The Observation Deck

Thank you all and message to all -

Please don't ever ally my name with LakewoodAlive. I do not associate with the administration of this organization nor will I be associated with the name because of them.

As for the volunteers, I have never had a reason to bash or praise them. I wouldn't do that. I don't even know who they are.

Volunteers come with open hearts and true devotion to an organization's stated vision. It is reprehensible when they are devalued or not dealt with honestly.

Too many egoes stroking each other make for bad company.

Grace O'Malley wrote:Mr. Markling

As long as you are here reading, may I ask you about this situation where the PTA asked, but was not given permission, to distribute info on the planning meetings?

Would you be able to investigate WHO made that decision and WHY the decision was made to refuse the PTA?

I've been discussing this with many of my neighbors and other Lakewood friends and there are a lot of people who are very concerned about this. I suggested we wait to hear some answers before grabbing the pitchforks.

Grace,

As a preliminary matter, thank you for asking for clarification before jumping to assumptions.

As soon as the “allegations” were posted on the Deck, I asked the Administration to look into the same so the “investigation” was already underway when you made your post. But, again, thank you for your prudence.

The Administration has spoken to the Grant PTA and all is not as represented on the Deck. I even personally spoke to the Grant PTA today.

The Administration did not deny the Grant PTA the ability to distribute any flyer relating to the Board’s November 16, 2009 work session in which we discussed Phase III. Nor was that the request. Again, the Grant PTA never asked the Administration to distribute any Phase III flyer.

It appears that the Grant PTA simply asked the Administration to have a school district employee translate its own Grant PTA flyer into a non-English language(s). The Grant PTA would then distribute the flyer on its own.

The Grant PTA agrees that there was a miscommunication. The Administration only intended to convey that it would not translate the Grant PTA flyer for the Grant PTA. The Administration never intended to convey the message that no material could be distributed by the Grant PTA.

It cannot be overstated that there is absolutely no dispute between the Grant PTA and the Administration on this issue.

Matt

My earlier post regarding PTA’s request to distribute flyers was based on the situation as understood at the time. This was not just my understanding but that of our entire organization as communicated by our very competent leadership. I did not make assumptions, in fact I was so dumbfounded with the decision, I asked for confirmation. Any miscommunication occurred elsewhere. Despite my frustration, I did not feel a need to launch an investigation nor was I making allegations, simply expressing my frustration with the lack of communication from the district to families regarding the recent Phase III Work Session. In my opinion, PTA shouldn’t have to take on the responsibility of communicating this information in English or otherwise.

To put this thread back on track;

I have no problem with local organizations sending home materials in our kids’ backpacks about family friendly events and activities, provided the district is not funding their promotion. I think it is a great way to reach families throughout the city. Thank you LCS for cooperating in this effort.

Thank you Matt for posting the next Phase III Work Session on the deck.

Thank you Lakewood Observer for the opportunity for all sides to have a voice in the process.

I am grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Meg Ostrowski wrote:My earlier post regarding PTA’s request to distribute flyers was based on the situation as understood at the time. This was not just my understanding but that of our entire organization as communicated by our very competent leadership.

Meg,

I agree that very competent leadership heads the Grant PTA. In fact, I read my post, word for word, with the Grant PTA President in question before I posted the same to ensure that everything was true since she was the person you are attempting to speak for on the Deck. The Grant PTA President agreed that my post fairly represented this miscommunication.

Based upon my conversation with the Grant PTA leadership, I am pretty sure that your understanding (and opinion) is not that of the entire Grant PTA. But then again, I am also assuming that the communication was actually sent to or shared with the entire Grant PTA.

Matt

Meg Ostrowski wrote:I did not make assumptions, in fact I was so dumbfounded with the decision, I asked for confirmation.

Meg,

I have absolutely no problem with you yelling, "FIRE!" on the Deck. But, sometimes "confirmation" can come by actually communicating with the Grant PTA President regarding whether a fire even exists. Or, as you have done on numerous occasions, you can communicate with me directly and I will, as I have done on numerous occasions, seek confirmation regarding your numerous issues with school decisions.

After all, your fire alarm had some:

Grace O'Malley wrote:... grabbing the pitchforks.

Matt

Meg Ostrowski wrote:In my opinion, PTA shouldn’t have to take on the responsibility of communicating this information in English or otherwise.

Meg,

The Administration did not ask the Grant PTA to take on that role. That was something the Grant PTA decided to do on its own, which it has the right to do.

On November 3, 2009, the Administration posted notice of the November 16, 2009 work session in question on the district's website. And:

Matthew John Markling wrote:As an aside, the website for the Lakewood City Schools has a "Google Translate" feature which allows the information on each page to be translated from English to various languages.

http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8671

Meg Ostrowski wrote:To put this thread back on track;

I have no problem with local organizations sending home materials in our kids’ backpacks about family friendly events and activities, provided the district is not funding their promotion. I think it is a great way to reach families throughout the city. Thank you LCS for cooperating in this effort.

Meg,

The issue of funding of the flyer in question was previously addressed in this thread:

Matthew John Markling wrote:

Jim O'Bryan wrote:So just to make sure they have a lock on FREE printing ***.

Jim,

The Administration has informed me that the "Light Up Lakewood" flyer that was recently distributed was not printed by the Lakewood City Schools. LakewoodAlive used an outside firm.

Matt

Matt

Meg Ostrowski wrote:Thank you Matt for posting the next Phase III Work Session on the deck.

Meg,

You are welcome. My post is simply a copy of the notice that was already on the school district's website, which contains notices of all school board meetings as well as other school information. And, again, the school district's website also has a "Google Translate" feature.

Matt

I am glad the district posts such information on their website. I think in this day and age all info should be online. But there are still a ton of people that don't have access to a computer or are just merely computer illiterate. It would nice if all info was sent home in backs like LA flyers. I think something like that would generate more participation.

Danielle Masters wrote:I am glad the district posts such information on their website. I think in this day and age all info should be online. But there are still a ton of people that don't have access to a computer or are just merely computer illiterate.

Thanks, Danielle.

The Lakewood City Schools has been sending information out to parents via telephone as well.

And, there seems to be a lot of information coming home with my sons in "Chalk Talk." As a school board member, I also get copies of the "Chalk Talk" editions for each building and, again, there certainly seems to be an abundance of information being sent home.

Matt

Matthew John Markling wrote:Meg Ostrowski wrote:To put this thread back on track;

I have no problem with local organizations sending home materials in our kids’ backpacks about family friendly events and activities, provided the district is not funding their promotion. I think it is a great way to reach families throughout the city. Thank you LCS for cooperating in this effort.

Meg,

The issue of funding of the flyer in question was previously addressed in this thread:

Matt, I was not questioning the funding of any particular flyer, just making a general statement.

Matthew John Markling wrote:The Lakewood City Schools has been sending information out to parents via telephone as well.

And, there seems to be a lot of information coming home with my sons in "Chalk Talk." As a school board member, I also get copies of the "Chalk Talk" editions for each building and, again, there certainly seems to be an abundance of information being sent home.

Yes, but nothing about the November 16th Phase III Work Session.

Matthew John Markling wrote:I agree that very competent leadership heads the Grant PTA. In fact, I read my post, word for word, with the Grant PTA President in question before I posted the same to ensure that everything was true since she was the person you are attempting to speak for on the Deck. The Grant PTA President agreed that my post fairly represented this miscommunication.

I was not attempting to speak for anyone other than myself on the Deck. I am glad that you have such a good working relationship with Grant PTA leadership and were able to agree on a miscommunication.

Matthew John Markling wrote:I have absolutely no problem with you yelling, "FIRE!" on the Deck. But, sometimes "confirmation" can come by actually communicating with the Grant PTA President regarding whether a fire even exists. Or, as you have done on numerous occasions, you can communicate with me directly and I will, as I have done on numerous occasions, seek confirmation regarding your numerous issues with school decisions.

I was not yelling "FIRE," simply sharing my understanding of the situation with others in the community. Confirmation did come by actually communicating via telephone with the Grant PTA President, who at the time also understood the situation as I did and had sent out a communication letting officers know that the request to distribute flyers had been denied.

Matthew John Markling wrote:The Administration did not ask the Grant PTA to take on that role. That was something the Grant PTA decided to do on its own, which it has the right to do.

I was not suggesting that the Administration asked the Grant PTA to take on the role of communicating to families about the November 16th Phase III Work Session. I appreciate that the notice was on the LCS website, but had the district sent out flyers, included a notice in Chalk Talk, used the phone system, contacted Phase III members via e-mail or reached out to the community about this special session, Grant PTA would not have even been discussing the situation at our recent meeting or inquiring about distributing flyers.

Thanks for getting to the bottom of this and making yourself available to help with school related concerns.

I apologize to everyone for causing such a ruckus

Meg Ostrowski wrote:I apologize to everyone for causing such a ruckus

Meg,

No problem.

Matt