Ladies and Gentleman Tonight, I’m going to talk to you about respect – respect for the
students, teachers, and parents that make this District work. Since voicing my concerns at
the March meeting, the district’s problems just continued to show. “Claim It” was another
inappropriate and illegal survey given to our children. It wasn’t even the activity that was in
the common lesson plan folder from that day at the Middle School – ironically, that lesson
for the PE teachers that day was supposed to be “respect.” Instead of addressing parental
concerns head-on, the District’s leadership decided to try to pass this off as “aligned to the
Missouri State standards” and “part of the FMS health curriculum.” I now question each
and every decision that this District’s administration is making – if you could be so wrong as
to try to defend any aspect of that illegal activity as ok, how am I supposed to trust you
with designing and implementing any curriculum for my children? Respect my kids, their
education, and our privacy rights.
This type of bizarre behavior is just a symptom of what I have come to believe are large
scale and pervasive problems in this District- a district that I dearly love and want to help.
Dr. Hull wrote an email in December of last year saying I was on the “warpath.” Well, I’m a
parent – when I think this Administration is making poor decisions that will hurt my kids
and the kids of my community, I’m allowed to go on the warpath. Respect my rights as a
concerned citizen and parent. I’m not the only one that feels this way - many parents –
including myself - are choosing other options for our children next year. If all this
Administration cares about are MAP scores and money per pupil, maybe that will finally get
your attention.
And, as I’ve remarked before, our District is blessed with numerous fantastic teachers and
building administrators, many of whom have told me about the lack of respect that they
are feeling from this Administration. Many of our District’s best teachers are actively trying
to get out. At the request of very well-respected teachers in this district, I was approached
about a month ago with the idea of setting up a survey so that teachers could voice their
opinions. Teachers were so worried about possible reprisal from Central Office that I
couldn’t send risk sending out the link to the survey over Fulton58 email addresses.
Instead, after much deliberation, I decided to post the survey to the Parents for Fulton
Schools page.
Now, I fully realize that posting a survey on this organizational page creates a problem in
statistics known as a “convenience sample.” It’s sort of like a Taco Bell survey – you will
only have those that either love Taco Bell or hate it respond. I’ve talked to multiple survey
experts about this and have been assured of two things (1) it’s better than nothing and (2)
the potential bias from posting it on the Parents for Fulton Schools page will be countered
by the fact that the survey was open to all –those who support business-as-usual could take
the survey as well. As a result, the survey will actually be more representative of what the
general population thinks.
I’ve given each of you the results of the survey- it isn’t good. Over half of the survey’s
roughly 300 respondents think there are “extreme problems” in the district; almost ¾ are
dissatisfied with how the district handled the “Claim It” incident. Dr. Cowherd - you
received a solid “D” average. The open ended responses appear to be from people that
deeply love Fulton Schools but see real failures with the District.
Maybe I am on the “warpath” but, unlike Dr. Hull’s email, this is not about my spouse’s
employment in this district. Like other good teachers, he’s choosing to take his skills
elsewhere. This is about creating an environment where students are safe, where teachers
are valued, and where the community is respected as partners in creating a district we can
be proud of. I am committed to this community and to public education. I won’t be going
away – if anything, I can finally talk without fear of reprisal against my spouse. We will no
longer stand silently by, watching this Administration make and defend decisions that
disrespect our kids, parents, and teachers. School Board members: take the failures of this
year as an opportunity for reflection - realize that the status quo is no longer good enough,
respect the concerns of parents, teachers, and students - and make some positive changes
for our schools.
Thank you.