March 9th School Board Comments and Recap

Below you will find GEPA comments and a short recap from the 3/9/2010 School Board meeting:

In the first public comment period, Jo D Hosken, Dena Tremain, Kristin McNaron, and John Wright spoke on behalf of GEPA. Their comments are below. Rena Adeeb spoke about the Maggie Walker Governors School, and Michael McDermot spoke about frustration with the budget and feeling of entitlement in the county.

Jo D Hosken:

In front of each of you now is a copy of an email sent out by the superintendent on March 5th .The email reads.

• From: Linda Underwood Schweigert
> Date: March 5, 2010 8:20:35 PM EST
> To: Dianna Gordon , Bryan Gordon
>
> Subject: the battle is on
>
> Any way that any of the athletic boosters might be riled up enough to
> speak out at school board or supervisors meetings? GEPA has added
> elimination of the athletic director to their hit list.
>
>
>
> L
> Linda A. Underwood, Ed.D.
> Superintendent
> Goochland County Public Schools

It goes without saying I was horrified

In response I sent emails out to the involved parties with a statement from GEPA saying:

It has come to our attention that Dr Underwood has sent out an email stating that GEPA supports the elimination of the Athletic Director. This could not be further from the truth. While we do state that there are 7 positions that make over 1 million dollars we have always maintained that there should be NO cuts to teachers, textbooks and programs. Athletics is the largest program in the school system thanks to the hard work of Bryan Gordon. Elimination of such a program or teacher would be against best practice for our children and would cost many of them advanced education opportunities.

You were all carboned on that response. To make it very clear, this email from Dr Underwood was not true. It was a lie. It was a lie living under the subject heading “the battle is on “.
For months now we have told each of you that the superintendent has used intimidation on the teachers. The superintendent told one of our most respected and revered teachers to rile up parents against parents. To go to battle. Is that how the superintendent sees the parents who stand up for Teachers, textbooks and programs as the enemy.

I am extremely disheartened by this. She is their boss telling her subordinates to rile the parents against each other fight her battle. This is abuse. This is abuse of power. Abuse of position. What was this teacher supposed to do ignore her direct order? How many other members of staff were told to do battle with the parents who speak out? How many other lies were told to reinforce this? This email was sent to my son’s principal. As a member of Gepa I am now the enemy of my son’s principal. What kind of position does that put her in? 94 Rif notices went out to her colleagues what is she being told do what I say or you are next?

This is abuse of the parents. If our superintendent sees any parent who disagrees with her as a parent to do battle with then how does she see our children? Small causalities of the battle? How am I supposed to send my son to school if teachers and principals are told to treat me as the enemy because I stood up for them?

I do not believe that this school board can turn a blind eye anymore to what is being said. What was written. And speaking for myself and several parents I no longer trust this person with the care of my children .If I am her enemy in battle as she states then what will she do to my kids. Our kids? This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Gepa families and petitioners make up over 1000 children in ours schools. Heaven help you if anything should happen to one of those kids.

Dena Tremain:

It has come to my attention that an email signed by Dr. Linda Underwood was
circulated among our athletic boosters on March 5. I find the email so
offensive that I don't know quite where to begin. In this email Dr.
Underwood stated that "GEPA has added elimination of the Athletic Director
(Bryan Gordon) to its hit list." This statement could not be further from
the truth. I know this because I became involved with GEPA amidst concern
over some of Dr. Underwood's initial proposed cuts. If anyone recalls, Dr.
Underwood proposed the school board eliminate athletics from Goochland
County's middle school. I, personally, spoke to the school board and Dr.
Underwood on January 12 in defense of middle school athletics, as a member
of GEPA. Since then, I have attended and participated in GEPA meetings.
Not once has the idea even been suggested that cuts be made to our athletic
program, and certainly not to its steward and founder, Bryan Gordon. GEPA's
slogan is "Teachers, textbooks, and programs." Bryan Gordon is an
excellent, qualified teacher and the steward of our wonderful athletic
program. I would not support any entity that would suggest eliminating this
person or what he stands for. With all due respect, the only person who has
suggested any cuts to any aspect of our athletic program at any point in
time is Dr. Underwood.

However, the most appalling aspect of this email is the part where Dr.
Underwood urges one group of parents to get "riled up" and do battle against
another set of parents. Athletic parents against academic parents? The
fact is these parents are one and the same. My children love to play
sports-swim team, soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, you name it. Does
that mean I shouldn't be concerned about their academic well-being? My
daughter is a pitcher and has a curve ball that has been known to make a
grown man jump out of the batters box with his knees shaking. She has also
never had anything less than an "A" on her report card in any subject at any
time because she knows that school comes first. Should I protect one aspect
of her future more than another? Of course not. I will defend them both
equally. But, I will not stand by idly while someone tries to pit one set
of parents against another. Those two groups of parents are NOT two
separate groups at all. Let's drop the stereotypes, shall we? Athletes can
be smart; smart kids can be athletic. Girls can play ball and boys can
write poetry. The point is that parents are parents and we ALL demand the
best for our children.

Almost 100 teachers and instructional aides, along with other people who
have direct, personal impact on our children on a daily basis were told
their jobs are on the line. Not one administrative position is on the line.
Is it even remotely possible that there is waste somewhere else within the
school system? Maybe some inefficiency in our transportion/maintenance
department, for example, where costs are skyrocketing exponentially despite
the fact that our student population has not grown at nearly the same
rate-even after adjusting for the cost of fuel? We opened our middle school
right next to our high school, yet still our transportation costs have
skyrocketed. Is it possible there may be another way to do things there, or
say with our health care costs that would save the school board money,
rather than taking teachers directly away from our children? The school
board won't discuss it publicly, so we don't know. But, here is what I do
know. GEPA was the first to stand up and defend athletics after Dr.
Underwood was the first and only one to suggest part of that program be
eliminated. GEPA stands for Goochland Education PARENTS Association. Our
motto is "Teachers, textbooks, and programs." The only group proposing the
elimination of teachers and programs is the School Board led by Dr.
Underwood.

Kristin McNaron:

Members of the Board . . . . my name is Kristin McNaron, and I live in Sandy Hook. I am speaking to you today both as a concerned parent and as the Secretary of the GEPA.

I recently had an opportunity to speak with my SB representative, Mr. Miller, along with several other parents in our district. At that time, Mr. Miller indicated that he felt we had begun focusing on "distractions" such as cost cutting opportunities in maintenance and transportation. I'd like to take this opportunity to state unambiguously that our focus remains the same . . . . the preservation of teachers, programs, and textbooks so that all children in Goochland County have the opportunity for a superior education. When it comes time to tighten a budget, one thing has everything to do with the other . . . . waste in maintenance and transportation DOES impact our ability to properly fund our instructional needs. And because the School Board and Superintendent appear to be unwilling or unable to pursue a thorough accounting for costs and efficiencies, we've taken the time to study them ourselves.

Our mission has been quite steadfast. GEPA first spoke to you as a organization at the January 12th School Board meeting. As I stated in the public comment period that day "we will NOT support any further cuts to core programs or teaching positions" and " We feel very strongly that if budget cuts need to be made, they should be made first and foremost in the areas which have the least direct impact on our children’s education, which would include higher level administrative positions, transportation and maintenance."

These messages have been relayed to you again and again in public comment periods, in one on one conversations, via emails, and publicly posted on goochlandparents.com. Yet here we are today with you still not listening to your constituents.

Today we know the following:

91 teachers & instructional assistants, one librarian and a school nurse have been officially notified that they might not have a job in Goochland County Public Schools next year.

Yet NO administration, transportation, maintenance or other personnel in the entire school system appear to have received such a notice.

The Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent and 5 Director-level positions together earn over $1 million in salaries and benefits between the 7 of them!

Yet NO cuts are being made to high-level administrative positions.

The budget approved by the School Board for next year will cut the school materials and supplies budget in half and cut the amount spent on textbooks and subscriptions next year by about two thirds.

Even though Goochland is already among the least efficient counties in the State for transportation and maintenance costs, the School Board budget recommends INCREASING the amount of money spent in BOTH of these areas.

We understand from Ms. Dickson's statements at the March 2nd BOS meeting that you are providing revised categorizations to the BOS. The door is open . . . it isn't too late to LISTEN to your constituents, and to save teachers, programs, and textbooks by eliminating costs in non-instructional areas. We URGE you to focus on why you are here and be the responsible stewards you were elected to be.


John Wright:

My name is John Wright; I live at {redacted – KGM}. Board members, I am speaking to you tonight on behalf of the Goochland Education Parents Association.

On February 9th of this year, I requested, on behalf of GEPA, a formal review of the Superintendent due to an ever widening breach of confidence with the citizens that she serves, blatant misrepresentations of fact on public record, disregard for Dept. of Education regulations and the abusive environment she has created for her staff and the students themselves. I am here to reiterate that call to action, but also to add one minor and two very serious breaches of her contract with the School Board.

First, as you have already heard, she used the school’s email delivery system to convey an email request the athletic director to, and I quote, “rile up” the athletics boosters against GEPA based upon false accusations of our intentions to have him removed from his position. That request, in our opinion, is tantamount to inciting a riot. She admitted on record to the local newspaper that she did so today. Her only remorseful (and I use that term loosely) statement was that Mr. Gordon wasn’t supposed to forward her email out. Apparently, she intended to use her influence over her employees to get them to do her ill will, and pit parent against parent. I ask you, doesn’t that sound like someone hell bent on creating a breach between the school system and the citizens they serve???

Second, parents closely associated with GEPA can no longer reach their children’s teachers via email. Parents have attempted to contact teachers about early dismissals, student illnesses, and even student assignments. These emails never reach their destination. I can only speculate that she has a large hand in this new technical error, but it seems to fit a pattern of control demonstrated unilaterally by Dr. Underwood.

Lastly, and most reprehensibly, Dr. Underwood is culpable in the now famous “The Dogs are coming” video aired in January 2009 on the high school morning announcements in order to warn drug using students that Goochland’s Sherriff intended to bring drug sniffing dogs into the school. Only the Sherriff, Dr. Underwood, and the High School Principal were aware of the impending dog search prior to the airing of the video. The video aired for a week, until the search was conducted, and then was never aired within the school again. Apparently Dr. Underwood felt it was more important to sweep a growing drug and disciplinary problem under the rug, than to follow the law, address a problem head on and deal with it in a manner that sends a clear message that drugs will not be tolerated in the schools. Instead, she taught the students that they can circumnavigate the law when it isn’t convenient to their purposes. Each of you is very aware of this situation and has been confronted by the Sherriff about it. To this day, the sheriff’s department is not able to conduct searches in a random manner. Not surprisingly, drugs and now gangs are rampant within the middle and high schools. We can only wonder how student life would be different if the issue had been addressed properly. In order to insure that this issue isn’t again swept under the rug, a copy of the video in question has been provided to the local video (with student faces blurred out).

For all of these reasons, we again respectfully request that the Board perform a formal review of the Superintendent and ask that the results be made available to the public. A copy of this request is being provided to each member of the Board of Supervisors.

Recap:
After Recognitions, Announcements, and Consent Items, 4 informational items were presented:

A. Summary of Mid-year reviews – details are not included in the agenda packet, but Dr. Underwood presented to the school board a summary of the school systems internal mid-year review.

B. Virginia Advance Study Strategy (VASS) – Goochland is part of a grant program through VASS, a subset of the National Math and Science Initiative. Mr Nickols presented an overview of the program. This is a 3 year program promoting advance studies in math and science in counties in which advanced studies are either not available or have low (<10%) enrollment. The goal is to increase enrollment in these programs. The grant provides training for educators for AP and pre-AP classes, money for supplies and lab equipment, and financial incentives for students and teachers. The grant money does not go through the school board, but is rather a direct investment.

C. Analysis of transportation costs --- an analysis of school transportation costs was provided to the school board for review. The information is not provided in the agenda packet. The school board will review the information for discussion at the school board workshop on 3/23.

D. Bus Garage – the school system has estimated that upgrading the planned bus garage to an exterior acceptable to the Design Review Committee will increase the expense by $50-100k. The county has since indicated a desire to move the proposed garage to the old middle school property and asked that the school board suspend spending money on the bus garage at this time. The SB asked that they work cooperatively with the county and BOS to review the timeline and cost of this proposal.

Old Business:

Mr. Haskell asked about the procedure for drug dog searches, and Dr. .Underwood indicated that for the last 14 months the policy has been that the schools get 10 minutes notice.

Mr. Haskell indicated that they were looking into transportation and maintenance costs and WERE listening to constituents. He also indicated that consolidation of services was good if it could be arranged with the county.

Mr. Miller indicated that he and Dr. Underwood had spoken with the County Administrator and agreed to a review of categorization of expenses. This will be done in conjunction with the County Administrator and categorizations will be changed as mutually agreed as long as the bottom line is preserved.

Mr. Miller indicated that state code dictates that the Superintendent be reviewed and that they had "obeyed the code in that process."

Dr. Underwood indicated that the “verification of status” letters followed the defined RIF process. She further indicated that additional notifications COULD be sent if further cuts are made.

In the second comment period, Penny Palen spoke about the potential cost savings of eliminating the School Messenger system as a neighboring county has done, and Teresa Miller spoke asking the board to really consider the cuts they are making and how/where they are done. She feels that she is already seeing impact of the cuts in school offerings next year at the high school level.