I don't know why she thinks posting on my blog will let the administration know of her complaints. Nobody says they even read it. Too busy with pencils and papers and such.
Lori D'Amico I am sure the SC and district wishes I would just drop this and ignore their non-compliance, but I absolutely will not! I sent the following email yesterday to the school committee:
As I have mentioned before, I believe school council meeting minutes should be available and accessible to all parents and the community without having to submit a formal public records request and possibly being charged fees. Since Dr. Latham currently does not make these minutes available to parents and the community without a formal public records request, I am requesting the information from you, the school committee.
According to the policy, "the Superintendent shall receive agendas and minutes of all school council meetings. The Superintendent shall provide copies of these materials to members of the School Committee for information." Therefore, each of you should have copies of all the minutes from every school council meeting that has taken place this school year. However, I am only requesting the minutes, not the agendas, from the first school council meeting that each and every school (all 25 schools) had this school year.
If you are not willing to provide me with this information without submitting a formal public records request to Dr. Latham, please let me know by Tuesday, January 28.
I have to say Stan, your blog is probably the only one out there that no one reads, but everyone knows what has been written. Funny how that happens! Thank you for sharing my email. I will let you know if the school committee was willing to provide a parent with the information, or if a public records request was required and if any fees were charged.
ReplyDeleteNot to my surprise, only ONE school committee member responded. I was informed that the superintendent has not forwarded any of the agendas and minutes to the school committee as is required by the LPS policy. LPS doesn't even follow their own policies, imagine that!! As expected, I did have to submit a public records request for the information. However, I won't know if there are any fees until probably the 9th or 10th day. Dr. Latham has 10 days per the public records law to send me a response in writing and she typically waits until the very last minute to do so.
ReplyDeleteYou waste her time and cost all of us tax payers money with your demands .
ReplyDeleteCouldyou please tell me howit is awaste of time to demand that the LAW be followed. The real waste of time and money is the fact that the law is IGNORED by choice.
DeleteExplain how expecting the superintendent of a public school district to follow state and federal laws is wasting taxpayers money? One could argue, however, that the $111,000 per year that is paid to the district's compliance officer is wasted money, since the district is not fully compliant in many areas, school councils being just one of them.
DeleteIt's probably seen as a waste because there is a whole group of "they" who are complicit in what she does and in fact applaud the ways that she skirts the issues and rides the crest of the line of demarcation between somewhat illegal and totally likely to be sued illegal.
DeleteThe "they" that keep her all pumped up to keep on doing things they way she does them clearly think that you are wasting your time to even think that you will be effective in pursuing your concerns -- week after week Stanley writes about closing out parents, minorities, etc., etc.; he's only their "inside outsider" so that they can keep an eye on him and the dissidents he attracts here -- they'll just wait you out (and him actually too) till your kids graduate and their system continues "as is."
Well, I guess we will see, but she wasn't able to wait out the translation and interpretation issue. The OCR came knocking at her door last year and they haven't left. Don't be surprised if the DESE and AGO are the next ones to come knocking. It can be a very long and frustrating process, but change will come. Luckily I am somewhat patient and extremely persistent.
DeletePatientand persistent, huh? Translation- Pain in the ---.Well, at least I won't be the only one with a target on their back.
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