January 8, 2015 Board Meeting

As always, these are my opinions only and not the opinions of the Pendleton County School Board or any other individual Board members.

 

 Tonight, I feel a renewed hope for the future of our district.  Ms. Jolieen Bertram and Mr. Elmer Utz were sworn in and are now officially members of the Pendleton County School Board.  Welcome Jolieen and Elmer.  It is nice to add another “mom” on the board and make it more gender balanced.  I shared in my opening comments that Mr. Utz, Mr. Spence, and I were all members of the PCHS Class of 1985.  All through school, our class was known as the “bad class”.  I remember distinctly an administrator mentioning that our classmates were going nowhere in life.  It is interesting that 60% of your district school board were members of this “hopeless” class.  I don’t really think our class was hopeless.  We just had many people in our class that did not have a clear idea of where they were headed.  They had many of the same struggles that our students face today.  This makes me reluctant to “label” students because we as educators don’t have a crystal ball.  Future success in life can never be predicted.

 

This morning I heard the most inspiring message from NKU’s President Geoffrey Mearns.  He shared some absolutely amazing stories about several of our NKU students.  One student who battled drug addiction has recently finished his degree and has been accepted into NKU’s graduate counseling program.  Another student who despite a heart problem that required him to get an internal defibrillator is continuing to play basketball for the University and doing extremely well.  The reason I share these stories is students are very resilient. If they have someone to truly believe in them, students can overcome these setbacks and move forward.  President Mearns asked that the faculty to recommit themselves to keeping the focus on student success.  He said that if we can ignite a spark in us, together our flame can be a light for our community.  Sitting in the audience, I couldn’t help but think about the Pendleton County School District and how his message could be applied to our district.  I have always been committed to students’ success, but I want to recommit myself to focus on student success in this coming year.  I know that our new board can be the flame that is the light for our community.  I encourage others to fuel the flame and to recommit to student success in 2015!

 

December 18, 2014 Board Meeting

As always, these are my opinions only and not the opinions of the Pendleton County School Board or any other individual Board members.

 Tonight, Dr. William Verax III (16 years) and Mr. Daryl Mullins (15 years) were honored for their many years of service.  These gentlemen were very deserving of this reception.  They have given up many nights away from their families.  Being a board member is often a thankless job.  For these gentlemen to spend this many years doing board work is a testament to the dedication that these men had to our district and to our community.

November 20, 2014 Board Meeting

As always, these are my opinions only and not the opinions of the Pendleton County School Board or any other individual Board members.

 

This was our first Board meeting after the 2014 general election.  Whether you were “thrilled” or “less than thrilled” with the results, I hope you agree that our system of democracy worked in the intended way.  In the long term, democratic elections will put the best people in place.  Integral to this process is the practice of free speech.  In my opinion, events at this meeting were another attempt to suppress my right to free speech (in the form of the weblog you are now reading).  My voters can rest assured that one sided debates on the merits of this blog and feeble attempts at “manufactured conflict” will not change my determination to keep them informed.  A Venezuelan political prisoner named Leopoldo Lopez wrote (WSJ Dec 26, 2014) the following (from prison) about his autocratic government:  “The ‘sunshine that disinfects,’ and the scrutiny that motivates good decision-making, no longer benefit our leadership.”  Thankfully we don’t live in countries like Venezuela.  Our country is run on the idea that institutions funded with public dollars need public scrutiny and oversight.