School Board Comes Under Investigation

A new grand jury will convene on Monday Nov. 6th. On the agenda will be an investigation on the use of executive session. I have asked the District Attorney Steven Kelly to take a look at the practices of the Camden County School Board. In response to my request Mr. Kelly told me he would turn this matter over to the grand jury for further investigation. I have told Mr. Kelly that the only punishment I want is that they keep meetings open as the law states. Yes, Dr. Proctor, I did receive your letter and that letter will be turned over as evidence to the grand jury. If it was not that kind of meeting, What kind of meeting was it? I don't think Georgia law has multiple meeting laws. The law states what constitutes a meeting. There is only one kind of meeting therefore you did break the law. And to have the school attorney comment on a meeting that he was not even involved in is totally unethical. He does not know what was said in this meeting. Any contact between a board member and a member of the grand jury could also lead to serious criminal charges so I would advise that the board stay away from these jurors. As I have stated before all this could have been avoid as the Georgia open meetings law does not require any meeting to closed, It just states that you may close some meetings, as long as evidence is not collected in that closed meeting. And yes when Ms. Martin stood up and said she had a problem with a teacher that is a charge and she was trying to file those charges with you.

Why do you think the turnout for board meeting is so low? I have been asking that question all week long with friends and neighbors, and the response shocked me. The response was because they don't listen. You have used your positions to promote friends. Your free ride is over now that I will be watching you all closely. I wish all of you the best of luck.

Blount Must Go

If the assistant superintendent of schools is not going to push for all students to go to college, he should not be in our schools. I call on Mr. Blount to turn in his resignation immediately. If he does not I call on the Board of Education to FIRE him.

I Figured Out What's Wrong With Our Schools

Plain and simple it's Gary Blount............Mr. Blount says that students can receive a career technical degree and would not have to go to college. That is a great idea. Mr. Blount have you ever gotten a good job with a technical degree. Sure you can probably make a few bucks above minimum wage. Why are we not shoving college down these kids throats. This day and age you can not get a good job with anything less than a real college degree. No one ever told me that college a necessary to succeed in life, in fact they told me that the Navy was the best way to go. And don't think like John Kerry, I was not stupid, I graduate with a regents diploma from the State of New York. Here in Camden County Mr. Van Blarcum told my wife not to bother with taking the SAT's because she was going to marry her high school boyfriend!!!

Today we should be molding all the student for college, because they will not succeed in life without it.

I know I could move out of the county and that would make the board very happy, but I could also change the boards closed minded thinking and we all could be happy.

What? The Candidates Want Open Schools

Have you seen what the candidates for districts 2 and 4 are saying? They want open schools. Hummmmmm. How is that going to happen, because Jimmy Coffel will not allow it. The funny thing is that all of the candidates are for open schools and in order for the board to go into executive session it must be voted on and approved by a majority of the board. So let's see districts 2 an 4 would vote against it, if they keep their campaign promises. That leaves us needing one vote to eliminate executive session in our schools. We know how Coffel will vote but how will Mr. Benton and Mr. Simpson vote. This will be interesting to see it play out. I do know in two years we will have the three votes necessary to eliminate most of executive sessions. Yes I do believe we need executive session in rare cases. As everyone knows there is no law that requires a board to go in to executive session. The law clearly states that the board MAY use executive session and NOT that it is required. I will be at every meeting to ensure that the new board members up hold their campaign promises, because come January we get rid of two liars and will only have one to go. Remember they are self proclaimed liars, they are the ones that said they would do a national search for a new superintendent, and then after the vote claim that was not true. The October/November surprise has been verified and I will release that news on November 6.

How Safe are Our Schools?

School bus assault poorly handled by schools

Dear Editor, I would like to express my anger towards a situation that has taken place at my son's school and on the school bus.On Oct. 18, my son was hit with a water bottle and colored pencils before his head was slammed into the window pane of the school bus by another student who is a fourth grade girl. This action taken by the fourth grade girl was not an action that was done in self defense, because six other students on the bus gave statements to the assistant principal and the resource officer at David L. Rainer Elementary School.
My son came home with a bloody head and hands. He was taken to the emergency room where he waited for four hours to make sure that he didn't have a concussion or fracture.I was told by the assistant principal that she would take care of the situation. Well, I don't know what disciplinary action was taken, but that same afternoon of the incident, the student that caused my son's injury was allowed to ride the bus home.My son has been singled out since this incident to be a trouble maker. He was told to sit behind the bus driver on Oct. 20, and the bus driver's response to me when I questioned why was that he has had problems in the past hitting other children when there is no record of any incidents with my child on the school bus or in school.I feel as though my child is being punished for something that he did not do. Why wasn't the child who caused bodily harm to my child not suspended or expelled from the bus or school? Is it OK to cause harm to my child because he is a boy and she is a girl? Why do I feel as though the school is covering for this child? And don't you think the situation would have been different if the roles were changed?
I know things would be different. It's not OK to cause harm to my child and get a slap on the wrist because he is an African-American boy and she is a caucasian girl. My son would have been expelled and they would have probably have arrested him if she had gone home to her parents the way he came home to me.It's not fair the way the school has handled the situation and I am not pleased. I am very angry with the nonchalant attitude of the school and staff.

Monique Jamison
Kingsland

From the Tribune and Georgian