Well, the flood gates have been opened!
Since Ms. Lucas’ interview on Channel 12 on Tuesday, more parents and educators are coming forward regarding their experiences of retaliation, mistreatment, and discrimination at the hands of Fred Morton, Marilyn Royal, Andy Armstrong, and Phil Jepson.
By all documented accounts, the educators that are coming forward have exceptional performance appraisals as does Ms. Lucas, but based on the “whim” of an immature administrator that is using his power as a “weapon” against dedicated educators instead of a “tool” to expose Henrico’s children to competent educators whose sole purpose is ensuring the welfare of children, not promoting the game of politics.
UGOTNERVE has said it before, and we will say it again. It seems as though promotion within Henrico County Public Schools is not based on qualifications or competence, but on “brown-nosing” and political agendas. How is that ensuring that Henrico’s children are receiving the best?
We are growing tired of the hypocrisy of Henrico’s administrators that freely say, “we love the kids”, “we are for the kids”, “the welfare of the kids is our priority”, “all that we do, we do for the kids”, and so on and so on.
After they proclaim these comments, they then engage in behaviors that completely contradict their words. For instance, they remove competent teachers that they cannot control through intimidation with teachers that are completely incompetent, but can be controlled. They give excuses and lower expectations for children, especially black, economically disadvantaged, and disabled students. They take full advantage of the ignorance and trust of parents and grandparents. They do not hesitate to block any efforts, ideas, leaders, or initiatives that promise to bring success to the East End’s children…all because they do not care about OUR children.
A few of those that benefit from the “slave system” that is dying within Henrico have complained about the “dirty laundry” going public and how wrong it was for Ms. Lucas to take it this far by casting a negative light on Rolfe and Henrico. THEY ARE SUCH FOOLS! Henrico’s reputation began to deteriorate the day that Mr. Morton’s administration chose to neglect the East End children and promote the West End children.
That is called favortism, racism, sexism, and many other -ism’s that one can consider.
The sad part about all of this is that those in leadership in Henrico are consumed with the fact that THEY have been exposed and made to feel bad, never once considering the hell that they have subjected our children, parents, and educators to. What many people cannot understand is the fact that they systematically neglect and deprive our children of the basic rights that they are entitled to under the laws of this land.
Education is a right of our children.
Safe schools is a right of our children.
Competent instructional leaders are a right of our children.
To deprive our children of these rights is a violation of their civil rights at the most basic levels.
Mr. Morton and the others need to be removed. They have failed to perform their duties for this county at the most basic levels, this cannot be denied. Their outdated, good ol’e boy, slave master mentalities have become an enormous liability for Henrico County Public Schools. Breaking the law, ignoring the law, manipulating the law at the expense of children’s lives speaks to how gravely sick their hearts, spirits, and minds are. Henrico’s school board can support the spread of this epidemic or be the medicine that “heals” Henrico by restoring the proper priorities for our children.
So much needs to be done to “fix” Henrico’s East End. UGOTNERVE has developed our own action plan proposal for the board to consider:
1) Establish a community council that monitors the actions of the county’s administration and board. The council should consist of parents, grandparents, businessleaders, faith-based leaders, educators, government, and media representatives. It should consist of thirteen members and should change every quarter. The council should be determined via nominations and final votes within the community.
2) A three year plan must be developed to bring equity and adequacy to the East End’s facilities. The board MUST find the funds to bring the environments that our children “live” in a majority of the year up to the qualities that exist on the West End. The first step was already intiated by Mr. Montgomery when he recommended that an assessment of the facilities be completed immediately. The assessment of the facilities should be a process that is open for public participation and viewing. This would be a wonderful way to begin building trust, integrity, and credibility between our communities and the board. Following that, the projects need to be prioritized based on most urgent needs and safety concerns. Finally, actions to improve the buildings, or if need be, build new facilities, must be implemented quickly…and yes, the board does have the funds.
3) It is time for a change in the guard down at central office. The school board needs to get a big broom and do a clean sweep of all of the incompetent, unethical, corrupt, and inefficient leadership that is wasting space and just “waiting around to retire.” If they did that, then we would easily have the funds to improve our facilities.
4) The board needs to publically accept ownership for the present state of things in Henrico’s East End, apologize to our parents, students, schools, educators, and communities; then issue a formal resolution declaring their commitment to ALL children in ensuring that the mission of Henrico County Public Schools is realized.
5) School board meetings need to be televised, even if they are only recorded for Henrico’s website. If the board really wants to ensure that everyone has access to participate and offer feedback, then this would be a simple way to provide access to all those within the community that are unable to attend the meetings in person due to work, child care, or other conflicts.
Right now the board must take the necessary actions to bring “healing” to the East End. Now that the fact that Rolfe and other schools are SICK has finally been acknowledged by the county, it is time to administer the proper medicine with the goal of healing the children, parents, and educators.
We are all waiting to see if the new school board is up to this challenge during one of the most critical periods of Henrico County’s educational life.
UGOTNERVE has found a great resource for all of us so that we know what an effective board should be and can work to hold this board accountable to that standard:
Effective boards focus on student achievement
The best school boards understand that student learning is job one. This emphasis necessarily means that policies and resources of schools are targeted to promote achievement for all students. School practices, which have their genesis in policy, ought to have a laser-beam orientation on high standards, a rigorous curriculum, and high-quality teachers. Issues a school board must consider are evaluated against the contribution toward student learning—the core business of schools.
Effective boards allocate resources to needs
Not all students walk through the school doors with the same needs. Good school boards recognize this fact and allocate resources such as time, money, and personnel and adjust practices accordingly. Documents of the school district, such as the annual budget, are viewed as tools to reach student-learning priorities, and the district’s spending and practices do not protect sacred cows.
Effective boards watch the return on investment
We are all accountable to somebody. Effective boards are mindful of their own accountability to the communities that entrust their children to public schools; effective boards routinely and regularly measure and report the return on investment of the education dollars they spend. Effective policy makers today make their greatest gains by asking appropriate questions, and productive boards recognize the self-instructive value in making the following query an ongoing refrain: What services are we providing to which students at what cost and resulting in what benefits?
Effective boards use data
It has been said, “In God we trust. All others bring data.” By definition, informed policy making requires using data. Otherwise, effective boards cannot be assured that all students, regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic status, are progressing toward and reaching high standards. The challenges to student learning, and particularly to providing equity among all students in achievement, are complex. Intuition-based assessment of student learning is tricky at best and certainly is an insufficient basis to determine education policy. Further, without data, reports to communities about the education return on investment are hollow and unconvincing. Communities expect measurable results, through data, from their tax dollars.
Effective boards engage the communities they serve
The best school boards look for ways to institutionalize parent and patron involvement in providing policy-making input. Specifically, effective boards have established mechanisms for community involvement in setting the vision for the school district, representing the values of the community, and identifying the district’s short-term and long-term priorities. The Blue Springs, Missouri, school board, for example, named as that state’s Outstanding Board of Education for 2005, strongly emphasized its shared partnership with its community in educating the district’s 13,000 students.
Do all school boards in the United States meet these five characteristics? Obviously not. Can all school boards in the nation improve their performance with some or all of the characteristics? Probably. It is noteworthy to mention that the CTB/McGraw-Hill panel believes school boards can best champion education initiatives when their members are trained to exercise responsibility, possess a vision, demonstrate progressive leadership, and provide accountability. Combined, these attributes result in school board decision making that improves student performance. (Some states such as Missouri require, by law, training for newly elected or appointed school board members.)
Does the school board in your community measure up? If so, your local school district is likely to be headed in the right direction. If not, you might consider doing something about it—perhaps even serving on it.
*Retrieved from: http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/site/c.kjJXJ5MPIwE/b.2055651/k.C50A/Five_characteristics_of_an_effective_school_board.ht
We are also including the profiles of each board member from their campaign data, pay special attention to Mr. Montgomery’s vow to FIGHT for our East End students:
Linda L. McBride Age: 52 Occupation: School Board representative from Brookland District
Why she’s running: “Sound decision-making and effective use of resources are critical, which is why I look forward to continuing my leadership efforts implementing a comprehensive evaluation and accountability system that will review the effectiveness of each department and each program in the school system. Our students and their families deserve schools that strive for continued improvement.”
Lamont Bagby Age: 30 Occupation: educator
Why he’s running: Issues he believes are paramount to addressing academic disparity include parental/community involvement, teacher support/training, mentorship programs, pre-K education, alternative education and vocational education. He wants to fund solutions to help subgroups that are preventing schools from meeting state benchmarks, and wants to fund mentorship programs that address the needs of the population.
Diana Dovel Winston Age: 58 Occupation: Instructor in the teacher-licensure program and supervisor of student teachers throughout the Richmond area for the University of Richmond.
Why she’s running: “Over 30 years I have experienced firsthand the dynamics of the school system serving as a teacher and school principal. I have taught students for years that even they can grow up and be president of the United States, so I will try to be a positive role model for them once again.”
Lisa W. Marshall Age: 46 Occupation: attorney, not currently practicing
Why she’s running: “To raise the quality of education for all our children by ensuring effective resource allocation, meeting the challenges of Henrico’s changing demographics, reducing class size, not just averages, but classroom-by-classroom. Work to make all our schools safer by improving Internet safety, employing consistent, appropriate discipline standards, informing parents of school safety incidents.”
John Montgomery Age: 44 Occupation: Attorney
Why he’s running: “Our children deserve the opportunity to be the best that they can be and reach their full potential. I will fight to bring equality of opportunity to eastern Henrico schools and make certain that all of Henrico’s students are prepared to be productive citizens.”
U GOT NERVE! 