Board Meeting Notes for 1/23/2023

 Reactions and Next Steps

The meeting last night was close to 3 1/2 hours long when it finally concluded. There were some common themes. Many people discussed not realizing how objectively bad things have gotten when examined as a whole. I am ashamed to admit I am in that group.

• There is no safety and security committee. No "school experience" committee. Nobody on the board is examining how our students and teachers experience their school day and measuring the quality of that experience.
• These are organized, planned fights. Cell phones aid in coordination
• The bathrooms are essentially unusable; several students simply don't use them. At all. All day.
• There appears to be an ongoing lack of rule enforcement
• Bad actors have, on more than one occasion, opened a door to let their associates into the building without going through normal channels. I don't understand why these doors aren't alarmed.
• These bad actors are targeting other students
• One of the parents wondered if these are in fact gangs. Good question.
• There appears to be no baseline for measuring an "experiential and safety" metric
• The frequency and severity of these fights is very high
• Administration has only brought one case to the school board all year which exceeds the administration's discipline limit
• There does not appear to be a game plan for handling the predictable emergency last Thursday, or the plan wasn't followed.
• Office staff do not have quick access to a "panic" button.
• Some speakers mentioned the failure of restorative justice. One speaker mentioned "Dogma" in relation to this.
• Every member of the board was elected based on their "Social Justice and Equality" credentials. There are, I believe 3 PhDs on the board. It could be argued that lack of access to bathrooms is a social justice and equality problem. Access to working bathrooms is something we expect everyone in the United States to have. Employers are required to provide them, even for construction workers.

The school board woke up this morning and the sting of the meeting last night was already fading. They will begin rationalizing today that it's not really that bad; they aren't really a failed school board. As parents we must be committed to making regular appearances at every board meeting, reminding members of the board what was discussed last night and holding them accountable for solutions.

We should also educate ourselves on what it takes to recall a school board. Dr. Edsall's remarks were tone deaf and indicated that she may have been rationalizing her participation in this mess rather than reflecting on how she contributed to it. It's reasonable to believe she is going to continue digging her heels in to preserve the status quo, which clearly is not working.

Edit: Only members who have been in place for more than a year can be recalled. That means Lyons, Fink, and Walton are eligible for recall.