I almost fell from my chair when reading Catherine Foley’s comment in the WW-P News (April 29) about the “disturbing nature of the public comment period at BOE meetings” last month. I was at one board meeting last year, when parents voiced their concerns about the proposed elimination of the 4th and 5th grade A&E program. What struck me as odd was that there was a clear line between speakers against the A&E elimination and those supporting it.
I heard afterwards that most of those supporting voices came from school administrators and employees. How desperate can BOE be for them to pitch school administrators and employees against parents? During that meeting, parents quoted various sources and experience to support the A&E program, but their arguments were met by silence from BOE members and hostility from some school administrators.
I didn’t see any “disturbing” actions on the part of parents. Instead, I was deeply disturbed when someone commented that when hiring people, he didn’t care much about a candidate’s education background, and that he would rather hire someone with a network than with good educational background. I hope he is not an educator!
Parents and board members go to meetings for completely different reasons. As a parent, I go to meetings only when I feel there are issues at the school and I need to speak out for my children. Board members, armed with attorneys and the power to vote on school policies, hardly fit the role of victims to parents. I have heard words such as “you Chinese …” slipped from a board member, and seen “racial imbalance” quoted as a reason to eliminate the A&E program during a board meeting. I felt strongly that meetings should be videotaped so everyone would know what board members had said.
Why, then, would the board object to videotaping meetings, if people like Mrs. Foley and I both agree on the idea? Budget reasons? Come on, hiring an additional supervisor (we already have too many!) is much more expensive than videotaping meetings. Trying to hide something? More likely.
Mrs. Foley’s argument that the school administration can’t be more transparent is a curious one. Didn’t I read from the newspaper not long ago that the school had apologized for not being transparent with parents about the merger of our hockey teams?
From the recent board meeting on the budget, I learned that our school is investing close to $350K in a robotics classroom. Aren’t Mrs. Foley’s children part of a robotics team, and she herself a robotics coach? It’s hard not to draw a line between these facts and her article defending the board.
Helen Ming
West Windsor
