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| "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." (Artwork in meeting room at the Center) |
Updated - NOTE: At Tre' Hutchins’ request, the information I received from him re: meeting feedback has been deleted because he said it was against his organization's protocol.
A meeting of the Cobb Schools Advocacy Group was held December 4th at 7:00 p.m. at the Family Life Restoration Center, 6105 Mableton Pkwy SW, Mableton, Ga. The group met with two newly elected school board members who have not been sworn in yet: Dr. Jaha Howard, a dentist; and Charisse Davis, assistant branch manager at Atlanta-Fulton Public Library in Atlanta, a former kindergarten teacher and only female on the new board.
Dr. Howard gave notice that he had to leave early, so he was unable to attend the full meeting. His main question to the group was about board expectations. "Let's act like we are one team," Howard told listeners. He said his main reason for running for the school board was to find solutions to problems.
Gary Pelphrey, a lawyer for the Cobb SCLC, said Cobb County School District has a "code of silence" like the Mafia which needs to be broken.
The following items were on the agenda:
1)District lack of adequate response to parents’ and students’ and
community members’ legitimate concerns regarding “bullying” and threats by both
students and teachers/administrators, often race based;
2) District lack of response to general concerns related to diversity and
improving relations between the diverse components of CCSD;
3) District’s use of bullying tactics to stifle such concerns and any
related dissent;
4) District out of touch with and not reflective of the new demographics of
Cobb.
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The meeting was arranged by Pellegrino.
Richard "Rich" Pellegrino said the school board is out of touch,
non-communicative, and non-responsive to community concerns.
He said students have had to tolerate the following with no resolutions or follow-ups:
1. Students who are immigrants were told they were going to be thrown over "the Wall".
2. Students of color were told they were going to be hung.
3. Student papers written on Black Lives Matter topic were not accepted.
Pellegrino said there are a lot of coverups going on because of non-disclosure agreements reached by school board being sued by parents.
Dr. Ben Williams said general expectations for the school board and other people in power should be to reconcile unhealthy relationships. "Racist comments and threatening behavior from school administrators should not be tolerated" and "public comments should be allowed" at school board meetings on topics which negatively affect students. He said the board should manage the Superintendent, not the other way around.
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Approximately a dozen people attended.
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After the meeting, I asked attendees if they thought the meeting was constructive and beneficial to the community, and "what do you expect from the entire Cobb County Board moving forward relating to bullying, racism, and equity?" Community Activist Monica DeLancy wrote: "I believe the question is what do we expect from ourselves. And how we should hold ourselves accountable. It's embarrassing that parents have to wear 10 hats at multiple schools and community groups. We are not making progress unless we are intentionally including others to step up and encourage them to become leaders. My expectation for ourselves will be that we will do all we can to invite others to lead, train and fill every seat at every meeting. Then we are doing our job."
SIDEBAR:
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| Educators and cousins, Debra Corbett (l) and Arthena Roper (r). |
I called and talked to my cousin, Arthena Sewell Roper, newly elected school board member for Jefferson County Schools in West Virginia. She has served as the diversity officer at the Central Office and has a Masters' Degree.
Q. What about bullying?
A. Bullying is zero tolerance.
"You can't learn when you're afraid." --- Tomi Johnson
Q. What should expectations be for school board members?
A. Those of us who are in leadership who are of color need to give a voice to those initiatives which really hone in and target underserved populations. It's so easy to say that we do for everybody, but no program serves everybody. I see that we in this area say that we want this, but no real effort is made to target and recruit in the areas we say we want to serve.
A lot of conservatives have made sure that the word doesn't get out to those targeted folks. Those of us in leadership positions need to keep insisting that our efforts are communicated to those targeted audiences who may not read the mainstream newspaper but do interact with social media and use Facebook and Instagram to tell them about opportunities. We should not just be talking, but we should be going the extra mile to deliver.
Q. Equality versus equity issues, some schools have gotten a D here for 15 years on a major school report. Those schools need major improvements. For example, Walton High School has a major building project underway, it almost resembles a small college, but it's in the affluent section of town which has a large tax base. However, we need to make sure that the schools and students who need the most help get it.
A. Right. Exactly.
Q. What is your title?
A. School board member, Jefferson County Schools in West Virginia. We have four Title I schools here.
Q. In some counties, instead of the board running the school's agenda, the Superintendent is running things, not the board which is ass backwards.
A. In my situation here, it was really awkward. I was the only new member, and I used to be the employee. Now she is my employee. She has been mesmerizing and convincing the board for many years, saying we should have her back...She's trying to convince us that hiring her was our most important job, but no, our most important job is holding her accountable. The political position, however, is getting back to "little servant" and the responsibilities we have, from a position of prestige and power just to say that you're in office. Of people doing nothing, of seeing wrong and seeing nothing. Those days are turning around, at least I hope they are.
Q. Newly elected Board Member Davis is younger and seems more in tune with finding solutions. She's gung-ho and wants to run for Vice Chair. I'm hoping she doesn't get burned out early because these SYSTEMS are set up to operate in a certain way. She has good intentions going in. I just hope she's able to maintain that.
A. I feel the same way. I am convinced I will run for President of the Board in two years, not because I want to control the agenda, but I have a Superintendent's license, so I know what is expected to lead an educational organization, and I can help guide the Superintendent. That's really important. Additionally, in work sessions, we need to talk about philosophy, mission, and vision.
FYI - Educators I know who are doing things and could be asked to speak on education issues:
My college roommate, Pat Savage-Williams, President, Board of Education, Evanston, Illinois
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/evanston/news/ct-evr-evanston-township-high-school-board-meeting-tl-0211-20160209-story.html
My friend, Retired Superintendent Nathaniel Jones, IU graduate and Milken Educator Award winner
https://indy.education/2016/07/27/putting-students-first-the-legacy-of-retiring-supt-nathaniel-jones/
My cousin, Debra R. Corbett, Principal of Title I school and Milken Educator Award winner
https://res.jeff.k12.wv.us/our_school/administration/from_the_principal
FYI: I forwarded this article to the Cobb Superintendent for a response, but have not received one yet.
GP says: Most of us look at the school board as something like the County Commission, or other political organizations whose members have achieved office because of some personal motivation. That personal motivation on non-school board organizations generally deals with some long term goals (better roads, lower taxes, ...) and also almost always includes some motivation for personal success, leading to successful campaigning for a higher office.
ReplyDeleteIn my view, the most likely personal motivation of a successful school board member is something intimately linked to one's own family, and probably a child, or other dependent. That's what we saw in the two new board members who came to our meeting last week. That child-based motivation is critical when the board candidate decides to run, but generally the crisis goes away within two-three years when personnel changes, or student promotion, removes the motivating situation. Running for the school board does not seem to me to be a logical choice for any citizen with higher political goals - and that is enormously significant in how we get them to hear us.
Consequently, after the initially-motivating crisis resolves, the school board evolves into a group of self satisfied place holders who enjoy feeling important once or twice a month, and who live by the maxim of "He who does nothing, cannot be accused of wrongdoing." Consequently, and quite logically, when you think about it, this is not an organization that's going to recognize a squeaky wheel; they'll just change the oil and run the car on tires until they're bald, and still get their membership in the Chamber of Commerce renewed.
We all know, but ignore the significance of, the disgraceful fact that the Supreme Court's order discarding "separate but equal" schools came down in 1954, and here we are today, 64 years later, with 'creative' school boards still finding ways to maintain many of the disparate race-based treatments implemented in Jim Crow days.
If we want corrections made to school situations which we encounter, I don't think we stand a prayer until we can muster a meeting with enough people to fill 2, or 3 rooms the size of the one last week. Until we recruit a cadre of semi-lifers dedicated to long term involvement in education improvement, who will show up en masse to support one carefully-crafted statement of purpose, until we achieve that, I don't think the board will listen to us.
It is unfortunate that the climate in this country is being blamed on politics. This country was founded, and has been run, based upon racism. All people older than 12 years old are probably privy to this fact, if they are educated via the history of the U.S.
ReplyDeleteConstant fighting and bickering are also something that has existed for centuries over slavery, U.S. borders, and immigration. This is simply nothing new.
The disheartening fact is that as "adults" nothing can be accomplished for the sake of mankind due to concerns with color, political party, or financial power.
Case in point, look at preschoolers (boys and girls) of all colors playing on a playground. There is simply not a care in the world, as they all get along and the ultimate experience is accepting others as they are and simply being kind to each other allowing everyone to have their turn in being successful.
Adults wake up and see that life is not about controlling others, it is about getting along and letting others have their slice of the pie with an opportunity to be successful in this life.