Welcome back, Save Our Schools advocates! Today, we're peeling back the layers to explore the alarming oversight and insufficient time dedicated by the school board to discuss closing schools.
How prepared should school board members be to make a decision to close schools?
Remember, they are a volunteer position. This is not their full time job, and MGT, the consulting firm, only presented their full recommendations on August 8th. However, this is only one report in the numerous documents related to school closures.
How long do you think it would take you to comprehend a complex situation you are not an expert in, balance financials, and make the best decisions for students and programs.
One week? One month? 5 school board meetings with public comment? A semester of discussions?
There’s a range. It depends on how meetings are conducted, who they engage, and what they consider, but we know 40 minutes is not enough.
The school board has demonstrated a questionable set of priorities. While they allocated significant time discussing the feasibility of implementing pre-k and securing the 'It Gets Better Grant' for E. C. Glass's GSA, the same cannot be said for thoroughly assessing the impact of school closures.
A mere 40 minutes were dedicated to discussing Scenario 3, the most substantial decision for the school system in decades, with other potential solutions receiving a paltry 20 minutes of consideration. How can such a time frame adequately address the far-reaching consequences of these choices?
Spoiler, it’s not enough and they didn’t consider the consequences.
In following meetings, school board members finally began to investigate critical details related to the school closures only to find there are an overwhelming amount of obstacles that might make the scenario impossible.
Now, they’re frankensteining the scenario into something that is guaranteed to be detrimental to all students.
Most alarmingly, the well-being, education, and stability of our students—the very heart of our educational system—were seemingly overlooked in this rush to judgment.
Join us in voicing our concerns, demanding thorough consideration, and ensuring the school board prioritizes our students' best interests. The next school board meeting is December 5th at 5 pm, join us.
Stay connected to learn about the events we will be hosting and how to get involved. Let's make our voices heard for a more thoughtful and student-centric decision-making process. 📢📘 #SaveOurSchools #SchoolBoardPriorities #EducationalDecisions