Once again in this weeks paper, there is another letter from a concerned parent. See I am not the only one that thinks this board lied. And Jean Brazille has the nerve to tell me that she has not heard that many complaints. Mind you the poll that she discredits as not being scientific enough for her came back as 91% of the county disagreeing with how they handle the whole thing. Not to mention that in the spotlight on Camden every person was against it. So either she thinks she has not done anything wrong or that the Tribune is bias. I would go with the first, because by law she did not do anything wrong. Legally she can do what ever she wants and this is exactly what Jimmy Coffel, Tricia Smith, And Jean Brazille are doing. Whatever they want. Screw you parents we, own this board not you. That is their thinking. Thank God Two of them are gone at the end of this year, only because they no longer have children in this school.
Read the latest letter in the comments section.
"The people of this County do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created." ***The views expressed on this blog are the opinions of the individual that wrote them.
1 comment:
Letters
School board's list of travesties continues to grow
Dear Editor, At its last meeting, the Camden County School Board missed an opportunity to mitigate the damage to public trust rendered by the "surprise" decision in June to name Assistant Superintendent Will Hardin to replace outgoing Superintendent Ann Proctor.
As readers will recall, this decision was made while the majority of the public was under the impression that the search for a new superintendent would be undertaken this summer and would include consideration of candidates outside of Camden County.
The most cogent explanation of the evening was rendered by board member Jean Marie Brazell, who intimated that matters undertaken in executive session generated the need for the decision to name Assistant Superintendent Hardin as the incoming superintendent now, without further search. This explanation precipitated a discussion on the nature of matters relevant for executive session versus public debate, with several members of the board informing the audience they were bound by state law not to disclose matters undertaken in executive session.
When confronted with the results of a poll taken by the Tribune & Georgian registering overwhelming disapproval of the board's decision, the response was to discredit the poll, which appears to discount the opinions of the respondents regardless of any flaw that may exist in polling methodology.
Despite calls for further explanation of their actions, the board's collective response was that the decision was made and the matter was closed. However, Ms. Brazell did express regret for the manner in which the decision was handled and board member Doug Benton did reiterate his earlier opposition to the decision.
Without doubt the sitting school board has served our community well and I count the quality of Camden County schools as compared to others in this region as one of the factors in the decision to make Camden our home. However, the discussion tonight demonstrated either a lack of respect for prevailing public opinion or a willful blindness to the perceptions created by the decision. Either is a cause for concern.
The board's actions also raise questions about how much school business should be conducted outside of the public eye, especially when reversing a prior publicly-held position on a matter this important.
The Tribune & Georgian lead opinion article on July 19 ("Citizens deserve more responsive government") called for a more responsive and respectful county commission, one that exhibits true interest in constituent concerns and enters into a social contract of good governance. This is especially critical considering the issues currently facing our county.
Our school system faces challenges, too, in terms of a 74.8 percent high school graduation rate and the failure of our two middle schools to make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act.
The upcoming school board elections give our county another chance to expect more of our elected officials and we need to do so. We should not miss this opportunity, despite the opportunity missed by the school board to explain their very perplexing decision.
Dennis E. Keith
Kingsland
Tribune & Georgian
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