Lions, Tigers, and ... AYP?

I have been holding on to this photo for a few weeks waiting for the right, quiet Friday to share. I was in Blairsville (Union Co) a few weeks back, picked up the local paper and was very entertained with the front page news. After years of wrangling with all the challenges we have in DeKalb, reading these two items made me long for a more simple time and dream of one in our future. I present for your Friday amusement, two headlines you are not likely to see in the DeKalb Champion soon ...

ESEA School Choice 2011-12

The letter about AYP transfers according to NCLB (now known as ESEA) has been posted. You can read it by clicking here. The window to apply for a transfer is July 22 - August 4. Another (often better) option is to request private tutoring for your child and stay at your home school. If you have any questions about the Supplemental Educational Services (free tutoring), contact Dr. Linda Crowley by telephone at 678.676.0309. The state publishes an extensive list of approved vendors for tutoring. Click here to review that list.

Below is the published list of receiving schools:

Elementary Schools ESEA Choice Options:
• Hambrick Elementary - K through 5th
• Kelley Lake Elementary - K through 5th
• Kingsley Elementary - K through 5th

Middle Schools ESEA Choice Options:
• Cedar Grove Middle - Grades 6th – 8th
• Stone Mountain Middle - Grades 6th – 8th
• Chamblee Middle -Grades 6th – 8th

High Schools ESEA Choice Options:
Traditional Schedule
• Arabia Mountain High - Grades 9th – 12th
• Chamblee High - Grades 11th and 12th
Block Schedule *90 minute class periods
• DeKalb Early College Academy (DECA) - 9th Grade Only (special rules apply)
• Druid Hills High Annex @ DeKalb School of the Arts* - Grades 9th – 12th
*NOTE: the program is not part of DSA whatsoever: The program will ACTUALLY be in the now CLOSED Avondale HS; students will be considered Druid Hills "annex" students, and staff will report to the Druid Hills principal. However, students will never attend school at the Druid Hills campus - instead will attend at the Avondale campus - reopened for AYP transfers only.

SPECIAL INFORMATION TO HELP MAKE YOUR CHOICE

DeKalb Early College Academy (DECA)

DeKalb Early College Academy is a program in partnership with Georgia Perimeter College (GPC) that is designed for high school students to complete their high school diploma while receiving up to 60 hours of college credits toward an Associate of Arts degree. The goal of DECA is to improve the high school graduation rates of DeKalb County high schools, and subsequently, the opportunity to complete college. Early colleges were created as a school reform initiative and a viable alternative to large, comprehensive high schools. DECA does not have an athletic or band program, but rather various other extracurricular activities/clubs.

Criteria for Student Enrollment at DECA
All students enrolled at DeKalb Early College Academy must maintain satisfactory academic grades, pass all sections of the Criterion Reference Competency Test (CRCT), possess a satisfactory attendance and discipline record while enrolled in middle school. All students are required to wear school uniforms. Students are dismissed back to their community high school if program expectations are not met. Students who applied and were not admitted previously are not eligible to attend DECA through ESEA Public School Choice and should select another school choice.

Arabia Mountain High School
All students enrolled at Arabia Mountain High School must maintain a 2.0 grade point average each semester. A total of ten hours of parental involvement hours (volunteer hours) are required before May 1st annually. All students are required to participate in twenty hours of “Going Green” community service. School uniforms are required for each student.

Chamblee High School
Chamblee High School is about to begin a major construction project. The school is bringing in a "trailer village" of approximately 40 trailers to accommodate construction and transfers. The construction will take a couple of years but will end up with a very nice facility for the 2013 school year.

===

In addition, below is the transportation information. It literally pays to choose the school furthest away from your home. You will be reimbursed for TWO round trips per day at $.51/mile. [Personally, I think free tutoring is more valuable and possibly more effective.]

Transportation Options for ESEA Public School Choice
The law states that, “The school district must provide transportation or provide FOR transportation for a student whose home school is a Title I Needs Improvement (NI) school.” For parents/guardians who are able to pay for or provide a means of transporting their child to their school of choice, the DeKalb County School System will reimburse the parents/guardians for transporting the student to the receiving school if the student is transferring from a Title I Needs Improvement (NI) school. The current federal per diem rate is .51 per mile and is subject to change. Reimbursement is calculated as round trip from the student’s home to the choice school and round trip from the student’s choice school to the student’s home. The round trip will be calculated based on the shortest distance between home and school.

===
For more information, the application and to see the list of sending schools, visit this link at the school system's website.
Public School Choice Hotline (678) 676-0081
Online Registration at www.dekalb.k12.ga.us

DCSS Title 1 Schools and AYP: "The Shell Game"

To see how disappointing for Title 1 students DCSS 2011 AYP results are, compare DCSS with other metro systems that are demographically similar:

73% of Marietta City Schools Made AYP in 2011. Marietta City Schools has almost EXACTLY the same demographics as DCSS.

55% of Clayton County Schools Title 1 schools Made AYP in 2011. Clayton County has similar demographics to DCSS.

20% of DeKalb Schools Title 1 schools Made AYP in 2011.

Of interest: 59% of all Title 1 schools in Georgia Made AYP in 2011.

As quoted in the AJC, "Trent Arnold, DeKalb's executive director of assessment and accountability...said lower-level schools in the district "struggled" and fell short of goals. Arnold attributes the growing failure to increasingly tough standards..."

Since the performance standards are EXACTLY the same for ALL school systems including those that are demographically similar to DCSS, is Mr. Arnold's statement a valid excuse?

Does anyone think our teachers don't work as hard as Clayton County and Marietta City teachers?

Are our parents less involved than Clayton County parents or Marietta City parents?

Are DCSS students less intellectually capable than Clayton County or Marietta City students?

If you answered NO to the questions above, the DCSS administration must assume responsibility for these catastrophic results. Consider that the DCSS administration and the BOE decreased 600+ teaching positions in the last two years, increased class sizes to levels not seen in 30 years, and overburdened teachers with meaningless classroom tasks, overbearing oversight, excessive meetings, and training that is disconnected from the learning process.

20% of DCSS Title 1 schools made Adequate Yearly Progress in 2011 – down from 74% of DCSS Title 1 schools making Adequate Yearly Progress in 2009. What happened to our Title 1 schools in two years time? Are the BOE members who represent these Title 1 schools asking Ms. Tyson, Dr. Beasley and Dr. Berry this question? Are the parents in all DeKalb County schools asking Ms. Tyson, Dr. Beasley and Dr. Berry this question?

Student progress in DCSS Title 1 schools has DECLINED at an unprecedented rate. The DCSS administration knows how bad this is for students. Just watch the video of the called Board of Education meeting last week to see how the DCSS administration and the BOE "sweat" the release of the AYP data. They were scrambling to come up with a plan to deflect responsibility for yet another year. They are counting on taxpayers being complacent players on the other side of the table in this shell game.

Source: http://www.gadoe.org/ayp2011.aspx

AYP results are in and Choice plan is posted

The 2011 AYP reports were released today. As expected, the results are pretty dismal, not just in DeKalb but at the state level. Just 63 percent of all schools in GA met the goal of making AYP. In DeKalb, about 34 percent of schools made AYP. These numbers will rise in September when the summer retest is included. Last year, as a result of the summer retest, the percentage of schools making AYP increased by 6 percent. (Atlanta schools are not included in the state report, so you can expect the state percentages to drop when they are released.)

One third of the schools that made AYP in DeKalb have some kind of admission requirement. They are either theme, magnet or charter. The percentage of traditional DCSS schools making AYP is actually lower than 30 percent.

At the high school level, only Arabia Mt, DECA, Druid Hills, DSA, Stephenson, and Redan made AYP. (Stephenson and Redan remain in Needs Improvement status as they have to make AYP two years in a row to exit NI.)

At the middle school level, things are really pretty dreary. Only Chamblee Middle, Champion Theme, and Columbia Middle made AYP. PATH Charter school (which is actually a start up charter school and has little to do with DCSS) also made AYP. Champion and Path are purely choice schools and a chunk of Chamblee Middle’s population is in the selective magnet program. Columbia Middle also hosts a magnet program, though I don’t know the size. Not looking so good.

At the elementary level, a big chunk of schools missed the mark as the state raised standards. It looks like a little more than 50 percent did not make AYP and a little less than 50 percent made it. These numbers will increase with the summer retest.

For comparison purposes, look at Clayton County, where every single school is Title 1. Fifty three percent of schools made AYP while 47 percent did not.

I am doubtful of what AYP means as you approach the need to get 100 percent of students on the same level. It is probably meaningless. However, there is no doubt that our schools could be doing better. It does take a partnership with parents and the community, but until our bureaucrats hire better principals and staff at the central office, I am afraid that the status quo is all we can expect.

You can search the GA DOE database here for any school in the state. (Atlanta's scores have not been released yet.)

http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/ayp2011/search.asp

Choice plan is posted here:
http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/school-improvement/public-school-choice/enrollment

For a quick glance at a couple of overviews, click the charts below:

2011 Test Scores

In comparing standardized test scores, one has to be careful. I am generally not fond of comparing one grade level one year to the same grade level the next year. It isn’t the same children, and really doesn’t tell you very much. However, I do think that more global comparisons can be helpful.

In looking at DeKalb’s CRCT scores and wanting to show the big picture, I decided to compare our progress against the state’s progress. For example, in 2010, our 8^th grade reading scores resulted in DCSS ranking 138^th on the Math CRCT. Well, this year, though the percentage passing stayed basically the same, we now rank 154 out of 179 systems. And this is what should be troubling, even where we gain; we are losing ground as compared to the state as a whole. For purposes of this blog piece, I am using the data from grades 3, 5 and 8.

On the CRCT, Social Studies scores improved in almost all grades, though in grades 5-8th, the pass rate doesn’t hit 60 percent. Science scores are also weak and in 8^th grade barely one out of two DeKalb students met or exceeded standards. Most changes in scores, whether they were increases or decreases, were very small, probably rendering them statistically insignificant either way. While we have to be careful not to expect too much too quickly, as that can have unintended consequences, DCSS needs to be doing better. We are being passed by school systems with far fewer resources.

Thanks to the regular School Watch contributor who prepared the charts below comparing DCSS' pass rate with the other metro systems. As you can see, we had the lowest pass rates (indicated in red) in almost every grade level in reading, ELA and math. Thanks to Clayton County for apparently not even trying in the non-AYP subjects of science and social studies.

Next week, I will post similar data from the High School Graduation Exam. The trends are similar in that even where we improve, the rest of the state is improving faster.

The take-away message is for people who think things are really ok in the DeKalb School System, they clearly are not. For our elected officials who choose to turn a blind eye to the state of academic achievement in DeKalb, shame on you.

Cross Keys HS Lands "A Big One" ...

Lately, I have refrained from using DCSW articles to "pump" my favorite high school. But today I cannot hold back - the students, families, faculty, Foundation tutors, and community at Cross Keys deserve to be called out today.

This school which is a composite of every "sub-group" that other school communities blame for their failures made AYP in the summer re-test. The Georgia Department of Education posted the results today on their site and I could not be more proud of our young people!

Amid all the noise of an election year, the swirl of the corruption at the Central Office, with the back drop of the RICO trial of our former superintendent and COO, and in spite of being isolated and shunned in many ways, these young people and their dedicated families, faculty and staff, all put left foot out, then right foot out and "made the grade."

This comes two days after the State Board of Regents caved into political pressure to ban some of these same children from our most competitive universities. Oddly, the Regents voted this way while at the same time saying there was no problem that required the policy (see CNN article).

Yesterday, I was at Woodward ES handing out accolades to the "Students of the Month." As I congratulated them I wondered if their older siblings' academic success inspired them. Then I wondered, "Will they stay motivated to learn when they see their older siblings further isolated by the new Regents' policy." It was bitter sweet to watch the pride of these little children juxtaposed against the obstacles to education some of them will face.

We all have learned that AYP is not necessarily "all that," but as the designated cheerleader for our Cross Keys area young people who have overcome so much I have to say loudly ..."BOOYAH!"

Just how much Title 1 money are we spending?

That fabulous DeKalb Parent has once again crunched some interesting numbers. We have all been wondering if perhaps we have not been utilizing the over $31 million in annual Title 1 funds in the best way for student success. Our discussion revealed that we seem to have literally thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the problem of 'making AYP', yet we continue to miss the mark. Mull over the following report from DeKalb Parent --

I agree that DCSS is spending "tons of Title 1 dollars". Click here to read the parent letter sent home by Cross Keys, one of the many Title 1 schools that did not make AYP. Similar letters went home from all of these schools. The letter is very illuminating as to how Title 1 dollars ARE NOT being spent on direct and intensive math and Language Arts instruction for students.

According to the letter, below is where the Title 1 money for struggling Language Arts and Math students is going:

• Implement school wide tutorials in the areas of Language Arts and math
• Provide transportation for all students that attend tutorial sessions
• Provide targeted remediation academic sessions that take place before or after school
• Execute focused staff development training for teachers in order to address the needs of all students
• Implement collaborative planning opportunities for teachers to strategically plan research based lesson plans
• Implement the America’s Choice framework that is proven to increase academic achievement in the areas of Language Arts and Math
• Provide the placement of a fulltime Language Arts Coach at Cross Keys
• Provide the placement of a fulltime Math Coach at Cross Keys
• Provide the placement of a fulltime Graduation Coach at Cross Keys who works intensely with students, parents and faculty members
• Provide the placement of a Re-design Coach that places a special emphasis on the academic, social, and emotional needs of all freshmen

The emphasis is on expensive, non-teaching personnel - Language Arts, Math, Graduation, and Re-design Coaches, as well as transportation and staff development training. BTW the average salary and benefits cost for each Instructional Coach is around $100,000 (source: Georgia Salary and Travel audit) so four of these non-teaching coaches cost about $400,000 a year. America’s Choice for our Title 1 schools is around $90,000 per school. How much direct instruction tutoring would $500,000 buy for Cross Keys students?

What is a Re-design coach? I've never heard of this one. The Re-design coach "places a special emphasis on the academic, social, and emotional needs of all freshmen". Well, I thought that's what Cross Key’s four counselors (average salary and benefits for each DCSS counselor is $84,000), one Intervention and Prevention specialist, one social worker, one school psychologist, and one Parent Resource Center Facilitator do ($75,000 in salary and benefits for a Parent Resource "Facilitator" - Zepora Roberts' daughter is one).

DCSS spent $8,000,000 for America's Choice, and the renewal is going to be funded by the BOE for the 90 Title 1 schools bringing the average to $90,000 for each America’s Choice school. Please show me valid and reliable studies (not done by America's Choice) that show significant improvement in Language Arts and Math for schools using America's Choice. DCSS has absolutely no proof that America's Choice or these Instructional Coaches have increased student achievement for DeKalb County students.

Cross Keys ONLY HAD forty students who were in the “Did Not Meet” category. Considering the $500,000 cost of Cross Keys Instructional Coaches and America's Choice, we spend $12,500 a year for each student who “Did Not Meet Expectations" at Cross Keys on the GHSGT. Thirty seven of those were Economically Disadvantaged. Maybe the parents of these students are better off getting the $12,500 for intensive tutoring than spending it on non-teaching personnel.

Don't believe me? Go to the Georgia DOE site for Cross Keys and see that only 40 students out of “All Students” are in the “Basic/Does Not Meet” category (and 37 are in the Economically Disadvantaged category) – click on Academic Performance

Before you protest that these numbers are an underestimation of the problem, I recognize that it's really more accurate to view 40 students per grade level (9th, 10th and 11th grades) as needing academic help since only the 11th graders taking the GHSGT are considered by NCLB. I also understand that these at risk students need intervention from when they enter high school. But even dividing that $500,000 a year among 120 students will fund hundreds of hours a year per student to receive one on one instruction by SES (Supplemental Education Services - aka tutorial services) . Tell me that won't make more of a difference than four Instructional Coaches and America's Choice.

What is Audria Berry ($145,000 in salary and benefits) who runs the Office of School Improvement and makes the Title 1 decisions thinking? Where is the cost /benefits analysis that needs to occur for Cross Keys (or each school in DCSS)? Why are we not using Title 1 funds for intensive one on one tutoring for the students who have fallen behind?

Georgia DOE Releases AYP Scores Today

According to the Georgia DOE: (From Maureen Downey's "Get Schooled" blog)

Just over 14% of schools are in Needs Improvement status this year, compared to 15.4% last year. Thirty-five schools across the state shook the Needs Improvement label by having made AYP for two consecutive years.

“The initial AYP results demonstrate that our schools are more focused than ever and that is translating into fewer schools in Needs Improvement status,” said State School Superintendent Brad Bryant. “However, the academic bar and the graduation rate requirement increased this year, leading to a smaller percentage of schools making AYP, which is something we will focus closely on over the next several months.”

More than 71% of Georgia’s public schools made AYP, a drop from 79% of schools that made AYP last year. This drop is due in large part to the increase in the academic bar in mathematics that students in elementary and middle school had to meet in order for a school to make AYP. The graduation rate that high schools must meet also increased this year to 80%.

The final AYP report will be released in the fall and will include summer retest scores, summer graduates and appeals.

Compared to initial AYP results last year, the 2010 report shows that:
- The percentage of schools in Needs Improvement status decreased from 15.4% to 14.1%.
- The number of schools in Needs Improvement status decreased from 334 to 305.
- The percentage of schools making AYP decreased eight points from 79.1% to 71.1%.

The percentage of high schools making AYP continues to lag behind. In 2010, just over 33% of the state’s high schools made AYP, a decrease of almost 14 percentage points from 2009’s initial results.

“We know there is a lot of hard work going on in our high schools, but we must provide more focused support for our students and teachers,” Superintendent Bryant said. “I am committed to focusing on the needs of our high schools to ensure they are preparing students for the 21st century.”

AYP is the formula used to determine if schools are meeting expectations under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. It consists of three parts — test participation, academic achievement and another statistic, called a “second indicator.” The academic goals continue to rise every few years toward a goal of 100% proficiency for all students by 2014. This year, the academic goal for grades 3-8 increased in mathematics and the graduation rate bar went up.

All students at a school, as well as any qualifying subgroup of students, must meet goals in all three categories in order to make AYP. Schools that do not make AYP for two consecutive years in the same subject are placed in Needs Improvement status and face escalating consequences.

There are 305 schools in Needs Improvement status for the coming school year. These schools must offer parents options, such as public school choice or federally-funded tutoring. Depending on how long these schools have been in NI, some may have to make structural or organizational changes to improve student achievement.

In 2009, there were 334 NI schools after the initial results. That number dropped to 278 after retests, summer graduates and appeals were worked into the formula.

“As we normally do, I believe we will see the number of NI schools drop again when we do our final AYP determinations in the fall,” Bryant said.

The state’s initial 2010 graduation rate is 79.9%. That is up from the initial 2009 graduation rate of 77.8% and the final 2009 graduation rate of 78.9%, which included summer graduates.

“Improving the graduation rate is crucial to Georgia being competitive with other states in recruiting and retaining jobs,” Superintendent Bryant said. “The more students graduating from high school with a meaningful diploma, the more students we have ready to go to college or enter the workforce. There is still more work to be done, but this year’s graduation rate is an encouraging sign.”

Graduation rate must be used as a “second indicator” for all high schools and the bar was raised this year.

In order to make AYP, a high school had to have a graduation rate of 80% or higher, up from 75% last year. If a school did not make that goal, they could use a “second look” which means:

- Having a graduation rate that averaged 80% or higher over the past three years OR

- Having a graduation rate of at least 60% the previous year (2009) and showing a 10% improvement in the rate this year.

Today’s AYP release sheds more light on the need for Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) – No Child Left Behind. Even though both the Spellings administration and the Duncan administration at the U.S. Department of Education have worked to grant administrative flexibility, it has been insufficient to overcome the original accountability benchmarks established by Congress in 2001.

“As a state, we have no problem moving toward a proficiency rate of 100% – to do anything else would underserve a portion of Georgia’s students,” said Superintendent Bryant. “We are frustrated over the fact that the original authorization of No Child Left Behind came with the promise that it would be reauthorized in five years with increased flexibility in return for increased accountability. Once again we call upon Congress to act in a manner which supports the hundreds of thousands of teachers and school leaders across the nation who are more focused on student learning than ever before.”

===

Click here for the DOE AYP Reports

Click here for a handy form created at the AJC to check out your school's report

Hurrah for McNair Middle School!

This is such a Cinderella Story! I was so excited to hear about McNair's climb into "AYP passing status" after so many years of hard work. Kudos go to the students and their focus and diligence and to their clever, creative, devoted principal, Susan Freeman. This school experienced a complete reconstruction four years ago, when not only was Principal Freeman hired, but 98% of the staff was replaced. They used gender-based group learning led by national expert in that field, Dr. Leonard Sax, which not only improved learning, but improved discipline as well. In addition, teachers use common planning periods and engage in professional learning activities three to four times per week. These people worked really hard and they achieved their goal - congratulations McNair Middle School!

To read about the changes and gutsy programs Principal Freeman employed to steer this turnaround, visit the homepage at DCSS right now as this is the current feature story. To download a pdf version of the story, click here.

2009 AYP Data posted on State DOE Website!

It is the time of the year when school officials and community members see the ‘report card’ from this past academic school year. Take a look at the following website for that information:

http://www.gadoe.org/ayp2009.aspx

I would suggest looking at the School Detail Report. In the first iteration, the filters were placed on the incorrect row (row 1 instead of row 2) which results in you not seeing column headings when filtering data. I would suggest saving it to your machine and changing it, which should take about 10-15 seconds. Ask if you have questions on how this is done.

If you look at the AYP status column, you will notice several schools listed that you might not expect to see in the ‘not met’ category for DCSS. Nonetheless, this should make for some interesting discussions with respect to the AYP performance for all of our schools.

Can We Talk EDUCATION?

We are always so distracted by the drama that constantly swirls around our school system and the attention that should be placed on quality education initiatives continues to get usurped by the latest news of the weird. I'd like to refocus our discussion back to education, specifically, The No Child Left Behind Act (or as they refer to it in 'The Simpsons' - No Child Left Alone). Although I agree with some of its premises and intentions, such as disaggregated testing data and early reading initiatives and I agree that it introduces an element of accountability into public school education, I still think that overall, NCLB and the fear of its repercussions has caused much damage to the way we deliver education in our system. I for one, would like to see it - and its stringent requirements dismantled once and for all.

Please read this very important blog entry at Schools Matter and then post a comment regarding how NCLB and AYP have affected your schools ability to focus on educating our children. (Some of you may even have positive things to say?!)

DCSS AYP Trivia Question Challenge

Most readers here know that I have shamelessly used this blog to promote Cross Keys HS. I have lamented the absurd state of its attendance boundaries in postings such as:

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

I am also guilty of hijacking comment threads with snipes about DCSS' neglect of and Brookhaven's lack of involvement with this most disrespected of high schools. I participated in "Operation Urban Camper" with DKPD and Sanitation to raise awareness of what can happen when there's a lack of community stakeholders in our neighborhood high school. I have not tried to hide my agenda here - raising the profile of this very maligned school is my goal.

To that end, I challenge the very savvy readers of this blog to a trivia question: Which DCSS high school attendance areas had all of its schools (ES, MS, and HS) make AYP in the last school year for which we have data (2007/2008)?

I've tried this one on a few of my neighbors in Brookhaven and their responses include guesses like "Dunwoody and Druid Hills" or "Lakeside and Dunwoody" or "Chamblee and Lakeside." Many that know high schools around the county might include Southwest DeKalb or Tucker in their answers. These districts have many fine students, faculties, and communities of support. None of them is in the list of correct answers. In fact, only 1 high school district made AYP in all of its feeder schools most recently. Wait for it ...

Cross Keys High School and its feeder schools make up the only DCSS high school area with this achievement ... let me say it again ... the only high school area!

Are you surprised? If we ask ourselves why we are surprised about this, I think we would come up with a short list of all the ills that do affect Cross Keys, Sequoyah and their bevy of elementary schools dotting Buford Highway.

I ask myself: "What could these children and their teachers accomplish with DCSS leadership's focus and the community support they have lacked for so long?"

While groups like the Brookhaven Rotarians have long supported this school, it still remains otherwise isolated in the Brookhaven community and the subject of much mis-information and false impressions.

If you live in any of the few communities remaining in Cross Keys HS' Brookhaven base (that's Druid Knoll, Pine Hills, Deveraux Commons, Lenox Park, HillsDale, Brookhaven Heights, or other nearby communities), I want you to take a fresh look at Cross Keys High School. I will be periodically scheduling a walk-through with small groups of folks in the coming school year.

If you would like to see first hand what this amazing group of students and teachers is doing, please contact me and we'll walk it together.

Kim Ellis Gokce, mobile 678-361-4200
President, HillsDale Neighborhood Association
Sponsor, Community Radar civic news sharing