IMPORTANT NEWS

In an effort to make accessing my blog less complicated I have a new and easy to remember web address (url).

You can now access it with http://aprilgriffinblog.com/ . When sharing this site with friends and co-workers it will be easier to remember.

For those of you who don't like change you can continue to access this blog at http://soundoffandbeheard.blogspot.com/.

Tell me what you think

I represent all Hillsborough County schools and voters...I represent you. Tell me what you really think.

I have 2 rules. They are.

1. Don't curse or be vulgar.
2. Don't waste my time with mean-spirited insults.

Be honest, give constructive feed back but be mature and productive. If you think something is wrong, then tell me how it can be better. If you have information that would help our children, employees, or taxpayers, this is the place to share. I will use this blog to listen to your comments. Please also note that this is my personal blog, not the board's. Furthermore, the opinions expressed by posters on this blog may or may not necessarily reflect my opinions or those of the School Board.

If you don't want me to know your name, that is fine. Post anonymously.

You can also write me at
april.griffin@sdhc.k12.fl.us or call 813-272-4045.

At your service,

April Griffin,
Hillsborough County School Board Member,
District 6 (Countywide)

Friday, February 15, 2008

Hillsborough School Board re-writes its mission

I am excited to be moving in a positive direction. I've said it before. I know this does not seem very important to some, but this process is a very important element in changing the culture of the school district as the vision and mission set the tone for the school district for the next ten years.

The Hillsborough County School District is in the process of crafting new mission, vision, and values statements. Today, the seven School Board members, Superintendent MaryEllen Elia, and her staff of chief officers and assistant superintendents held a workshop to set strategic goals for the school district.

Read the entire WMNF story here and/or listen to the entire story here here.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're excited, yet morale suffers, administrators neglect to listen to employees, and we're curving exam grades to inflate grades so this district looks good.

We're not excited.

April, many of us are losing patience. You espouse change but we see more of the same. You complain but the district ignores you and continues to roll out bad program after bad program.

When will we experience the change you advocate?

Anonymous said...

April:

Here's a copy of what our future looks like. Are you in favor of EXCEL? Is it worth the money? Could we use this money to hire more teachers? Has this program been used elsewhere with positive results? Were SDHC teachers involved with this decision?

April Griffin said...

Anonymous 9:48,

Change takes time. I can not undo decades of culture overnight. My heart goes out to you and I understand your frustration.

If you would like a meeting one on one with me and/or the superintendent please let me know and I will arrange it. I want to hear what you have to say.

You are entitled to your opinion and I know there are some whose patience is wearing thin, but I will not stifle my excitement over some important things that are happening that will set the course for this district for at least the next ten years. What is happening is monumental, however, like I said it will take some time to see and feel the changes.

As to administrators not listening to employees I am constantly talking to the superintendent, senior staff, and the rest of the board about the importance of listening to the people on the front lines. If I could give specific examples of cases where this is not happening it would be easier for me to advocate. I understand people feel they can not come forward with issues, but when people do come forward and feel retaliated against I need to know about it so I can engage in the situation. I will not tolerate doing business that way.

At your service, April

twinkobie said...

when people do come forward and feel retaliated against I need to know about it so I can engage in the situation. I will not tolerate doing business that way.

The excerpt from your posted response on your Web to a teacher encourages me to believe you will contact Bruce Burnham, Ms. Griffin, and review his retaliation complaint that Mr. Hutek, Armwood, stripped him of his honors classes in history and gave them to first- and second-year teachers because Bruce spoke out against the extra classes.

The reason? Bruce said he was prominent in speaking out against the extra class Ms. Elia downloaded on teachers. This action was accompanied with not a murmur from you board members on the podium.

I am sure everyone would be interested in your posting whether you will contack Bruce Burnham and Mr. Hutek and the data of what the results of this contact were.


lee drury de cesare

Anonymous said...

How about some communication... When does Ms. Elia plan on truly informing teachers at the schools that SpringBoard will be imposed upon???

I need to know the effects of this situation is so I can decide if I need teach in another county. I promise many, many educators will leave...

Anonymous said...

[url=http://pittsburghmom.com/members/Pokimon2010/default.aspx/][img]http://i048.radikal.ru/0910/57/9a759e833d4a.jpg[/img][/url]

10607 movies of rare DVD property

We have thousands of the hottest movies you've been waiting to ready for! And they're stylish available in Hi-Def!
These movies are playable on most viewing devices including iPod, PDA (HandHelds), PC, DVD & DivX players.
There are categorically no limits. Download as much as you penury with incredibly treble speeds. No additional software is required!
Only click on a identify with, download a flick picture show and watch it on your favorite player.

[size=4][url=http://pittsburghmom.com/members/Pokimon2010/default.aspx/]Sign Up[/url] today and forget about buying or renting DVDs offline. [/size]


[url=http://movies.aoaoaxxx.ru/][img]http://s43.radikal.ru/i102/0910/37/6c734f3ca5fb.jpg[/img][/url]





























[url=http://pittsburghmom.com/members/Pokimon2010/default.aspx][b]TOP 40 BEST Movies:[/b][/url]
I Am Legend
Black Narcissus
Murder in the First
Igby Goes Down
Bulletproof Monk
Against the Ropes
Mission: Impossible II
Deck the Halls
Five Across the Eyes
Backbeat
Nacho Libre
Airplane!
Demon Seed
Big Fish
Prague Duet
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Stark Raving Mad
Juno
Final Destination 3
Dark City
Eragon
Hellboy
Devil's Own, The
Cronos
Nick of Time
Choke
Devil Times Five aka People Toys
Romper Stomper
Fly Me to the Moon
Jacob's Ladder


[url=http://freewebhostingtipsonline.com/members/nasihzhemchuzhnij.aspx]B.T.K. [/url]
[url=http://ucnow.ru/members/patrikijamvros.aspx]Cujo [/url]
[url=https://www.nbhope.org/members/artemijstepiki.aspx]Synecdoche, New York [/url]
[url=http://forum.fscp.org/members/abdulvahabsko.aspx]Black Sunday [/url]
[url=http://labnet.cc.isel.ipl.pt/members/ilijatrepov21.aspx]Sixteen Candles [/url]
[url=http://tamerfarag.com/members/nuzarprohorenk.aspx]Fast & Furious 4 [/url]
[url=http://exchange.si/members/antonmushketov4.aspx]Flower Drum Song [/url]
[url=http://feedbeast.com/forum/members/mutiolshanniko.aspx]Land of the Dead [/url]
[url=http://airlinemanpower.com/communityserver/members/rustamsavastee.aspx]Family That Preys, The [/url]
[url=http://antonietasofia.com/members/pantelejmonste.aspx]She Hate Me [/url]

Anonymous said...

Time Machine isn't working correctly on my Macbook, so I'm dragging and dropping everything onto my external hard drive. I have a lot of picture and music files to back up. Is it okay to just drag and drop the folder or do I need to go into each folder and actually drag and drop the contents of it, as well? I've been having problems with my Airport and this morning my laptop started making a clicking sound. The same clicking sound it made the last time my hard drive crashed. (On this same Mac. That I have had less than a year.) So basically I'm backing everything up because I plan to get a new Mac (upgraded from this one) when my school money comes in February. Basically, don't buy a used Macbook, no matter how "trustworthy" someone seems.

_____________________
[url=http://make-money-on-surveys.blogspot.com/]Paid surveys[/url]

Anonymous said...

I wa sjust on my computer, then it shut down, turned it back on, said, to start the computer differently, and it'll fix the problem, I did it, a blue screen came out, talked about a problem so it said it shut down the system. The i clicked on problem details when I finally got it working, and it said the problem was called Blue screen. Ive had this before, it eventually reached the problem where my computer wouldnt turn on at all, can someone plz tell me whats going on with it and what I can do to fix it. Thanks everyone^^

__________
http://www.pompeiiexcursions.com/?p=3#comment-9826