Summer is sooo over - - for students & teachers & principals & paras & bus drivers & custodians & cafeteria workers & campus police - - every AISD employee. All of us and all of you are ready to meet the challenges of this new school year.

To quote an old TV series: "Welcome back, Mr. Kotter!"

The 2007 - 2008 school year has begun.

Promised changes have happened and we’re all working hard to make those critical transitions successful - - so that our students can continue to receive the very best education possible in our classrooms.

Tonight, at this first board meeting, I wanted to give you a "heads up" about a couple of concerns that have already been brought to my attention by teachers from secondary campuses. Both issues grow out of the 7 period day and the resulting reduction in teachers.

The first is a familiar issue, although not at the secondary level - - loss of planning time: Administrators are having difficulty arranging teacher duty schedules around 50 m periods, trying to avoid encroaching on a teacher’s state mandated 45 m daily planning time. It is a real dilemma - - because administrators need help monitoring students - - and teachers need planning time to do their jobs right.

The second issue is also familiar, but now much more prevalent - - excessive class size: The primary reason for going to 7 periods was to decrease the number of teachers. And it worked. Now, teachers in English and chemistry and social studies and foreign language classes are facing 35-40 (or more) students in a class. And, there are not nearly enough electives to offer.

What are we to do? In the next weeks and months, we all need to work together to solve these two crucial issues.

Remember:  It is for the good of the children…….