I received a message from Attention Orange earlier today, with a request that I post the text of a message the organization sent to all K-2 HES parents earlier today. I was out of town on business all day (I do have a life, you know), and wasn't able to post it until now.
Hi all,
As many of you are aware, last night the Board of Education met in the Central Office Building at 7pm. I was amazed - no ... stunned - at the parent turnout! We covered that room in orange! Thank you so much! There were more than 40 parents who attended - most of whom were wearing orange.
We now await word from the Board's attorney. However, let me emphasize that no votes can be made in closed session - and no votes were made at the end of the meeting once it returned to open session. Therefore, it is only reasonable that I assume nothing has changed. We are on to injunction, folks!
Attention Orange will be holding a meeting on Thursday night, Feb. 21st, at 6:30pm in the Conference Room at the Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough. We will be discussing the Board's response and our next step in the legal process. This meeting is ONLY open to HES parents! Please come!
Attention Orange
Once again I encourage every HES parent to support Attention Orange. Even if your child is "grandfathered" under the current plan (like mine), there is no assurance that this rogue Board of Education will honor its commitment to your children in the future.
Please attend the meeting Thursday night and donate to Attention Orange's legal representation fund. All you need to do is click on the "Donate" button on the right side of this page to give with your credit or debit card. Donations by check (made payable to "Attention Orange") will also be accepted at Thursday's meeting.
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Does anyone know if they will be accepting donations at the meeting?I would assume so, but who do we give them to, or will they have a donation jar of any kind?
As someone associated with AO, I can say the following: Checks can be made to "Attention Orange" or donations can be given by paypal. I suppose cash will be accepted. Every donation will receive a receipt. Thank you for your support.
Why are CES and Efland parents being excluded from this meeting?
Attention Orange is a group of Hillsborough Elementary parents - and our lawsuit is based upon the explusion of students from Hillsborough Elementary based only on their income level. Selectively choosing a small group of students to be expelled from their current school based only on income is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
However, we also feel that redirecting Title 1 money is unethical. If an Efland Cheeks or Central Elementary parent would like to coordinate efforts with our group, please contact us through attentionorange@yahoo.com.
We would be very happy if Central and Elfand parents would want to join forces with HES parents to fight this injustice.
Quote from Casey's article: "A sea of orange T-shirts flooded the school board meeting room Monday night as part of a parent organization’s effort to end the board’s plan to achieve socioeconomic balance at two of the district’s elementary schools."
First thing, lets help Casey do some math. Efland Cheeks, HES, and CES constitute 3 elementary schools. 1+1+1=3, right?
Second point: the "sea of orange" was not fighting socioeconomic balance. We were making sure that the Board follows the law. I'm disappointed that the Board has total disregard for the law. Then again, this behavior was established from their former chairman, Dennis Whitling, who has total disregard for the law, too.
Zan Womack, if you are reading, do us a service and get rid of Casey. While the Board has total disregard for the law, Casey has a total disregard for the truth.
Remember everyone take a quick second to pop the owner of the News of Orange/ Womack Publishing a note about Casey's one sided articles. Casey is turning the community supported newspaper since 1893 into the Charlotte Observer himself and his articles impact will tarnish the papers support for years to come (attention advertisers). If you have any question read the first paragraph of this weeks article (Parents protest school board plan).
Charles "Zan" Womack
Chairman of the Board
zwomack@womackpublishing.com
434-432-1654, ext. 15
By the way everyone say hello to Liz, she's probably one of our blogs most frequent visitors.
Hi Liz! Thanks for being a living example of the Peter Principle in action.
I feel that Mr. Woods’ quote (Woods said the solution, however, “should not be one as destructive as the one planned. … Hillsborough Elementary is a great success — support it, emulate it and do not do anything to tear it down.”) was just as detrimental to the perception of HES as the first paragraph. It may have been taken out of context but regardless of what Mr. Woods said before or after; what was published can be misconstrued as coming from a bunch of elitist parents who view their school as being above the rest of the schools in the county. I think that HES would be better served if parents talked more about what is wrong with the current plan.
-How moving 20 something kids (in a county where there are thousands) does nothing to address socioeconomic imbalance or change CES F&R lunches (of course this argument could cause the BOE to ditch the current plan for a more radical one)
-How it is going to have a negative impact on the families that are expelled (i.e. child care)
-How HES families fully support and desire more diversity in the school but feel that any plan should apply to incoming kindergarteners and not force the children that are already enrolled to leave.
Moreover, I think it would be beneficial to the HES family if there were more dialog concerning how this plan is going to negatively impact other OC schools.
Every parent at CES & ECES should know that over $300,000 has been taken away from their schools. This is money that could have been spent on materials and programs that would help their children succeed. They need to know the BOE has given up on their children (actually every person in OC should be made aware of this).
Further, other schools may be impacted by this plan as money may be diverted from their schools to fund the pre-k program (that is taking the place of the title I money). Has the BOE said where money from the pre-k program is coming from? Money in OC is going to be tight again this year so the lose of such a large amount of funds (title I money) is going to be substantial.
These are the points that need to be brought up again and again. If families outside of HES feel as though they will be impacted or are shown the injustice of what is occurring at ALL THREE schools then maybe they will get involved or at least be sympathetic towards the cause (and not toward the BOE).
Remember, passion and conviction are great attributes to possess but if you add thoughtlessness or ignorance you have a recipe for disaster.
Finally, let me leave you with a horrible scenario that some HES families may have to face.
Lets say little Susie is expelled from HES and sent to ECES. She will be sent to a school that has been given up on by the BOE; one that does not have the funds to provide a program that meets her academic needs.
Think about all the kids who needs will not be met b/c of lack of funds…
How sad.
I agree with Christine. We need to be more responsible for what we say and refrain from making statements that make us appear to be elitists. We are becoming what the Board is: a rhetorical spin machine. Ditch the style, and start adding some substance.
I also agree with Christine's point to focus on the loss of Title 1 funds to CES and ECES. The Board must be held accountable for their actions. There is no way the Board can justify the loss in funds.
I am in full support of eliminating the Board's plan. It's unfair to a select group of children (Non-FRL, rising 1st and 2nd graders without siblings in 3rd, 4th and 5th whose districted schools are CES and ECES). However, stop trying to intimidate the Board members. Other parents in the community are hearing how we are acting without class.
Don't embarrass the dolphin!
There's another candidate for BOE: Jeff Michalski. Does anyone know anything about him? He's an HES parent so it looks like HES will be well protected after May.
BTW...I agree with anonymous 7:32 and Christine- The name calling, threats, etc. need to stop. It's counterproductive to say the least.
Personally, I defer to the owner of this here blog. If he thinks something is inappropriate or counterproductive, he is within his rights to delete or truncate.
This board needs to hear from CES & Efland parents. They are affected by this $300,000 removal from their schools more than anyone. Also, every Orange County property taxpayer can guess how those funds will be replaced. This has to be a county wide movement to get the board to listen, not just HES parents. I encourage all CES & Efland parents reading this to contact Attention Orange ASAP.
Another man running for school board per the board of elections site-Eddie M. Eubanks.
Eddie Eubanks was put up to run by Keith Cook and the Northern Orange County NAACP.
The statement about Eddie Eubanks is untrue. Eddie Eubanks is running for the school board because he has the desire to serve the children of Orange County. His entire career in social work is a testament to that. Please reserve any judgement until after he has a chance to speak for himself. Thanks.
A former Co-Worker of Eddie Eubanks
Eddie Eubanks, along with Tony McKnight and two other potential African American candidates, gathered at a meeting of the Northern Orange County NAACP to seek the approval of the Northern Orange NAACP. A committee comprised of Keith Cook and other NAACP officials convened and discussed the merits of all four potential candidates. Eddie Eubanks was the chosen candidate to be endorsed by the NAACP to represent Northern Orange County African Americans because it was felt he was the most viable African American candidate.
Tony McKnight chose to file regardless of the NAACP wishes.
Respectfully, the person who posted on February 23, 2008 5:42 PM is obviously unaware of the facts surrounding Eubanks' candidacy and his involvement with Keith Cook and the NAACP.
I am aware of the facts. However, the prior statement was,
"Eddie Eubanks was put up to run by Keith Cook and the Northern Orange County NAACP."
Eddie chose to run on his own merit. He has their support, but he is not running because they put him up to it.
A former Co-Worker of Eddie Eubanks
The forum was sponsored by the Northern Orange Education Task Force. The NAACP cannot endorse political candidates.
No members of the NOETF were involved in choosing the candidate. An independent panel of citizens chose the candidate that would receive their endorsement.
I welcome any and all candidates that have a desire to change the status quo and work towards educating all the children in Orange County.
There has been a long legacy of bad decisions by the school board that we are having to pay to price today. I do not wish this torment on any families in the future.
Let's do this right and now.
HES Parent
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