An Open Letter to Dr. Rebecca Scharber

Dear Dr. Scharber,
We teachers hope that you read all the postings here at Topix about the school system and its numerous problems. We hope that you will not be swayed by the bad advice of old-time cronies and political appointees. We would like to respectfully request that you have an open-door policy during the first few months of your arrival, one that welcomes those of us who are down here in the trenches. We understand about following proper chain of command, but sometimes the links in that chain get corroded or kinked and require skipping over in order to get crucial information to the appropriate person at the end of the chain.
For far too long we have been downtrodden. We have high hopes for a brighter future with you at the helm of our floundering educational ship. Please listen to our S.O.S. Thank you in advance for coming to our rescue. May God bless you as you forge full steam ahead.

We the citizens and taxpayers of Franklin County welcome you with open arms and high hopes. All we want is for you to do your best to be fair and openly honest with all of us.

Dont wait until next year to make tough calls. Get rid of the excess bagage.
Take a good look at Athletics and get opinions from those other than the AD.
find solutions for student apathy.
Be firm with teachers (20%) who have a history of laziness and doing their own thing.
Get pay raises for teachers and not central office people.
Listen to Michelle Stovall (has the least agenda of all board members)

Please check and see for a fact how many Tennessee county systems have an athletic director. Last count was four. This is one position that could be eliminated.

Dr Sharber wrote:

Please check and see for a fact how many Tennessee county systems have an athletic director. Last count was four. This is one position that could be eliminated.

What purpose does/has the position serve!

More Facts wrote:

<quoted text>
What purpose does/has the position serve!

Ms. Sharber you have a rockey road ahead of you. There are two many people in high places within the school system that does nothing. The AD is only one. There is a reason why he was promoted and you will find out the reason later. We have a technology director what does not do hands on work. If it wasn't for the techs then nothing would get done. He does call a good baseball game. Then we have a food director with a doctors degree with two assistants that manages the food system. And then there is the two part time positions that pay more that most teachers make. If you take the six positions and add them all up it would be in excess of 1/2 million+. This is just the beginning. The cronies in place now will come running and try and get on your side I know that you are smarter than this. Good luck and Gods speed.

Too many people in the Franklin County School System were given plush jobs or promotions after they were caught with their pants down at the old job. This is a well-known fact.

I doubt she'll bother to read this...really why should she?
But more and more educational professionals are using internet sites like this and like Http://www.ratemyteacher.com to keep check on people and the pulse of the "stakeholders" and community.
I encourage people to do this. But also be warned that people can have agendas; I certainly do. Read as an in formed person in an discriminating manner and you'll be safe.
I extend a warm welcome also to Ms. Sharber. I agree with the comments that there are some major issues that she must address. To make a good omlette, she's going to have to break some eggs. Let's hope she breaks the right ones, and gets rid of the ones which are already broken. We need good, fresh, extra large Grade A eggs to stay around. MAYBE we could recruit some of the good ones back who left or were forced to leave.
Start document on those tenured people who don't do squat, start recognizing those new people who are making a difference. Move people into leadership positions wwho make decisions based on the question "how does what a person does directly affect students, and is what that person is doing in the students' best interests."
If those questions were considered, our district would take on a whole new look and feel.

Bring your own employees here.

Depression in people with Asperger syndrome may be related to a growing awareness of their disability or a sense of being different from their peer group and/or an inability to form relationships or take part in social activities successfully. Personal accounts by young people with Asperger syndrome frequently refer to attempts to make friends but "I just did not know the rules of what you were or were not supposed to do" www.users.dircon.co.uk/~cns/jeanpaul.html Indeed, some people have even been accused of harassment in their attempts to socialise, something that can only add to their depression and anxiety; "I also did not know how to approach girls and ask them to go out with me. I would just walk up and talk to them, whether they wanted to talk to me or not. Some accused me of harassment, but I thought that was the way everybody did that."

It's my perception that financial investment in our elementary and secondary educational institutions can help, but it is far from the answer. Somehow we need to restore student discipline, student respect for the teachers and parental involvement. We need to reinforce the importance of an education in the students and their parents. On some level, we live in a world of social promotions and the fear of harming student self esteem. That only generates illiterates that feel good about themselves. Yes, money can help, but unless these core problems are addressed our students will only fail in or drop out of nicer facilities.

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|Report Abuse |Judge it!|#1 Tuesday Mar 17
Suicide and the ExceptionalGifted Children
Since the 1950s, suicide rates have increased dramatically among young people in the U.S. and Canada. Suicide is the third leading cause of death of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in the U.S.(National Center for Health Statistics, 1989), and the second leading cause in Canada (Health and Welfare Canada, 1987). Although official suicide rates are much lower for children under 15, suicidal behavior has been reported even in very young children. It is generally accepted that many suicides are unreported or misreported as accidents or death due to undetermined causes (particularly for young children). It has been estimated that the actual number of suicides may be two to three times greater than official statistics indicate (American Psychiatric Association, 1985).
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The presence of a psychiatric disorder--particularly a mood disorder such as depression or bipolar illness, a conduct disorder, or a psychosis--contributes to the likelihood of suicide. Depression often exists in conjunction with other mental disorders or with other long-lasting social or behavioral problems. However, not all students with depression or other psychiatric disorders are suicidal.
Very little information is available regarding the prevalence of depression or suicide in students who receive special education services, although relationships between cognitive deficits and depression and between diminished problem-solving abilities and suicidal behavior have been noted. Medical problems have also been associated with depression and suicide. Estimates of the prevalence of depression or symptoms of depression among children and youth with learning or behavior problems tend to be higher than those for the general population (e.g., Forness, 1988). Children with symptoms of depression, particularly gifted children or children who do not also exhibit symptoms of another disorder, may be overlooked in the school referral process for special education services (Guetzloe, 1989, 1991).
What Factors Place Students at Risk of Suicide?
Researchers have attempted to identify situations, experiences, or characteristics that contribute to the likelihood that a child will complete a suicide (e.g., Blumenthal, 1990; Davidson & Linnoila, 1991; Pfeffer, 1989). When a child has more than one of these factors, the risk of suicide is increased. In addition to mental illness and behavior disorders, suicide has been associated with demographic factors, such as being between the ages of 15 and 24, being white or male, or having a history of attempted suicide. Psychosocial conditions, such as parental loss, family disruption, exposure to suicide, unwanted pregnancy, and particularly, having a relative who has committed suicide are additional factors. Certain biological conditions have also been associated with suicide; these include perinatal factors, decreases in levels of serotonin, and decreases in the secretion of growth hormone, among others.
The American Association of Suicidology has developed guidelines for the media, aimed at reducing the contagious effects of suicide reports. They recommend that the press avoid providing specific details of the method, romanticization of the suicide, descriptions of suicide as unexplainable, and simplistic reasons for the suicide. Further, news stories about suicide should not be printed on the front page, the word suicide should not be in the headline, and a picture of the person who committed suicide should not be printed.

The difficulties people with Asperger syndrome have with personal space can compound this sort of problem. For example, they may stand too close or too far from the person to whom they are speaking.

Other precipitating factors are also seen in many people without autism who are depressed and include loneliness, bereavement or other form of loss, sexual frustration, a constant feeling of failure, extreme anxiety levels etc.

Childhood experiences such as bullying or abuse may also result in depression, as can a history of misdiagnosis. Another possibility is that the person is biologically predisposed to depression (Attwood, 1998). However, there are, of course, many other factors that may trigger the depression and this list should not be taken as exhaustive.

Tantam and Prestwood (1999) describe the depression of someone with Asperger syndrome as taking the same form as in people without the condition, although the content of the illness may be different. For example, the depression might show itself through an individuals particular preoccupations and obsessions and care must be taken to ensure that the depression is not diagnosed as schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder or just put down to autism. It is important to assess the individuals depression in the context of their autism, ie their social disabilities, and any gradual or sudden changes in behaviour, sleep patterns, anger or withdrawal should always be taken seriously.

Symptoms of depression can be psychological (poor concentration/memory, thoughts of death or suicide, tearfulness);

True!

Why don't you guy stop it with the cutting and pasting of information over 10 years old. We get it. You want more and better special education for those with Autism.

SICK OF IT.

DO you understand that the poster is most certainly living w/ Aspergers? Have you read the articles posted? Your posting is indicative of the attitude that causes the anxiety which exacerbates this type of behavior. It creates a cycle: the more you complain because you don't understand, the more the person begins to rely on "learned" or "Comforting," "self0soothing" behaviors which most likely are not socially acceptable...
Like the types of posting this person is doing.

Be compassionate.

I am certainly aware of that fact, MaybeSo. Do you think I am an idiot. I know they knocked it off about Lonnie Owens when told to stop it. You can be compassionate but they understand what "NO! means. You know as well as I do that research in this area is considered invalid if over 10 years old. Spamming this board and others is just not right.

I'm sorry, I was being mean-spirited. I had a bad day and was taking it out on a stranger. Better than kicking the cat I guess. Sorry anyways.

American Journal of Psychiatry (May 2006) by Murphy et. al entitled “Cortical Serotonin 5-HT2a Receptor Binding and Social Communication in Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome: An in Vivo SPECT Study” found a significant reduction in Serotonin availability in Asperger’s and offered, “reduced receptor binding was significantly related to abnormal social communication”. In plain English, low levels of Serotonin and/or Serotonin “responsivity” seem directly linked to the multiple social interaction and communications difficulties found in Asperger’s Disorder. This same link is also supported in “negative symptoms”, depression, and other psychiatric issues (OCD, eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorders, etc.).