Saturday, November 26, 2016
BOE Voting Meeting - November 16, 2016
I just finished watching the meeting of the Middletown Board of Education (BOE) that took place on November 16th. It was pretty standard stuff, nothing exactly stood out as earth shattering business wise.
Always interesting however are the public comments, which start at the 1:43 mark of the video and continue on for the final 40 minutes or so of the meeting. During the comments, another lengthy discussion pertaining to school security and procedures was raised by two members of the public, who have been spearheading an attempt to eliminate Tier 3 groups (less than 20% Middletown residents) from renting space in the schools for meetings or other activities.
These two individuals have been attending meetings and presenting their concerns to Superintendent George for a year or so now. To it's credit, the BOE has taken the concerns of these people very seriously and have addressed nearly every concern legally possible, these people have presented but it isn't enough. You give them a foot, they want the yard.
I'm all for safety and thinks it's somewhat important to have our schools secure in the event of something terrible and unforeseen, but at what cost? Are we really trying to protect the children or sooth the psyche of a few "Nanny State" parents.
Kids shouldn't have to be afraid to go to school. They shouldn't have to see armed guards in the hallways and the schools shouldn't have to be always seem to be in "lock-down". It's detrimental to the students and the overall learning environment.
If you have other thoughts feel free to leave them in the comments, I'd like to read them.
You can find the Agenda for the meeting ... HERE
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5 comments:
Some parents at Thompson do not like the fact that Muslims rent space in their school. They pay the district tens of thousands of dollars a year to use the space on weekends. Some of the people who attend the meetings at Thompson are parents of children who attend the school.
It is Islamophobia, plain and simple. They are trying to change the district rules in such a way that it will prohibit the Muslims from using the space without specifically mentioning the Muslims. If it was a Christian group using the space the parents would have no problem.
Instead of spending their time trying to stop the Muslims from using the space, they should attend a service and see firsthand how the space is being used. I am sure the Muslims will be much more welcoming than they are.
Good for Dr. George for standing up against the repeated attempts to discriminate against this group based on their religion.
And good for you too Mike. It should be noted that now that you have put some effort into finding out what is actually going on in the district by watching the videos of the BOE meetings, the tenor of your comments appears to be much less critical than it was before you started paying closer attention. Would you agree with this statement?
No I wouldn't.
Really? I didn't see the word "dysfunctional" in the last few articles about the BOE, something rare for your articles. I don't see any comments suggesting that Dr. George is doing a poor job, as you have said in the past. Keep watching. You have about three months of watching the videos under your belt so far and although you may not admit that your opinion is changing, the tenor of your articles indicate otherwise.
It's okay Mike. It's a good thing to admit when we are wrong about something. If we never admit when are wrong, we can never change our opinions. You don't want to be that guy Mike.
I've been watching videos of the BOE for a lot longer than a few months and then be been watching the shenanigans of those on the BOE for much longer. A few meetings worth of good behavior within the public view doesn't change things I hear about that go on behind closed doors.
I give kudos to board members that finally realize their behavior over the past year has been taped and have now been able to control themselves somewhat in public.
"A few meetings worth of good behavior within the public view doesn't change things I hear about that go on behind closed doors."
Yeah, we know Mike. Your use of “sources” as a basis for spreading false rumors and misinformation about the BOE are well documented in the archives of this blog. You’re frequently wrong but never in doubt.
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