Here are a couple things I need to say about the meeting tonight. And what a meeting it was… 1. It’s easy for anyone to assume they can do a better job than someone or make better decisions than another did…until they walk a mile in their shoes. Hindsight is 20/20, people are human and mistakes are going to be made. But so far I’m very proud of the way the administration has handled this situation. 2. Moving forward instead of spending energy on playing the blame game – Best. Decision. The. Board. Has. Made. The blame can be placed across many generations of boards members, parents and voters of Fayette County. As long as the proper lessons were learned and we ALL work together to fix them, all we can do from here is move forward. Regular inspections of schools and other issues we’re faced with go much further than the Fayette County BOE. We’re talking changing state laws and changing the very core of the public education system. BUT…you can waste your energy pointing fingers or you identify the problem and fix it. From what I’ve seen they’ve managed to pull off a miracle in a very little timeframe. Any one who’s overseen a large project or an emergency response plan can sympathize with what they’ve done. And we’ll never even know half of what they’ve done…the good stories NEVER get told – it’s the drama everyone feeds off of. So kudos to you all in your response. 3. I was very embarrassed of the way numerous members carried themselves. I’m sure every parent has been angry at some point. I’ve went through a lot of emotions but ultimately I’m a problem solver. I’m also a West – By God – Virginian who was raised to believe that complaining gets me nowhere. You pull up your sleeves, you get to work and you try to be as positive about the situation as possible. And those fine people educating our kids are living not far from the poverty level so keep in mind they didn’t get into education for the money. Also realize everything you do is a lesson for your child. Teach them to overcome, not complain. Find the good in a situation and move on. Those are important lessons for kids. Life is hard and some of the best things I’ve learned have came out of bad situations. 4. The bathrooms in the back building. While my daughter doesn’t complain about it I’m not saying there isn’t a problem. But it’s the only problem that has a definite solution. It’s getting fixed. We’ve lived without utilities during natural disasters longer than we’re asking these kids to share a bathroom. 5. The sewer smell/dangerous gases. My daughter doesn’t complain. I’ve not smelled anything. I will be sending my daughter to school. I trust my child’s teachers enough to know they care about my child’s safety – their jobs go much further than just “teaching” our kids – they’re surrogate parents to our children and impact a large part of their childhood. I trust them to stand up if something is wrong. 6. If you want leadership, give someone a chance to lead. When you’re talking about filling an office like that when the community rails against them at their first opportunity to lead do you honestly think finding a replacement would be easy? Know enough about the current situation to understand what they’re up against. The public school system across the country is in need of an overhaul. Research Montessori, charter schools, etc. Which ones are making the marks? Well, it’s not the public one, created and unchanged since the Industrial revolution. We still classify and move kids according to their age. We’ve cut the arts and killed creativity. Areas with higher poverty levels have more problems with less funding. All kinds of kids are getting left behind by leaving none behind. Learn about the educational system your up against and what you can do at home to supplement it. We have a resource to learn right at our fingertips – information is more accessible than it’s been in the history of man. Use it. 7. I’d like to say thank you to Dr. Starcher, Leon Ivey and the rest of the Fayette County BOE for handling this situation like a true Mountaineer. Dig in and get it done. Make the best decisions possible with the students needs first. Ask questions later. Thank you for all your hard work and extra time (when your paycheck is still going to be the same. 8. Even more love for all you school admin and teachers as well as the parents, organizations and other who support finding and carrying out the solution. American Culture is changing faster than ever before and our schools our failing in so many other ways than their structural issues. And it’s up to US as parents and citizens to change it – not them. So if you really want to answer the question of how it happened, the 7 hour long explanation will come back to us, the parents/citizens – for not caring enough to know about the problems in our school systems until a roof caves in.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 02:39:32 +0000
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