View the always interesting, sometimes shocking, Board meeting videos

Thanks to Frog for posting on youtube

View the board's hasty renewal of Superintendent's contract even though they had 3 months to do so, and the entire board is undergoing a recall election in May. Listen to the end when the board chairman is asked "for how long?" [the contract term].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym2Vu_bjBJs&feature=channel_page

Watch Mrs. Berger, the wife of a Board member, lambast Ryan Dutton, and demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of how credentialing works in California. Too bad she didn't check her facts first before raking the guy's reputation over the coals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUp7GrzJp9k&feature=channel

Superintentendent to Students - "I can't respond unless it's agendized"

In the video below, protesting Tioga High School students, who made extensive public comments during a school board meeting about their dissatisfaction with recent actions by the Board and Superintendent, ask Superintendent Brabbin why she provided no comments. Seems that Superintendent Brabbin was misinformed or did not understand the law when she told students she could not respond unless the item were agendized.

Here is the law:

California Government Code
54954.2. (2) No action or discussion shall be undertaken on any item not appearing on the posted agenda, except that members of a legislative body or its staff may briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by persons exercising their public testimony rights under Section 54954.3. In addition, on their own initiative or in response to questions posed by the public, a member of a legislative body or its staff may ask a question for clarification, make a brief announcement, or make a brief report on his or her own activities.

Really ... Who Should Be Ashamed?

Recently a family member of someone who resigned from the BOFG board wrote to the Union Democrat suggesting that an unnamed person had trespassed or knocked on the board member's door at night and that people should be "ashamed" of the tone of the recall effort. The students, parents and community members involved in recalling this board are hard-working people who have jobs and kids and have done everything possible to show the highest level of professionalism.

Any of them would call out and condemn one who would do such a thing.

However, let’s talk about who really should be ashamed of themselves in this recall event.

Who should be ashamed?

a) The people who investigated and discovered that the Superintendent/Principal of Don Pedro only turned in only 62% of eligible students' scores for STAR testing to the State of California (compare to 100% for Tioga and 99% for the County)

b) The board who took at face value the excuse received that the discrepancy was due to “independent study” students; the superintendent/Principal of Don Pedro HS who claimed her test scores were greatly improved compared to last year (when the former Principal turned in 97% of tests taken including those for Special Education and Independent Study students)

Who should be ashamed?

a) The students, parents and community members who rallied support for a teacher whose cause for dismissal they knew to be false and unethical, and who knew that the supposed cause was then documented by a California State agency to be false

b) The board members who took at face value everything they were told by the Superintendent, (yes, the same person under-testing students) and listened to nothing they were told repeatedly by the community; the board members who did nothing to investigate the incident themselves; the board members who refused to reinstate the teacher

Who should be ashamed?

a) The community members trying to get real facts on district spending from the school district office

b) The secretary of the Superintendent who made them stand outside for 1 ½ hours and then produced a document said to be board policy saying they must make appointments first, which was proven to be a false document. (The real board policy said the public can come by any time.)

Who should be ashamed?

a) The students, parents and community members outraged when the school board lowers the pay of the Tioga principal after she is told to teach a class in addition to her Principal duties to help the budget, and then outraged further when that board begins deducting money from every lowered paycheck saying that over the summer she was therefore a part-time teacher and as such was overpaid as a Principal over the summer

b) The school board members (including the one who resigned) who claim they knew nothing of these events and once they did know, did nothing; the attorney working for the superintendent who offers the Principal an insulting sum to resign

Who should be ashamed?

a) The community members upset at the cancellation of the very valuable Fire Science program at Tioga

b) The school board who sat in the front of the community just weeks ago and said they had no idea what happened to the Fire Science program

There are many more incidents that could be listed here, pertaining to the lack of understanding of school financing leading to the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the district, refusal to put requested items on the board agendas, talking to newspapers about events in closed sessions, and much more.

Really, who should be ashamed?

School Board refuses to set Recall on a date potentially less expensive to the district

Image: Students for a Better School District, Tioga High School, Groveland, CA

On January 23, 2009 the Big Oak Flat Groveland Unified School District Board held a Special Board Meeting to set a date for the Recall Election. The Tuolumne County Auditor, a professional in the election process, provided a very informative briefing, as to whether the Recall Election should be held on May 5, 2009 or May 28, 2009. It became very obvious that the most feasible date for the Recall Election and the best possibility for the least expensive election is May 5, 2009. However, immediately subsequent to the presentation, obviously with little or no consideration for the facts presented by the Auditor, the School Board voted to hold the Recall Election on May 28, 2009. The Board did completely the opposite of what was the most logical and potentially the most cost effective. This decision by the School Board to select May 28, 2009, instead of May 5, 2009, was certainly not in the best interest of the School District, or, especially, the taxpayers of the Big Oak Flat Groveland Unified School District. It is unknown if the selection of May 28, 2009, instead of May 5, 2009, has anything to do with the Superintendent's contract being up for renewal in 2009.

This one might leave you astounded...

A board member is confronted with a witness and signed documents that the board member spoke about a teacher issue (discussed in a closed board session) with strangers in a restaurant/bar.