In the Race
Now, here, you see, it takes all the blogging I can do to keep in the same place.
If I want to get somewhere else, I must blog twice as fast as that!
You see, I'm in
the Red Queen's Race...
School Board Community Governmental Relations Committee Meeting Report
By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Jan 9 2008, 10:18 PM
I attended the School Board meeting tonight.
I want to inform you about the COMMUNITY/GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE meeting, which started very late, and kept citizens waiting out in the hall a very long time. I particularly want to inform you about the Be Heard! Discussion, item #2 on the agenda.
I want to say, I thought from Dr. Patz’s remarks at the actual Be Heard! sessions that discussion regarding the sessions was going to be more publicly announced. I found out about it by reading tonight’s agenda. I do not have children in the schools. If I would not have checked the agenda, where would I have heard about this discussion? Even if I had children in school I don't think I would have heard about it.
This is just what we are talking about as one of the major problems with the District and the purpose of this Committee….Communication. Perhaps this is not the official Be Heard! meeting. I don’t know. It’s a mystery to me. If not, why would there be another one? I can think of a few people that will be angry that they might not have known this was going to be discussed tonight.
Tanya Ruder, Communication's Specialist, began the discussion by stating that the Be Heard! information is on the District website. She said it “is not verbatim.” That she made changes to “make it more understandable.” I have to say, I said this back in my report on the Be Heard! sessions when I called Tanya’s repost “glorified.” I don’t believe she should be making changes to what was written at the sessions. But so be it.
Dr. Patz spoke next referring to a Memo that he must have sent to the Board. I wished there were copies of this, at least of his points he was making, as I had to do a lot of writing.
Dr. Patz pointed out five key areas, from what I will call a plethora of areas that were discussed at the Be Heard! sessions, that he felt the District needs to address. These are not quoted.:
1. The Board needs to listen to the Community.
The Community felt they were lied to.
2. Make sure the Board shares information with the Community.
It was felt there was a hidden agenda.
The “location” is a very important issue.
Also the issue of the Middle School.
3. Inform the citizens of the cost to taxpayers. People are concerned.
4. What is the money spent on building. Give the operational costs.
5. Share information with the public sooner.
Time that information was out there was too short.
Some citizens were not informed.
While Dr. Patz did elaborate a bit more on these points, is this, after three Be Heard! sessions, what everything came down to?
I have respect for Dr. Patz. I like him. I think he actually does listen to citizens. But something just seems to be missing here.
I think Dr. Patz also has to listen to his employer, the Board.
That might be why Dr. Patz added a number six that he said he felt should be there.
One that was not on the list discussed at the Be Heard! sessions.
One that I have heard him say before.
One that I have seen in emails I have received from Board members, and heard in telephone conversations.
The trouble is, the Board may be anxious for number six.
But, I think some in the community are not finished with part of the past yet and would still like some response from the Board to matters that have been brought forward.
So, here is Dr. Patz's #6.............
6. We need to move on.
Okay. We need to move on.
How do we move on if we still feel we haven’t been heard?
It sure would be nice to have an informal, group meeting where citizens could face the Board and have them respond to the questions that have arisen regarding the VoteYes flyers.
It sure would be nice to have the Board respond to questions about the Senior assembly.
It sure would be nice to have the Board acknowledge SOMETHING.
No….they want to move on.
They want us to forget.
Don’t forget.
Don’t let the Board make you forget what THEY did.
I will speak about other areas of the meeting on another blog.
