Editor,
If the school board is apologizing to parents then it is only fair that they correct their mistake.
Put the calendar back and leave it alone until you’ve allowed a proper public debate.
When a student does something wrong in class he is required to correct it and/or fix it until he gets it right. There shouldn’t be any special rules for our school board members. They should know better and lead by example.
Supt. Sherine Smith said, “We fell short in not pushing communication to parents…the change came from discussions with the teachers union.”
So, who does the school board represent? The students and their families? The teachers and faculty?
No, obviously they represent their teachers union, not the parents.
Jan Vickers said, “…what we felt was reaching out and getting input from every family in the district was not adequate, so we will do better.”
They not only fell short, but they didn’t reach out.
The survey they are quoting is the only information they gave to parents. At best, a misleading questionnaire sent to one parent in each family asking their “opinion to consider a possible change” to our school year calendar. Based on that survey, of the 43 percent that responded, 61 percent of the parents responded “no.” That looks like a majority to me.
There was no public notification of any kind that the change was going to be discussed by the school board. There was no communication at all. When parents did show up to voice their objections at the Jan. 29 meeting, the school board admonished us like bad school kids and said we should have attended the the prior meeting on Jan. 22. Tough luck parents. To late, you had your chance and you blew it.
That is the communication skills from our school board?
Our school board is putting their union’s wants and needs above the wants and needs of our students, their families and their community.
That is wrong.
The school board is acting against the best wishes of the majority of families and students in this town.
That is wrong.
How sad for our students and their families.
Sincerely fed up,
Jeannette Morck
Laguna Beach
Sadly, we have reached a point in America where public servants have ceded themselves so much authorityymthatmthey no longer answer to or even care what their employers, the citizens and tax payers want. We live in an era of ‘of the government, by the government, for the government’. Had enough yet?
Yes I have had enough, but I’m neither sad nor discouraged. Our decision makers have made some bad decisions, now there is opportunity for better guidance and improvement. So get involved in the decision process or expect more of the same. Thanks M.D. Moore, well put.
Well-said, Jeanette! Now, I think an even more interesting set of questions has to do with who was propagating the lie that LBUFA required this calendar change to the school board? The mechanics of this poor decision seem to be unraveling even more dysfunction.