Open letter to the Lakeside Community - This is my letter from a closed/private Facebook page.
In support of the teachers and faculty of Lakeside -
Now that I have context to the special board meeting last week, I have to say I'm extremely disappointed with the Board's decision to do this right before school starts. We already have a tough road ahead of us because of the administrative changes the school board initiated. I was at the board meeting where they promised to be responsive and transparent to parent's concerns as a result of the debacle with Eric Bitter. So now we get the polar opposite? Reactionary? I was at the next board meeting when the board discussed morale of the children and the school. In that light, how do you come to a decision like this?
If there are any board members on this page, please understand - I know your position is mostly thankless and not easy - but the decision for the timing of this meeting was poor. Right before school starts? The decision not to give any context for the meeting in the announcement was also poor. A surprise meeting in which only one parent was present is very similar to the initial meetings deciding the fate of our last Principal/Superintendent. So, is there any surprise that the majority of parents, those who are positive and supportive of our teachers and faculty, were not there? I would think with a meeting of this importance, there would be more information dispensed in advance to alert parents and the greater community.
I would like to ask the Lakeside board to call another special meeting to discuss teacher feedback. I have the impression you will have a capacity crowd.
If there is negative feedback, it needs to be addressed - - there will be time for that - but only in the context of balanced information. Right now, we don't need this kind of demoralizing activity. Now is the time we are supposed to be building our community up, not tearing it down.
