What will come . . . .

The Marshall Board of Education, as expected, voted 7-0 to privatize our custodial staff. There really isn't much to say - it was very emotional.

Cool-Down Period

For whatever reason, people are starting to personally attack each other. I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS! So for the time being, I am suspending the MPS Change is Good Blog. I will open the blog back up for discussion after the August Board meeting. If you have any comments or concerns, please contact mpschangeisgood@yahoo.com

Fact Finding Mission

Longtime - No post. But we are back. We would sure love it if people can fill us in on the following items. Joyce: Maybe you can send out a Rumor Control e-mail informing people what the truth is.

Charlie McDonald - MPS Head of Technology
It is "rumored" that in the past 4 years he has received a total raise of close to $20,000. He is "rumored" to be making in the low $80,000 range.

Joyce Phillips - Superintendent
3% raise and buying of years at the past board meeting. Also MANY perks in her contract - We wish we knew what her "perks" are.

Custodial Staff
They are on the chopping block. The board is currently looking into privatizing our Custodial Staff.

It is hard to believe that people at the top keep getting FAT POCKETS, and the ones towards the bottom keep getting things taken away. Please fill us in on any information you may have.

Election Results Are Final!

Proposal 1 & 2 were passed by the voters today. Because of todays results, you will see some much needed improvements mainly at the High School!

In other election news
Kellogg Community College Board of Trustees
Top 3 vote getters were:
Reba Harrington
Brian Hice
Jonathan Byrd

Congrats to EVERYONE who got out and voted today!

Election Day

UPADATE as of 10:15p.m.

With 8 of 9 precincts reporting the vote totals are as follows:

Proposal 1
Yes 1525
No 483

Proposal 2
Yes 1176
No 831

As of 9:00a.m. today, voter turn-out is VERY low. Total votes were in the low 100's. We will keep you updated as we hear more numbers. Is low voter turn-out good or bad for the bond?

Update/Correction
Those numbers were from the City of Marshall Voting Area

Update as of 10:45am
The numbers for the City of Marshall Voting Area are in the low 200's
Please get out to vote, these numbers are not looking good.

Update as of 12:30pm
The numbers for the Township of Marshall Voting Area are in the mid 250's

A Jeer from Shelly Sulser

In The Marshall Chronicle this week, Shelly Sulser did numerous Cheers and Jeers in her Editorial Column. The following is one of her jeers:

Jeers to the Marshall School Board for purposely refusing to keep written records of its recent evaluation of Dr. Joyce Phillips. President Vic Potter reported that no board members filled out their individual evaluation form. And, when the summary form was released, there were no board member comments included. The board leans toward secrecy too often by waiting until the day before major meetings such as two recent school board retreats and all other meeting to publicly post the sessions planned at least a month in advance in most cases.
Educators who expect students to do more than the minimum are setting a bad example when it sticks only to the minimum required of them by the state's public access laws.
Minimum meeting notices combined with rigid copying fees for every document - including $20 to $30 per month for the board packet - does nothing to HELP your local paper get the accurate information to you in a timely manner and to get it right.
It only creates another hurdle to surmount in our continued struggle to get to the truth.
An air of secrecy breeds suspicion - and sometimes critical bloggers - even when you have nothing to hide.
So cheers to the City of Marshall for always working with us - not against us - in our efforts to keep you - the real boss of both entities - informed so you can keep them held accountable.

Thanks Shelly for speaking what so many of us are thinking. So we here at MPS Kids First Cheer you! Wake up Board Members! Your secrecy doesn't help getting this Bond passed for the new "Lame Duck Superintendent."

It's All About The Benjamin's

Joyce proved that her intention was very clear when coming to Marshall. The vision that she saw was not about excellence in education. It was not about keeping kids first. Her vision was $$$$$$$. Her vision was to collect a Michigan pension along with her Indiana pension. And what did we do? We bought into it! We didn't win anything. We lost! In a major way. She will be leaving here at the end of her contract and feel like she turned this District around. Well she did, she turned this District into the ground. The sad thing is - she won't care. She doesn't care that she drove off some very good employees in this District. She will be traveling the world - she is an international Super Star! - she is going to spread her vision world-wide. To the Marshall School Board: You let us down! 3.8 out of 5? When this bond doesn't pass - I hope you as a Board aren't surprised. Let's wait a couple years when we have a real Superintendent, and maybe a School Board with a spine - and then lets talk about a Bond Issue.

Which Way Will They Sway?

Tonight - March 27th - Will be the Superintendent Review talks in the Community Room at the Middle School. The meeting takes place at 6:00pm. If you can't make the meeting, stay tuned to www.mpschangeisgood.blogspot.com for the latest information coming out of the meeting.

Congratulations Ron!

Its Official. Ron Behrenwald was hired by Cedar Springs Public Schools at last night's CSPS Board Meeting. Thanks for everything you did for the Marshall Public Schools. A true class act, and an unbelievable leader.

More Fallout on the way?

Is another well respected Administrator on their way out? We are hearing that Susan Townsend - Principal of Walters Elementary is in the running for an Administrative position in another District. Anybody have any information on this rumor we are hearing? How long do we all stand by while all these great Administrators leave us? But hey, as long as we have the good "Doctor" at the helm we should all be happy - - Right?!?

Superintendents Review

Tuesday Night at 6:00. Community Room at the Middle School. Joyce's evaluation meeting. Show up and see what her "yes Joyce" friends Vic, Janice, and Dan say about her. Will Paul, John, Chris, and Ali stand up for change? Come on down and check it out. Her evaluation discussion will be held in closed session - by Joyce's request. But there will be an open session of the meeting.

Check It Out!!!

It's good to see that The Marshall Chronicle has also realized how great of a tool a blog can be! Check it out with the following link: Chronicle Advisor Blog
The most recent posting is "How would you review Dr. Joyce Phillips' leadership?"
Head on over to their blog and post away on how you think she should be reviewed?"

"Not on the work clock" - "Concerned Citizen"??!!??

Joyce states in the current issue of The Marshall Chronicle that she attended the Citizens Bond Campaign meeting "not on the work clock" and she was "attending as a concerned citizen". She should have been there as "Superintendent" of the District. If you want to get behind this bond Joyce - then get behind it. Don't come to the meeting as a "concerned citizen". Are you afraid that if this renewal of this bond fails - then you will be the one to blame? Also The Chronicle reported that approximately 20 people showed up for the meeting. What wasn't reported is that a majority of the 20 people were from Kingscott and School officials. It would be interesting to know how many community members were there - maybe 5? Doesn't sound like there is much community interest in this renewal. Of course at their next meeting there will be more people in attendance and they will try to spin that into how the community is so excited about the bond now. But that will happen when each attendee of the original meeting is told to bring 10 others with them for the next meeting!

Ron Behrenwald on the way out?

Ron Behrenwald is in the top 3 for a Principal position somewhere other than Marshall. Sources say he is pretty much "the top choice". Like other bloggers have said, this is truly a sad day for Marshall. But a great time for Ron. If he gets this position he will be going to a place where its Superintendent will let him do his job. His new boss will not be telling him how to run his building, like his current boss does. Shame on the current Marshall School Board for letting this happen! They could've stopped this downward spiral a long time ago. Unfortunately we will keep on spiraling downward and it will all be on the Board's shoulders when we hit rock bottom - or have we already hit?

Diploma Issue

There seems to be some discussion on the blog why we are "blaming" Central Office for losing this diploma. Was it turned in at the "current" High School? Was it turned in at the "old" high school? If you want to know the FACTS just make one simple phone call to the Superintendent's Office and ask. You should get a simple, Yes it was turned in here. Our intention is not to cast blame on whoever lost this diploma. If you read the "Raspberry" you can tell he was given the run-around. This diploma has been in his family since 1911! What if someone lost a family treasure of yours since 1911? Wouldn't you want direct answers? All that needed to be done about the issue is tell the man from Olivet that we are very sorry but we lost it, and issue an apology. But this District is no longer in the business to offer apologies if we screw up. Isn't Marshall the same old fashioned caring community we once were? Far too often people of this District are given the RUN-AROUND. It's simple really - Admit you made a mistake - and Move On! But it looks like the leaders of our District NEVER screw up - the blame ALWAYS falls on someone else.

Hopefully there will be a correction coming.....

From the Battle Creek Enquirer
published 2/12/07

Raspberries:
To Marshall High School. About two years ago I offered my father's diploma from 1911. They said they were interested in displaying it but that it would not be framed immediately as they had another diploma from about the same era, and cost was mentioned. I checked every few months to see if it had been used. Each visit they said no, with varying excuses. A couple months ago I told them I would like the diploma back since it was not being displayed. I was then told that they had lost it. Two employees thereafter told me that they would call me. Calls never came. Needless to say, I am greatly unhappy as this was kept in my family for about 94 years.
-L.K. Collins, Olivet

The raspberry should be to the Marshall Public Schools. If our information is correct, the diploma was dropped off to the Superintendent's Office. Central Office is the headquarters for all things historical to be displayed.

Are YOU thinking of running for the Board?

Should I - Shouldn't I? Is that going back and forth in your head? Will I have the support I need? Lets make one thing plain and simple. YOU WILL have the support it needs to get elected. There are MANY people at the ready to help YOU get elected. If you want a committee - you've GOT a committee! WE WILL BE HERE FOR YOU!

Poll Results

Thank You for the highest amount of votes in the least amount of time! In a 4 day span, there were 82 votes.

Results are as follows for people you would like to see run for the Board:
(Only the top 4 are listed)

Darlene Neidlinger: 17 Votes
Steve Hageman: 14 Votes
Lou Giannunzio: 14 Votes
Someone Else: 13 Votes

Video of Changed Meetings

As mentioned below, there was talk of not being able to video tape the meetings that are going to be in different buildings in the District. At the meeting last night the Board approved moving 3 future Board meetings to 3 different buildings in the District. Vic Potter & John Coulter brought up the importance of the meetings being on video. Joyce Phillips responded that - We will try our hardest to get the meetings on tape - not word for word, but real close to that statement. We just wanted to update what we know now after posting that original blog entry earlier in the week.

What are we hearing??

We at MPS Change Is Good have learned some news that MAY be coming out of the Board Meeting on Monday January 15th. Is this another part of Joyce's new campaign?

Board meetings will start moving to different buildings in the District (Walters, Gordon, High School, etc.)

When they are NOT in the Community Room at the Middle School we have learned that the meetings WILL NOT be video taped.
By not video taping, that is just another example of Joyce trying to limit the information that is coming out of her office. How are the hundreds of people who watch the meetings on tv supposed to know what happens at those meetings? We guess time will tell.

Lets Run For The Board!

OK - Are you ready! Lets get serious. Start throwing names out there that would be good for the board. If you know the person that is being talked about, call them and see if they would have any interest in running. If that person says NO, please post here. We need to start figuring out some candidates - FAST. I will try to keep a running log of people who we all suggest - and then update the list when we know if they have been contacted and what their answer is - I will then post that list on the blog and keep updating it once we hear an answer. So lets get busy!!

Some names that have already been thrown out as possible candidates -
Darlene Neidlinger
John Walton
Anita Clark
Steve Hageman
Denise Genise
Lou Giannunzio
Stan Wolk

Now you can subscribe!

Over on the left hand side of the blog you may have noticed a SUBSCRIBE ME button. What is that you ask? Well everytime the Kids First Campaign Blog has a new blog entry - you get an email saying that it has been updated. But please note, everytime a blog entry get commented on, you will NOT get a email. It is ONLY when the blogger in charge of this site makes a new blog entry. Feel free to subscribe today, if at a later time you no longer want to receive emails, just unsubscribe!

A change for '07

Hope everyone loves the new look. We are entering a time of the year that is going to become VERY critical for our district. A campain is coming that will need to be very organized to be successful. A campaign that will start turing the tide for a better future for Marshall Public Schools. And we hope that this Blog can be a useful communication tool throughout this process. Share your ideas with us. If you know of a way that this blog can become more useful in our quest to mobilize a Board that truly puts OUR KIDS FIRST! please email the blog at mpskidsfirst@yahoo.com or share your ideas by posting an entry under this topic. Let's all keep the main thing, the main thing - Keep Our Kids First!

MPS Kids First!

We are trying to change up the look a little bit of the blog. Remember - Change IS Good! You will see 5 "Blog Entries" on the main page. ALL other entries can be found in the ARCHIVE section on the side of the page. You will see at the top of the page a NEW Title. "Kids First Campaign" **The title came from a blogger who posted this catchy phrase - THANKS!** It is OBVIOUS that some people are NOT putting our Kids First - no matter how much they write about it in columns. OUR kids are no longer FIRST! What comes before our kids you may ask...Well that is a good question - It seems small town politics have leap frogged our kids - It seems personal vendettas have leap frogged our kids - It's truly disgusting what is going on...
If you would like to send a personal e-mail to the blog - that you don't want others to see - but would like to get your point across - feel free to send an e-mail to mpskidsfirst@yahoo.com

Good Post from "I have a secret"

Let's not forget about the special education position that became open last summer at the high school. JP as a personal vendetta against everyone at the high school blocked the hiring of a very qualified person. A highly qualified individual was interviewed in August. This person had (i may have this wrong - about 13 years experience). JP would not hire them in at step 3. (fund equity...more $$$ for the board to give to her). What teacher with incredible experience, especially in this field, would want a teaching job at starting teacher wages. MPS did not get this individual...in fact...MPS got no one. The building principal tried extremely hard to work this problem out - the good doctor didn't "make the main thing the main thing". In fact, she didn't "put kids first". A temporary long term sub is in that position, without credentials in special education. This person is absolutely wonderful but not qualified in that particular field. JP does anything she can to cause obstacles for the high school. The three administrators at the high school are wonderful. JP - should take her agenda and stay out of the buildings...there is no need for her to be managing these buildings. (maybe the middle school but the rest were and are doing fine without her). Administrators are in place (before JP) because they are qualified to do the job they have been hired to do. In fact, they have been doing extraordinary jobs before she rode into Marshall. Her job running her own PR campaign should keep her busy enough to be leaving others to the jobs they were hired for. News flash for the board: There were not problems with these building administrations to be fixed quite contrary to what the good doctor has tried to convinced you of. Let her mess up the Foreman issue and cost the district tens of thousands of dollars...isn't that going to be enough damage. Especially when she will not be here to stand up and admit she made a mistake. That is what Hulk did when the elgibility error happened. What an incredible example that wonderful man set for our kids. Kids are constantly asked "why the current supt. does what she does". Can we really afford to have her create any more messes. Now she is wanting employee input for her PR Chronicle articles...we are quite appalled at this request. Why would we want to help an inadequate superintendent to deceive the community and board on her FAILED LEADERSHIP. Employees know her articles are pretty words she wants the community to believe. Who cares what the employees actually see and know. Stay tuned to her upcoming lawsuit against the Chronicle and perhaps the MEA. Many people want to see the survey results go to press. Perhaps she can spend more of the districts funds to invalidate 152 employee opinions. MPS NEEDS HONEST CITIZENS TO RUN FOR SCHOOL BOARD...DEADLINE 2/13/07. Wait to turn in petitions on 2/12/07 - JP likes surprises...she thrives on them.