Call Off the Witch Hunt

Wednesday night was something else. About 15 parents showed up to have their say about my presentation. The strange part is I don’t remember them being at my presentation. If they had been, or bothered to Email or call, the first thing they would have learned is this was my idea for what we could do. I’m flattered that they hold me in such high regard to actually think I myself have the power to make all that is in my proposal happen. In fact it pained me to have to tell them that I don’t. So to everyone that told me their kid was lying in bed crying in fear of their school closing, tell them to sleep well tonight. The wicked witch of Cuyahoga Falls holds no magical powers.

Needless to say, a majority of the speaking crowd Wednesday night were from Silver Lake. They mainly wanted to tell me that they love their neighborhood school, their small class sizes and their highly qualified teachers. Was that supposed to surprise me? I’m sure the people of CF would be as thrilled if we had the same. One compared Silver Lake Elementary to Hudson schools. Well I hate to break it to him but Hudson uses a grade level configuration almost identical to what I proposed.

Another parent said she would rather see this money go to hiring teachers. Somebody forgot to tell her that my proposal adds ten teachers. She added that she couldn’t see 800 kids fitting into the Roberts building. Well another news flash, almost that many did in 2005 and that amount and more did in the 70’s and 80’s. My proposal would fit that many kids and cap the class size at 25. That’s a max, not a given. Our current CF enrollment would actually put that building at around 650. Another lady suggested I proposed this because I have a stake in Newberry. Unless God has a big surprise in store for me, I assure you no Kindergarteners from my loins will be attending. So she must have been misinformed as well. So to set the record straight- again- Newberry is bigger than 4 of the buildings we currently use. And we wouldn’t lose the revenue from the lessees. There would be four other CFCSD buildings to choose from as per the lease agreement.

Another parent was concerned with start up costs. What were the start-up costs to move our kids in 2005? Because that’s what were doing- moving kids and furniture. We’re not starting something new. In fact we are doing what we’ve done since the 1800’s. The last concern from a parent I’ll answer is this one: How will I participate in my children’s activities if they are in different buildings? The same way I do now. You do stuff at one building one day, and you do stuff at another building another day. Or you can do stuff at two buildings on the same day if you plan well.

Another astonishing moment was when the union president accused me of saying “things” that she felt were insulting and maligning to teachers. But she never actually said what I supposedly said. So I asked her afterward. I imagine she was quite surprised to learn that those “things” that she attributed to me, were not said by me, but by herself and other district staff. She is the person that told me that the reason per pupil spending is so high in Silver Lake is because they have the most experienced and highly qualified teachers of the district. It was also district administrators that created the “Road Blocks to Excellent” document, not me. So please don’t try to credit me with the bullets listed.

In fact although a lot of rumor and innuendo was thrown around, no one actually attempted to back up what they were saying. No one ever said schools were closing, yet apparently kids were at home crying. Class sizes would be smaller, teachers would be added, and money would be saved. But instead of researching any of the realities of this proposal, people preferred to gossip, lie and spread fear. They took the time to come to the meeting and admonish me but couldn’t find the time to look at the problems facing the district, the inequities we deliver to our Cuyahoga Falls students, or what this proposal actually offered.

At the end of the board meeting I made this statement. I was then admonished for “attacking” fellow board members. I was actually retaliating for the attacks on me. Two weeks ago I was attacked immediately following my presentation and Wednesday night I was attacked for the first 45 minutes of the board meeting, and at various intervals in between. I was also accused of interrupting. Which I did. I can’t allow people to make statements about me that are not true.

I’ll leave you with a few points the Summit County District configuration chart showed me. Most of the grade level configured schools were OK in the eyes of the State of Ohio. None of the neighborhood schools did. In fact the top 10 scorers on the performance index have a grade level configuration similar or identical to what I propose.