The regular workshop from Friday, Oct. 17th was deflating for a number of reasons. And I’m not talking about what’s going on with
the world economy, that’s a different sort of deflation, a different concern altogether…
First of all we
finally as a board were able to discuss, one month removed from last month’sregular meeting, the reasons why a special board meeting was necessary. A month removed from a meeting that went
sideways badly resulted in a situation where some board members felt that things were
fine and nothing further was needed. As
I discussed the issue of the special meeting that wasn’t, I asked my fellow
board members if they, like me, felt that it would have been productive to have
a special meeting to discuss what went wrong at the September regular meeting. One board member said he was opposed. Two others indicated that “yes” they thought
the special meeting would have been prudent.
The chairman stated at the workshop that she called the special sept. 30th
meeting, the meeting that wasn’t, out of deference to another board member who
requested it.
So when the time came to finally discuss the issues and
resolutions I had intended to bring to the Sept. 30th special
meeting, the board’s appetite for supporting these initiatives waned
significantly.
Regarding physical security-me and one other board
member felt that the issue was valid and that the issues that led to the
meeting breakdown on Sept. 16th should be addressed. Two board members and the superintendent felt
that the “meeting became emotional, and yes, it was messy, but that overall
they did not feel unsafe.” Two of my
counterparts stated that “Timing would look bad if we [the board] enhanced
security and brought out the metal detectors for board meetings now, as this
might send the wrong message to the folks who came to the meeting last
month. They might feel that we were
enhancing security because of them” The chairman of the board stated that “she
never felt threatened or in fear” I stated at the meeting that I am aware that
there were death threats made. Is there an investigation of the death threat being conducted by the Sheriff's office? Yes. Was a police report filed? Yes. Was there a weapon in the room? We don't know. Did someone rush the stage and require restraint? Yes. Were staff members scared? Yes? So at the workshop I wanted to talk security.
But when I
asked if the district owns a walk through metal detector, the superintendent refused to directly answer that question,
which I found to be odd. The funny
thing about that response is that I am aware that we do as a district have one, a portable, moveable walk through metal detector. My predecessor
on the board related a story about how the district, after 9-11, purchased a
portable unit. So why not answer the
