Fear larger classes, loss of enthusiastic teachers

Reynolds Elementary teacher Christopher Rodarte, dressed up for a school spirit day, gathers his third-grade class after lunch. Rodarte, who is finishing his third year of teaching, was one of 560 TUSD teachers to receive pink slips in March.

The cry is the same everywhere: “Save Our Teachers, Save Our Schools.”

Reductions in force at Tucson schools could mean as many as 640 fewer teachers in area classrooms next year, creating pleas from parents and educators petrified about oversized classes.

“I have no idea what next year is going to be like,” said Heather Martin, a worried parent of two children at Reynolds Elementary who is also a teaching assistant in a first-grade class. “Both of my kids’ teachers got RIF’d. My kids are devastated. We’re losing so many really hardworking people.”

Many of the teachers who received pink slips in March are young, bringing a youthful enthusiasm and upgraded knowledge of technology needed for educating 21st-century students.

State law required that teachers be informed by April 15 if districts were not certain they would be able to rehire instructors for the next school year..

Districts are hopeful they can rehire many first- to third-year teachers who got pink slips, but it may be June before it is known how much money will come from the state, which is trying to balance a budget $3 billion in the red.

Parents speaking out

Meanwhile, the potential cuts are so severe that parental grass-roots groups are forming.

“We’ve seen parents groups rise up like we’ve never seen before,” said Superintendent Calvin Baker of Vail Unified School District.

Rallies are nearly weekly. Letter-writing campaigns to the governor and state legislators are in full swing.

Protesters are trying to lobby legislators to bring back the equalization tax – a property tax that could generate $250 million for education. It was suspended in 2006, but was supposed to resume this year. However, legislators – not wanting to increase taxes – are balking about restarting it.

PTAs and school site councils are mobilizing parents.

At Reynolds, 7450 E. Stella Road in Tucson Unified School District, the walls are lined with third-graders’ letters to Gov. Jan Brewer. Scores of other students across Tucson also are writing letters.

Students from Howenstine High, 555 S. Tucson Blvd., have picketed outside the Governor’s Office downtown and met with her representatives here.

Recently, the Reynolds PTA brought all the staff onto a stage and had employees walk off, one at a time, showing the 200 parents gathered what the staff would like next year with 10 percent and then 18 percent cuts.

“You could have heard a pin drop,” said Principal Janet Jordan. “I thing they turned a corner and instead of saying, ‘This is the way it is,’ parents said, ‘This is what we can do.’ They empowered themselves and got excited about effecting change.”

“They sat down at computers in the library to write letters to the governor. They sent postcards to state legislators. They took empty boxes with supply lists to their workplaces to ask for donations of pencils and Kleenex,” she said.

Reynolds would lose five of its 16 teachers. Christopher Rodarte would be one of them.

His third-grade students walked into class last week to find him in a big fuzzy wig and a psychedelic T-shirt. It was “Hippy Day” at school, and Rodarte goes all out.

He also is the teacher who has a tarantula in a terrarium. It is nameless now. Students are writing essays about what to call it. The most well-written essay will win.

Turtles, fire-belly toads and fish also share the classroom, all gathered by the energetic and enthusiastic Rodarte. It is that enthusiasm that Jordan, and principals across the city, are worried about losing.

Many pink-slipped teachers are young. Some are older people who have changed professions and have brought fresh ideas to teaching.

Rodarte said he may have to go back to being a waiter at Janos restaurant here. As a server, he’d make three times as much per hour, but his heart is in teaching.

Wanted: Mix of experience

Almost all the teachers have melded themselves into school communities that do not want to see them go.

“It takes a mix of different-experience-level teachers to really make a school successful,” said Steve Courter, president of the Tucson Education Association, the teachers union at TUSD.

“Some of these newer teachers have technological skills that some of the more experience teachers may not have,” he said. “We’d all lose if we didn’t get most of those people back.”

TUSD, the second-largest district in Arizona, has reduced teacher rolls by 560 for next school year. Its superintendent, Elizabeth Celania-Fagen, said she didn’t want to, but had to because of the state law.

At Cholla High Magnet, 2001 W. Starr Pass Blvd., students just beginning the International Baccalaureate program – the first at any local public high school – worry whether it will continue. Several of the teachers specially trained for IB were pink-slipped.

The numbers of layoffs at other districts are substantially smaller than at TUSD. Some districts cut no teachers at all.

• At Marana Unified, where 30 teachers are to be cut for next school year, spokeswoman Tamara Crawley said the district saved full-day kindergarten and other student programs.

The community said it wanted full-day kindergarten and the programs during forums in March, she said.

But with the reduction in teaching staff, the district will have to increase class size. Marana has historically had smaller class sizes, so this is a big adjustment for the district and community, Crawley said.

• Thirteen teachers received pink slips at Catalina Foothills Unified School District. Five are certain to be rehired, however, because of resignations or increases in enrollment for next year, said Associate Superintendent Terry Downey.

But some class sizes will increase, she said. “We were at a 21-1 (students-to-teacher) ratio in high school English, but there is a proposal to increase that to save expenses.”

• The $30 million budget at Flowing Wells Unified – where 40 teachers were told they may not have jobs next year – may be cut by $3 million, according to Superintendent Nic Clement.

“We know we’re going to have attrition,” he said, “so that should save some jobs.” In previous years, all cuts were done through attrition or retirements.

“And we hope the budget the state came out with in January isn’t what it will finally be and we’ll be able to rehire more teachers,” Clement said. “But we worry some will be looking for other jobs. We are working with each of them individually, but we can’t make false promises.

“The last thing we want to do is lose someone we’ve invested in, who has bonded with kids. There’s a reason we hired the teachers we do and to lose them is counter to our culture, to what’s good for kids.”

He said research shows the well-trained teacher makes the most difference in student performance. The more connected the teacher is to the school, the higher the achievement.

Alternatives to dismissals

Sunnyside Unified’s governing board didn’t lay off anyone for next year, saying it would rather implement furloughs, if necessary.

And in Sahuarita Unified, a possible reduction in salaries, not a reduction in force, is being considered. “We are putting a contingency into our contracts that says, if necessary, we might reduce everyone’s pay up to 5 percent,” Assistant Superintendent Manny Valenzuela said.

At two far East Side school districts, superintendents also balked at laying off teachers.

Tanque Verde Unified cut no teachers, but Superintendent Tom Rogers cut his own salary by $15,000 for 2009, from $105,000 to $90,000. One administrator, a curriculum director, was laid off.

And at Vail, Superintendent Baker chose not to plan based on the worst-case scenario.

That means if the worst does happen, Vail, by law, will have to rehire all its teachers because it didn’t give them notice.

Baker said Vail would just have to deal with it, but he doesn’t think it will happen. He said there are points in Vail’s favor.

• “We are growing, so instead of hiring new staff for those new students, we’re moving teachers to them. We’re eating our growth.”

• “We had some reserves,” a luxury, he acknowledged, that most school districts with declining enrollments don’t have.

• “We chose to take a risk. Our legislators are telling us they’re working very hard to be reasonable about funding education – and there will be some stimulus money.”

The risk is one Baker is willing to take.

“We’re not preparing for the absolute worst case because we want our teachers to be sitting around talking about what they can do for kids, not talking about who has a job or not.”

Reynolds’ principal wishes TUSD had that option. Still, she is glad district human resources officials said they would try to get rehired people back to the same schools. But no one knows how that will work.

Ann-Eve Pedersen, a founder of Tucson Unified Schools Supporters, is trying to get more people mobilized. “Parents are the majority demographic in this state – and we vote,” she said. “Elected officials must listen to us. . . . I think everyone’s efforts are making a difference, but we need to keep up the pressure on legislators and the Governor’s Office.”

Reynolds Elementary teacher Christopher Rodarte (middle) works in the school's garden with students. District officials worry that laying off so many newer teachers may diminish the enthusiasm that many of them bring into the schools.

CHARLIE ZOLL

May 20 is coming up for this ready senior, but the end of the school year is ominously encroaching on 21 teachers at our school – 21 out of 600 who received pink slips from Tucson Unified School District.

At Tucson High School, we are set to lose two language teachers – in American Sign and Chinese – and three music teachers in piano, band and mariachi.

All of them are the only teachers of their respective subjects. This means our fine arts magnet school will be devoid of three of six music programs and two of only four languages.

We’re taking a 50 percent reduction in some of our most widely attended programs. What for?

The summer vacation is expected to be the start of work on our parking garage, adding 81 student parking spots to the approximately 250 existing spaces and costing $2.5 million as part of a voter-approved bond.

Could anyone reallocate the money to save teachers? If you’ve ever gotten tangled up in the red tape that exists in TUSD and the Budget Oversight Committee, then you know the answer.

I’ve already pointed out examples of wasteful spending as a student rep on THS’ Decision Council.

We have a building that we’ve partially renovated and could occupy with more students who get THS state monies.

We heavily air-conditioned our gymnasium for players who should be training in warm conditions, we leave the fluorescent lights on during the weekends and rarely do we turn off our computers because they must be continually “updated.”

A veteran teacher (my mom) has shot out this idea, also: a furlough day every week. Not just for a few teachers, but for students, too. Turn off the lights, shut down the computers and give the AC a break every Friday.

Make it a day for students to venture out into the community and, with their magnet-oriented minds, do something relevant and helpful.

For instance, I’m a music magnet student. I could walk over to Roskruge Middle School and give piano lessons on Fridays.

What’s my incentive not to ditch school altogether? Simple; on the following Monday, my teacher grades what I did. (There’s also the good feeling of doing something I like to do).

As a teacher who just received a pink slip, how would you feel knowing that the allocation of money for a parking garage could have resulted in your not coming back next year?

Charlie Zoll is a senior and the newspaper editor at Tucson High Magnet School, where his mother, Mimi Zoll, teaches. E-mail: charlitozolo@yahoo.com

Stargazers will gather Saturday at the University of Arizona Mall to search the skies and raise money for youth astronomy education efforts.

The fourth annual Sharing the Sky Foundation star party and fundraiser will feature up to 40 telescopes available for public viewing from 3:30 to 10 p.m., said Liz Kalas, an event coordinator.

Six to eight scopes fitted with special solar filters will allow daytime viewers to safely see flares coming off the sun’s surface, Kalas said.

As it gets darker, lighting on the UA Mall will be darkened to allow better viewing of the night sky, she said.

Saturn viewing will be good Saturday night, with the planet’s rings appearing more flat and head-on than normal, she said.

First-quarter moon viewing also will be good, she said.

Attendees also will be able to see a wide variety of galaxies and nebulas.

The event is free, but donations will be accepted to fund the efforts of Vail-based Sharing the Sky Foundation, Kalas said.

The nonprofit foundation was started four years ago by famed astronomer and comet discoverer David Levy and his wife, Wendee Levy. The foundation runs programs locally and nationally that offer children motivation and inspiration to learn about astronomy, Wendee Levy said.

Saturday’s UA event will feature a “kids corner” area where children – and adults – can participate in hands-on activities that will let them better experience skygazing, Levy said.

The telescopes will be manned by members of the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association.

“These astronomers are some of the most enthusiastic people I have ever met. They just can’t wait to show off the sky,” Levy said. “These people just love what they do.

“This is the event to test drive a telescope – you’ll see all shapes, sizes and kinds,” she said.

The event is free and open to the public, and donations to the foundation are encouraged, she said.

“But we’re just hoping this will be a great event,” Levy said. “To raise awareness and get people excited, that is our primary goal.”

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IF YOU GO

What: Sharing the Sky Foundation sky party and fundraiser

When: 3:30-10 p.m. Saturday

Where: University of Mall near the Flandrau Science Center, 1601 E. University Blvd.

Cost: free, with tax-deductible donations accepted for the nonprofit foundation.

The Tucson Unified School District board moved forward Tuesday with plans to dismiss Catalina Magnet High Principal Linda Patterson.

By a 3-0 vote, with members Adelita Grijalva not in the room and Miguel Cuevas recusing himself, the board approved a statement of charges and notice of intent to dismiss Patterson.

Patterson, principal of the school for nearly two years and on personal leave since March 27, has consistently refused to comment to media on the situation.

The statement of charges says that about $30,000 in student funds were stolen under her watch. It says Patterson had reassigned an assistant principal formerly responsible for such funds, taking that responsibility herself.

But during the investigation “and for months after,” she failed to inform her supervisor that the assistant principal, unnamed in the statement, was not responsible for the supervision of school finance personnel at the time of the theft . . . and “did not even work on the date of the theft.”

It goes on to say that by the omission, she “permitted supervisors to believe the assistant principal had failed in his supervisory duties . . . and she attempted to issue discipline to him . . . by placing two letters of reprimand in his school personnel file without his knowledge.”

The statement also says Patterson failed to properly supervise the Aviation Flight Program, “leading to its temporary grounding.” It also says she “held several meetings with her staff and faculty requesting that they speak to governing board members on her behalf to save her job. Employees complained they felt pressured to support her.”

Patterson’s conduct violated staff ethics and conduct policies and leadership principles, according to the document, which is notice that the board intends to dismiss her 30 days after it is served.

Patterson, who makes more than $90,000, is on administrative leave with pay pending the expiration of the 30 days.

Canyon del Oro High School's nationally honored Academic Decathlon team. FROM LEFT: Ellie Strasser, Dylan Ousley, Ben Ferell, Melinda Fraser, Taylor Cleland, Jordan Kurker-Mraz, Jennifer Wendel, Marie Clymer, coach Chris Yetman and Rush Moore.

What do you do if you’ve just come back from placing fourth in the nation at the Academic Decathlon competition?

You think about what you’re going to do next year.

That’s the plan for the Canyon del Oro High School team, which placed third in the large school division and fourth overall at the contest in Memphis, Tenn., late last week, scoring 47,972.3 points out of a possible 60,000. The team was 91.7 points from earning third place overall, said coach Chris Yetman.

Next year’s topic, the French Revolution, is an exciting one, Yetman said, “and several people have already started reading the official novel, ‘Tale of Two Cities.’ We’re planning summer study sessions, too.”

This is the second time the CDO team has represented Arizona at the nationals. In 2006, the team placed fifth.

CDO’s team members are Taylor Cleland, Marie Clymer, Ben Ferell, Melinda Fraser, Jordan Kurker-Mraz, Dylan Ousley, Rush Moore, Ellie Strasser and Jennifer Wendel.

Some of the members also took individual awards:

• Kurker-Mraz, gold medals in art and essay; silver in social science and Super Quiz; and bronze in the 10-event overall.

• Ferell got a gold in math and bronze in 10-event overall, literature and art.

• Wendel, a gold in interview.

• Cleland, a silver in social science and bronze in art and math.

• Fraser, a silver in art.

• Moore, a silver in social science.

Kurker-Mraz also received a $3,000 scholarship for top essay and a $500 scholarship for his bronze in the 10-event. The 10-event award is for highest combined totals in all the contest categories.

Ferell received a $500 scholarship for highest score on the team, beating Cleland by 2.3 points out of 10,000, Yetman said, and a $500 scholarship for the bronze medal he won in the 10-event.

Clymer, a senior, was a freshman the first time the team went to the nationals. “I didn’t think we could ever outdo that team, but I was wrong. Our improved placement at nationals achieved what I’d been hoping for since that year.

“The general opinion of other decathletes before nationals was that we would place fifth or sixth, so being able to exceed their expectations by a substantial point margin was very gratifying.”

Kurker-Mraz, who will be on next year’s team, said he’d be thrilled to match this year’s performance. Next year, “I look forward to being less confused at the beginning of the year, and being cognizant, or rather less shocked about the volume of time and effort that must be put in to be successful and competitive.”

Yetman is proud of his team’s high finish in an event “the caliber of the teams is extremely impressive.”

“More importantly, they’re all very friendly and there is an excellent camaraderie among them,” he said. “Several other coaches commented about how nice and friendly my kids were. I’m very proud of them for that.

“There are many teams who come to nationals only to compete, but I emphasized to my kids the best part was the chance to meet students from other states.”

What could be a final step in getting Tucson Unified School District released from a three-decades-old desegregation court order was approved by the board Tuesday.

The TUSD Post-Unitary Status Plan was authorized for submission to U.S. District Judge David Bury by a 4-1 vote, with clerk of the board Mark Stegeman saying he had questions about the plan that should be addressed, “although overall I like it very much.”

Highlights of the plan include:

• The development of “first- choice” schools to encourage voluntary movement of children.

• Transportation, previously not offered when parents elected to send their children to other schools, would be offered.

• The hiring of a recruiter to search for more highly qualified “teachers of color.”

• The development of strategies so there will be equal opportunities for all children to get into advanced classes and programs such as Gifted and Talented Education (GATE), Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate.

• The development of plans to eliminate disparities in suspensions, which historically involve high percentages of minorities.

Stegeman, explaining why he voted against the plan, said he hadn’t gotten responses from the staff on what could become “perverse incentives” to treat students unfairly. He said schools could end up driving students in majority populations away in an effort to try to attract others.

Member Adelita Grijalva, whose father, now U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, was part of the plaintiffs’ group calling for desegregation and later was on the board as it was begun, said she was proud the plan was going forward.

The future of Catalina Magnet High School Principal Linda Patterson could be decided Tuesday when the Tucson Unified School District’s governing board votes on whether to issue a notice of intent to dismiss her.

A notice is required before a certified administrator can be dismissed.

Patterson, principal for two years at the midtown high school, has been at the helm as Catalina has gone through some tumultuous times.

• In August, the school reported nearly $30,000 (more than $14,000 in cash and $15,000 in checks) missing from the school vault. The funds had been collected during registration and were for extracurricular activity fees, yearbooks and locker rentals.

The thief never was found. Patterson and school finance manager Teresa Herlein received letters of direction for their failure to correctly monitor school funds.

A letter of direction is not discipline, said TUSD spokeswoman Chyrl Hill Lander, but guidance and instruction on how to correct behavior. It does not go into an employee’s personnel file.

The Catalina money had been left at the school over the weekend, but the district requires that large amounts of money be deposited each day.

• The school’s aviation program, which has been one of the main classes that attracts students, came under fire early this year when it was discovered that the company contracted by the district to teach students how to fly, Arizona Aero-Tech, had paid more than $44,000 in fines to the Federal Aviation Administration for safety problems. The district later canceled the contract.

• Last month, one leader of the school’s highly decorated Junior ROTC program was reprimanded and another was given “direction” for violating district and Air Force policies dealing with discipline of cadets.

The practice of forcing cadets to do push-ups and other physical activities as discipline was terminated.

Patterson, whose salary is $90,268, has been on personal leave since March 27. Lander said she did not know the reason for the leave.

Patterson declined to talk to a Citizen reporter Monday.

She was an assistant principal at Mazama High School in Klamath Falls, Ore. before being hired as Catalina’s principal on July 2, 2007.

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IF YOU GO

What: Tucson Unified School District governing board meeting

When: 7:45 p.m. Tuesday. It will be preceded by a 5:30 p.m. closed, executive session.

Where: District headquarters, 1010 E. 10th St.

Info: 225-6437

High school students seeking a nomination to a U.S. service academy should attend U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ third Academy Day on Saturday.

The congresswoman, as well as representatives from the Air Force, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, military and naval academies, will be on hand to answer questions from students and their parents.

Representatives from the University of Arizona ROTC also will be there.

Students must apply for nomination in the congressional district where they reside, according to a news release from Giffords’ office.

If the applicants meet the high standards required by the academies, they will be offered an interview with Giffords’ academy nominating committee.

Final decisions on admissions are made by the academies.

The event will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at Rincon High School’s Little Theater, 421 N. Arcadia Ave.

Every high school needs a defibrillator such as the one that saved a Cienega student.

Cienega High School athletic trainer Deana Schneider used an automated external defibrillator to revive sophomore football player Emilio Martinez after the 17-year-old collapsed in the school's weight-lifting room April 20.

With public school systems scraping for every dollar these days, some cost-benefit analysis is in order.

Athletic trainer salary? $40,000.

Automated external defibrillator? $1,500.

The life of a student? Priceless.

That’s the lesson learned Monday, when a sophomore football player fainted, collapsed and went into cardiac arrest at Cienega High School.

Emilio Martinez, 17, would have died Monday, doctors say, if not for athletic trainer Deana Schneider and the automated external defibrillator (AED) she insisted the school purchase last July.

But Schneider calmly sprang into action with the AED and saved Emilio’s life.

The teen was released Friday from University Medical Center after successful surgery Thursday for his ventricular fibrillation, reports Nemer Hassey, assistant principal at Cienega.

The school requires every head coach to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid, which typically includes a briefing on use of the AED.

But that magical piece of machinery is virtually foolproof, Hassey advises. “It won’t let you do something wrong. It takes you through every step, and it’ll tell you if something goes wrong,” he notes.

Some high schools in Pima County don’t have any AEDs, though, and that deficiency clearly must be addressed now.

“Every single school should have one. Every sporting event should have one. It’s common sense now,” Hassey says. “Learn from our experience.”

We couldn’t agree more. Cienega, for example, plans to buy two more AEDs – one in May and a second in July.

One of the devices will be kept in the stadium area, for the safety of teams and spectators alike, while the other will be in a centralized site at the administration building, so anyone at the school can access it quickly.

Flowing Wells High doesn’t have an AED but has requested several for the next school year.

At Sahuaro High in Tucson Unified School District, an AED was bought through the Sahuaro Cougar Foundation and personal donations.

That’s a great example for leaders at schools with especially tight budgets.

Parents and other concerned community members undoubtedly would donate to ensure that life-saving AEDs are on their neighborhood campus.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Hassey told Citizen sportswriter Geoff Grammer. “You do more fundraisers or find other areas to work around. But cutting back on stuff like this, things that are about safety, you can’t cut corners on that.”

Cienega bought its AED, a Cardiac Science Power Heart G3, at the urging of the 28-year-old Schneider.

“These are things you hope you never have to use,” she says, “but why risk not having one ready if something does happen?”

High schools throughout Pima County have high participation in competitive sports, and it is often during physical exertion that previously undiagnosed conditions surface unexpectedly.

That’s what happened with Emilio. He had just completed his daily workout in an advanced weights class when physical education teacher Jay Johnson saw the boy faint, hit his chin on a barbell on his way down and collapse unconscious on the floor.

Johnson started administering CPR and sent a student to fetch Schneider.

This story obviously had the happiest of all possible endings. But without the AED, that very well may not have been the case.

As the end of this school year draws nigh, we urge administrators to get to work now on deciding how they will acquire AEDs for any of their high schools that don’t have them.

Over the course of the next four months, they must raise the money to ensure that every high school campus has at least one AED on hand. Let’s learn from Emilio’s example and keep the kids safe.

Schools: Invest in device that saves lives

Emilio Martinez

Some teachers and students at Ironwood Ridge High School are miffed at a new directive from their principal: No more couches.

The comfy classroom corners will disappear after the end of the school year because a workers’ compensation inspection tagged them as a back injury risk to custodians. The custodians must move the behemoths to clean carpets during summer break.

Some teachers and students at the school, 2475 W. Naranja Drive, think the recommendation from the Arizona School Alliance for Workers’ Compensation is a case of bureaucracy gone mad.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” said special education teacher Samantha Youmans, who thinks the couches enhance camaraderie and academics.

Principal Michael Bejarano, who issued the ban, sees both sides but says employee safety trumps comfort.

“If an employee gets hurt moving a couch, shame on us,” Bejarano said.

A representative of the Alliance, a private company formed by state school districts to insure against workers’ compensation claims, did not return two telephone calls seeking comment. The inspection report recommends household furniture not be allowed in classrooms.

“These large items add to the work of custodians and pose a potential back injury when moving them (in summer) for cleaning carpets,” the inspector wrote.

Teachers were asked only to remove couches, Youmans said.

Student Government Vice President Kirsten Linaker understands the liability, but she thinks the couches help student government and academics.

“It kind of creates a more relaxed atmosphere for our discussions,” Linaker said.

Couches also give students a comfortable place to complete reading assignments, she said.

English Department Chair Susan Williams has had couches for most of her eight years there.

“I think they’ve cleaned my carpets once since I’ve been here,” she said.

Her classes include book “cadres,” which are book discussions among students. Couches enhance the book cadres, said senior Victoria Maxwell, 18.

“It actually gives it that book-talk feel. With this, everything is just really relaxed,” she said.

Senior Rachel Held, 18, was relegated to a desk April 6 because she got to class too late to stake a claim. She was visibly disappointed and grudgingly took a seat.

“The couch spots are coveted,” she said.

So far, the policy only applies to Ironwood Ridge.

Todd Jaeger, the Amphitheater Public Schools legal counsel who handles risk management, is not aware of other schools in the district where personal furniture has been deemed a risk.

“We don’t have a districtwide policy,” he said.

Despite her exasperation, Williams isn’t protesting. She issued a memo telling her department of the pending ban.

“In the scheme of things – budget, teachers losing their jobs, class sizes going through the roof – this is small,” she said.

“I worry more about my friends having jobs than about having a couch.”

Teachers estimate about one-third of the 95 teachers have couches in their rooms.

More schools getting device to treat cardiac arrest

Dad Phil (left), Emilio (center) and Alberta Martinez

When 17-year-old Cienega sophomore football player Emilio Martinez collapsed in a weight training class Monday at the Vail high school, Deana Schneider wasn’t thinking about budget cuts.

The quick response of the 28-year-old athletic trainer, and a recently-purchased automated external defibrillator, saved the teen’s life when valves in his heart began to malfunction, causing him to faint and go into cardiac arrest.

“Without that (device) and without her there, the doctors said my son would have probably died,” said Phil Martinez. “. . . I can’t tell you how grateful my wife and I are that they were there and handling the situation the way they did.

“That AED? It’s already paid for itself. Every (school) better have one. Even if they never need it, they better have one.”

Martinez, a 5-foot-6, 160-pound running back, will undergo surgery Thursday at University Medical Center. Doctors on Wednesday diagnosed him with ventricular fibrillation.

Lifesaver not expensive

At the urging of Schneider, Cienega purchased the Cardiac Science Power Heart G3 device for $1,500 in July 2008.

Even as schools and districts across the country, including Cienega, shave budgets, assistant principal and head football coach Nemer Hassey said the school will buy two more defibrillators to place around campus before the 2009-10 school year begins.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Hassey said. “You do more fundraisers or find other areas to work around. But cutting back on stuff like this, things that are about safety, you can’t cut corners on that.”

Of the 26 Class 4A and 5A schools competing in southern Arizona, at least three – Flowing Wells, Canyon del Oro and Amphi – do not have defibrillators on campus.

Flowing Wells Athletic Director Pat Weber said in an e-mail Wednesday the school has “put in for several for the next school year.”

Some schools have multiple defibrillators, including Nogales High, which has six.

Sahuaro Athletic Director Sandy Novak said her school’s lone device was bought through the Sahuaro Cougar Foundation and personal donations.

Tucson High Assistant Principal Herman House said his school, with the largest enrollment in southern Arizona, has two of the devices – one purchased by the school, the other donated after the school hosted a community heart screening event two years ago.

“These are things you hope you never have to use,” Schneider said, “but why risk not having one ready to go if something does happen?”

Workout seemed routine

Martinez had just wrapped up his daily workout in his advanced weights class Monday afternoon.

Physical education teacher Jay Johnson, an assistant Cienega football coach, saw Martinez faint, hit his chin on a weight bench barbell as he collapsed and drop to the floor unconscious.

Johnson is trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as are all of Cienega’s coaches. He began attending to Martinez as a student ran to get Schneider.

“When I got there, I immediately assessed the situation and knew right away we needed the AED,” Schneider said.

She has two degrees, has been CPR and first-aid certified since 2000 and has been Cienega’s athletic trainer for two school years.

“I’ve never actually had to use an AED or even do CPR before,” she said. “I’m trained for both, but never have actually been in a situation where I had to do it. It was sort of an out-of-body experience. I guess the training just took over and I was just doing what I knew to do to help him.”

Device a snap to use

The defibrillator Schneider used Monday is not hard to use.

The Power Heart G3 has voice commands that automatically play upon the device being opened. Once adhesive electrode pads are placed on the person being treated, the device monitors the heart rate and other vital signs and determines whether a shock is necessary.

Some devices automatically administer an electric shock. Others, like the one used on Martinez, require a person to push a button.

The defibrillator Schneider used also has internal memory capabilities.

“When we were done,” Schneider said, “I plugged this into my computer and it gave the paramedics and doctors a printout of everything that happened from the time I opened the AED to the time I closed it, including all his heart rates and any other info.”

Gridiron dreams end

Martinez, a seemingly healthy athlete in a family with no history of heart conditions, has been at University Medical Center since the collapse, frequently visited by friends and family members.

His football playing days are essentially over.

The American Heart Association says his condition essentially forces the heart to pump little or no blood when its lower chambers begin operating irregularly.

“The ventricles ‘flutter’ rather than beat,” according to the association’s Web site.

The electric shock from the defibrillator allowed Martinez to survive long enough for paramedics from the Rincon Valley Fire Department to arrive and take over before he was airlifted to UMC.

Martinez will undergo surgery Thursday to implant what is essentially a portable automated defibrillator in his chest, Phil Martinez said.

“It is designed to monitor when those lower chambers stop working right,” he said. “When they see that happening, it will automatically send out an electric shock.”

Phil Martinez said he and his wife – the parents of four, with Emilio the youngest – couldn’t help but think of what might have been.

“This just came out of nowhere” the father said. “Right now, we just can’t say how grateful we are to the school, to Deana and Jay, and to everyone that helped keep him alive.”

Cienega athletic director Deana Schneider used an AED defibrillator to revive a student who went down in the weight lifting room on Monday.

Emilio Martinez

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Automated external defibrillator

An automated external defibrillator is a portable device used to restore normal heart rhythm to patients in cardiac arrest.

An AED is applied outside the body. It automatically analyzes the patient’s heart rhythm and advises the rescuer whether or not a shock is needed to restore a normal heartbeat. If the patient’s heart resumes beating normally, the heart has been defibrillated.

An AED is used to treat cardiac arrest. It is a lifesaving device because cardiac arrest is a sudden condition that is fatal if not treated within a few minutes.

Heart attacks and other conditions can cause ventricular fibrillation. In ventricular fibrillation, the electrical signals in the lower part of the heart are uncoordinated and ineffective. Very little blood is pumped from the heart to the body or the lungs. If ventricular fibrillation is not treated, it will result in cardiac arrest.

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

How to operate it

• Regardless of which brand of AED is used, the only knowledge required to operate it is to press the “ON” button.

• Once the AED is turned on, it actually speaks to you in a computer-generated voice that guides you through the rest of the procedure.

• You will be prompted to place a set of adhesive electrode pads on the victim’s bare chest and, if necessary, to plug in the pads’ connector to the AED.

• The AED will then begin to automatically analyze the person’s ECG rhythm to determine if a shock is required. It is critical that no contact be made with the person while the machine is analyzing the ECG. If the person is touched or disturbed, the ECG may not be accurate.

• If the machine determines that a shock is indicated, it will automatically charge itself and tell you when to press the button that will deliver the shock.

• Once the shock is delivered you will be prompted to resume CPR.

Source: eMedicineHealth

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Emilio Espinosa, a first-grader at Miller Elementary School, practices safe water rescue techniques during the second annual Water Safety is for You event at the Edith Ball Adaptive Recreation Center in Reid Park.

A flood of first-graders descended on the Edith Ball Adaptive Recreation Center Tuesday morning to learn about water safety.

The lessons taught at the Water Safety is for You event will be crucial as Tucson slips into the summer months and rising temperatures make cool water more appealing.

Two children have died this year and a third nearly drowned in the metro area, said Tracy Koslowski, a spokeswoman for the Drexel Heights Fire District.

More than 700 students from eight elementary schools from different districts attended the event, which was organized by Safe Kids Tucson, a network of local organizations dedicated to preventing accidental injuries to children.

It was the second year for the event, held at the recreation center in Reid Park.

Firefighters, police officers, nurses and others in preventive health participated in the program.

Demonstrations on life jackets and water rescues were coupled with skits and games aimed at 6-year-olds while organizers stressed the importance of adult supervision, barriers around pools and swim classes.

The event is the culmination of a month of water safety lessons at the eight elementary schools.

The curriculum, developed by a Phoenix teacher whose 3-year-old son drowned in 1998, uses a book and CD featuring Stewie the Duck.

“They definitely like it,” said Alex Edwards, a teacher at Cavett Elementary School in the Tucson Unified School District. “I’ve got that Stewie the Duck song in my head, I’ve played it so many times.”

Edwards, who has been using the curriculum for two years, said it is important to teach water safety in the classroom.

“There are a lot of drownings and a lot of those kids are not taught water safety,” she said.

Amber Miramontes, a teacher at TUSD’s Miller Elementary School, said the curriculum incorporates academic lessons, along with the message of water safety.

“It’s a really good unit,” she said.

District near top, but 1995 grad rates cited as too low

A national report on high school graduation rates puts Tucson Unified School District near the top of major districts studied across the country, with a 23 percentage point increase over a 10-year period.

But the report, which TUSD officials called “flawed,” has the district graduating only about half its seniors in 1995.

David Scott, the district’s director of accountability and research, said the graduation rate in 1995 was about 70 percent and 10 years later it was at about 84 percent, about a 14 percent increase.

The current graduation rate is about the same, he said.

Some of the increase from 1995 to 2005 comes from more students actually graduating after four years and some comes from better tracking of students who leave one school to go to another, he said.

The report by America’s Promise Alliance said nationwide from 1995 to 2005, the graduation rate rose on average 4.8 percentage points, from 65.8 percent to 70.6 percent.

“TUSD’s trend is upward, but this report overstates it because it doesn’t account for demographic shifts in local areas,” Scott said.

“If you are in an extremely homogenous community, the numbers probably are fairly accurate,” he said. “But if you are in an urban district where there is a lot of mobility – people moving in and out of school – and have a bump in enrollment like TUSD did during that period, it throws the report’s index way off.”

Officials from the alliance could not be reached for comment late Tuesday when discrepancies between the report and TUSD figures came to light.

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America’s Promise

Read the report: www.americaspromise.org/uploadedFiles/AmericasPromiseAlliance/Dropout_Crisis/Cities_In_Crisis_Report_2009.pdf

At St. Augustine Catholic High, one of the smallest high schools in Tucson, they know God works in mysterious ways – and that he answers prayers.

But a $5 million gift from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous was pretty surprising.

Half of it, which the school at 8800 E. 22nd St. already has, will go to build a gymnasium center, said Teresa L. Baker, director of development.

The other half of the $5 million, to be given in $500,000 increments in the next five years, she said, will go to enhance programs and infrastructure.

The school, which has 125 students, will have a groundbreaking and blessing ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Friday with Bishop Gerald Kicanas presiding.

The first phase of the 20,000-square-foot, $3 million center – which will use $2.5 million of the gift and $500,000 raised through private donations last year – will be a regulation-size basketball court, bleachers, lockers, shower facilities, trainer’s room, public restrooms, storage areas and a concession area and kitchen, Baker said. It is expected to be done in November.

The second phase, to start the end of 2010, will have a dance studio, weight room, theater, conference room and commercial kitchen, she said.

The donor “is not Catholic and has no children at the school, but believes the strength of any community is in its citizens, that quality education is important and that God needs to be part of the package,” Baker said.

While school officials knew about the gift last year, they waited for the groundbreaking to announce it.

The donor “thinks sometimes it just takes one person to make a statement like this to prompt others to do the same,” Baker said. “Also, we underestimate that God has a plan and can bring people together to make things happen.”

“This is a phenomenal amount of money for a small Catholic high school, but it will help the East Side as well,” she said. “The gym will open up lots of potential for lots of community involvement on this side of town and we’re willing to share the space.”

Three elementary schools in outlying districts of the Tucson area have been named A+ Schools of Excellence by the Arizona Educational Foundation.

Fourteen other schools in the state received the honor, which is based on student focus and support; active teaching and learning; curriculum; leadership; community and parent involvement; and assessment data.

The schools are:

• Quail Run Elementary in Marana Unified School District. The principal is Pennie Harcus.

• Sopori Elementary in Amado in Sahuarita Unified School District. The principal is Desiree Raulston.

• Sycamore Elementary in Corona de Tucson in Vail Unified School District. The principal is Ken Graff.

The A+ Program strives to create a comprehensive framework of successful programs for other schools throughout the state and nation to follow, foundation officials said in a news release.

The rigorous process of being considered for the award includes site visits and applications that involve a school’s administration and faculty, and also students and the surrounding community.

Once the schools are selected, Arizona Educational Foundation officials create a list of A+ Best Practices that can be used by anyone.

The list can be seen at www.azedfoundation.org.