School district screens prospective staff: Columbia makes the checks even though the state does not mandate them

Published in the Columbia Missourian

The Columbia Public School District takes your children's safety seriously. Though Missouri is one of 12 states that does not mandate any criminal background checks on prospective school employees, the district performs these checks on all new school employees and volunteers, including substitute teachers. The lone exception is parents who serve as volunteers in classrooms.

The district has never had a problem with former criminals in schools, said Gene Huff, district director of personnel.

Local background checks are done by both the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Clarence M. Kelley and Associates, a private investigative and consulting firm in Kansas City.

If an applicant is from Missouri, the Highway Patrol performs the pre-employment check, which includes Missouri Department of Family Services child abuse and neglect records.

Kelley and Associates handles out-of-state background checks and reports information from agencies in places the subject has lived or worked.

Each report provides information on a subject's criminal background, including offenses against children. Pending cases, convictions and sentences are reported; " not guilty" verdicts are not part of anyone's criminal record.

The report turnaround time is quick, said Darren Dupriest, investigations manager at Kelley and Associates, because his clients have employers and job applicants waiting for the results. "Three to four days is pushing their envelope," he said. The Highway Patrol check takes 14 days, said June Baker, assistant director of criminal records and identification. The Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline Unit of the Department of Family Services report takes about 10 working days, said Martha Witt, a social services supervisor for the department. Both attributed the timetable to the paperwork involved.

Three factors influence the hiring decision: any infractions committed, the frequency of convictions and when the offenses occurred.

Although background checks are only done before hiring, school personnel who commit crimes during employment should consider their jobs in jeopardy, Huff said. Each situation is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, he said. A decision to fire would require a conviction, rather than an allegation or formal charge. The seriousness of the crime also is a factor, Huff said.

Kelley and Associates can perform different kinds of background checks for clients, including verification of work experience and educational credentials, Dupriest said.

Also, because Dupriest's case managers have law enforcement experience, they can assist clients in understanding the information in the reports the firm delivers.

"We report whatever's publicly accessible within the guidelines of applicable laws," Dupriest said.

Because the Columbia school district is a new client of the investigative firm, Dupriest said he was unable to comment on the frequency of requests from Columbia.

He did say school districts are regular requesters of pre-employment background checks.

All applicants for Missouri teacher certification must declare a felony conviction, said David Adams, assistant director of teacher certification at the Missouri Department of Education.

Failure to truthfully declare a criminal history is perjury.

The Missouri Department of Education shares lists of revoked teaching certifications with other members of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, Adams said. Although the monthly list of new revocations is large, the number of Missouri teachers affected is low - fewer than three in an average year, Adams said.

The state doesn't mandate background checks because it expects school districts to properly investigate applicants on their own, said State Rep. Vicky Riback Wilson, D-Columbia.

Until there is evidence the system isn't working, there is no need to place additional restrictions on school districts, she said. "It's one of the things we leave to local control."

Schools use fewer trailers: The district is experiencing temporary relief from the overcrowding problem

Published in the Columbia Missourian

Columbia public schools are using fewer mobile classrooms this year than in the past, in an attempt to bring students into permanent school buildings. School officials are optimistic about eventually moving away from trailer use, but say that the district's bonding capacity limit prevents them from moving forward more quickly.

This year, there are 121 mobile classrooms around the Columbia Public School District, down 15 from last year. Ten of those are at Lange Middle School, which opened with them this year because of an inability to finance a larger permanent facility.

Many students and teachers like the trailer-classrooms, for their space, atmosphere and climate control.

"It was a lot smaller, and I liked it because it had air conditioning," said Andrea Smith, a fourth-grader at Fairview Elementary, whose class was held in a trailer last year.

"I enjoyed my trailer because they're large," said Joan Rawson, an eighth-grade language arts teacher at Oakland Junior High.

"You're out here by yourself," said Justin Towe, a sixth-grade math teacher at Lange. "We have the same facilities other people in the school have except that we're outside."

However, Two Mile Prairie Elementary's art teacher, Kathy Dwyer, is happy she's back inside. Dwyer was in a trailer last year with no running water, which made cleanup more difficult.

Harris Cooper, president of the school board, calls mobile classrooms a temporary solution to an overcrowding problem.

"Mobile classrooms ought to be used in a very limited fashion," Cooper said. He wants them replaced in time with permanent structures. Trailers can only increase classroom space and not infrastructure; bathrooms, lunchrooms, auditoriums, and gymnasiums become inadequate for the student population size, he said.

Financing problems
Major renovations are needed at some schools; most schools need more classroom space than they have. School officials say there is not enough money for everything.

By law, Missouri school districts can only issue bonds worth 10 percent of the district's assessed property value. In 1996, voters defeated a statewide constitutional amendment that would have permitted an increase of bonding capacity to 15 percent.

The Columbia district is already bonded to its maximum capacity. An expansion of that capacity would have permitted over $40 million of additional bonds to be proposed by the board, still subject to public approval.

Renting vs. buying
Deputy Superintendent Marjorie Spaedy said no records are kept for annual mobile classroom maintenance. The district leases 87 trailers with an option to buy and rents 28, according to Greg Cooper, district purchasing agent.

The trailers each cost between $6,500 and $7,000 annually to rent, Spaedy said. The district has moved from leases with buy options to rentals, Spaedy said. "Recently, we've been hoping we would be able to return some as we built new buildings," she said.

Replacing all of the existing trailers with permanent classroom space would cost nearly $11.5 million.

The main company renting trailers to the school district is Missouri Equipment Leasing, of Springfield. Purchasing a trailer there would cost between $35,000 and $45,000, including transportation and installation. With a toilet included, it would cost at least $40,000 delivered and installed.

Tony Andrews, of Modular Technologies Inc., of Kinston, North Carolina, said the district is "coming out a lot better" by renting trailers from his company than by purchasing them. He said purchasing a trailer from Modular costs around $25,000 , not including transportation or installation. In their leases, Modular Technologies includes transportation, installation, and removal as well as structural maintenance.

Planning for the future
Cooper noted that while enrollment stabilization is difficult to predict, some catching up has been possible with the opening of Lange Middle School. Also helping this year is the fact that enrollment increased by only 23 students, far lower than projected. He hopes that new bond issues will be able to continue to relieve overcrowding.

Lange Principal Carole Kennedy said the use of trailers "really isn't poor planning." Lange opened with 10 trailers because there was no money to build a larger facility, she said.

Spaedy reported that the planning process for each of the three middle schools includes plans to double their capacities, though that construction would require further district bond issues. Kennedy said school facilities plans also include trailers.

The district maintains all the trailers it uses.

"Their life span depends on how long you make them last," Spaedy said. A typical lifetime is between 10 and 30 years, she said, noting that she is not aware of any trailers discarded by the district.

More pressing concerns?
"It's clear that they don't plan to move these trailers," said Helen Burnham, a parent of four students in the district.

Burnham doesn't consider mobile classrooms a major problem.

"They're not that big a deal," she said. "My children tend to want to have classes in trailers."

Burnham would rather the district focused on reducing class size rather than reducing trailer numbers. Most of the district's educational goals could be met, she said, by lowering class numbers and giving teachers more time with each student. "A nice group of 15 or 20 of them in a trailer is fine."

Family gears up for new school year: The Sedalia family is like many getting ready for school this week

Published in the Columbia Missourian

Savannah Szymanski, 12, walked up to her mother with a different shoe on each foot.

"No, we're only doing one pair," said her mother, Ramona Mefford. Several minutes later, Mefford called to her children: "Look, here's Mom paying. That's what she does best."

The back-to-school shopping trip was over at last. The Sedalia family spent Monday in Columbia, as did many mid-Missouri families, getting ready for school to start this week. The amounts of time and money spent, while necessary, are never as moderate as parents hope.

"I dread it," Mefford said of the annual expedition. Mefford cares for her children as well as working at a Mexican restaurant. Her husband, David, has been pulling overtime at his job "so we can pay for all this," she said. "It makes them happy," she said of her children. "They really look forward to it." The day began at 10:30 a.m. in Sedalia. The baby, Anna, stayed home with her grandmother. Jacob, 3, insisted on going shopping with his older sisters. Savannah and her sister Stephanie, 10, each brought a friend. Kristin Ash, 11, and Samantha Ash, 9, already did their shopping for school, but came along to keep the Szymanski girls company. After more than five hours in Columbia, the group headed home. Mefford said peers at school now influence the buying process more than when the girls were younger. That outside pressure helped make this year's trip more hectic than usual, though the children helped watch Jacob.

"It can get real expensive," Mefford said of the girls' desire for brand-name items. "We can't go to Payless for shoes anymore." That is why they all ended up at the Columbia Mall. Savannah was in search of Nike or Adidas shoes, though Stephanie selected her old standard, Keds.

Savannah was helpful, keeping her eye out for sales or discounts on the shoes she looks for. Her mom appreciates that. "I don't like using a credit card so I have to save up," Mefford said.

The family enjoys coming to the Columbia Mall because it's a convenient place to shop, with the whole space air-conditioned and indoors. The mall also has a wider variety of stores than Sedalia. They can even go out to eat - a real family trea t - without having to drive anywhere else and find a parking space. The convenience hides the cost, however. Savannah needed new glasses, which cost $200. To be ready for school, she needed to buy shoes, for $65, various sports clothes, for about $20 per item, and jeans, found on sale for $22. All told, Mefford said, she spent $328 Monday on clothes for her two school-age children. Last week she spent just more than $100 on the girls' school supplies. "They're worth it ," she said with a proud smile. The girls also help around the house to get allowances, which, their mom said, they conveniently spend just before the big shopping trips.

The girls do help pay for things they want throughout the school year, from extra classroom supplies to clothes they want. Savannah and Kristin will soon be sharing a paper route to earn an additional $76 a month, which they will split. As the kids got hungry, they got restless and the family headed off in search of pretzels or pizza. With Jacob in tow, the four girls strolling along, Mefford pushed the stroller laden with purchases and quipped, "That's why I got a minivan."

Technology, Public Buildings, and Community

Published in OnSite Ireland

I. Introduction

As technology becomes more expensive, and access to it more important, communities are pooling financial resources to bring people together both physically and technologically. Public spaces are subject to an increasing variety of demands as communities work to get the most out of their public building budgets.

How does this affect building needs, community design, and human interaction into the twenty-first century? Some of these groups will want new structures for their technology centers; what issues will they bring to the design table? Others will want to modify existing structures, even potentially historic buildings (e.g., municipal libraries); what modifications will need to be made to those spaces?

It is difficult to examine these questions without first having an idea of the technological advances which will happen in the coming few years. This is a difficult enough task on its own, and varies greatly from country to country, and from place to place within a given country. We can, however, note several overarching trends which can offer us guideposts for the journey.

II. Guideposts of Technology

Communication will become even more important than it is now, and more technologically complex, from the "back end," while at the same time getting simpler from the "front end." This applies to both wired and wireless communications. In places which are not now wired, such as Malaysia, cellular technology will be the next major communications innovation. Wires will eventually stretch to many locations throughout the developed and developing countries, but the initial steps of communications infrastructure development will be wireless in many countries.

In the wired world, those countries home already to networks of telephone wires, not to mention to the proliferation of cable television, wires and cables will be the next big addition to homes and places of business. Differences between the wired and wireless worlds will cause some problems for those attempting to design flexible-use structures.

Another certainty is that video displays will grow in number and in size. Whether showing text, still images, or video, LCD, CRT, and projection (from front and rear) displays will proliferate. These are the three major trends which we can predict with confidence.

III. Guideposts of Humanity

Human nature also provides us with some points of departure. First among these is a healthy skepticism for new things and change. People will want places and ways to escape the invasion of technological implements. Places of refuge, within the home and without, as well as in and around the workplace, will become increasingly important.

People will also tend to want as much information as quickly as possible, when they are indeed in search of it. While we can let the technology people deal with methods of sorting this information in a useful manner, architects need to work with them to provide maximum bandwidth in the wired and wireless infrastructures.

Based on the principle that "information wants to be free," public places are ideal for information gathering, viewing, and sharing. What better venue for free information than the public square? The technological version of the Town Crier may not be too far off.

IV. Economics and Lifestyles

Technology is getting increasingly expensive, though at a far smaller rate than the perceived value of the equipment. Prices of home computers go up no more than twenty percent annually, while hard disk sizes and microchip clock speeds double and triple in the same period of time. Meanwhile people want their own private access to information, though often not at the expense of other aspects of their lifestyles. The desire for privacy while digesting information contrasts with the obvious advantage of public sharing of ideas facilitated by public technology centers.

It is likely that technological expenses will soon become so high that families look to each other for assistance with access to the infrastructure. People will maintain their own Email accounts, but, as now one family has one computer for four people, perhaps four families will share two or three connections to the electronic world. This is analogous to the "party line" in the early days of telephone communications.

In Dublin, for example, several buildings in the Temple Bar area have been redesigned to take advantage of emerging technologies. Showcased in the Architectural Association of Ireland 1996 awards are three such buildings: the Arthouse, the Gallery of Photography, and the School of Photography. Also in Dublin, the Collins Barracks, now property of the National Museum of Ireland, will feature high-technology applications as an organic part of its basic design as a museum. On a smaller scale, other communities are even now using parts of their municipal libraries to ensure low-cost or free public access to the Internet. This trend will continue.

V. Specific Design Issues to Consider

In wireless communities, lines of sight between individual antennas and central towers will be important. In conflict with this will be the aesthetic desire to prevent significant public visibility of antennas on the exteriors of structures, as well as providing space and strength to support them, in varying sizes and shapes. Within these buildings, wired infrastructures will need to be laid out and organized along both technological and architectural standard guidelines. Network topology is not something most architects have studied, but any architect putting a fifty-five foot run of 10BaseT cable into a building will get an earful from the networking specialists. (Specifications only permit fifty feet of 10BaseT cable between two pieces of equipment.)

Wired communities will face not only the above internal infrastructure limitations, but also the need for more and larger cables entering buildings and winding throughout them. Security of connections is important. Netscape Communications, Inc. has three major network connections into its central facility. Two are on one side of the building, and the third is on the opposite side, for maximum physical security. In countries where cable television is common, the cable conduit will provide an initial link into homes and offices. That link, however, will need replacement or upgrading. What it connects to will change as well, as television evolves into a hybrid of today's computer and television functions. Electrical power will be in much higher demand in all of these places.

Size of video display, and methods of interaction with displays, will define how spaces are used for that purpose. As well, the function of a display (whether of a surveillance camera's view, or as a rotating display of artistic decorations) will determine its location and the surrounding space to some degree.

Further, distribution of technological tools throughout a building (as telephones today are found all over the house) will place different demands on technological infrastructure and design features than structures and spaces designed specifically as technological centers.

Rooms will need conversion for technological capability. New structures will be built for schools and communities to house their electronic tools. Some of these will affect historic land and buildings; the past cannot forever shape the future. At some time the present must take charge and move towards the future. This may mean giving up some historic value of a building or a location. This should not be done lightly; nor should it be dismissed without proper examination.

Community living arrangements are only now beginning to gain recognition in the United States; architects are, as a rule, inexperienced with the specific needs of such living conditions, including both outdoor and indoor spaces. If these become more common as the costs of technology require conservation of financial resources, the constraints of community living will be augmented by the constraints of technological enhancement of a living arrangement.

VII. Examples

The Arthouse building, in Curved Street, Temple Bar, is a unique example of a building created during the "crossover" from traditional to new media uses in public spaces. Originally designed as a sculpture gallery, it has now adapted itself to multimedia exhibits, though the idea of multimedia as a discrete art form is still new enough to render Arthouse events not always available to the general public (whether because of esoteric installations or exorbitant admission prices). It has some features of a more traditional gallery, such as a boom for moving large pieces of artwork into and out of the display area; its spaces also functions as a multimedia exhibition hall.

The relationship between the Gallery of Photography and the School of Photography bears further exploration. In the School's building is a projector which projects still and moving images onto the side of the Gallery building, just opposite in Meetinghouse Square, Temple Bar. Each building serves a traditional function, of gallery or school, but also interact in a public theater in a revolutionary way. Photography is but one field (architecture is, of course, another) which is being shaped and reshaped rapidly as technological advances are made.

Each of these structures has won at least a commendation from the AAI; while some criticisms may no doubt be made about the design or purpose of these structures, they are revolutionary and, particularly in the case of the Gallery, well-conceived and realized buildings.

As for the Collins Barracks, much remains to be seen. Interactive kiosks, now almost a cliché in the technology world, are coming into the public realm, assisting museum and zoo visitors with interpretive displays. Rare pieces can be viewed publicly, even in multiple sites, with the assistance of technology (A prime example of this is Ben Britton's "Virtual Lasceaux" project at the University of Cincinnati, which has been displayed at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World in Florida, as well as other locations around the United States and France).

Not only does the Collins Barracks renovation include massive electric and communications wiring conduit built into the space itself (every "techie" rejoices at accessible conduit), but the expansive size of the space permits great flexibility, including, if appropriate, using temporary partitions to section off smaller areas for productions, displays, or support equipment. A combination of indoor and outdoor facilities not only permits year-round visitations, but also permits the necessary escape from technology while simultaneously providing additional arenas for display, interpretation, and production.

VIII. Conclusions

It is clear that architects, who are very accustomed to working with general contractors and building professionals, will need to add a member to their renovation and building teams. That new member should be aware of not only current technological possibilities, but trends in the field, and be able to predict with some accuracy infrastructure demand changes of the short-term future.

It must be made clear that no contemporary issues facing architects will disappear with the growth of prevalence of technology throughout society. Rather, the information revolution will add more subjects for consideration by customers, designers, and builders.

People, who already have idiosyncratic ways of interacting with information and technology, will need to communicate effectively with the architect and the technologist to ensure that the project (whether a renovation or a new building) is completed satisfactorily.

Communities in search of a space of this nature will face their first challenge in deciding among themselves what they want, and what they want the future to hold for their design.

Theater Review: Middlebury shines in Washington

Published in the Mountainview

On the Theater Lab stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., another Middlebury College play was performed this year. This time it was Dan O'Brien '96 wo wrote the play "The Last Supper Restoration," directed it and acted in it. For his writing, he won the National Student Playwriting Award, sponsored in part by the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival.

The seats were filled to capacity, and hopeful attendees without tickets were turned away at the door. The re-staging of the play was impressive, given the time limitations and the fact that the original play had been so closely tied to the Middlebury College Studio Theater space in which it was first performed.

A significant revision of the original Middlebury production, this version was the one which went to the Irene Ryan Festival in Boston last autumn; the reworking succeeded at clarifying and simplifying a piece whose intellectual depth was matched by the quality of the company's performance. (Disclosure: the part of Caterina was played by my sister, Katherine Inglis '98.)

The cast and crew were in at least three countries and three states the week before the production went up at the Kennedy Center; airlines and car-rental companies no doubt rejoiced when they heard that O'Brien would be coming from Ireland, Coert Voorhees would fly in from Chile, Ted Dowling from Seattle, Nick Molander and Katherine Inglis from Vermont, and others from Vermont and New York City. The diaspora of the company is a testament to its level of ability; their capacity to perform the play for the first time in three months after only a couple of days of rehearsal is nothing short of phenomenal.

Dealing with three different time periods in the fifteenth and twentieth centuries, the play is a detailed amalgam of the lives of Leonardo da Vinci, a restorer of da Vinci's "The Last Supper," and the son of that restorer. Blending the diverse threads of art, homosexuality, Nazism, Judaism, love, fear, and death (among others), "The Last Supper Restoration" is in itself a restoration of multi-level dramatic arts, when each speech had multiple meanings, and each character stood for something much more than just one person in a

story.

O'Brien's National Student Playwriting Award is actually a series of awards, including cash awards, professional memberships and development opportunities, and the publication of his play by high-profile drama publisher Samuel French, Inc. In addition to those awards, O'Brien is currently on a Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowship in Ireland acting in Irish productions and working on new plays of his own.

In attendance at the first national production of an O'Brien play were members of the Middlebury alumni community in Washington, D.C., an impressive contingent from the College (attending in both official and unofficial roles), and a large number of the general public. Comments in the audience afterward ranged from the confused to the congratulatory, though the reaction was unanimous to a scene in which an airline stewardess puts her hand inside a bag of a passenger's vomit.

O'Brien has made a promising beginning with a play which appeals to the intellectual and the emotional, combining history and conjecture in a story which entrances and intrigues. We will definitely hear more from O'Brien soon, and we congratulate him on his success to date.

The ICC/ACTF program is a national program for all dramatic arts, sponsored by academic institutions, businesses, and theater organizations nationwide. Awards are given for excellence in areas too numerous to name, and the prestige of such awards is great in the world of theater. Middlebury College has historically had good luck participating in KC/ACTT and its regional Irene Ryan awards; the theater department here is known for its strength and quality of acting, performance, and production.