I assumed that there would be some copying and pasting going on when I saw the new “view” on my school board Facebook page. Nevertheless, I know what I said because I wrote it. And nothing that I wrote was untrue or inaccurate. As I stated in my 1st response to you, I fully support young people and innovation on the School Board. I ran on that campaign and will continue to support young people wanting to get involved in politics (especially in Granite City).
I’m also proud that as a group, the Board has addressed many of the issues that I brought up during my several campaigns. We have balanced the budget several years in a row, we have made advancements in technology in our District (such as new Chromebooks in elementary schools, etc.), and we have put in place policies and procedures that reform the hiring process so that there are multiple tiers of interviews so that we hire the very best employees. I think that a shift in mindset on the Board and the Administration made these improvements possible.
However, what you said in your initial posts had inaccuracies, and frankly made personal references to people, which is what I don’t appreciate. Rather than only making general statements, you attempted to say the ages of the Board Members, which you didn’t even bother to actually get. You also said that the only way Board Members leave is “feet first”. When’s the last time a sitting Board member died? The last several Board Members who vacated their seats did so on their own terms, which allowed new members to take their positions, exactly the opposite of your claim. Likewise, it seems that you are trying to make a correlation to age and years of service on the Board. In terms of new blood, I think we have a fairly “new” Board. Beverly has served many terms, Carolyn is at the end of her 2nd term, Kathy and I are in our 2nd term, Bill is at the end of his 1st term, and Tanja and Linda are both in their 1st terms. We also have a student school board member from the high school. My point is that we have a bit of diversity in terms of experience on the Board, which is a good thing (in my opinion). And that “newness” is only going to continue to grow.
As I stated in my original response to you, I only know of 1 of the 3 incumbents having filed a petition for re-election. If you want to know whether or not they are running, I would suggest that you pick up the phone and call them. Ask them about their time as a Board member, as your elected officials. Maybe they will talk to you into becoming a candidate yourself, if you aren’t already one.
I’m always free to chat via phone or email if you want. It might be helpful to put a name/face with a username. Based on your posts, it doesn’t seem that we disagree on how we want to see young people involved in politics.
on December 14, 2018, 7:01 am, in reply to "