved in many things. 1. The Board reorganized itself, no small feat, in and of itself. 2. An exhaustive and public head search process was undertaken and a new Head of School was hired. 3. A Board representative was involved in the successful vicar search process. 4. The Board guided school efforts to recover from two super typhoons in a six-month stretch. 5. A back up water system was purchased and installed. 6. Back up power generating equipment was purchased and installed. 7. The Board worked under challenging circumstances with an interim Head. 8. The grading policy was modified so that "A's" began at 90 rather than 93. 9. A comprehensive athletic policy was drafted, debated publicly, modified and adopted. 10. The marketing committee worked exhaustively to stem the continuous enrollment slide. This slide has continued for more than 10 years. Enrollment peaked at 698 and it now stands at 504. This year is the first in over a decade that enrollment did not fall. Might I add that during this period, tuition increased 125%. 11. This year, tuition rebates have been extended to parents with multiple children in school. Next year, there will be additional rebates extended for each student who has attended our school for more than six years. 12. Two years ago, the rebate for children of faculty members was 25%. This year, the rebate was raised to 50%. For next year, it will be raised again to 75% level of assistance. 13. Two years ago the former Board committed to the next step increase for faculty once enrollment reached 515. This Board makes the same commitment. Although this level of enrollment has not been reached, last year the Board voted to give all employees a bonus grossed up to $500 in recognition of the many sacrifices each of you makes. I may be wrong, but I don't think the Board has ever expressed its gratitude to the staff and faculty in this fashion previously. The Board will review step increases in the May June time period following the pre-enrollment period. 14. Previously many parents felt that the school was in denial over students with special needs. Because of a Board directed mandate, the administration has now identified and is working individually with 22 students. 15. Last year, the Board held two public meetings to discuss school finances and tuition. This past September, the Board convened a special workshop to review and discuss the goals in the school's master plan. This session lasted a full day, and it was attended by individuals from every stakeholder group in our community. The goals mutually agreed to at that session are the goals the Board is working to accomplish. There is no other set of goals or objectives under consideration. We try to be open. Our board meetings are published in the school calendar. I've committed to attend each PTA general membership meeting in respond to any questions or concerns. I don't think these Board-directed open sessions have been common practice in the past. 16. The first Board by-law amendment since the late 80's has been approved. It is designed to insure that there will be continuous managed turnover at the Board level. There is more, but I'll stop. I would like to point out that all the above has been accomplished in one and a half years. Since we are reviewing future agendas at St. Johns, please allow me to convey a few words about my own agenda. 1. I believe that we need to review the faculty evaluation process. If you haven't been evaluated recently, you have been cheated. Evaluation means many things to many people. Perhaps you can determine my meaning if I also state that I believe our school has failed you if we haven't helped to improve or enrich you professionally. The school needs a better way to objectively determine the best individuals for advancement opportunities. The school needs to work harder to offer many forms of professional development opportunities. The method of evaluation SHOULD NOT be dictated from the Board down. It should be developed from the faculty up. The process of constructing meaningful evaluation methodologies and the actual review of the completed evaluations themselves should be directed by the faculty to the greatest extent possible. When I think of this process, the term that comes to mind is mentoring. 2. We need to grow enrollment. If you don't want pay increases going forward, then we're fine now. However if we want to help improve the financial quality of your life, long term, we will need more students. We're not empire builders. We don't care if the number is 600 or 900 hundred. When the school is ready to for growth, the faculty needs to sign off and be in agreement with the scope before the plan is implemented. Otherwise, we'll fail our responsibilities to our students. 3. We would like to see a complete review of our curriculum. How well is it working within each grade level? Is there agreement about when we teach what? Do departments communicate? Do grade levels communicate? Is it clear to the lower school what needs to be taught to prepare students for upper school? What does special needs instruction mean and how can the next instructor build upon the foundations of the last one? Can we identify the most important strands in our curriculum? Can we weave them together so that we can actually communicate to a parent how homework and class work build from grade 1 to grade 12 and the ultimate demands of IB and AP? Can we take TOK even further and expand inter-disciplinary study opportunities? We want to support the processes that will help you to better stimulate each other. The review process should be directed by the faculty, under time lines determined by the faculty. The Board SHOULD NOT manage it, but we will be very excited to see your work when you're ready. 4. I commit to you that when my three-year term expires in another year and a half, but not before then, I will vacate my Board position. Why evaluations? In my mind it's to make sure that your last day as a teacher is as stimulating and as rewarding as your first. Why grow the student body? In my mind, it's to make sure we can pay you more and to continue to upgrade our facilities. If you have disagreed with recent Board decisions, as I see it, there are three choices. You can decide that Board is guilty of willfully lying to you. You can decide that we're weak and that forces are manipulating us we don't understand and can't control. If you believe either of these choices, then I think you should you find a better place to work. Please don't waste you career working for managers you can't respect. There is another alternative. No matter how deeply we disagree, we can agree that there is no ill intent at work. Without such an agreement there is no basis for trust. We hope to see all of you back next year. We will greatly miss those of you who don't return.