Friday, February 15, 2008

Wake Up HES Update

Again this afternoon, concerned parents passed out flyers in the HES pick-up lines.

Here is the full text of the flyer:

WAKE UP HES

On Wednesday evening, Attention Orange held its first meeting. There is much work to do:

* Attend this Monday's School Board meeting: 7pm, Central Office Building (200 East King Street, Hillsborough). To show our solidarity, please wear ORANGE! While there has been some talk of gathering outside with signs, upon further examination, signs are problematic. It is more important we be sitting in the Board room when school board members and central office staff arrive, and signs are not allowed in the Board room.

* Inquire about and DONATE to Attention Orange, the major grassroots effort to legally challenge the Board. You may donate anonymously and electronically by visiting http://savehes.blogspot.com and selecting "Donate". You may use credit, debit, or your PayPal account to donate directly. To find out more about Attention Orange, please submit inquiries to attentionorange@yahoo.com.

Attention Orange hired an attorney who is aggressively moving forward. Orange County Schools has been notified of the grievance and given a short response period. If the board does not end it's expulsion of HES students, a cease and desist injunction will follow.

It is imperative that we work together as an HES family. The future of our school is at stake. We cannot do it without you.

* Get the word out. Many in our HES family are completely unaware of the recent school board decisions and imminent threat to our school.

Reputable attorneys are expensive - HES is worth it!




16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Memo to School Board: get your act together. This attorney will DESTROY your simpleton attorney. You had the chance to settle this intelligently, and now you are going to be taken to the whipping post. Not only that, but you will have some media exposure that will be less than flattering. It's not fun when people discover that you used discriminatory tactics against children.

Oh, by the way, does anyone know what has happened to Dennis Whitling? I didn't know if he was able to buy himself out of his alleged criminal activity.

Anonymous said...

HILLSBOROUGH -- A former Orange High School teacher joined the race for the Orange County Board of Education on Thursday.

Tony McKnight, who also ran for a seat on the school board in 2006, said his priorities are the same as they were two years ago: promoting positive student achievement for all students systemwide, decreasing the drop-out rate, decreasing the suspension rate, and recruiting and retaining excellent teachers in the district.

The Hillsborough resident said Thursday he has added one more to his list: "providing excellent job opportunities for students within the community."

"I would like to see a connection between the school system and its students with employers within the community," said McKnight, who has a daughter at Cedar Ridge High School and a son at Pathways Elementary School. "This would be for those individuals who are seeking a two-year college or college in general."

The district should also be accountable for low-achieving students who are being left behind, McKnight said. "We have to address the issues of all the children in Orange County and not just the high academic achievers," he said. "I want to really focus on improving the drop-out rate -- that's one of my major concerns."

McKnight, who taught business education at Orange High and was a permanent substitute teacher at Cedar Ridge, is an apprentice and training consultant for the N.C. Department of Labor. "I'm very enthused about [running]," he said. "I think the school board is doing a pretty good job in most areas, but there's always need for improvement."

Longtime Orange County Commissioner, school administrator and principal Stephen Halkiotis filed his paperwork with the Board of Elections on Wednesday.

The terms of three Board of Education incumbents -- Elizabeth Brown, Al Hartkopf and Dennis Whitling -- expire at the end of the year. None of them have filed to run for re-election so far. The filing period ends at noon on Feb. 29.

Anonymous said...

does anyone know that if a child applies for a spot at HES & does not get in, do they get put on a waiting list? if they are put on a waiting list, is it a numbered list, based on when the application was submitted or denied?

Anonymous said...

It has always been my understanding that once HES starts, there is no waiting list maintained.

Anonymous said...

My only fear is that the Board will decide that the only solution to the problem is to eliminate HES. This solution would not make any sense to me, but making sense has never been important for this Board. I can see Liz Brown say "Let's just close this frills school and send these children back to their districted school". See if the Board doesn't try to get even with us by using this tactic.

Anonymous said...

My guess is that the end result will be CES K-2 and HES 3-5 on a traditional calendar and a districted school (one school).

What the board refuses to comprehend is that you can't force "upper-middle" class people to send their kids to schools that they don't want to. Research has shown this time and time again. Parents with means will go private, home school, choose charter or even move to avoid going to a poorer school.

My point is that instead of trying to force people into CES by redistricting, the BoE has got to revamp the school to make it something that people WANT to attend, i.e. a magnet. Again, I think that CES should close for the school year 08-09, disperse the 189 kids and open it back up in the year 09-10 as a brand new school with a new look and theme. The current teachers could be employed at the schools where the children go to maintain a beneficial student/teacher ration.

The board is all about the peer affect yet they are digging their heels in to the detriment of the children that this argument pertains to.

Ted needs to check his ego at the door and do right by these children. It isn't about being right - it's about education.

HES Mom

Anonymous said...

While I believe that there are some who fear HES closing - that thinking is just the bully-type of tactic this Board is using to prevent parents from challenging its bad policies. If they were a bully on the playground, giving in quietly wouldn't be the right course of action - calling them out on it would.

Nevertheless - I feel it would be difficult for them to simply close the school as we have so many others that are at or near capapcity. Remember HES was opened to relieve population pressure in the county to begin with. Plus I have spoken with several members of the Board - even those who support this current plan - who say closing HES is not an option. They tell me that they don't take seriously Liz's calls for closing the school and neither should we.

And lastly - I believe if the Board were to try such a tactic at this point - we could again look to our legal counsel. While a school board does have a great deal of power about such matters - this would certainly show its discriminatory nature against HES.

As parents at HES and supporters of year-round education in Orange County - we cannot back down to school yard bullies. We are our childrens' only advocate! This Board has said it wishes to increase diversity in the district - a very good goal. But to do this the Board is moving 20 children out of a population of more than 7000! Selectively choosing 20 children out of 7000 based on their income is discriminatory!

We should not be afraid! We should be furious!

Anonymous said...

I can see the Board asking the county commissioners some large increase in funding like last year, when they asked for a 17% increase. If this happens again, which it will, I see Liz going on a rampage to close HES. Don't put anything past Liz.

One person made a good point that the Board doesn't take Liz seriously. However, drastic means take drastic measures. I don't think that when we win this next battle that the war has been won. Remember, we are talking about a board who shamed us for being too white, too elitist, and too self-centered to help out a struggling school. This is the same board who blamed us for CES not making the grade in regards to NCLB.

Bottom line: be prepared to fight. Don't think for a minute that HES is safe from the board.

Anonymous said...

Help me understand where this idea of closing HES is coming from? Let's deal with the issue at hand, which is the application process. We cannot get off track with rhetoric.

Anonymous said...

"Help me understand where this idea of closing HES is coming from?"

Liz Brown has on more than one occassion suggested that the Board close HES down because it is a "frills" school. Other Board members has suggested that HES needs to be dismantled. I think this concern is very relevant, especially on how the Board has been retalitory against some of the HES parents.

Anonymous said...

Could you give us some examples of how the board has been retaliatory against some HES parents?

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you asked.

This plan is one large retaliatory measure. The SES balance in the county is directly a result of the previous redistricting. Rather than making the choice to market the year-round option in our community, the Board has chosen an extreme plan that is seen by many parents as retaliatory. The Board seems to believe that the issue with Efland and Central lies soley at the door of HES. The reality is that a school of choice, unmarketed by the Board, could only lead to the numbers that we currently see at HES.

Throughout this process - before the current plan - various Board members have made unprofessional, derogatory and inflammatory comments about HES families. In truth, neither I nor any of my friends could afford to live the lifestyle of most of the Board members.

Here are some specific examples:

Liz Brown states that we are a "frills school" that has no place in the county.

Debbie Piscateli stated to one of our parents after a parent gathering at the Exchange Club that this location was the former meeting place of the KKK.

Even the Board attorney, Mr. Parker, has a comment: That the "elitist" parents at HES don't want their children going to school with "blue collar workers."

At the PTA sponsored forum on merger, Ted Triebel stated that "this room does not represent America."

Dennis Whitling asked of one our parents, "What would you rather teach? A room full of lower SES students, or a room of high SES students?"

And then there is Susan Hallman - who doesn't say anything at all.

In short, our parents feel as if they have been the target of unfair generalizations, character assasinations, and personal attacks. Instead of the Board remedying their own redistricting nightmare and working to grow a functioning program in the county, 20 of our children must pay the price.

And that is the very definition of retaliation.

Anonymous said...

"Could you give us some examples of how the board has been retaliatory against some HES parents?"

Read this blog. The board members have accused us of being elitists, smearing our names in the mud. Ask Allan. The members are ready to pounce on his every last word. They also like to throw out the racist cards. Are more than one instance we have had a board member state that our intentions are racially motivated. They like to state this throughout the community. Liz Brown on more than one occassion has asked that they close HES because it is a "frills" school. They continue this path of idiocy by continuing the talks of merger when NOBODY wanted the merger. Ted Triebel states in front of God and everyone that HES was not a fair representative of Orange County becuase it was too white (aka his famous quote "the browning of America). The Board using Lazy Casey to print in the Crap of Orange that HES is the "Whitest School". To say the least, I'm tired of being shamed because my children go to HES and because I'm too poor to pay for their private education. If you don't like this explanation, I simply do not care.

Anonymous said...

"If you don't like this explanation, I simply do not care."

Ouch! I was just looking for some information. Thank you both, anyway.

Anonymous said...

I do not think highly of anyone currently on the board, so in no way am I taking up for them. But have they put any policies in place that moves them closer to closing down HES? I don't think so. I will not be losing sleep over that possibility. Right now, the issue is with the application process and that is what I am focused on.

Anonymous said...

I apologize for offending you. The Board has taken a year away from my family. We have been cornered by idiots way too much, so occassionally we step on someone.