Posts
Fire Down Below.
Read Yesterday's Post.
Also:
Response to Herald-Dispatch reporter's questions by Karen Rucker, parent of a SVHS student:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: the Todd Thompson situation
Bill,
To answer your specific question -
Everyone's top concern is the safety of the students at Spring Valley. Period. There's also the very real issue of the safety of the administrators, faculty & staff there. Unfortunately, that's not the only concern. There are so many.
As regards the numerous, more or less continuous, infractions over a long period of time, any one of which Mr. Thompson could have and should have been terminated for - the infractions that involve students and photos of students, actively seeking both positive and negative interaction with students which is certainly not appropriate to his job, and frequent unstable, angry, threatening behavior and the appearance of being under the influence while on campus are certainly intense issues, too.
I think everyone fears the obvious - an attack on or at the school by a mentally unstable person. My deepest fear though is what might happen if a parent or even a student feels provoked or threatened enough to take matters into their own hands. No matter how justified, think of the tragedy that would fall upon that person or that family. The community. They would never be the same, their lives would be ruined, changed forever.
And essentially, because a bunch of big-feeling suits sitting on a hill chose over and over not to act. And I do mean over and over. The situation with Spring Valley is small potatoes to them, the tip of an iceberg when you look at the bigger picture of the current situation at the Central Office and with the Wayne County Board of Education.
This community, and every community in our entire County, are so used to things being wrong. You become numb to it. People fear for their jobs. Grievance procedures become irrelevant if everyone is afraid to use them. The entire system is flawed, fatally in my opinion. Some things are just wrong, freestanding, and should be remedied, independent of an individual having to push an issue. This extends far past the issues at Spring Valley.
Perhaps the Central Office has always been a "way of life", an odd highly-entitled mentality/mind-set, a little prone to perks & graft & favors & retaliations rather than the best, brightest, hardest working people getting moved into the most crucial positions, not to say there aren't good people working at Wayne.
Everyone knows someone or has family or friends who work for the Board of Education. It is a family thing. And that can be a great thing. Our schools are kept running by people who have known three or four generations, front and back. So many good people. Good at their jobs. Working hard every day. But I have had person after person, some retiring sooner than they would have, from all over the county, people I've known a long time, say this is the worst they have ever seen in their 30, 35, 40 years in the system, incredibly flagrant, arrogant, heavyhanded abuse of power, hiring, trips, spending, spending, spending, cover-ups, countywide.
I think it is very simple. No one in the county wants that much. They simply want the people they have elected and especially the people whose salaries they pay with their tax dollars, to do the right thing. And if there's any question, I think the people of Wayne County would be glad to let them know exactly what the right thing is, any given day.
To answer your specific question -
Everyone's top concern is the safety of the students at Spring Valley. Period. There's also the very real issue of the safety of the administrators, faculty & staff there. Unfortunately, that's not the only concern. There are so many.
As regards the numerous, more or less continuous, infractions over a long period of time, any one of which Mr. Thompson could have and should have been terminated for - the infractions that involve students and photos of students, actively seeking both positive and negative interaction with students which is certainly not appropriate to his job, and frequent unstable, angry, threatening behavior and the appearance of being under the influence while on campus are certainly intense issues, too.
I think everyone fears the obvious - an attack on or at the school by a mentally unstable person. My deepest fear though is what might happen if a parent or even a student feels provoked or threatened enough to take matters into their own hands. No matter how justified, think of the tragedy that would fall upon that person or that family. The community. They would never be the same, their lives would be ruined, changed forever.
And essentially, because a bunch of big-feeling suits sitting on a hill chose over and over not to act. And I do mean over and over. The situation with Spring Valley is small potatoes to them, the tip of an iceberg when you look at the bigger picture of the current situation at the Central Office and with the Wayne County Board of Education.
This community, and every community in our entire County, are so used to things being wrong. You become numb to it. People fear for their jobs. Grievance procedures become irrelevant if everyone is afraid to use them. The entire system is flawed, fatally in my opinion. Some things are just wrong, freestanding, and should be remedied, independent of an individual having to push an issue. This extends far past the issues at Spring Valley.
Perhaps the Central Office has always been a "way of life", an odd highly-entitled mentality/mind-set, a little prone to perks & graft & favors & retaliations rather than the best, brightest, hardest working people getting moved into the most crucial positions, not to say there aren't good people working at Wayne.
Everyone knows someone or has family or friends who work for the Board of Education. It is a family thing. And that can be a great thing. Our schools are kept running by people who have known three or four generations, front and back. So many good people. Good at their jobs. Working hard every day. But I have had person after person, some retiring sooner than they would have, from all over the county, people I've known a long time, say this is the worst they have ever seen in their 30, 35, 40 years in the system, incredibly flagrant, arrogant, heavyhanded abuse of power, hiring, trips, spending, spending, spending, cover-ups, countywide.
I think it is very simple. No one in the county wants that much. They simply want the people they have elected and especially the people whose salaries they pay with their tax dollars, to do the right thing. And if there's any question, I think the people of Wayne County would be glad to let them know exactly what the right thing is, any given day.
Thanks,
Karen Rucker
2 comments:
Although you may have legitimate concerns and complaints they are severely being under minded by the language and color commentary you’ve insisted on using over and over again when describing the Central Office Administration and Board of Education.
Your words are highly inflammatory and deceptive! You vilify Mr. Adkins, Mr. Rutherford, and The Board of Education members with malicious and abusive statements. Behaving in this manner reduces the validity of your argument and detracts from resolving the issues at hand. Furthermore, it works against the legitimate concerns and complaints of the people you claim to represent!
You are continually adding to the emotional instability surrounding this situation and the unstable learning environment for all concerned at SVHS. The only way this situation can be resolved to anyone’s satisfaction is legally, not in an extreme state of emotion or hysteria (“a state of extreme or exaggerated emotion such as excitement or panic, especially among large numbers of people”, “media hysteria about the latest scandals”).
The Administration and Board of Education have been working diligently on this issue. However, the Administration, Board Attorney, and Board of Education cannot act upon inflammatory statements, requests, or notifications may by you or any other individuals. They must act upon hard evidence, they must rely upon the law and the law enforcement agencies to investigate and take action!
With these highly defamatory statements and half-truths concerning the Wayne County Board of Education your motives are now in question. Are you using this blog and the issues, mainly the issue at SVHS as a retaliatory weapon, to slam the Central Office Administration and The Board of Education?
Your ethical obligations include accurately informing the public and treating subjects of your blogs fairly. Just state the facts, you do not have the right to use this blog and hide behind the freedom of speech to say anything you want in any manner.
What you are doing now can be looked at under the microscope to see if you are violating another individual’s rights with these posts! How do you let others know about problems you’ve encountered when blogging? The answer: with accuracy, restraint, patience, and great care. Bottom line: If you’re seeing red, be very careful about what you post in black and white.
Dear "JD"
I moved your comment and my response to it out on the main page. We certainly want everything to honest, above-board, and out in the open, don't we?
Yours truly,
Karen Rucker
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