You're All Stirred Up About Buna ISD?

 So, in the last few days, I've received a couple of dissertations on Buna ISD and how upset people presently are with the district. 

I don't know what to tell you. I really don't. 

Right now every school district in the state is fighting to keep their head above the water. 

No one wants to teach anymore, and in this day and age, who can blame them? As I have said in the past, I couldn't be " Mr. Thomas" in 2023. And at my age, I wouldn't want to evolve. And to be honest, I probably, couldn't. 

Had a person write me about the old days when I was teaching and how things were back then....

I don't know. I am presently not thrilled with what is going on with the Buna ISD.

I am not liking what the district is doing to( treating) faculty/staff. 

I taught a large number of the Buna ISD Board of Trustees and I often want to ask them " What the Cornbread Fuck are you doing/thinking?"

But, I am out. 

That said, I am still an observer. 

Yes, I want Buna ISD to be a good school to to send your kids to. 

But I don't know. 

I'm afraid if I was still there I would call teacher retirement in the middle of the year and call it a day.

Let Me Remind You Buna ISD Teachers....And Everyone Else Too....

 So, Elon Musk laid off another 200 people this morning from Twitter. 

This includes an executive who was sleeping at her desk in an attempt to show her commitment to the company. 

Yeah, you may love what you do, hell, you may even like the kids, I know I did.....But, in the end, well, it's just a job. 

A damn job. 

It's a way to earn a living. 

Don't be afraid to make changes....Seriously, don't be scared. 

I know I changed, and I know the older you get, the harder it becomes to make a change. And sometimes, you can't make a change....Hell, one of the reason I stayed at Buna was they literally did not know what I was doing down in my room....In truth, I think they were a little afraid to find out what I was doing.

But if you're unhappy and can change, do so. 

A reminder, the cemetery is full of people " Who can't be replaced." Yet, they were. 

It is just a job.....

Buna ISD 23-24 Calendar

So, yesterday evening the Buna ISD Board of Trustees met to discuss the 23-24 calendar. 

And they tabled the action. 

Another of these, " Let's see how low we can drive the morale down of the faculty and staff of the Buna Public Schools. "

The calendar which by tradition has been offered to the employees of the Buna Schools to vote on, and trust me, it generally falls in line with the other school districts in the area has been somewhat secretive. 

And allegedly includes in the 23-24 calendar is an increase in days of the school year. Apparently, the only calendars being seen a bootleg ones. So who knows what is actually on the calendar.

Hell, most school districts are looking at a way to lessen school days in an attempt to attract better faculty, and in truth for the ISD to save money. ( It costs a fortune to run A/C, heat, lights, etc in a school district.) 

Hell, the school district even supposedly spent $17,000 on a poll for the distrct to see what the patrons wanted. Now, school programs are being told, they don't have the money to fund their program...  

I don't know, you have to offer incentives for the best and brightest to be interested in coming to Buna, and I am being told teachers are polishing up their resumes and put in job applications elsewhere. 

Sorry folks, unhappy people at their jobs seek new positions. 

Teachers are being told, " But we are doing this for the kids...." 

Yes, we are, but we also have a life outside school. You can't find old maid school teachers like there was in 1910 to give their lives to schools.....And even in 1910, a lot of those teachers ran off and got married....And they never looked back. 

I don't know, perhaps that is what Buna ISD wants. New teachers so they won't have to pay them as much, trouble is, new teachers don't have a damn clue how to teach. 

Again, likes hates, etc. help the algorithm.

Does Buna ISD Suck Now? Or Was I Looking Through " Rose-Colored" Glasses?

 Got depressed yesterday. 

Shouldn't have, but I did. I am getting old and well, stuff is starting to fall apart on the old body. 

No, not dying, but I just can't do "stuff" like I once did and to keep going, well, I'm a salute to the prescription industry. And then got to think, it might be our last trip overseas. I don't know how long I can actually sit on an aircraft crossing an ocean....And that alone is sort of depressing. 

I shouldn't have, but I started reflecting back on my time at Buna High. 

Oh, I enjoyed the kids, but the rest of the situation, well, it left a great deal to be desired. 

I literally felt like an outsider the entire time I was there. And I didn't feel that way when I was at Dayton or even Magnolia. 

I know I have written about the " clique" in the past in Buna, but I don't know, I never felt welcome my entire time I was at Buna by the faculty. Maybe it was my teaching style, perhaps it was because I was a non-coaching, non-vocational education male teacher. Buna well, just doesn't have many of those.

There were faculty members on campus who never understood the concept that they were there for the kids. And often I got in trouble when I lobbied for seniors. 

Bad trouble. 

As students, you don't don't understand the behind the scenes activities that go went on. And we kept it from you. Especially when it involved trying to take care of seniors.....And I got into trouble. So much trouble, I thought one afternoon in March I thought I was going to have to literally fight another teacher in my classroom. 

I got to looking back and I can't remember a time in which an administrator came by and thanked me for anything I did. It was just assumed Thomas would " Carry on as Thomas." When I was at Dayton, Magnolia, even Everman, the principal would come by and and personally thank us. Hell, often the Supt. of Schools would loop by just to " See how we were doing."  I can't remember a Buna Super ever doing that. And Dayton and Magnolia were much larger districts.

I know when Don Draper in Mad Men was asked about giving thanks, he said " It's what the money is for." Well, he learned the hard way that a little encouragement goes a long way. 

In retrospect, I wish I would have left and not retired from Buna. Oh, I do have a couple of people who were on the faculty I am very, very fond of, and pray for every morning, but most of the people I worked with,well, it was just a working relationship. Often constantly adversarial. And I never understood why after being in other districts. 

A lot of your best of brightest who graduated from Buna don't live in the district. On purpose.

All of this said, I am going to come to the defense of Buna ISD faculty. 

It comes on information that the teachers are going to be asked to remove microwaves, coffee pots, etc from their classroom. Look, one of the few perks at Buna was being allowed a few " creature comforts" in your class, especially when you have to fight 50 other teachers in the teacher study for a lunchtime microwave. 

Buna's pay is pitiful. It is at the bottom of Region V's pay list. The few perks they have sometimes make a sometimes unbearable situation a little more bearable.  

Look, you want to attract the best and brights, and you want them to stay. 

Getting rid of blue-jean Fridays( I didn't wear jeans on Fridays most of the time, but what you wear to teach in really doesn't make that much difference. Trust me, I taught in a district in which men had to wear coats and ties.....and the good teachers were still good, and the bad teachers, well, they still sucked.) 

There are some other changes coming that will not only effect the faculty-staff, but the community at large....That said, and yes, it is a teaser, I can't discuss it quite yet, I don't want to get people into trouble. But, we will when it becomes public knowledge. 

You have got to remember these changes are being instituted by a person who is a short timer. They are looking for their next job up the career ladder. 2-3 years, they'll be gone, and a new set of " rules" will be initiated.

Okay, I feel a little better. I'd appreciate it if you liked, hated, whatever this blog on Facebook. It helps the algorithm and readership.

 

But...But....I Remember Buna High Doing This.....

 So, there are states that have decided we should no longer have drag queen shows at school.....I don't know......If you look back, there's been guys dressing as girls in a school setting for years.

Now, I don't think you need to drag in a bunch of transvestites to schools and have them parade around, but hell, I remember when Mock Miss Buna was a big damn deal. 

My first year at Buna, they had a bunch of senior boys dress up as girls at a pep rally, and trust me, their girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever had a lot of those boys looking better than the girls. 

Heck, even one of the senior boys grabbed the principal on the ass. 

Hell, in 1975, Vidor High School had " Powder Puff" football games. It was a flag football game between the senior girls and junior girls. Yeah, and it was often rougher than the boys varsity game on Friday night.

And a bunch of senior boys and junior boys dressed up as cheerleaders. 

And guess who dressed as a cheerleader.....and trust me, I was a hairy, ugly, chick. 

The way I read the law, these would be illegal.

Are we now so unhappy now? You know, people just looking for stuff now to make us all unhappy. 

Momma's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be.....

 Stealing from Shotgun Willie Nelson this morning....

No, cowboys are better than this job....

Whatever you do, don't let your kids teach school.

Oh, I liked when I was doing it, but it has always had political strains within the position.....And in 2023, it is just so much worse. 

There is a growing belief among parents that they somehow " own" teachers. 

The governor is talking about parent's rights?  What is that parents telling us what we can or can't teach, that's all well and good, but there will be 30 different views on what should or shouldn't be taught.

That teacher's now are a bunch of Communists.....( I've voted GOP since 1976, and they their hated of teachers is quickly turning me against them.)

That our union is telling us what to teach.....What union? Texas has no teacher's unions. When did you see me and Taucer out in front of the building holding picket signs that said " UNFAIR?" 

That we are teaching CRT....Hell most of us don't care what CRT even is. 

There is a now a movement to allow people to chose their schools........And what is going to be taught at these school? Hell, I've seen what is going on at a number of these church/private schools.....Ain't no one learning nothing in many of these schools. 

No, not worth the $50,000 worth of debt to teach school anymore. 

No folks, tell your kids to do something else if they insist on college. 

Mr. Thomas and XXX Age 21+ School Stories

 I may need to write this in a more than one part.....

As many of you know, when I first started teaching, I did so in adult education. It in many ways gave me a different outlook on life and teaching. 

I was 24. Just a baby. Still had hair, wasn't a tub of goo, and still acted " cool." 

I taught people trying to get a GED( Good Enough Diploma, as one class of mine called it) and people trying to become U.S. Citizens. 

The first story comes from a class I was teaching an algebra class 7PM until 9PM. The majority of which were females who had dropped out for one reason or another and decided to complete school. Most want to go to LIT or Lamar. The average was 18 to 28. This class was all female.

No dress code and many dressed however. Short,shorts, blue jeans, t-shirts, tube tops . This was the 1970s and again, no dress code for adults. Most changed from their work attire to whatever they knocked around the house in and came on to class. 

We had coffee breaks( We had a 40 cup coffeemaker) and we didn't care if student sat in the easy chairs in the Teacher's Lounge. In those days, many smoked during the break. Heck, sometimes, we all walked to the store 2 blocks away for candy, chips. 

On the night, I was giving an algebra test. And I was sitting on top my desk in the front, when Debbie, my wife walked in. She was bringing me a Coke. She had been in the area and looped by. She sat on the desk by me, and put her arms around me, and put her head on my shoulder. Not thinking, I rubbed her lower back. She saw they were taking a test, gave me a kiss, and said, " You coming home soon?" To which I replied" Probably." 

No one was paying attention to the test at that point. 

Shortly after Deb left, I was a smart-aleck and said, " That's how you make an A." 

To which a tiny, nerdy, glasses wearing girl about 22-23 said, " If I'd known that, I'd had you over to my apartment after class sooner." 

To which another woman, mid-20s piped up and said, " Yeah, I can get rid of my boyfriend a couple of hours." 

I had to explain that, that was my wife and there was some confusion that I had married a former student. 

The next algebra class, before class, the tiny, nerdy girl came up to me before class and said, " I am serious about you coming over after class." 

I said nothing, and acted like she had said nothing. 

- The second group of students were the afternoon class. Most were either married, or going through a divorce, or were divorced. They were trying to get a GED to get a better job. These were ages 30-45. 

Man, these ladies had no boundaries. 

If I was sitting at my desk and they cam up for me to help them with math or English or whatever, well, their hands often wandered. And while most just put the hand on the knee, others, put their hand on the crotch. And you had to move their hands without making them mad or making a scene. 

Some saw their 24 year old teacher as a " mark" and often said, the kids go to school at 8:30.......or, my husband and kids are gone tomorrow, why don't you come over about 11AM for an hour.....or two.

Had one offer to give me oral sex in an empty class.

You've got to remember once again, I was not the old fat bald ugly teacher you got at Buna. 

And for some of these ladies, it was scary. 

Now, this wasn't every lady. Many were serious students, I helped on after she graduated go to Lamar and get her English teacher's certificate, but others, well a couple thought I was a homosexual because I did not take interest in " freebies."  

It is one of the reasons I got a high school job.

-This is kind of long, I'll tell other stories later in part 2.