Superintendent's Message

I would like to thank all of the employees who attended the Back-to-School presentations held last month at various high schools.

I would like to especially thank all of you who took the time to fill out the request for employee input.

We have sorted through the responses and assessed what the critical needs are, both short-term and long-term. When I asked for input from teachers and support staff regarding short-term district priorities, it became very apparent that a majority of responses were directly related to opening of school needs.

Top concerns included: availability of classroom supplies, physical appearance of our facilities and requests for more support from site and district administrators.

Most significant among the priorities are teacher recruitment, hiring and placement prior to the first day of classes.

Long-term priorities included increased salaries and benefits, class size reduction, teacher recruitment, elimination of school portables; and increased student achievement, assessment and accountability.

To address the short term priorities, I will collaborate with administrators, faculty and staff to create a plan to address the opening of school 2001-02 and every year after.

For long-term priorities, we will work to develop goals and objectives for TUSD with the Governing Board; generate action items for follow-up and start turning ideas into reality.

I am taking all suggestions seriously and will continue to work with district staff to help address our employees' concerns.

Estanislado "Stan" Paz, Ph.D.

Robins Receives $3,000 Donation From Builders

Three builders awarded Robins Elementary school with a $3,000 donation to support the school's literacy efforts. Monterey Homes, Kaufman and Broad and D.R. Horton each donated $1,000 and formally presented the money at the school's Back-To-School night held Aug. 29. The money will be used to provide more guided reading books for kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms. Members of the school's faculty and staff along with more than half of the students and their parents were on hand.

Monterey Homes, Kaufman and Broad and D.R. Horton representatives celebrate their partnership with Robins Elementary School after donating $3,000 at the school's Back-To-School night. Pictured, from left, are Don Sparks, Monterey Homes; Maggie Shafer, principal; Ann Dutton, Kaufman Broad; and Julie Turner, Kaufman Broad.

Books purchased with these funds will assure that a variety of books are available for reading instruction at all levels.

Robins Principal Maggie Shafer was enthusiastic about the donation.

"Walt Disney once wrote 'There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island,'" said Shafer.

"The students at Robins will benefit from this treasure for years and years. We are deeply grateful."