Parent-Teacher Meetings Moved, Again

Parent-teacher conferences were moved back to November in the , after trustees Monday reversed an earlier decision to schedule them in December.

Last year, the district convened a 20-person committee to figure out when is best to have parent-teacher conferences, which usually require an entire week of minimum and no-teaching days at the elementary level.

Committee members thought too much instructional time was lost in November to holidays, the Board of Trustees learned when . So they recommended, and the board agreed, that the conferences be moved to just before the winter break.

But trustees say they’ve been besieged by requests, especially from teachers, for a mulligan. 

“Nov. 5, that’s going to be the parent-teacher conferences,” declared Trustee Jack Brick, . 

Trustees Ellen Addonizio and Lynn Hatton served on the committee which came up with the December conference schedule. Addonizio acknowledged it was “something a little bit different” but was worth a try.

She added that all but one committee member, Vicki Soderberg, president of the teachers’ union, voted for the change.

“I’m not certain what a committee is for if we overturn the decision of the committee,” Hatton said. “Let’s try it for a year, and we can always see if it works.”

But Trustee Anna Bryson said a committee’s recommendation is only that, a recommendation.

The board voted 4-3, with Trustees Hatton, Addonizio and Sue Palazzo dissenting, to return parent-teacher conferences to November.

In other board news, the trustees:

• Voted 4-3 to ask the state for a without incurring as much as a $1.5 million financial penalty. Hatton said the district has no choice but to increase class sizes because of the dire financial situation. She said no one has yet to come up with a working alternative. Addonizio, Palazzo and Bryson voted against the move.
• Entered into an agreement with Mission Hospital’s Famiy Resource Center to provide counseling services at Del Obispo Elementary in San Juan Capistrano at no cost to the district.
• Approved an agreement with Brandman University to provide teaching development at in Mission Viejo and assist in that school’s bid to win accreditation through the International Baccalaureate program.