Bear Creek’s principal getting administrative leave
These recent weeks we have seen society wake up to its double standards and bigotry, whether it is seeing a 11 year old boy as a second-class citizen because he cherishes one of the many cultures that coexist in this country or the casual use of the n-word to refer to wait staff for a plantation themed wedding we can’t deny that we still have a long way to go to achieve justice and equality for all, actually we have a long way just to see the double standards we walk by everyday so achieving equality for all seems just too far out of reach but it doesn’t have to be that way because at Bear Creek Elementary it already isn’t!
The school year of 2013-2014 will have two kindergarten classes, two first grade classes, two second grade classes and two third grade classes learning through Spanish immersion. By the year 2016 half of the children that come out of Bear Creek Elementary will be fully fluent in Spanish and English. How will they do this? By submerging themselves into the sounds, tastes and traditions of new cultures. Bear Creek celebrates diversity; having multiple cultures thriving side-by-side allows our children to be enriched by celebrating their differences, respecting them and learning from them as well.
In the last few years under Matt Montoya’s leadership, Bear Creek students, performance has improved exponentially. Not just the students in the Spanish immersion program, but all of the children at Bear Creek have had the quality of their education improved because Matt Montoya and his staff have created a environment that is conducive for our children to explore with openness new cultures and welcome with excitement learning that enriches all of the aspects of their lives.
Matt Montoya is a dynamic, caring, committed and driven principal who has infused our school with those qualities and it shows in our children. Parents at Bear Creek have the best interest of their children at heart and in their minds and removing a principal that has improve our school because of bureaucracy shows that superintendent Ron Wilkinson does not have the same priorities the Bear Creek family has. Bear Creek does not have a liberal or conservative agenda, because Bear creek doesn’t have a political agenda. At Bear Creek we cherish a multicultural experience that will create a generation of children that will not have to purge themselves of racist, double standards or bigotry because at Bear Creek children are welcome to be themselves, be proud of their culture while welcoming others and their cultures as they are. Bear Creek elementary is a step forward for our community and this country.
—Joanne Mina
Event Promoters— Your Responsibility
This weekend of June 22nd Deschutes Brewery held their 25th Anniversary celebration in Drake Park. Deschutes Brewery did an awesome job in being a socially responsible event organizer—music levels were within ordnance, alcohol monitoring was very present, and all breakdown was completed immediately after the event. In fact, during my 5 am walk in the park the next morning, the only sign that a major event had been held were the neatly stacked trash bins waiting for pick up. Good job Deschutes Brewery.
Promoters of several recent events here in Bend need to follow Deschutes Brewery’s lead. Parking lots not cleaned by the next morning and trail ribbon still in place a week later are not acceptable.
And…we as citizens need to demand exemplary behavior of promoters. That is, call them out when they don’t meet the standards of our fine community.
Again, good job Deschutes Brewery!
—Kevin English
One Day At a Time
Concerning changes to One day at a Time.
Hmm……
Nope. No Changes.
—MGA
Fear and Loathing on the fourth
Bend knows a thing or two about freedom expression, and I witnessed that first hand. I was felling fresh, maybe even jovial driving my purple (midnight blue) Saturn south through volcano land last night. I paid about ten buck for a six-pack of Deschutes River Ale at Quick Mart in north Bend, it’s going to be worth it I told myself. I had received a group message from an acquaintance who happened to be housesitting, included in the message was an immaculate view of the butte. An advantageous spot to watch the thing catch fire, I thought. I had met the host on the night of the Cake and Built to Spill concert, where I decided the full bottle of red was the best bet economically, and ended up downtown after the show, dancing. After picking up my sixer I parked at my normal spot, in the small city lot at the corner of Wall and Greenwood. I had planned to have a beer at Sidelines before heading over to watch the fireworks. About that time I took a call from my sister. The party on the east side had taken a turn for the worst. It had become a drench things in lighter fluid, spark it, and throw it into the street type of party. A real show, where no one seemed that interested in playing croquet. We decided to meet up. It was about that time that beer started raining down on me from the roof dwellers above. She parked close by about five minutes later. We watched a group of guys stumble along with no sleeves on their shirts, and wrapped bandanas on their heads. One muscular guy attempted to ride his longboard and crashed instantly, much to the chagrin of the roofers above. We saw projectile fireworks exploding at street level. Shortly after, someone was pissing on the hood of my car from three stories up. It was time to go. Opening the door of my home in Redmond some people passed by in a car and someone yelling “Can we have some money?” I’m sorry, but the firework stand is closed.
—Matthew Kirk
in reply to “abridged gaytionary” (feature 6/27)CORRECTION!! The Source recently included a section entitled “Abridged Gaytionary.” While I agree most of the terms and definitions were correct, there was one that was completely off base. The term “Kiki” is loosely defined as a meeting of friends for the purpose of gossiping and chit-chat, used mainly in gay culture. The Scissor Sisters said it best: LET’S HAVE A KIKI!!
—Joshua Warner
I am an 82-year-old proletarian liberal who voted for Pres. Obama and Pres. Eisenhower, the only president to warn the people about the military industrial complex! Today they run the American empire with the largest war machine ever seen, with their 1,000 plus military bases and their catastrophic NSA and CIA covert cowards! All to protect the upper 1 percent with their never-ending greed and plundering and 25-cents-an-hour slave factories all over the planet! Their perpetual profitable wars, invasions, bombings and drownings, black torture sites and their propaganda media machines will only lead to the eventual extinction of all life! Including their own! These cruel forces would even today, declare Eisenhower treasonous and probably torture him for his democratic views!
I support Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks Julian Assange for their splendid courage as TRUTH SAYERS about the corruption and crimes against all life on this small planet.
—Alice Keiser Greth, Retired science teacher, librarian—descendent of American revolutionary John Christopher Shearer, wounded at the Battle of Brandywine.
**Editor’s note: Thanks for sharing your support Alice! We can relate to your fore-father’s plight as we were wounded in the Battle of Whiskeygin this weekend. In solidarity, enjoy a $5 gift certificate to Crow’s Feet Commons.
This article appears in Jul 11-17, 2013.
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A few facts:
Principal Matt Montoya at Bear Creek Elementary school is not bilingual. He needs an interpreter to communicate with spanish speaking families if they do not speak English.
Matt Montoya has little to do with the growth or success of the Dual Immersion program at Bear Creek. There is a contracted bilingual administrator, as well as many excellent bilingual teachers, who should take credit for this program. If anything, Matt’s not being bilingual hinders the program.
Some questions to ask:
What measures or data shows that Bear Creek Students’ performance has improved “exponentially” over the last three years? If one reviews State standardized test scores, what do we see over the last three years?
How old is Matt Montoya? What grades and for how long did he ever teach? Is three years as a principal really enough to handle the largest elementary school in the district with the greatest socio-economic challenges?
What is the teacher/staff attrition rate at Bear Creek over the last three years? Why are all these talented professionals choosing to transfer to other schools?
The decision to put Matt Montoya on administrative leave has absolutely nothing to do with any political agenda. It has to do with an evaluation process that takes into consideration all of the above and more. Principals are required to set goals each year. Has Matt Montoya achieved these goals? Probably not.
Just because someone’s last name is “Montoya” does not mean that they are Latino. Just because someone is relatively young does not mean that they “get it”. Being a principal of a large, multi-lingual, multi-cultural elementary school requires a level of professionalism, experience and expertise that Matt Montoya just does not have. Bear Creek will be better off with a bilingual principal who comes with a wealth of prior leadership experience. The new principal of Bear Creek should possess the character, integrity and clear vision for the future that Matt Montoya does not have.
Counter facts:
1. There is only a small percentage of parents who do not speak English; thus Mr. Montoya does not need to be bilingual. Only the teachers need to be bilingual, obviously. However Mr. Montoya is actually interested enough to immerse himself into the Dual Immersion Program; he’s not too proud to do so. Even if he were bilingual, that would not guarantee proper communication skills needed to accomplish administrative tasks as a principal. Mr. Montoya has excellent communication skills.
2. Matt Montoya has a lot to do with the growth and success of the Dual Immersion Program at Bear Creek. Simply ask the teachers who he hired based on the skills and knowledge that he recognized in them when he hired them. Ask the parents whose kids are in the program.
Some answers to questions:
1. Test scores for Bear Creek Elementary for the past three years have shown drastic improvement. Compare these to other elementary schools in the school district.
2. Matt Montoya has been a vice principal for one year and principal now for six years; that is a total of seven years, not three. Common sense has shown that age is not what guarantees expertise of a job; but; history proves that it is having the best knowledge, skill, and proven abilities in knowing how to perform administrative tasks that make a school run successfully. Mr. Montoya has taught in elementary school long enough to know and realize methods of teaching that are successful or not. He knows what kids need to receive the best education possible. If Bear Creek is the largest school in the district then he deserves credit for making it run better compared to what it was when he first came on board! It has also been proven that it takes more three years to turn a failing school around.
3. The only professionals choosing to transfer from Bear Creek Elementary to other schools are those who are unwilling to live up to the higher standards that Mr. Montoya is expecting them to live up to! Some people are not dedicated enough to work that hard!
4. The real reasons that Mr. Montoya is recommended for termination have no true justification, which has been proven by his performance, by his staff, by his students and their parents; listen to them.
5. When Mr. Montoya was chosen he had been selected out of 80 applicants; considered the ” best choice” by all who we’re involve in that decision, including school board members, teachers, the superintendent and parents. However if some people are not happy, it is probably because his great achievements is demanding more from others who do not want to give more. The only “Perfect” people are those who criticize others to make up for what they are lacking in!
I have been reading and hearing about the Bend School District considering termination of current Bear Creek Elementary Principal, Mr. Matt Montoya, after only 3 years in that post and after having 4 years experience in Arizona.
From my experience in management, I believe that no one should carelessly discharge someone who has been, and has the potential of continuing to be, a productive employee.
From comments I hear and read by parents and teachers of that school, it appears the reasons to keep this person are greater than the reasons for terminating him. If there was any significant reason it would have been made public by now, such as a crime.
When a company hires a new person for a professional job, a lot of time, money, and resources are invested in selecting the best of what is available. How many applicants did you look at and interview before considering Montoya, 25, 50 or 100? Wasn’t he your best choice out of all those?
The Bend School district has a lot of our tax dollars invested in choosing Mr. Montoya from day one. If he has turned a failing school around in only 3 years, how many people can do that? Let’s use common sense here. If Mr. Montoya is valued by so many, and appears to be a perfectly decent man, doing a great job, but is supposedly “lacking” in a certain aspect of “job performance”, then, he should simply be properly guided, not terminated!
Have you ever considered what one man can handle in that position? Maybe he is expected to do more than any person is humanly capable. Maybe he is having to choose priorities, having to decide to do more important tasks to make the school run at its best and to set aside the less important tasks. You should evaluate and weigh in on what he has accomplished rather than on what he realistically couldn’t or failed to do.
Please show some empathy and place yourself in Mr. Montoyas’ shoes. It doesn’t make any sense to ruin this man’s career in education and administration, knowing he has such great potential and is truly dedicated to Bear Creek School. He sounds like a great asset, not a hindrance.
Who is to say that your next “best pick” to be hired won’t have similar problems, (or maybe worse). There is no guarantee. No one is perfect. Maybe this Mr. Montoya has more responsibilities than he can humanly handle, if he has the largest school in the district. Maybe Mr. Montoya is having to choose the higher priorities in his job with the time he has available, thus sacrificing some of the lessor ones. This could disappoint some people; but, then not everyone can be satisfied all the time unless additional help is given.
James Brady (A Common Sense Concerned Citizen and Taxpayer)
In recent news articles regarding possible termination of Mr. Matt Montoya as Principal at Bear Creek Elementary, Montoya’s wife is quoted: “he has done nothing unethical”; and, her husband “was told the termination is related to his job performance.” That is hard to believe when you compare what he has accomplished at that school in such a short time. When people say that Montoya “is such a huge part of the school, it would take a lot to get someone in there who’s comparable to him”, I begin to see a contradiction here. If someone doesn’t fully perform, that is one thing; but, if people say he is performing better than most ever could, that is another!
One article says that Montoya served in Arizona as a Vice Principal one year and a Principal for 3 years; now, in Bend for 3 more years; a total of 7 years of professional experience. From what is being said by many people he seems to be a valuable advantage to the school district and to Bend, not a reject or a failure.
For someone to move to a new job, to a new state, a new community and to establish a home for your family is difficult. After that, you just don’t suddenly tell a good professional person “you are recommended for termination, so quit and move on” without really good sufficient cause. Now that is what we consider truly immoral and “unethical”. This man has a mortgage and a family to support. I thought Bend was always a friendly town to live in? Where is the hospitality?
It seems that terminating a respectable person who doesn’t meet certain minor expectations in his job performance, (because he is maybe putting time-emphasis on something more important in his job), would be a type of “bullying”. Would this type of “bullying” be a good example to members of the Bend Community, especially our school kids?
We highly suggest that maybe this could be a unique opportunity for the School Board to show the Bend community a valuable “lesson” in how to be more resourceful by nurturing and building up a good person’s capability instead of taking the unjust and unfair approach of terminating a highly valuable and respectable man, and destroying his career and life.