Anarchists? Revolutionaries? A Hot Night at The School Board Meeting

Poor old Charles the First just wanted to be taken seriously. He was king under God and by gum, he deserved some respect. Parliament had other ideas. I wondered the other night at the school board meeting, which was better? Being led by someone who believed he had divine right to rule over the multitudes or by a group of people who thought they were serving the masses but were really only working for another tyrant, Oliver Cromwell, who turned out to be a pretty bloody nasty cup of tea.

One way or another, someone leads and all the others follow. These are the little gnidges that run through the gray cells while listening to a mass of people all expressing the same uneasiness, via different levels of vexation and distress, to veering upon threats.

None of the concerns were surprising, having been there before:

1) Gee, we didn’t pass the levy, so golly, some staffers will have to be let go: What caused one to jolt in one’s crowded little seat space was the bewilderment of so many patrons and teachers, caused by the realization that some people will actually lose their jobs. Did they think Principal Bob Vian was kidding when he stated vehemently, many times, that the result of not passing the levy would be “draconian. We do not want to go there...if the levy doesn’t pass...we’ve looked at salary cuts, day cuts, staff cuts.” ...or when Superintendent Tomlin said, “If it doesn’t pass, very likely athletics will go, some or all elective programs will have to be severely cut or cancelled altogether.”

2) John Haworth is a teacher whom patrons don’t want to lose. The math teacher has rallied his devotees to a frothing defense of him and his superlative teaching skills, ad nauseam. In reading a letter he sent to his supporters, which was accidentally (?) sent to this news blog, it wasn’t difficult to see where the source of the rabble-rousing spouts. On top of holding anti-establishment meetings in his classroom, he’s clearly done something to affect his noble standing with his superiors, having been put on probation, which he keeps talking about (although the board was not at liberty to answer him or patrons on this matter). His letter states that the principal and superintendent want him to dumb down his teaching. Knowing the standards of both fine educators, Vian and Tomlin, it is hard to conceive of them asking a good teacher to alter his skills as a communicator or to not give every child the best education he can. I am not privy to the words the math teacher’s superiors used when asking the math teacher to dumb down, but it is likely that there has been a miscommunication.

Yes, John is probably right—if he’s a creative, innovative and demanding teacher about which, to his credit, he seems to have no false humility, it would be a degradation of his genius to have to dumb down. A perfect teacher, yes. On the other hand, smart people usually figure out who their employers are—it appears this enlightenment has yet to be achieved. He might be perceived as being a less than perfect candidate for employment. Perhaps a school of his own would be in line, whereby the world at large would have the privilege of his teaching prowess and would be a better place indeed.

3) Anne Keddy-Hector aka Delores Bedard Public Records Request over-charge: It appears that since this fiasco is in litigation, we can no longer talk about it. Thank goodness. You got yourselves into this one, guess you can try to cheat the school out of a few bucks and cause a bit more grief in the process. Have at it. Taxpayers will thank you for it.

4) Legal bills for presence of attorney during school board meetings. Hmm, what to say about this one that hasn’t already been said. Let’s say it again. Long time ago, the Fiends of the Garden Valley School District began harassing the school administration, over just about everything. If one opened one’s mouth or kept mum, it didn’t matter, it was going to be scrutinized and deemed suspect, by the Fiends. Every day there was the necessity of communicating with the District’s attorney, either by e-mail or telephone. This cost an enormous amount of money to defend the District constantly from the harassment, threats and accusations of these patrons and teachers—none of which, it appears, ever had any validity. If it did, we would have heard about it, yes? At some point, a board member advised saving funds by striking a deal with the District’s attorney to attend meetings at a reduced fee, thus saving the District money and time-lag of advice. If patrons want to complain about the cost of defense and careful administration, gee—the District could go back to calls and e-mails...no one complained then. Good idea.

5) Snipes at Dr. Tomlin: This one is so much fun for everyone. No matter how the board tries to get the community to avoid personal attacks on administration, staff and students, we somehow manage to get around this. Sigh. We may be stuck with the old fart for awhile yet...sigh. Someone or two or...don’t know, don’t care...managed to mention 300 signatures, don’t let the lay-offs be in relation to “No Confidence”, system is broken, laying off across the board, getting rid of...sigh...
One patron after another suggested to the board that when Bob Vian and Mike Tomlin informed staff members who possibly would be affected by cuts, they acted without the Board’s consent, telling the Board what the board already knew to not be true. The Board was too respectful to embarrass them in a full room, but they did come back and set the record straight. “The superintendent and principal do what the Board directs them to do.” Again, rumormongers have caused more trouble...sigh...Somehow, it just gets old.

Angel’s Picks: Highlights to look forward to in the new season:#1 Best: We had a taste of the new board the other night. Rob Hazen was appointed by the board to sit in as interim trustee for the rest of the school year—some board trustees were adamant that the Zone II seat be filled for full board consideration of budgetary cuts. Rob is also a candidate for the May election of Zone II. He brings some strong sentiments to the board; some yet remain to be exposed. We had a visit from the “newbie”, as the lone Lowman candidate described himself. With his own strong opinions, which he had no trouble expressing, he will add another masculine bit o’ spice to the mix. I predict a struggle within the alpha male sector of the new board, considering Alan Ward’s virile frowning, leaning back away from the table posturing-- we will see some heads roll or at least some blood for sure. Never underestimate the power of a good woman, though, who has already proven herself to be a first-rate warrior. Terry Elmore may prevail.

#2. The administration may see some definitive victories coming from litigations against the school district. I predict a sure positive outcome against the Bedard disaster, much like the judgment against the kindergarten teacher’s accusations last year. Blood has already been spilled on this field though, so no victory can heal the wounds that have been inflicted.

#3. There are a lot of patrons who think it will be possible for the GV School District to find creative solutions to save jobs, keep programs and continue giving the students an A-1 education. I predict the administration will pull miracles out of the hat. We may be a bunch of socialists, anarchists, fascists, liberals or pacifists, but I’d like to think that our mission is guided by a deep love of the kids and their education. Any other motivations should be left at the door.
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