Day: August 5, 2018

“Not My Circus Not My Monkeys”

Delaware Design-Lab High School

A couple of days ago I posted an article about an email sent to staff at Delaware Design-Lab High School. In the email, the Interim Director referred to the school as a circus and the students as monkeys. I posted an article and I felt it had a tint of racism to it. At the time, I was 100% unaware that her phrase was a remake of a famous phrase from an old Polish proverb. This proverb generated the phrase “Not My Circus Not My Monkeys”. Which means “not my problem”. However, the email flipped it around by saying it was their circus and the students were their monkeys.

In another email I posted in the same article, a former staff member alleged the school was not hiring anyone but Caucasians to replace staff that left and the school was targeting certain zip codes to recruit students.

I still think referring to your school as a circus and your students as monkeys is a bit odd, but because of this famous phrase (which I never heard of until pretty much everyone on Facebook told me immediately after) I am not alleging the phrasing was racist any longer.

Now the staff hiring and targeted zip codes for recruitment… that I have some issues with. Just wanted to get this out there to be fair.

Capital School District Board To Vote On Contract For In-School Alternative Program

Capital School District

The Capital School District Board of Education will be holding a special board meeting on August 8th.  Among the few items for consideration is a contract with Pathways of Delaware to run an in-school alternative program in some of Capital’s schools.  The program is meant to prevent expulsions where students are sent to alternative schools.

Whenever I see outside contracts like this, my very first thought concerns students who have special education.  Any contractor would have to follow the student’s IEP just as any district employee would.  This program is not for every student.  It is for students who are simply unable to function within a school for very serious behavior issues.  Alternative placement is very expensive for any district or charter school.

What are your thoughts on this proposal?  In reading the proposal from Pathways of Delaware, they included endorsements from the Christina School District.  Do other districts have this program?