Maine school district refuses to rent to church

In Maine a school district refused to rent a high school auditorium to a church. Read this article in The Daily Signal, a communication of the Heritage Foundation.

The Pines Church in Bangor, Maine, outgrew its space and wanted to lease space for worship services.

The superintendent and a board member, Chris McLaughlin (a subscriber to use of personal pronouns) wanted answers to questions about DEI, same-sex marriages, abortion, conversion therapy, sex education, etc. Read McLaughlin's request to the superintendent in the article.

Since "Chris" might be the first name of either a man or woman, he could simply display his email signature line as (Mr.) Chris McLaughlin, and skip the personal-pronoun stupidity.

The only proper questions for the church would have been whether anything illegal would be done on the premises and whether the premises would be left in the same (or better) condition than found.

Are there any churches meeting in Richland 2 spaces?

5/23/23 Public Participation

Westwood High School sophomore Ethan Lopez offered important comments to the board about in-school experience with safety issues. 

After the McPherson & Jacobson consultant told the board about the negative comments about the board during the stakeholder interviews, I offered some advice to the board that I had received from a neighbor, whose employment history includes organizational management.

He had written the following to me.

“Without guidelines, people start doing each other's work. That causes a lot of confusion and disruption. 

For starters, assume that an organization such as the Richland - 2 School District has five distinct roles:

STRATEGIC, LEADERSHIP, SUPERVISORY, OPERATIONAL, and EXECUTION. 

STRATEGIC is the work reserved for the Board. It looks far out into the future, establishes policy and audits the processes.

LEADERSHIP is the work of the Superintendent and her/his administrative staff, who implement policy.

SUPERVISORY is the work of the School Principals.

OPERATIONAL is the work of the Department Heads leading the day-to-day sessions.

EXECUTION  is the work of the classroom teachers who deliver the established daily contacts with students.

When there is transgression into others' roles, confusion and 9-hour Board meetings result. Think of the concept as driving lanes. Stay in your own lane and do the work you are assigned to do. The trip will be much smoother!!!!”    

My comments during Public Participation followed Ethan's.

Unfortunately, many of the current board members have a very difficult time staying in their lanes. That's because they lack experience in serving as executives. 

Blistering Report coming from "Mac & Jake"

At the school board meeting on May 23, the consultant from the superintendent-search firm of McPherson & Jacobson LLC in Omaha informed the board that a lengthy report is being compiled for the District that is not entirely complimentary of the board. The report summarizes stakeholder feedback that was gathered in surveys.

The consultant tried to soften the punch that the board will feel when they read the report. Watch her in action here.

The board may have received its copy today or will receive it tomorrow. The report, expected to be in the 150-page range, will be published on the District's website on Tuesday (May 30). Well, we'll see about that.

The consultant mentioned that issues of conflict and dysfunction exist on the board. No kidding!

She mentioned other areas for improvement: That the board should govern, not manage. There is a lack of trust among board members. Low morale of staff. 

The poor audio connection with the second consultant, who was apparently in his Omaha office, occurred when a make-do arrangement for audio varied from the steps that Richland 2 had set up. When the audio didn't make it from Omaha on the Zoom call, a cell phone connection was established and the Richland 2 sound technician had to hold the cell phone to a microphone, contributing to the poor audio and an echo. This was not the fault of Richland 2. 

Did Monica Scott really say a representative from "Mac & Jake Law Firm" was there to present information? I replayed her introduction 4-5 times, and that is how it sounded to me. If you hear it differently, please let me know what you think she said.

Permanent Expulsion - only for Murder?

At tonight's School Board Meeting (5/23/2023) Item 8.3 on the agenda was Student Permanent Expulsion. The student, of course, was not identified.

After the Motion and Second. Trustee Monica Scott launched into how anyone can make a mistake. She said, basically, that no student should be permanently expelled - except maybe for Murder. Her defense of the student starts here: At 1:59:30 on   https://livestream.com/richland2/events/10860996/videos/236321838

You know, everyone makes mistakes. And the board shouldn't sit there in Judgment.

Well, that's was a board does. It makes decisions. She has a teaching and an administrative background. Her defense of students' making mistakes is the reason that crime continues on school campuses. It's why teachers get assaulted, and students get beaten up and bullied.

Because students have learned that there aren't any REAL consequences. 

If Monica doesn't want to "sit in judgment" when a student commits a serious crime on campus, then she ought to resign from the board! Tomorrow!

I started to stand and leave several times, while she was speaking. Finally I did. I wish others had stood and walked out while she was speaking. 

I'll take a wild guess that it was the Ridge View High School stabber who was being expelled tonight. But I don't know. It could have been one of the kids who took a pistol to school. 

I'm tired of hearing about illegal aliens who have been deported many times and return to the U.S. and commit heinous crimes. I'm tired of reading about inmates of prisons and jails being released, only to then murder someone. 

Every principal could write a list of kids in his school who have committed serious offenses and still in school. 

It's too bad the District will not identify the student who was permanently expelled last night. 

R2 should ditch BeSmart

A representative of BeSmart got in the last word at last night's too-long Stay Safe meeting. 

BeSmart led off the program with its boiler-plate information and a less-than-forceful presentation. At the end, after Angela Nash ended the meeting, a rep ran to the front to thank Richland Two for "what they do as a partner with BeSmart". She thanked Richland 2 for "getting information out about BeSmart to the media", etc. 

She got it backwards. It is BeSmart that partnered with Richland 2. It's a tiny cog in the big wheel that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was supposed to be. Richland 2 should drop out of that MOU.

Has BeSmart been effective in helping reduce gun and other violence in Richland 2? Who really knows, since the public is not informed of results.

I'm not a fan of BeSmart, because of its close alignment with Michael Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety and MOMs Demand Action.

Guns are not the problem. Mis-use of guns IS the problem.

What's the difference between 70 years ago and now? 

Then kids had guns and didn't shoot each other.

Now? Kids steal guns and shoot others to resolve disagreements and settle scores. 

That is the problem! What's BeSmart doing about that? Gun locks will not solve that problem.

The DEI Disaster

 

Watch this October 2022 5-minute video from PragerU.

Christian Watson, host of Pensive Politics, tells us exactly what is going on in Richland Two. Learn what DEI used to mean, and what it means today.

Will the new superintendent call a screeching halt to "DEI" in Richland 2? Will he (or she) disband the DEI department?

Post your thoughts in Comments.

R2 Safety Summit - why?

On Monday, May 22, there will be a Richland 2 Safety Summit. 6:00PM at R2i2.

You can see the topics:

- Gun Safety

- Community Safety

- Trafficking Awareness

- Cyber Security

Is a meeting really needed for one simple message?

Don't do stupid stuff!

For "Gun Safety", have there been any classes or instruction in gun "safety"; you know, safe gun handling, use, shooting straight, when to shoot (and when not to), cleaning, storage? Of course not. "People are good. Guns are bad." That's the message from those who are indoctrinating students (and adults).

BeSmart says "gun locks". Did those kids who took guns to schools have gun locks? Of course not.

For "Community Safety", don't go to parks after hours and hang out in large groups, who are likely to become rowdy or attract troublemakers. Don't treat malls like playgrounds. They are shopping centers. Shop; then leave.

For "Trafficking Awareness", stay away from drugs. Don't run away. Don't "slip out" at night. Don't get in cars with people you don't know or don't trust.

For "Cyber Security", don't bully; report all attempts by someone to bully you. 

It all boils down to Don't Do Stupid Stuff.

If the kids don't know that already, a 6:00PM Monday night meeting at R2i2 won't get through to them.

Why is the Board-directed Safety Committee sponsoring this? This is completely outside its scope of authority. The Safety Committee should be receiving suggestions, requests, and recommendations from Administration for improving safety in the schools and then making recommendations to the Board for action. Instead, the Committee, led by three board members, is meddling in school operations.