No Dirge for Hill Middle School's Music Teacher

The news spread like wildfire over the weekend among parents of Hill students in the music and musical theater programs: Allison McIvor had been notified by Acting Superintendent Pam Conklin that her assignment for the coming school year would be a split position at San Jose Middle School and Hamilton Meadow Park School.

That the music teacher with the most seniority of all the secondary school music teachers in Novato was being given such an assignment stunned everyone at Hill who heard about it. I can’t count the number of emails I’ve received (and sent) on this subject as parents started to ask one question, “What can I do to right this wrong?”

I don’t know how many people in total have contacted Conklin and various Board of Trustees members. The overwhelming response those of us who have contacted them has been no response. I’ve heard that four people have heard back from individual board members, one of whom said she would look into it and one of whom said, essentially, that all the Hill teachers’ requests for placement were taken into consideration and honored.

I will give former Superintendent Jan La Torre-Derby her due on this score: to the best of my knowledge, she responded to every single email I sent and others sent during the debacle of placing Hill students. What are we hearing now? Crickets. And off-key crickets at that.

The final concert at Hill Middle School was Wednesday night. It should have been bittersweet because it was the final concert at a school that is being shuttered. It should not have been made more painful by the reality that our award-winning music teacher is being treated this way.

After the concert, as performers and their parents exited, there were a number of us handing out fliers asking parents to come to the defense of Allison in getting her a fair placement. We didn’t suggest that Conklin was deliberately mistreating Allison. We didn’t point out that there appears to be no oversight of Conklin as she fills two positions, acting superintendent and human resources director.

We let the facts present themselves. A PDF of the flier – “No Dirge for Ms. McIvor” – has been uploaded with this post.

Our students’ middle school is closing. The “family” of Hill staff is being divided. Who’s to say public outcry will make a bit of difference? Who really believes that Conklin and the Board of Trustees give a damn what parents think? But who among us who know what a treasure Allison is can sit idly by without standing up for her?

She has helped our students all these years achieve standing ovations. It’s time we all stand up for her.