Latest / Aired Out / Local parents speak up on the Central Vermont Supervisory Union's issues

Transcript

Local parents speak up on the Central Vermont Supervisory Union's issues · Aired Out

• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Is it to take.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: An all right weekends over?
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: It is a brand new day. It is a new
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: week that is smack in front of us, and I
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: hope you have to a good start. Thanks for catching
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Central from podcast aired out from Flying the Wall Productions,
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: North Main Street in Berry, streamed everywhere you get your
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: podcasts and on the web at airedoutvt dot com. A
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: big shout out to Rex and Ed yesterday kicking off
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: philosophy and Fighting at UFAI and Burlington. Great job boys,
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: More to come every Sunday afternoon around one thirty or so.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: We're looking at cloudy skies today, a little bit warmer
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: around sixty I might even say a lot warmer. Tonight
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: gonna be a chilly one. Great great forecast for the sugars.
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: We'll get down right about that freezing point. And then
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: tomorrow rain and fifty Wednesday, same story, and by Thursday
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: mostly cloudy and around forty two. Might get a little
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: bit of rain and snow mixed by Friday, but it
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: should be all rain by the afternoon. I hope you
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: off to a great start. As I said, a brand
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: new day, It is a new week right in front
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: of us this morning. I have a couple of guests
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  Speaker 3: on Chelsea Megan, Becca, welcome to aired Out, And I
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: purposely kind of didn't really pre promote heavily what I
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: was going to be doing this morning, and I have
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: good reason for that, because we're going to be discussing
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: something that is probably going to hit a nerve in
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: our community, at least parts of it, and I think
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: from a relatability standpoint, we're also going to be connecting
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: in with a good number of people who can feel
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: your concern. I think the the objective this morning, above
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: all things, is to affect some change and tell your story,
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: your version of what you are experiencing at our two schools,
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: Washington Village School and Echo Valley. All three of you
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: are parents with kids in both schools. Between the three
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: of you, Becka, let's start with you. Tell us you're
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: you're on the PTO, tell us what what's what's going on?
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Because I've been hearing a lot of stuff about these
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: two schools, and I think we would all probably agree
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: that there's no perfect school anywhere in the country. I mean,
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: come on, but there's I've been hearing from so many
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: people over the course of I don't know at least
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: a month, and I think I think some of that
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: was coming from you, Chelsea, that you were like, hey,
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: are you are you aware of this of what's going on.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: There's some real dysfunction, for lack of a better term,
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: that's that's happening. What's going on, Becka tell Us tell
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: us begin this morning.
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: So it is a very long, dramatic story, but it
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: tends to boil down to a lot of the community
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: in Washington is Orange in and Orange has lost all
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: trust in our superintendent. We've had to deal with him
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: for many years, and at this point there is a
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: lot of shady behavior, lies, deception, favoritism, and it's genuinely
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: resulting in a lot of kids hating school, having behavioral
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: issues because they don't feel safe, and so many kids
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: are being pulled to.
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: Homeschool, mine included.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: And I genuinely think that the actions of the superintendent
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: are going to cause our little schools to close.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: Yes, that's a big statement right now.
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: It is wow, I agree, though.
• 5:47
  Speaker 6: I mean, the number of students that we've lost even
• 5:50
  Speaker 6: since December is huge. Some of them were resulting from
• 5:55
  Speaker 6: some administrative things with our principal. Some of them are
• 5:58
  Speaker 6: bigger than that. Even at the middle school. My sixth
• 6:02
  Speaker 6: grader has been pulled since Thanksgiving and she is one
• 6:07
  Speaker 6: of at least four in her class that's been pulled,
• 6:11
  Speaker 6: whether to be homeschooled or to a private school.
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: And that's out of one class.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: Okay, Megan, what's your story.
• 6:21
  Speaker 7: My kids are still bold currently at Washington Village School.
• 6:26
  Speaker 8: If I could pull them, I would.
• 6:28
  Speaker 7: At this point, we're looking into private school for next year.
• 6:34
  Speaker 7: They're just not receiving the services and the support that
• 6:38
  Speaker 7: they need. I feel like I've had to fight going
• 6:42
  Speaker 7: to board meetings over and over again for my children
• 6:45
  Speaker 7: to get help.
• 6:46
  Speaker 8: My youngest has had multiple behavioral.
• 6:48
  Speaker 7: Issues that just you know, are out of his A
• 6:50
  Speaker 7: lot of them are out of his control just from
• 6:52
  Speaker 7: family stuff going on, but we haven't had the support
• 6:55
  Speaker 7: that he needs at the school, so things have just escalated.
• 6:59
  Speaker 8: More and more.
• 7:02
  Speaker 7: And I mean, things are getting a little bit better
• 7:04
  Speaker 7: with him right now just because I've gotten outside help.
• 7:10
  Speaker 8: But then I'm having you know, like my.
• 7:12
  Speaker 7: Oldest, there's services that he should be receiving there that
• 7:15
  Speaker 7: he's not, so I take him out as well. And
• 7:19
  Speaker 7: then just everything with what we went through with our
• 7:22
  Speaker 7: principal and.
• 7:25
  Speaker 8: The fighting to try to keep her and.
• 7:29
  Speaker 7: Just saw the backlash from everything to this is Katie Green?
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: All right? She's the principal now? Yes, Yes, came back
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: when not long.
• 7:39
  Speaker 8: Ago, during February break.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: All right, So she's driving the bus here for the
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: rest of the school year.
• 7:47
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: Will she be back next year.
• 7:50
  Speaker 7: That's undetermined. I think at this point they're trying to
• 7:53
  Speaker 7: hire another principle. I'm not sure if she is reapplying
• 7:58
  Speaker 7: or not.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: Just so they're they're vetting some candidates here, yes, all right,
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: how's that vetiting? That vetting coming along?
• 8:07
  Speaker 6: I think application deadline starts.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: The first qualified candidates.
• 8:15
  Speaker 6: I haven't heard if there's any candidates at this point.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: Beca. I see the look on your face.
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: At this point, they are so late into the what
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: what they call like the hiring season for principles that
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: the candidates we are getting are not not going to
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: do well.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: All right? So why are we not? Just why why
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: why can't we just keep Katie Green at the wheel here?
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: So Katie Green, before she became interim principal, she was
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: a teacher at the school. Good, good person, amazing, amazing.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: Good principal. Yes, good teacher.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: Yes, and all of our children have had her. So
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: at the end of last school year we had a
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: different principle. He ended up resigning due to some legal issues,
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: and that was he resigned. I think it was like
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: a week before school ended, so there was no real
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: time to find a different principle or go through a
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: hiring process.
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: Katie applied for it as.
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: An interim and got the position. We started out this
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: year and she genuinely was doing an amazing job. She
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: is the best principle that I've ever had experience with,
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: and I think between I think over the past six years,
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: she's our fourth principle since my oldest started preschool. She's
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: the fourth principle that we have had and the only
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: one that I've had a good experience with. And then
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: in December, I think it was November, she was We
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: all got an email one day saying that she was
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: being put on leave. There was no explanation, there was
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: no reasoning, there was no who's taking over, it.
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: Was just she's gone.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: Well was the source of that email.
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: Fetters had emails superintendent.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: Yes, all right, okay, so.
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: We all, I think like seventy five community members showed
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: up at a board meeting in December in a snowstorm
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: to show our support for her, and we were never
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: fully told why she was put on leave. At that point,
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: we did find out that it was a paperworkissue that
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: someone else had filled out paperwork. She gave it to
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: the superintendent and said should I send this inky? And
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: there was inconsistencies on it, and the superintendent who approved
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: this paperwork said it's her fault.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: All right. Have you guys been in touch with with Katie?
• 11:10
  Speaker 5: I have, just because I still work with her for
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: the PTO.
• 11:14
  Speaker 7: I mean I have because my kids are still there
• 11:16
  Speaker 7: and dealing with other issues and stuff.
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: Is she able to enlighten any of you.
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: No, No, she's definitely just trying to be the best
• 11:28
  Speaker 6: principle that she can be and get through the school year.
• 11:33
  Speaker 7: I mean, she was there the first day greeting all
• 11:35
  Speaker 7: the kids back at the front door with hugs, and
• 11:38
  Speaker 7: you know, every almost every student went up and hugged
• 11:41
  Speaker 7: her when she came back.
• 11:42
  Speaker 8: They were so excited to have her back.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: Okay, So I mean, you know, I mean there's like
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: I said when we first started chatting, there's clicks everywhere.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: I mean every school's got them, you know, and they
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: have some of them are very internal and kept quite
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: at bay and private, but it's it seems like there's
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: there's been some momentum in these schools where things have
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: are really starting to surface here and frankly smell mm hmm,
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: and a lot of our community is getting with of it.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: So what's the deal with this? What? What? What's going on?
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: Is it? Is it the superintendent and his uh followers
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: supporters that are going against certain teachers, certain parents. It's
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: a lot of is it philosophical differences? What? What? What's
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: going on?
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: It's kind of hard because there's definitely, like so many
• 12:59
  Speaker 6: pieces to the that not everyone sees the same way
• 13:04
  Speaker 6: as even we do, which that's great, But the root
• 13:07
  Speaker 6: of everything is the superintendent and he's got certain people
• 13:12
  Speaker 6: that are following him. But even then, like we have
• 13:15
  Speaker 6: teachers that stood up and supported Katie Green publicly as
• 13:22
  Speaker 6: part of that same board meeting with during a snowstorm,
• 13:26
  Speaker 6: but now they're the same ones that are standing up
• 13:28
  Speaker 6: and supporting him and his decisions and going against the board.
• 13:34
  Speaker 6: I feel like our school board right now is being
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: attacked for trying to listen to parents and try to
• 13:40
  Speaker 6: do things thoroughly rather than be handed things last minute
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: and just expected to sign it because that's what the
• 13:47
  Speaker 6: superintendent says they should do.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: So there's some allegiance stuff that's going on, there's some
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: loyalty stuff that's that's going on here. There's some game
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: playing that's happening, looking out for your own ass more than.
• 14:05
  Speaker 7: We had one board meeting where it was all legal
• 14:07
  Speaker 7: counsel telling us basically what can be said and what
• 14:10
  Speaker 7: can't be said, and how things are supposed to proceed.
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: And there's been some rather contentious board meetings lately. Tell
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: me about some of those.
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: I think.
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: I think our board is at a point where they
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: have spent months and months and months listening to all
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: of these parents' concerns. They have received complaints against the superintendent,
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: They've received complaints against certain teachers. They are genuinely listening
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: to their community and asking questions, and Fetters is standing
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: there say they should do. Yes, they absolutely should do.
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: And Fetters is sitting there going, oh, well, you don't
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: get to make those decisions because you're just the school board.
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: You make the policies. I handle all.
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: The decisions, And I think we're at a point where
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: Fetters is breaking school policies. The board is stepping in,
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: and we have one school board member that is posting
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: all over front porch forum his allegiance to the superintendent
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: rather than listening to community members and realizing something is
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: going wrong.
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: One board member doing that. Yes, okay, how active is
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: that board member?
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: He hasn't been to a board meeting in person at
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: least the last four or five of them, which is
• 15:52
  Speaker 6: starting to bother some of the other board members. It's
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: starting to bother the community members. He's always on zoom.
• 16:00
  Speaker 6: But then he goes on front porch for him and
• 16:02
  Speaker 6: makes these really bold posts that multiple parents have brought
• 16:06
  Speaker 6: up at other board meetings and said, like, this is
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: breaking your board policy. In just last year, we had
• 16:14
  Speaker 6: our board chair get in trouble for posting on Facebook
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: simply asking like if parents felt the communication was strong
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: enough and then that was going against board protocols and
• 16:25
  Speaker 6: she almost got in trouble. But he can go on
• 16:28
  Speaker 6: front porch for him and say very very bold.
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: Things, including calling the group of people that have spoken
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: out against vetters vocal but relatively small and less than
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: one percent of our community, and urged the other parts
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: of our.
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: Community to not oh what was it don't take essentially
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: people being loud for consensus.
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: What do you think I'll get as a reaction if
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: I reach out and invite a microphone to anyone on
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: the board.
• 17:13
  Speaker 6: I don't think they can speak.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: They cannot, and that is against the board protocols. Is
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: they cannot speak out publicly on any of this.
• 17:27
  Speaker 5: They cannot as.
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: An individual speak out on any board matters. Which is
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: why we found such an issue with this one member
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: posting all over front porch forum because the number one
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: protocol is that you are speaking for all children, but
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: this person only wants to speak for selective ones that
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: fit his agenda.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: What do we do about this? I mean, this has
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: created a whole hell of a lot of stress.
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: It has.
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: It's created a lot of stress for the community, for parents,
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: for teachers. There's a lot of teachers that cannot say
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: publicly but they do not agree with Fetters and what
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: he is doing. They are being harassed, they are being threatened,
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: their jobs are being threatened, so they can't speak up.
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: And I fear that we are at a point where
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: teachers are going to start quitting.
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: Chelsea, how has this changed your life? You've had to
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: pull your sixth grader, What has that done to your
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: work life?
• 18:50
  Speaker 6: I mean I work from home, so it hasn't really
• 18:54
  Speaker 6: affected that. It's affected like our stress level is a
• 18:59
  Speaker 6: huge thing. Had the younger two home for a while
• 19:01
  Speaker 6: as well during the interim period, because again I don't
• 19:07
  Speaker 6: feel comfortable with our superintendent, so when he was acting
• 19:10
  Speaker 6: principal at the school, I said, there was no way
• 19:12
  Speaker 6: my kids were going to be there. It helped us
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: learn a lot about our kids and where they're at
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: and what works for them and what doesn't. And for
• 19:22
  Speaker 6: my sixth grader that is still home, it has been
• 19:24
  Speaker 6: the absolute best decision we could have made for her.
• 19:27
  Speaker 6: She was really struggling. She has been struggling for a
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: while with like social emotional issues within her class. But
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: the fact that it took me pulling her and then
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: even then, I still haven't been heard on what it was.
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: I was told repetitively by our superintendent. I hear what
• 19:49
  Speaker 6: you're saying, I'm working on it. I got to wait
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: and hear from this person or that person, and then
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: we'll come up with a plan. Once all was said
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: and done, he was like, nope, I made it an
• 20:00
  Speaker 6: administrative decision. This is how it's going to be. And
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: while to some people it sounds really petty, for us,
• 20:08
  Speaker 6: it was a big deal. And yes it did initially
• 20:10
  Speaker 6: start with basketball. For her, for basketball has been what
• 20:15
  Speaker 6: is important. It's what helps her get through the day
• 20:17
  Speaker 6: and get through dealing with her stress. So when that
• 20:22
  Speaker 6: was I don't even know the word. It wasn't threatened
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: because she could have still played, but it was being
• 20:29
  Speaker 6: changed last minute for her, we had no decision but
• 20:36
  Speaker 6: to pull her out of that.
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: And making your second and fourth graders are still at
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: Washington Village School and that's hasn't been the best.
• 20:52
  Speaker 7: Oh, definitely not. But I am definitely not somebody that
• 20:54
  Speaker 7: can homeschool my children. We're looking into alternatives maybe for
• 20:59
  Speaker 7: next year if things continue.
• 21:01
  Speaker 8: The way they are.
• 21:03
  Speaker 7: But I know that, like I'm not even working right
• 21:06
  Speaker 7: now because I'm on a medical leave, but like I'm
• 21:11
  Speaker 7: exhausted just dealing with this stuff. It's definitely not helping
• 21:15
  Speaker 7: my mental health, it's not helping my stress levels. I
• 21:20
  Speaker 7: just want what's best for my children, bottomly, and that
• 21:24
  Speaker 7: is not happening right now.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's where the buck stops is with the kids.
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: And Becca, you and d have been very involved with sports. Yes,
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: running the Yes.
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: Me and two of my best friends realized we don't
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: have elementary school sports. No one wants to do this,
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: and we said, we want our kids to be able
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: to have that in their community.
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: So we started a youth sports room.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: How's that going. It's it's going great, okay, And these
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: kids need an outlet.
• 22:06
  Speaker 5: They really do, they really really do.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: But you you've resorted to pulling your seven and nine
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: year old second, second and fourth grade.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: Yes, we pulled them in January, when Fetters had sent
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: letters home saying that he would be replacing Katie's principal
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: position with himself. We made the decision that we did
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: not want our kids in physically in a school that
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: he would be in every day. With the behavior issues
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: that had been going on, I did not trust that
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: he would handle it. I did not trust that it
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: would not escalate to a dangerous level. So we pulled
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: our kids and it was extremely eye opening. I mean,
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: our kids went from they'd get home at the end
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: of the day and just they needed twenty minutes to
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: themselves in a quiet room, or they'd come home crying
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: because like.
• 23:07
  Speaker 5: This kid threw a chair.
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: Today, we had to leave our classroom again because somebody
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: was throwing a fit, like one of our children was
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: being like dealing with a bully and nothing was being done.
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: And they went from stressed, over stimulated to they're genuinely happy.
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: Like they sit, they do their work. They love being homeschooled.
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: They get to have more control over their environment, and
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: it has made the biggest difference things that they quote
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: unquote had been struggling with at school. All of a sudden,
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: there weeks and weeks ahead of.
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: Where their previous classmates had been.
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: What if you had to do to change your life
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: to make sure that this is happening.
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: So I have been a stay at home mom since
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: the girls were born, but it has definitely been an
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: adjustment because once they were both in school full time,
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: you know, we very much had talked like I needed
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: to go back to work, I needed to find something
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: outside of the house, and all of that has been paused.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: So I am very, very very fortunate to be able
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: to stay home and homeschool them. But it is not
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: without stress and sacrifice. But it's for my kids. I
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: wouldn't change it.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: You had to make this decision and what was what
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: was in their best interest. Yeah, bottom line, not your
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: best interest.
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: Theirs theirs?
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, second and fourth grade. Wow, that's a handful right there.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: What are you hoping next year's school years kind of
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: look like? Are you hoping that the kids will be
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: back in school?
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: So we originally had planned that once Katie returned, we
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: were going to, like Chelsea did, put ours back in
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: the school, because I have full trust in her to
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: handle everything, like we've dealt with her for many, many years,
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: and she handled bullying issues, behavioral issues just perfectly. And
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: then once I realized how much stress that school was
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: causing for my kids, I couldn't.
• 25:43
  Speaker 5: I couldn't send them back in good conscience. I couldn't.
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: I love their teachers, I love Katie, but it has
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: become such a stressful, toxic environment that I could.
• 25:55
  Speaker 5: Not send them back.
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: D What are you saying about all this?
• 26:05
  Speaker 9: Yeah, it's uh, it's definitely been something. I the the
• 26:13
  Speaker 9: amount of issues that went on at that school before
• 26:16
  Speaker 9: we pulled the kids, and just over the past couple
• 26:19
  Speaker 9: of years, the issues that we've had, I don't. I
• 26:25
  Speaker 9: don't get how that functions. Like granted I I went
• 26:31
  Speaker 9: to school quite a few years ago, but it wasn't
• 26:34
  Speaker 9: like this when I when I was younger. I don't
• 26:36
  Speaker 9: think the amount of stuff that they're allowing kids to
• 26:42
  Speaker 9: do and get away with as far as like the
• 26:46
  Speaker 9: bullying and stuff that's i mean, not accepted, but it's
• 26:51
  Speaker 9: dealt with so differently that kids aren't necessarily getting in
• 26:54
  Speaker 9: trouble for it. But everything's just being gone around in
• 26:57
  Speaker 9: a way that oh know, we care about the bullies feelings.
• 27:03
  Speaker 9: The other kid keeps getting bullied, but as long as
• 27:06
  Speaker 9: we you know, make sure the bully is okay and
• 27:09
  Speaker 9: all that.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, here, you know, there's always kids are always
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: going to be goofing around. We talk about bullying all
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: the time here, especially every Wednesday. We kind of dedicate
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: the airways literally every Wednesday here on aired out to
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: bullying and mental health for kids in general. Kids are
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: always going to be Kids are always going to goof around,
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: They're always going to poke and prod and but you know,
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: it's like we as adults, and I don't care if
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: you're a parent, a teacher, a superintendent of principal, whatever,
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: we have to really recognize the difference between being a
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: kid and goofing around or or repetitive behavior that is
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: that is something that is consistent and showing a power
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: imbalance toward another kid, whether it's verbal, whether it's physical,
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: throwing stuff at him on the school bus, in the classroom,
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: outside of the classroom, and online. We we have to
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: do a better job as parents and as adults, all
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: of us to watch that shit and nip it right
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: in the ass as quickly as possible, as effectively as possible.
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: Is that is? So? That's that's that's just not being
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: done well.
• 28:43
  Speaker 8: Well, I don't know.
• 28:43
  Speaker 7: I just on my end of My kid was accused
• 28:47
  Speaker 7: of bullying last week and there was an investigation and
• 28:51
  Speaker 7: then I was called on Friday basically saying he was
• 28:54
  Speaker 7: found guilty of bullying.
• 28:57
  Speaker 8: That it will stay in his record just at this school.
• 29:01
  Speaker 7: And I was looking at the policy and you know,
• 29:04
  Speaker 7: it says intent to humiliate, intimidate. My child was not
• 29:08
  Speaker 7: doing any of that stuff. He was having reactive behavior
• 29:12
  Speaker 7: for a student that would not stop. He constantly was
• 29:16
  Speaker 7: asking please stop, please stop.
• 29:18
  Speaker 8: He would not, so he reacted.
• 29:21
  Speaker 7: And that was after he felt he couldn't even go
• 29:23
  Speaker 7: to an adult because he has multiple times and they
• 29:27
  Speaker 7: just tell.
• 29:27
  Speaker 8: Him to ignore it. What seven year old is going
• 29:29
  Speaker 8: to ignore the behavior.
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: So this is flip flopping now, so the victim is
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: now the.
• 29:34
  Speaker 6: Bullying, right.
• 29:35
  Speaker 7: So I'm like, this student keeps bothering all the children,
• 29:39
  Speaker 7: but yet now my kid has been accused and found
• 29:42
  Speaker 7: guilty of bullying.
• 29:43
  Speaker 8: He's a seven year old.
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: We need to all be well versed with the what
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: the real definition of bullying is.
• 29:52
  Speaker 8: So now I'm to the point do I appeal it
• 29:54
  Speaker 8: with the school board? Do you know? Do I just
• 29:56
  Speaker 8: let it go?
• 29:57
  Speaker 7: You know, because I've had the discussion with him and
• 29:59
  Speaker 7: I'm like, did you do?
• 30:00
  Speaker 8: He's like, I'm like, do you know what these words mean?
• 30:03
  Speaker 7: And he's like telling me what he thinks they mean that,
• 30:05
  Speaker 7: you know, like annoying another person or something, and I'm.
• 30:08
  Speaker 8: Like, that's not what it means. You know, he doesn't
• 30:10
  Speaker 8: even understand.
• 30:12
  Speaker 9: Yeah, we had the same issue with one of our
• 30:14
  Speaker 9: kids where when she finally did stand up for herself,
• 30:17
  Speaker 9: she's the one that got in trouble.
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: So you are relying on a a school administration that
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: is really getting it, and they're going to have the
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: backs of their students. They're also not afraid to show
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: repercussions consequences for behavior, but also support where support is deserved, needed, justified,
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: and above that teacher a principle that's that's gonna support them.
• 31:04
  Speaker 7: I think the current principle supports all of our students.
• 31:07
  Speaker 7: I mean, she is the only one that my children
• 31:09
  Speaker 7: feel safe to go to. My kids have been through
• 31:13
  Speaker 7: a lot with their dad, you know, having medical issues
• 31:16
  Speaker 7: and not being home anymore, and she relates to them.
• 31:20
  Speaker 7: They she has been their safe spot to go to
• 31:23
  Speaker 7: to draw a letter card for their dad.
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: And so there's there's push for retaining Katie Green, yes,
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: but there's also push from our community, not just the
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: three of you sitting on this couch, to respectfully ask
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: the superintendent to resign, which.
• 31:47
  Speaker 9: Has been done multiple times.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 31:50
  Speaker 9: People have asked them to resign multiple times during the meetings.
• 31:54
  Speaker 9: If you watch any of the back catalog of the meetings,
• 31:57
  Speaker 9: you'll see it.
• 31:59
  Speaker 8: And then there's a petition.
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: Now, and what's the main reasoning behind that? What's the
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: root of that?
• 32:07
  Speaker 9: Because we believe that he's the reason behind majority of
• 32:11
  Speaker 9: the issues around the school, whether it's stuff not getting
• 32:15
  Speaker 9: handled properly or flat out lies about certain things.
• 32:21
  Speaker 7: I I agree, I mean, I just feel he's not
• 32:25
  Speaker 7: supporting our teachers.
• 32:26
  Speaker 8: He's not supporting the staff. He's you know, maybe deep.
• 32:30
  Speaker 7: Down he has the children's best interests, but the actions definitely.
• 32:36
  Speaker 8: Don't align with that all the time.
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: So a little bit of collusion going on.
• 32:44
  Speaker 5: I think he's a bully.
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: I think he wants to look good, has a very
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: giant ego, and will try to hide anything that says different.
• 33:01
  Speaker 4: He's bullying his staff because he is responsible for their jobs.
• 33:06
  Speaker 5: He's bullying his teachers. He's bullying parents.
• 33:10
  Speaker 4: I mean, parents can send email after email, and if
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: it's something like delicate, as he calls it, he will
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: call them on the phone and refuse to put anything
• 33:21
  Speaker 4: in writing.
• 33:21
  Speaker 8: He's done that to me before.
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: And then we'll go and say publicly something completely different
• 33:30
  Speaker 4: than what the parents said or what he said to parents,
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: And it has been a massive issue.
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: There's some teachers that are reluctant to voice anything at
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: a school board meeting or in public or anywhere because
• 33:51
  Speaker 3: they need to retain their jobs. Yes, okay, are there
• 33:56
  Speaker 3: others that are a little bit more gritty and willing
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: to you speak up?
• 34:03
  Speaker 4: I do know just because I had I had teachers
• 34:07
  Speaker 4: reach out to me. I will not say their names,
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: but I know of two teachers slash staff members that
• 34:16
  Speaker 4: wrote letters of complain against him to our board. I
• 34:19
  Speaker 4: also know of a group of teachers and staff that
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: wrote a letter and signed it together and sent it
• 34:27
  Speaker 4: to the board. And I I cannot say for sure,
• 34:34
  Speaker 4: but what I am witnessing is that our union, the
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: Teacher's Union rep, is nowhere to be seen when it
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: comes to teachers having issues, nowhere to be seen. But
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: at recent meetings when it came to budget issues and
• 34:53
  Speaker 4: potential budget cuts, she showed up and threatened legal action
• 34:57
  Speaker 4: against the board. So it's things are not lining up,
• 35:02
  Speaker 4: things are not making sense. Our teachers genuinely feel dismissed
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: and unheard.
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: I also want to say here that this isn't just
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: three of you, the four of you. There's a large
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: group of parents. For the most part, there's there's you're
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: all connected and communicate on a regular daily basis, sometimes hourly.
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: Where you're you're connected and you're sharing information. Have you
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: There's been a little bit of of interest in going
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: above the central fromont Supervisory Union going to the state level.
• 35:51
  Speaker 5: Department of that we have I don't think we can.
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: I know a few of us had gone on like
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: the AOI website and try to see where we could
• 36:01
  Speaker 4: file formal complaints, and there's no form there's no I
• 36:06
  Speaker 4: know of a few parents that reached out to the
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: Agency of Education and got told we don't handle that.
• 36:12
  Speaker 5: Really, yes, So.
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: How does the Agency of Ed keep these supervisory unions
• 36:26
  Speaker 3: in check? How do they keep hold them accountable?
• 36:29
  Speaker 9: Well, apparently that's.
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: The board's job.
• 36:34
  Speaker 9: Yep.
• 36:35
  Speaker 4: But when our board starts questioning his actions, they get
• 36:40
  Speaker 4: threatened with legal action, they get bullied, they get harassed.
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: Have you guys thought about getting a lawyer.
• 36:52
  Speaker 5: At this point?
• 36:54
  Speaker 8: Yeah?
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: Okay, what about the what about the supervis your reunion?
• 37:02
  Speaker 9: We we had the same issue with the supervisory union
• 37:06
  Speaker 9: where certain things got brought up and then they voted
• 37:10
  Speaker 9: just to ignore all of it pretty much a couple
• 37:14
  Speaker 9: of months back. Uh, there was there was complaints that
• 37:20
  Speaker 9: were brought up to them, and they essentially just voted
• 37:25
  Speaker 9: not to investigate it further. Now why that was done,
• 37:30
  Speaker 9: I have no idea should it have been done. I
• 37:35
  Speaker 9: think they should have investigated, But then again, I'm not
• 37:39
  Speaker 9: on the board.
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: So I see a petition over at the Washington Village Store.
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: Are there others?
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: Yes?
• 37:46
  Speaker 3: Yes, the petition is for.
• 37:49
  Speaker 5: What, respectfully requesting that fetters resign?
• 37:54
  Speaker 3: Okay, where's that gonna take us? This this petition? How
• 37:59
  Speaker 3: what are we looking at for signatures? And how far
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: do we have to go? And will it hold any water?
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: I know the one in the one in Washington has
• 38:08
  Speaker 4: over one hundred signatures. There is also one in Williamstown
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: and Northfield. I am not sure on the numbers on those. Okay,
• 38:16
  Speaker 4: I think at this point legally the petition isn't going
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: to do anything.
• 38:21
  Speaker 5: I think it was especially after.
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: The front porch for and post where we were told
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: that we were, you know, one percent, I think it
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: was more of proving that we are we are way
• 38:32
  Speaker 4: more than one percent, that our feelings, that our experiences
• 38:37
  Speaker 4: are not going to be diminished, are not going to
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: be ignored.
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: I'm just processing everything that you guys are are saying
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: to me, and I think our listeners are too, which
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: has been very interesting to me because the comments section
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: has been notably very small this morning, but we have
• 39:06
  Speaker 3: a lot of people tuned in. Uh and that speaks volumes.
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: When it's when that ratio is like that, we know
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: that we're hitting a hot button here and people are
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: people are scared to comment or post anything in reaction
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: to any of this. I want to ask you, you
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: know what's next. I mean, we're only a month and
• 39:34
  Speaker 3: change away from the end of school here for two months.
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: What do you want to do in the in the
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: month's remaining in this school year?
• 39:49
  Speaker 8: Get through it?
• 39:52
  Speaker 3: I mean, I'm sure you're already thinking about next year.
• 39:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, so we have made the decision.
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: We have made the decision that our kids will not
• 40:01
  Speaker 4: be going back, and it's like we are very fortunate
• 40:06
  Speaker 4: to be able to make that decision. But like with
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: being on the PTO, with being a coach of a
• 40:12
  Speaker 4: lot of these kids, I can't. I look at my
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: kids every morning and I go, they're home, They're safe,
• 40:20
  Speaker 4: And then I think about every other kid in that
• 40:22
  Speaker 4: school that does not feel that way, that does not
• 40:25
  Speaker 4: feel listened to, that does not feel loved, that does
• 40:27
  Speaker 4: not feel respected, that does not feel safe, And I can't.
• 40:31
  Speaker 5: Let this go.
• 40:34
  Speaker 3: Maked.
• 40:35
  Speaker 7: I mean, at this point, I don't know what next
• 40:38
  Speaker 7: year looks like. I mean, we've talked about pulling them,
• 40:43
  Speaker 7: putting them in a private school or whatever. I will
• 40:46
  Speaker 7: not honestly stay home in homeschool. I cannot do that.
• 40:51
  Speaker 8: I don't have the patience and I need to work.
• 40:55
  Speaker 7: Yeah, but I also want what's best for my kids.
• 40:58
  Speaker 7: So I don't know what it means for next year
• 41:01
  Speaker 7: for me right now.
• 41:03
  Speaker 8: A lot of it will depend on how the end
• 41:05
  Speaker 8: of the year pans out. What happens. Do we have
• 41:09
  Speaker 8: a principal next year, who is that.
• 41:12
  Speaker 7: Going to be, How the hiring process will go for
• 41:17
  Speaker 7: the next one, you know.
• 41:22
  Speaker 8: So yeah, I'm undecided on what next year looks.
• 41:24
  Speaker 3: Like and redistricting and all that stuff and how that's
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: going to come into play or not for these schools.
• 41:32
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's anything for next year.
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: But Becka and d you guys still going to be coaching, Yes, Okay,
• 41:50
  Speaker 3: what do we do at this point as we set in?
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: I think the biggest takeaway in all of this has
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: been that at the end of the day, at the
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: end of the line, this comes down to our kids
• 42:09
  Speaker 3: and their development, not only their their education, but their
• 42:15
  Speaker 3: social development, their emotional development. There's schools everywhere that have
• 42:22
  Speaker 3: shit that flies. Maybe it's a chair, maybe it's a
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: paper airplane, whatever, But how it's dealt with is what's
• 42:36
  Speaker 3: most important. And you know, I've said this so many times.
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: I mean, I'm the last person that would ever want
• 42:45
  Speaker 3: to be a school teacher. I would. Yeah, all three
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: of you are no in your heads here, I mean
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: I would put up with this for five, maybe six minutes.
• 42:56
  Speaker 5: I worked in the school as a substitute a few
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: years back.
• 42:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I can't imagine. I can't imagine. I mean, a
• 43:04
  Speaker 3: lot of what the teachers are doing, and huge props,
• 43:09
  Speaker 3: huge kudos to all of them, But a lot of
• 43:12
  Speaker 3: what they're doing is when we talk about this, we
• 43:16
  Speaker 3: talk about this heavily on Wednesdays with Sweethearts and heroes,
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: is that they're parenting. They're teaching kids about consequences and
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: discipline and sharing and getting along. And you know, what's
• 43:37
  Speaker 3: the ratio of the core curriculum, the sciences, the maths,
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: social studies, English, reading, writing, compared to what else is
• 43:49
  Speaker 3: being done well?
• 43:52
  Speaker 5: I think for our second graders.
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: One of the other reasons that we did choose specifically
• 43:59
  Speaker 4: to pull our second grader is there were so many
• 44:03
  Speaker 4: behavioral issues in that class and the solution, according to
• 44:08
  Speaker 4: the school's policy, was to clear the classroom for the
• 44:12
  Speaker 4: one child. So multiple times a week, our daughter and
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: the rest of her classmates were saying, you have to
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: evacuate your classroom, and they were going to the gym,
• 44:24
  Speaker 4: they were going outside, like they would have to go
• 44:26
  Speaker 4: somewhere else. But I had asked Amelia multiple times, like, well,
• 44:30
  Speaker 4: what's happening for the rest of the day, Like what
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: happens if you're in the middle of a lesson and
• 44:36
  Speaker 4: you have to evacuate your classroom And she goes, oh,
• 44:38
  Speaker 4: we never get back to it. And I'm like, well,
• 44:41
  Speaker 4: what about the rest of the day. And she goes,
• 44:44
  Speaker 4: She's like, I don't remember learning anything the rest of
• 44:46
  Speaker 4: the days because everyone's just so crazy, as she puts it, So.
• 44:52
  Speaker 5: It's it's a matter of.
• 44:55
  Speaker 4: Letting the one misbehaving child get all of the atat
• 45:00
  Speaker 4: tension is failing all the rest of them, and it's
• 45:06
  Speaker 4: failing them socially and emotionally because it's teaching them, oh, well,
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: if somebody else is going to be a problem, they
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: get the attention I have to be quiet and behave
• 45:14
  Speaker 4: in a different room. And then it's also taking away
• 45:17
  Speaker 4: from their education. And when this was happening multiple times
• 45:21
  Speaker 4: a week, I mean, if you ask a second grader,
• 45:25
  Speaker 4: what did you learn this week? And she says I
• 45:27
  Speaker 4: don't know how to hula hoop in the gym, like
• 45:32
  Speaker 4: I find a big, big problem with that.
• 45:36
  Speaker 3: A lot of this is relatable, I think to a
• 45:43
  Speaker 3: lot of parents. Some of this is systemic. What's the solution?
• 45:51
  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I had a friend who pulled
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: their kid right here in central Vermont. It doesn't matter.
• 46:03
  Speaker 3: But wrote to the Agency of ED and said, y'all
• 46:08
  Speaker 3: have basically no idea that a lot of what's going
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: on in schools is quoting because I'll never forget these
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: words glorified babysitting. Something needs to happen, and at some
• 46:30
  Speaker 3: point those that are pulling need to push a little
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: bit and those that are pushing need to pull a
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: little bit. We need to we need to work together,
• 46:41
  Speaker 3: and it's got to come. It's got to come top
• 46:49
  Speaker 3: to bottom. We need people who are whether it's a teacher,
• 46:54
  Speaker 3: whether it's a janitor, whether it's a superintendent, whether it's
• 46:59
  Speaker 3: the head of the age Agency of ED. We need
• 47:01
  Speaker 3: people who are really dialed into this stuff and get
• 47:05
  Speaker 3: it and aren't tightening their belt every day saying this
• 47:11
  Speaker 3: is how it is, this is how it's going to be,
• 47:15
  Speaker 3: and I'm going to run my classroom or run my
• 47:18
  Speaker 3: school board as a dictatorship. We need to get our shit.
• 47:25
  Speaker 4: Together, and I think about I think about the future
• 47:28
  Speaker 4: of all of this because it starts with fetters resigning,
• 47:36
  Speaker 4: But it's not going to get better if we end
• 47:38
  Speaker 4: up with a replacement that is exactly the same.
• 47:42
  Speaker 5: And I think that's my biggest.
• 47:44
  Speaker 4: Worry at this point is he's the problem right now.
• 47:49
  Speaker 4: What's going to be the problem in the future. What
• 47:53
  Speaker 4: is the future of our schools, especially the schools in
• 47:57
  Speaker 4: these small communities.
• 48:03
  Speaker 3: Effective leadership, real leadership, and real effectiveness not easy for
• 48:16
  Speaker 3: all of us to do. Some of us are not
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: cut out for this kind of stuff. I definitely am not.
• 48:25
  Speaker 3: But those that are that are doing this, whether you're
• 48:28
  Speaker 3: a principal, a teacher, whatever it is. Like I said,
• 48:31
  Speaker 3: you've got to be effective with your job and you've
• 48:34
  Speaker 3: got to have an open mind. You've got to be
• 48:37
  Speaker 3: able to push and pull where need be and not
• 48:43
  Speaker 3: necessarily be allegiant to whatever click or group that you're
• 48:52
  Speaker 3: loyal to.
• 48:53
  Speaker 7: And I think that's why Katie's been so great, is
• 48:55
  Speaker 7: because she's loyal to the kids.
• 48:58
  Speaker 3: What a concept.
• 49:01
  Speaker 9: Well, I think the other issue is if the teachers
• 49:03
  Speaker 9: are so worried about losing their jobs to be able
• 49:07
  Speaker 9: to do their jobs effectively. Can't necessarily blame them, which
• 49:12
  Speaker 9: you know, we originally we had some issues with some teachers,
• 49:16
  Speaker 9: but come to find out it was an issue of
• 49:19
  Speaker 9: the teachers not getting support from the administration that was
• 49:21
  Speaker 9: the actual issue behind everything that was happening.
• 49:31
  Speaker 3: What are you guys hoping that's going to take place
• 49:36
  Speaker 3: here in the next I know I've already asked you this,
• 49:40
  Speaker 3: but in the next need to.
• 49:42
  Speaker 7: Start standing up, whether it's agreeing with us or not,
• 49:46
  Speaker 7: but having some input.
• 49:55
  Speaker 9: Actual parents, like people that are involved and actually you know,
• 49:59
  Speaker 9: have some sort of stake in it.
• 50:03
  Speaker 3: What are you looking for those parents to do? Join
• 50:08
  Speaker 3: a group, join your group, voice your opinion.
• 50:13
  Speaker 5: In any way possible.
• 50:15
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean you're not happy with something, speak up
• 50:17
  Speaker 8: about it.
• 50:19
  Speaker 3: If I'm wrong. I'm wrong, But.
• 50:24
  Speaker 9: I guess being in an echo chamber of only hearing
• 50:26
  Speaker 9: the people that are agreeing with me is not you
• 50:30
  Speaker 9: know which I'm I'm just fine with being disagreed with.
• 50:35
  Speaker 9: I just you know, if if there's all these parents
• 50:40
  Speaker 9: that you know, we've been in contact with that are
• 50:42
  Speaker 9: agreeing with what we think, sure, and a rare few
• 50:46
  Speaker 9: in between that are speaking otherwise, and majority of the
• 50:50
  Speaker 9: ones saying anything otherwise aren't even parents of kids at
• 50:53
  Speaker 9: the school.
• 50:54
  Speaker 3: Ye, so there's a ton of echo chambers in every community,
• 51:04
  Speaker 3: in every school. But man, we need to just we
• 51:09
  Speaker 3: need to start smarting enough, put the egos aside, put
• 51:16
  Speaker 3: our own biases aside, and realize that as adults, we
• 51:24
  Speaker 3: need to maybe engage less in our pissing matches and
• 51:30
  Speaker 3: more in the future of our kids. They're they're the
• 51:35
  Speaker 3: victims of all of this bullshit. They're the ones that
• 51:39
  Speaker 3: are going to pay the price. And before you know it,
• 51:44
  Speaker 3: they're out of elementary school or middle school, and they're
• 51:48
  Speaker 3: into high school. Before you know it, they're out of
• 51:50
  Speaker 3: high school. So now, what what are we what are
• 51:54
  Speaker 3: we left with? Are we left with kids in our
• 51:59
  Speaker 3: community who have this much knowledge of the kind of
• 52:03
  Speaker 3: stuff that they should have and this much knowledge of
• 52:10
  Speaker 3: how childish adults can act to serve their own agenda?
• 52:18
  Speaker 3: I mean, is that what kids are being is that
• 52:20
  Speaker 3: their big takeaway? We want we want them to be
• 52:28
  Speaker 3: happy and successful, yes, with whatever they do. And they're
• 52:33
  Speaker 3: going to school to learn and and that's a really
• 52:38
  Speaker 3: broad word, but to learn a lot of things, but
• 52:40
  Speaker 3: not that type of ship that they're learning. And and
• 52:44
  Speaker 3: and again, I mean we're talking about two schools here,
• 52:47
  Speaker 3: but this is everywhere. This is everywhere. It's not it's
• 52:51
  Speaker 3: every county, it's every state. This kind of stuff, this
• 52:54
  Speaker 3: is nothing new. It's just that the difference is is
• 52:58
  Speaker 3: that you guys were brave enough to commit here and
• 53:00
  Speaker 3: go on a camera and a microphone and air it out.
• 53:03
  Speaker 3: And I think that's awesome. And regardless of who agrees
• 53:09
  Speaker 3: with you or who doesn't agree with you, who's watching
• 53:13
  Speaker 3: and or listening, there should be props for you guys.
• 53:17
  Speaker 3: There should be respect for you guys for your willingness
• 53:20
  Speaker 3: to do this. And I hope that you're able to
• 53:24
  Speaker 3: continue to bring awareness, bring attention to this. And ultimately,
• 53:33
  Speaker 3: I think that the goal here is to positively affect
• 53:37
  Speaker 3: some change, whatever that is, if it's the removal of
• 53:42
  Speaker 3: certain individuals or the introduction of others. But let's watch
• 53:49
  Speaker 3: out for our kids. That's our job above everything else.
• 53:54
  Speaker 3: That's our job. Is there anything else? I hope you
• 53:59
  Speaker 3: guys stay in touch with me. You will. Is there
• 54:03
  Speaker 3: anything else that you can think that you want to
• 54:07
  Speaker 3: bring onto the show? This morning.
• 54:13
  Speaker 4: I think my goal behind all of this is despite disagreements,
• 54:17
  Speaker 4: despite clicks, despite adult pissing matches, my goal in all
• 54:22
  Speaker 4: of this is I want that there are one hundred
• 54:25
  Speaker 4: and seventy kids between Washington and Orange in elementary and
• 54:29
  Speaker 4: middle school. I would love for at least one single
• 54:32
  Speaker 4: day where one hundred and seventy kids get to go home,
• 54:37
  Speaker 4: look at their parents and said, I had a good day,
• 54:40
  Speaker 4: And I don't think that's happening. And I find that
• 54:43
  Speaker 4: incredibly sad.
• 54:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred and seventy kids between both schools, yes, Okay, wow, giant. Yeah,
• 55:03
  Speaker 3: But you know it's like, man, that's I mean, that's
• 55:06
  Speaker 3: look these kids, man, they're they're everything to us. That's
• 55:11
  Speaker 3: our future. I mean I'm a lot older than you guys,
• 55:15
  Speaker 3: but I mean, you know, our time is winding, time's
• 55:19
  Speaker 3: ticking right now. We really don't have a lot to waste.
• 55:22
  Speaker 3: I mean, these kids have gone through so much over
• 55:26
  Speaker 3: the last couple of years. Not to mention just COVID alone.
• 55:32
  Speaker 3: I hope that your kids are able to get back
• 55:37
  Speaker 3: into a school environment. They're making more friends, they're getting
• 55:41
  Speaker 3: more engaged with their school. Things are never going to
• 55:44
  Speaker 3: be perfect between teacher and parent relations. They're just never
• 55:50
  Speaker 3: going to be perfect. We're I'm sure that you guys
• 55:54
  Speaker 3: aren't really looking for any kind of perfect superintendent that
• 55:58
  Speaker 3: you're going to agree with every thing that comes out
• 56:01
  Speaker 3: of his or her mouth.
• 56:04
  Speaker 9: At this point, an honest one would be a good start.
• 56:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, an honest one that puts the kids first above
• 56:12
  Speaker 4: their own ego.
• 56:19
  Speaker 3: Thank you, guys so much for coming in here. You're brave.
• 56:24
  Speaker 3: Tom Murphy from Sweethearts and Heroes, I don't know if
• 56:26
  Speaker 3: you've ever seen him or heard him on the air
• 56:29
  Speaker 3: with me on Wednesdays. He's amazing. They've written a book
• 56:34
  Speaker 3: called The Thirteen Pillows for Effective Teachers, and they purposely
• 56:42
  Speaker 3: don't say pillars. They say pillows because they want the
• 56:47
  Speaker 3: objective of this book is when we lay down at night,
• 56:50
  Speaker 3: we put our head on our pillow. We should think
• 56:57
  Speaker 3: I'm happy that I did this today and I wish
• 57:02
  Speaker 3: that I had done that. And if you can answer
• 57:06
  Speaker 3: those two questions when you put your head down on
• 57:10
  Speaker 3: your pillow as a teacher or not, you're onto something.
• 57:16
  Speaker 3: And the book written from the perspective of who not
• 57:21
  Speaker 3: the superintendent, not the teachers, the custodian, so I'll play
• 57:29
  Speaker 3: a little video here that'll take us out. But thank
• 57:32
  Speaker 3: you guys so much for coming in, and I hope
• 57:34
  Speaker 3: you come in again real soon.
• 57:35
  Speaker 8: Thank you, thank you.
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: Thanks for effective teachers.
• 57:48
  Speaker 3: Fifteen years in the making. It's a fictional allegory.
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: I like to say that.
• 57:51
  Speaker 3: Every page is a true story.
• 57:54
  Speaker 10: The book was written in honor of a young man
• 57:55
  Speaker 10: that took his own life in the eleventh grade.
• 57:57
  Speaker 3: He was just one of those.
• 57:58
  Speaker 10: Invisible kids, and he became less invisible when he did
• 58:02
  Speaker 10: the unthinkable.
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: And the story is about.
• 58:06
  Speaker 10: A teacher that loses a young man in the eleventh grade.
• 58:08
  Speaker 10: So he writes his resignation letter in the prologue and
• 58:12
  Speaker 10: from the shadows steps of Custodian a man by the
• 58:15
  Speaker 10: name of Tim, modeled after a very good friend of
• 58:17
  Speaker 10: mine named Tim McGowan. Tim was a counselor and his
• 58:21
  Speaker 10: first district that he inherited, they had fifteen.
• 58:25
  Speaker 3: Suicides in thirty months.
• 58:27
  Speaker 10: And if Tim were sitting right here with me, right now,
• 58:29
  Speaker 10: and you say, Tim, what's the secret of going from
• 58:31
  Speaker 10: fifteen to one?
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: And he'd just tell you one word. Conversations.
• 58:39
  Speaker 10: Young people need to have conversations, and even if they're
• 58:41
  Speaker 10: not talking about them. They need to be involved in
• 58:44
  Speaker 10: them and listening to them so that they know that
• 58:47
  Speaker 10: they're not the only ones going through some of these
• 58:49
  Speaker 10: challenges that young people are going through. All of these
• 58:52
  Speaker 10: thirteen characteristics that we go through in this book are
• 58:56
  Speaker 10: what it really means to be an effective teacher and
• 58:59
  Speaker 10: really what it means to be an effective human being.
• 59:02
  Speaker 10: Benjamin Bloom said that in order to connect the head
• 59:04
  Speaker 10: to the hands, you had to go through the heart or.
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: The effective domain.
• 59:08
  Speaker 10: It's that emotional domain or teaching from or through the heart,
• 59:13
  Speaker 10: and so that's how it begins. And if you're an educator,
• 59:16
  Speaker 10: you'll find yourself in your first year of teaching, in
• 59:18
  Speaker 10: your middle years, and if you're in your sun set years,
• 59:21
  Speaker 10: you'll find yourself there too, because it just spans the
• 59:25
  Speaker 10: enormous spectrum or perspectives of different educators that we've met
• 59:29
  Speaker 10: over the last fifteen years criss crossing this great nation
• 59:32
  Speaker 10: talking to people through the work that.
• 59:34
  Speaker 3: We've done with sweethearts and heroes.
• 59:36
  Speaker 10: So it's called the Thirteen Pillows of Affective Teachers ASSASSSSSSS