APS School Board, what are they thinking?

The APS School Board is sitting on a petition submitted by the Citizens Advisory Council on Communication.

They're not talking about it because their position on the Petition is indefensible. The only defense for an indefensible position is to hide it. They are stonewalling.

If you push them hard enough in public, they'll talk about it but don't make much sense. Board Member David Robbins for example, expressed his concern that if the Board gives due process to the CACoC petition and petitioners, he would have to do it for everybody, and might end up with 35 meetings a month.

If you read the petition, link, you will find no petition for any meetings with the board at all. We ask for;

1. The assignment of a senior administrator having firsthand experience with previous councils, to act as a temporary liaison between our group and the leadership of the APS.

2. A presentation and “workshop” conducted by the aforementioned administrator and staff, on forming successful and productive Citizens Advisory Councils.

3. Publication on the District website, of all records pertaining to previous councils; including but not limited to agendas, minutes, membership lists, publications and newsletters.

4. Access to one of the District’s community rooms for meetings outside the workday and perhaps the work week.

5. The provision of independent professional facilitators to run and record meetings including District assistance in making audio and video recordings of the meetings for posting on its website; much as is done with regular school board meetings.

Where in there does it say, we want to be on David Robbins' schedule?

Board Member Kathy Korte attacked the Petition tangentially. She spoke for some time about how few parents participate in schools. Then she tied the denial of due process for the Petition to the difficulty in finding parents who are willing to serve on committees and councils.

Where in the Petition did we ask Korte for help in building our membership?

Thank you very much Ms Korte, but our problem is not that we are short on participating members. We have more than enough people to;

"facilitate open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community members they serve."

Our biggest problem; the only thing keeping us from "facilitating open and honest two-way communication" is the manifest unwillingness of the Board to give due process to a legitimate petition and more than a hundred petitioners.




photos Mark Bralley