Schools belong to the public

Oh, really?

I wonder how recently any board member has read this message:

Maintaining excellent public schools requires the cooperation and effort of everyone in the community. Members of the school board are aware that schools belong to the public, and they recognize the importance of keeping the community involved with and informed about the activities of the schools and the school board. Your school board members encourage you to stay informed about education issues and to attend board meetings regularly.

The above paragraph was lifted straight from the District's website. You can read it here.

If a member of the public had been in attendance last night to witness the attacks by McKie, Caution-Parker and Shadd on a local resident and community member (me), would he ever come to another board meeting? Would he ever stick his neck out and risk making a three-minute comment during Public Participation? Would he have the courage to speak out?

Or would he say, "Whoa! I'll never do that!"

The Public Participation Requst to Speak form informs the prospective speaker that the board does not participate in debates. Speakers are requested to refrain from any form of personal abuse.

That request obviously does not apply to the members of the board themselves. Watch the video of last night's meeting, including the discussion at Item 13.1 (beginning at 1:33:40 on the timer) and the Board and Superintendent Comments (beginning at 1:55:50 on the timer). Listen carefully to the attacks by McKie, Caution-Parker and Shadd.

Remember this at the next election of Board members.