BUSD Parents opposed to the Nov. 2008 Recommendations for Berkeley High School Redesign

To:  Berkeley High School Governance Council and the Berkeley School Board (BUSD):

Regarding the “Recommendations for Berkeley High School Redesign” as drafted by the Berkeley High School Design Committee (selected and appointed by principal Jim Slemp) and presented to the BHS community in November 2008 as an undated Memorandum,

We, the undersigned parents and guardians of students in the Berkeley Unified School District care deeply about academic achievement for all BHS students, and we care about closing the achievement gap. But we do not support the plan described in this Memorandum that was presented to the Berkeley High School Governance Council in November 2008.

In the “Recommendations for Berkeley High School Redesign,” in-class learning time was reduced by 22-26% (sources disagree on the correct number) and we feel that this is too severe a drop in academic class time. If advisories are to be included in the school day of BHS students, then we ask that no more than 6% of the time that students now spend in class be sacrificed to this goal. We do not favor eliminating zero and 7th period, or having late start days four times per month. In simple terms, we do not favor less in-class instruction time for the students of Berkeley High School.

We do not support a plan in which our children’s in-class learning time is significantly reduced, and we do not see how having less school will help any student achieve greater academic success. Many of us may have positive and constructive suggestions for plans that we would approve of, but here we simply wish to state that this plan is unacceptable.

We strongly urge the BHSGC (Berkeley High School Governance Council) and the Berkeley School Board to reject this proposed plan. At the two community forums that were held to discuss this matter, many similar concerns were voiced. These changes will affect Berkeley High for years to come. We urge you to reject the plan as it now stands.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The BUSD Parents opposed to the Nov. 2008 Recommendations for Berkeley High School Redesign Petition to Berkeley High School Governance Council and the Berkeley School Board (BUSD): was created by and written by PL Scott (2dogs2@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.