Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

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Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby blackturtle.us » Thu Aug 09, 2012 8:17 pm

The meeting tonight got off to a late start. The board didn't show up to the open session until ten or fifteen minutes after six. Attendance was much better than normal. Items on the closed session agenda included Negotiation and Related Matters and Personnel.

1. Public Comments (there were lots):
a. Lana McCullar - Expressed concerns regarding non-reelection of a teacher. She stated that over 400 signatures were gathered in support of this individual. Requested a response from the board regarding this issue.
b. Sari (Sprouse) Flieshauer - Reported on summer sports camp. Also stated that she was planning to do research to see if it is possible to obtain a grant to replace the gymnasium floor.
c. Jayana Ledbetter - Expressed disappointment regarding a recent article that appeared in the Ridgecrest Daily Independent.
d. Sandra Sprouse - Disappointed in lack of professionalism by two board members. She stated that one board member publicly discussed criteria for selection of the new superintendent at a party he attended. Sprouse stated that the criteria for the selection of the superintendent were supposed to be kept private. She also stated that this board member worked for the water company. As for the second school board member, she said that he harassed two students, arguing with at least one of them regarding the non-reelection of a teacher issue. Sprouse also stated that she plans on running as a candidate for the school board in the November elections.
e. Sarah Ford - Stated that she recently graduated from THS and that she considers Sari Flieshauer to be an excellent teacher. She also expressed disappointment regarding a letter to the editor that recently appeared in the Ridgecrest Daily Independent. She then directly criticized Gary Hess who she said compared allegations made against Flieshauer to the recent controversial situation which occurred at Penn State. Ford explained that not only was Flieshauer accused of cussing and harassing students in the classroom, but there was also an accusation that she had been dating a high school student. She stated that the improper dating allegation was the result of a joke by a male student and that the San Bernardino Sheriff had investigated the matter and cleared Flieshauer of any wrong doing.
f. Brian Hotz - Claimed that Gary Hess had questioned and harassed him regarding the Sprouse situation while he was on duty as lifeguard at the school pool.

2. Superintendent's Report: David Olney listed a bunch of maintenance and repair projects taking place within the district. He talked some about damage from the recent storm, including roof damage and the uprooting of a mesquite tree (diameter at trunk of four and a half feet). He also talked at some length regarding the Common Core State Standards. He explained the implications of this shift in curriculum for the school and outlined how the school will implement these changes.

3. Assistant Football Coach - Olney stated that most schools with 8-man football do not employ an assistant football coach, but volunteers are allowed to participate in this capacity and that volunteer coaches will be allowed to ride with the team on the bus.

4. Child Development Program (Preschool) - The preschool program will be extended by a half hour so that its hours match those of kindergarten. This will cost the district $2200 for the school year.

Next Regular Meeting: September 13, 2012, 6:00 p.m.
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby cactuspete » Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:18 am

blackturtle.us wrote: e. Sarah Ford - Stated that she recently graduated from THS and that she considers Sari Flieshauer to be an excellent teacher. She also expressed disappointment regarding a letter to the editor that recently appeared in the Ridgecrest Daily Independent. She then directly criticized Gary Hess who she said compared allegations made against Flieshauer to the recent controversial situation which occurred at Penn State. Ford explained that not only was Flieshauer accused of cussing and harassing students in the classroom, but there was also an accusation that she had been dating a high school student. She stated that the improper dating allegation was the result of a joke by a male student and that the San Bernardino Sheriff had investigated the matter and cleared Flieshauer of any wrong doing.

Here's what Gary Hess said in his letter to the editor dated August 4th:
The students’ interests, all the students’ interests had to come first — their health and safety was a prime concern. Just ask officials at Penn State University about the possibly consequences of ignoring events. In order to protect all the parties involved (staff and students) everything cannot be made public, but I would be willing to discuss what I can with anyone, any time.

It is clearly an exaggeration to say that Hess compared the situation regarding Flieshauer to the Penn State incident. It's also a bit of a stretch to say that such a comparison was implied. A more reasonable interpretation of Hess' comment would simply be that the Penn State situation serves as a reminder that those involved in the governance of large institutions must be vigilant regarding small incidents which could develop into larger problems later on. I'm not defending Hess, just trying to be fair. As for Flieshauer the rumor I've heard is that she stepped on the toes of the office queens and that they manipulated events and spread misinformation in order to get her fired.
LINK: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20120804/OPINION/120809872/0/SEARCH
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby panamint_patty » Sat Aug 11, 2012 8:13 am

I found a couple of responses to the letter to the editor written by Hess. One addresses the Penn State reference in some detail:
Dr. Hess insists he made the right decision in voting to release Mrs. Sprouse, stating that students’ health and safety was a prime concern. He is referring to an investigation last school year, into allegations of sexual misconduct with a student. One THS student made several inappropriate jokes directed at Mrs. Sprouse, and rather than disciplining the student, school officials decided to investigate Mrs. Sprouse. Whether or not this investigation was the right thing, I am not confidant enough to say definitely either way. And while I hate sending a fellow student and close friend “under the bus”, I personally believe that the student should have been disciplined.

It does seem strange that the administrators at the school seem to blame the victim of the inappropriate jokes and do nothing to punish the perpetrator. I'm not saying that the male student who made the jokes is the equivalent of a rapist or that he should be required to register as a sex offender or anything like that, but the actions of the administration and school board send the message to students that they can get away with this sort of behavior and that it might even be a good way to get revenge against a teacher they don't like. So while the administration and school board might cluelessly believe that they have done something to nip a problem in the bud, what they have actually done is increase the probability that similar problems will crop up in the future.

The rebuttal to Hess continues:
Dr. Hess referred to the Pennsylvania State University scandal in his previous letter. The two situations presented here are as much different as dark is from light. The Penn State scandal involves a staff member sexually assaulting several children. The “Trona High School Scandal” involves a 16-year old student making inappropriate jokes, and the subject of these jokes has now wrongfully lost her job. All the while, our school board insists that it is to “protect student safety”.

Like I suggested earlier, the decision to remove the teacher has nothing to do with student safety, but, like CactusPete said, it does appear to have a lot to do with other people on the staff who apparently didn't like this non-reelected teacher.
LINK: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20120807/OPINION/120809808/0/SEARCH
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby MojaveMike » Sat Aug 11, 2012 10:05 am

Panamint_Patty mentioned two rebuttals to the letter by Hess. She only quoted from one of them and so I hunted down the other. Here's a little of what was said:
Gary Hess, a standing board member, stated in his letter to the editor on August 4th that he wanted to "move on and again put the students first," then why bring the touchy subject back up? The teacher and protesters went down silently? We've lost the battle there's nothing that can be done now, we understand that. You've hired a new social science teacher for goodness sake. Why stir up the pot yet again? Was that the last dagger or is there more to come? You want to hear from the students? You've got it, I promise as the President of the Trona High School student body I will provide you with all the "student interests" you want.

It appears that Hess ticked off the ASB president. Not that student body presidents usually have much power or influence, but it doesn't seem smart for a school board member to go around thumbing his nose at students at the high school. Apparently Hess is one of those people who just like to keep things exciting by stirring the pot every now and then.
:stirpot:
LINK: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20120807/OPINION/120809809/0/SEARCH
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby shadylady » Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:50 am

panamint_patty wrote:The decision to remove the teacher has nothing to do with student safety, but, like CactusPete said, it does appear to have a lot to do with other people on the staff who apparently didn't like this non-reelected teacher.

I tend to agree that the teacher in question was fired because of interpersonal conflicts with other staff members and that the joke about the student-teacher affair had little to do with it. BUT there is a lot of hysteria and moral panic around the issue of sexual abuse and so I wouldn't discount that possibility. BTW, there's a thread on moral panics on this board somewhere which contains some pretty good posts. School administrators are so worried about lawsuits and that sort of thing that they are likely to play it safe even if playing it safe means dismissing an effective teacher. Sorry, but that's the world we live in and which we allow to persist!
:violin:
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby pcslim » Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:40 am

shadylady wrote:
panamint_patty wrote:The decision to remove the teacher has nothing to do with student safety, but, like CactusPete said, it does appear to have a lot to do with other people on the staff who apparently didn't like this non-reelected teacher.

I tend to agree that the teacher in question was fired because of interpersonal conflicts with other staff members and that the joke about the student-teacher affair had little to do with it. BUT there is a lot of hysteria and moral panic around the issue of sexual abuse and so I wouldn't discount that possibility. BTW, there's a thread on moral panics on this board somewhere which contains some pretty good posts. School administrators are so worried about lawsuits and that sort of thing that they are likely to play it safe even if playing it safe means dismissing an effective teacher. Sorry, but that's the world we live in and which we allow to persist!
:violin:

I believe that the thread you're referring to (pertaining to the topic of moral panics) would be this one:
Technopanics and Other Unfounded Fears
It was started by a user called desertalert911. Haven't seen that user around for a long time!
:tumbleweed:
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby wildrose » Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:09 am

Filing period extended for most local election races
Looks like there are four candidates and two seats to fill. Anyone have any info on the backgrounds of these individuals?
:?: :?: :?: :?:
On the Trona School Board, Incumbent Bob Wilhelm and challengers Samantha MacLean, Karin Siegle and Sandra Sprouse are running for two open seats. Incumbent Dr. Gary Hess is not seeking re-election.

LINK: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20120814/NEWS/120819925/0/SEARCH
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby MRGREEN » Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:53 pm

panamint_patty wrote:It does seem strange that the administrators at the school seem to blame the victim of the inappropriate jokes and do nothing to punish the perpetrator. I'm not saying that the male student who made the jokes is the equivalent of a rapist or that he should be required to register as a sex offender or anything like that, but the actions of the administration and school board send the message to students that they can get away with this sort of behavior and that it might even be a good way to get revenge against a teacher they don't like. So while the administration and school board might cluelessly believe that they have done something to nip a problem in the bud, what they have actually done is increase the probability that similar problems will crop up in the future.

I've heard a lot about this situation this last week and so I'm going to make two points:
1) It is reasonable to construe the student's joke as sexual harassment. It fits the legal definition, but I think it would be overly harsh to actually charge the kid with anything since there was no harm intended. However, in our politically correct society individuals are supposed to be "sensitive" of these issues and this boy (I'm assuming it's a boy and that no lesbian relationship was joked about) obviously wasn't aware or chose to ignore the expectations of narrow-minded prudes who frown on such jokes.
2) In order to construe a joke as a reasonable basis for involving the legal authorities it would be necessary that an individual making such a call either be incredibly stupid or have an axe to grind. I'm guessing that it was the second option since it's hard to imagine someone being cognitively deficient to such an extreme extent. So, it would appear that someone took advantage of rumors about the joke and used these rumors as an excuse to get back at someone they didn't like. Other posts suggest that the teacher who was fired had offended other people on the staff and so it looks like someone on the staff is a vindictive a$$h*le!!! The "office queens" were mentioned as likely suspects, but ultimately this is kind of like one of those whodunnit mysteries and we may never know who the real culprit was thanks to law enforcement protecting the identity of anonymous tipsters!
:nono:
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby wildrose » Sat Aug 18, 2012 8:25 am

Team Sprouse? :confused2:
Apparently there's another side to this story. Not everyone feels that this teacher was mistreated. I dug around a little on the Daily Insufficient website and found this:
If you are not on “Team Sprouse,” then you better get out of the way. If you think I am exaggerating go ahead and ask any parent, teacher or student who does not care to be a part of this group. This teacher has a serious anger problem, administration had to get in the middle of her and a student when she was literally inches from his face screaming at him while he was asking her quietly to please step away.

And then there's this:
Many of us in the community DO NOT support Sar Sprouse, but when she shows up at our door demanding we sign a petition for her to keep her job what are we suppose to do, it puts us in a very awkward situation. This is a small town and if we speak up we have the Spouses’ and Garrisons’ to deal with and it just is not worth the headache or the backlash from sharing an opposing opinion.

LINK: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20120530/NEWS/305309991/0/SEARCH
ALSO: http://djuhsd.csbaagendaonline.net/cgi-bin/WebObjects/djuhsd-eAgenda.woa/wa/displayMeeting?meetingID=326
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby mrfish » Sun Aug 19, 2012 8:22 am

Responding to LTE about Sari Sprouse
This letter was a response to the previous letter. Here are a couple excerpts:
Have you personally sat in on any of her classes, or are you receiving secondhand information from disgruntled student and co-workers? Are any of your accusations based on actual facts?

Hmmm... The fact that there are enough disgruntled students and co-workers to get the attention of the school board would seem to indicate that there is something wrong. Most teachers make a few people mad, but from the sounds of things this teacher managed to piss a whole bunch of people off and she wasn't even around very long. In any case, the first letter seems to refer to actual events which indicate that Sprouse had acted in an unprofessional manner.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and if you feel that you are in the minority and not on Team Sprouse, good for you, but you should not condemn or defame those who do not agree with you.

Yes, but all the person who wrote the previous letter did was state their opinion and provide some evidence. No one was defamed. It may be the case that Sprouse has some talent as a teacher, but it seems difficult to deny that she has some issues, unless of course everyone is just out to get her, which doesn't seem to be the case. She's almost certainly not the world's greatest teacher and she's probably not all that bad either, but considering all the teachers who have been laid off over the years (a couple have even gone on to become superintendent and principal in Ridgecrest), it seems strange that such a big ruckus is being made over this one!
:rolleyes2:
LINK: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20120601/NEWS/306019985/
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby cactuspete » Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:56 am

Fighting truancy by fining kids $75
This sounds like an EXCELLENT idea to me!
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Re: Trona Board Meeting - August 09, 2012

Postby wildrose » Sat Aug 25, 2012 7:14 am

High School Cancels Demeaning Costume Event
Anything involving race tends to be a touchy subject. Even when school officials hold an event intended to improve race relations things can get twisted around so that exactly the opposite becomes the unintended outcome. Just goes to show that you can't really teach tolerance. It's something people must decide for themselves to become or not to become.
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