Millikan’s campus is facing some big upgrades as this school year progresses, with additions like air conditioning and elevators being added to some of our buildings. These upgrades are exciting to many members of the Millikan community, however in order for the changes to happen teachers and their classes are getting shifted around campus, causing a wide variety of reactions, including some negative ones.
Some frustrations stemmed from communication. Ms. Cox, a Biology and A.P. Biology teacher here at Millikan in the 800 building, shared that originally some teachers were told that they would have to move classrooms while others weren’t, but when a later email in September came out with information on room moves, “There were a lot more people being moved than what had been originally told.” This caused some upset.
“The reasoning for that wasn’t super clear at first and it felt impersonal the way that it was sent,” stated Ms. Cox.
According to Dr. Yu, Vice Principal at Millikan, the reason for so many more teachers involved in the move than originally communicated is that classrooms are planned to move by department. For example, social studies classes will all be located near each other in the bungalows. This choice caused some upset with teachers who felt it would’ve been better if they were included in the conversation about moving by department.
The step towards department layouts on Millikan means that many teachers in classrooms unaffected by construction now have to move.
Ms. Braswell-Rotkin, a U.S. and AP U.S. History teacher at Millikan, is located in the 200 building and is moving out to the bungalows. She is moving to Ms. Adams’ classroom, who will now move out to the 900 building which will eventually be under construction as well. That is an additional move that will eventually have to happen for Ms. Adams.
Another concern Ms. Cox voiced is losing communities with neighboring teachers who she wouldn’t normally interact with. “We already spend time in meetings with our departments and we spend time in meetings with our pathways,” says Ms. Cox, “Moving us by our departments means that we’re never going to talk to people who aren’t there.”
One example she gave is that she regularly speaks with other ninth grade teachers from different pathways and different departments near her, but after the move she won’t be able to keep the same close conversations.
Ms. Braswell-Rotkin shared that she understands both sides of the picture, including the difficult job Millikan’s administrators have of figuring out how to rearrange such a large population and the frustration of teachers who felt they weren’t informed that this was a part of the process.
Dr. Yu stated that the decision to move by department was a “site based decision,” and happened at the administrative level, not district level. Dr. Yu shared that Dr. Alexander, himself, and Assistant Principal Mrs. Hodge (while she was still there) communicated with teachers to voice their concerns. He included that site-based decision making (SBDM) teams and TALB also represented teacher voices that are shared with the administrators.
In an effort to help with the move, teachers are given an amount of time that they will get compensated for in order to pack, as well as boxes provided in the Library.
Dr. Yu adds, “To be honest, sometimes we can take the input and act on it and sometimes we may not.”
“Moving is never easy and change is never easy, but in the end I think we’ll be at a better place,” said Dr. Yu.
It is important to include that out of five teachers contacted for an interview, the first three declined to interview, not wanting to comment or share their thoughts in the article.
It’s not just teachers who are affected by the move; students and staff will have to move also.
David Nichols, a PEACE senior, when asked about if he had heard a teacher talk about the move responded, “I’ve heard one. She had a lot of stuff in her room and it was irritating because she had to move back and then into a different classroom within three years.” When asked about how he is affected by the move he stated, “We’re still with the same people. It’s just getting my bearings with going to a new place.”
Dr. Danks, MBA counselor, shared that all eight of Millikan’s counselors will be divided into rooms 323A and 323B. She estimated that there will be around five counselors in the room she is moving to.
In order to continue with student meetings while so many counselors are in one room, “We’ll all have our desks set up, but we’ll all have partitions for privacy to speak with students too,” says Dr. Danks.
Millikan has got some big changes that affect everyone. Be sure to look for any announcements and notifications about classroom shifts.
