School Board Bully

Last night’s (May 24^th) meeting of the Chesterfield County School Board did not get off to an auspicious start.  First, although documents being used during meetings (work sessions and regular meetings) are routinely made available online at http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/chesterfield/Board.nsf/Public, the process is not without flaws. Tuesday morning an addendum to Memo 51, “Recommended Personnel Action,” was posted to this web site but ordinary citizens were blocked from accessing that addendum.

In what would seem to be a praiseworthy action, Robert W. Thompson, School Board member from the Matoaca Magisterial District, asked this item be moved from the consent agenda to the discussion agenda. His stated reason was so the public would be allowed to comment on the additions introduced in the addendum. 

Be aware that for a member of the public to speak to an action item, citizens are generally required to sign up with the Clerk of the School Board not later than 2:00 PM on the day of the meeting. Since this item wasn’t on the action agenda until approximately 6:35 PM during the meeting, this requirement could not be met. As the clerk was calling the names of three people who had signed up to speak (they must sign up by telling the clerk that they will want to speak on every action item or else it was unofficially known to some people the agenda was going to change) I walked from my seat around the back of the public meeting room to the clerk’s end of the dais. I got her attention and indicated I would have signed by to speak before the deadline if I had known this was going to be in the action agenda. She nodded her understanding and I returned to my seat.

When the third person finished talking the clerk called my name and I went up to the speaker’s lectern to make my points. I said Mr. Thompson’s claimed interest in the public being informed and having an opportunity to make comments was useless (I do not remember my exact words but “useless” was the meaning) because the addendum was not available to the public for them to review or for them to decide whether to comment. I also pointed out that technically I should not have been allowed to comment because I hadn’t signed up before 2:00 PM, something I could not have done because I didn’t know that action item was going to exist. My intent was to highlight the problems caused by the School Board’s unnecessary requirement that people sign up before 2PM if they wish to speak that night.

Mr. Robert W. Thompson, School Board Member from Matoaca, chose to interpret my comment about what I believe is a bad School Board policy as taking a shot at the Clerk and making her look bad. He did this by charging up to me after the meeting, putting his face about 6 inches from mine and yelling at me at the top of his lungs. He would not allow me to respond, he simply repeated, all at the top of his lungs, that I had taken a shot at the Clerk, made her look bad, and would never be allowed to sign up late again (presumably even when the Board changes the agenda to add a new action item). His unprofessional behavior was witnessed by four other people. Two are school system employees and cannot be expected to say anything about what they saw and heard. Two others are regular critics of the School Board and while they can be expected to confirm what I’ve said, anything they say will likely be dismissed by the entire board.

Thompson wouldn’t listen to my response so I’ll state it here. I had no intention whatsoever of causing trouble or discomfort for the Clerk of the School Board. I have always found her to be a helpful, professional individual who does her job well.

I encountered School Board Chair, Dianne Smith in the parking lot after the meeting. If she wants to know how Thompson talked to me, she has only to recall the voice I used in talking to her. She listened patiently as I recounted Thompson’s unprofessional behavior (during which I described him as an ‘effing SOB’ but without the abbreviations). I also criticized the Board’s policy of requiring citizen speakers to sign up in advance. I told her my opinion, that the deadline for a citizen making a comment should be when she looked around the room and said, “seeing no one else, the public comment period is closed.” I also apologized for using the F-word and asked her to tell the clerk that I had no intention of making her look bad. I'll repeat that last part. I had no intention whatsoever of causing trouble, pain or embarrassment for the Clerk of the Chesterfield County School Board.

I find Robert Thompson to be a dissembling, arrogant bully who uses, or attempts to use, intimidation to silence his critics. In my opinion, he knew my intent was to criticize him and the other Board members for their bad policy and he simply twisted the facts to make it look like I was trying to injure the Clerk.

If you think I’m asking or going to ask for an apology from Thompson, you are mistaken. I do not care what he might have to say to me personally on any subject. I do care what he says and does in public or while pretending to perform his duties as a School Board member and I'll respond accordingly the next time he steps out of line with me OR with anyone else.

Edits:
"fact" changed to "face" in the 5th paragraph
"This morning" changed to "Tuesday morning" in the 1st paragraph.

It's education, stupid

Will Davis said it again. "The quality of [local] schools is the deal maker or breaker on many [economic development] projects." The managers of those companies thinking about investing in Chesterfield don't just ask about the schools, they point at a specific one and say, "I want a tour. Now." Not in a couple of months after some cosmetic fix-ups.

Virginia enjoys a reputation for quality education at all levels. So does Chesterfield County. However, that reputation is on the brink of being flushed down the toilet by a state legislature with too many members who cannot, or will not, think beyond the next election.

In Chesterfield, some of the new School Board members show signs of (1) seeing the connection between quality physical plant (an important component of quality education) and economic revitalization and (2) being willing to do something about it.

The final outcome remains to be seen but those who care about good jobs, a stable economy, and a reasonably high quality of life for everyone had better also begin voicing their support for restoration of school budgets and teaching positions.

Chesterfield Public Schools Update Strategic Plan?

A nice article in the Chesterfield Observer describes the ongoing strategic plan process of the CCPS. Perhaps the article is too nice. It remains to be seen whether the new members of the school board can or will bring about an end the long standing behavior of the school board to treat itself as an island, unresponsive and unmindful of the county's broader needs.

School Board member Carrie Coyner and BOS member Dorothy Jaeckle are described as supporting coordination of school renovations with revitalization efforts. Since it seems that a school has be almost falling down around students and teachers before it will be renovated, it will be interesting to see whether Coyner and Jaekle will get their way. (Whether renoviations would be less costly and even less frequent if a rational maintenance program were in place is a topic for another post.)

People will go to where the good schools are. If Chesterfield County is to succeed in revitalization of areas like the Jeff Davis corridor and around the Hopkins Road-Chippenham Parkway interchange, then the school system has to cooperate fully in the process. Whether that happens depends upon the School Board, particularly all of its new members.