Kevin Woster captures what the RC School Board fuss was about

Wondering why the "gay agenda" so well-represented and articulate at the Rapid City School Board meeting this week after Gordon Howie's December 17 threat to of the school board?

Kevin Woster hit it right on the head in an op-ed (RC Journal, Jan 3, Navigating the icy roads of fatherhood)about what LGBT parents and parents of LGBT kids face every single day.

Well, okay he WAS talking about road ice but it's a very good metaphor.

They're big kids, well on their way to lives I can only guess at. But they're still my kids. And I still get jelly kneed at the idea of something terrible happening to them out in that big world of promise and hope and danger and pain.

Letting go is tough duty for a parent, even when the "kids" are 25 and 27. Yet, you have to do it every time they turn and walk away from your latest lingering hug.

They did that last Sunday morning, after six days here in Rapid City. It was the longest stretch we've had together since their high school years, and it left me feeling wealthy beyond words.

It also left me with a nervous knot in my stomach as they pulled out of the driveway and out onto roads turned treacherous by the two-day winter storm that swept the state.

When Judy Shepard spoke in Rapid City, she related that when her son Matthew "came out" to her, that her first thoughts were for her son's personal safety out there on the "icy roads" of the world.

A little of their own medicine

Half of Rapid City's Republican Power Couple just got a taste of what it's like to hold a minority opinion in South Dakota. And it isn't pretty.

The most visible sign of discontent came Thursday night from board member Sheryl Kirkeby in the form of a public two page letter that she distributed at the meeting. Kirkeby is a long-time board member and served as president before Wes Storm was voted in as president in July.

And in my humble opinion, she seems more than a bit whiney about it, considering what Eric Abrahamson said about his school board experience, which squares with what I've heard from other former school board members:those in charge have no problems with closed meetings, as long as their in them. Not unusual in these parts.

“I experienced the same kind of frustrations Sheryl is experiencing now that she’s not on the facilities committee,” he said. “When board members who haven’t been on the committees see the information, they see it in the context of a board meeting when they’re being asked to vote on something.

Details on the board's sturm und drang in an excellent Page One article by Kayla Gehagan:

Signs of discord emerge at school board meeting -
Kirkeby: 'No fair not being at the cool kid's table! 'We need better communication'
Rapid City Journal 09/05/2009

Sounds like what life is like for a Democratic legislator in Pierre, or even a thinking minority Republican anywhere west of the Missouri.

Fortunately, the important thing going on is not the whining, it's that the current school board is actually trying to move forward with needed decisions on facilities. And it's about time.

You can get more details at ourrapidcityschools.org.

A little out of synch?

Tonight the Rapid City School Board of Education is set to approve the District Improvement Plan. This document, required as part of the No Child Left Behind Process, is the closest thing the Rapid City School District has to a real strategic plan.

However, the public was not allowed to review a draft of this document; it simply was not available, although the plan was on the school board agenda two weeks ago.

Former school board member Eric Abrahamson tried to get a copy, even today, the day of the meeting... (I'll let him take it from there):

I called Katie Bray’s office today to get a copy of the District Improvement Plan that the Board will be voting on tonight. First I was told there were no copies (despite the fact that this was apparently on your agenda two weeks ago.) Then Katie called and left me a message saying that the public is not allowed to have copies before the meeting because the Board has not adopted the document.

Not exactly giving the parents and public a chance to provide input to the priorities for our schools!!!

Quite disappointing.. but the Governor and Legislature are not exactly setting the bar very high with THEIR approach to public access to government information in South Dakota.

UPDATE

Tonight the school board approved the District’s Improvement Plan. I asked the Board to delay its approval, publish the document as a draft and give the public the chance to read the document and provide comment. The Administration told the Board that if they delayed the District might not receive its federal funding.

Further discussion revealed, however, that the District is already 19 days late in turning in the document. One reason the District is late is that the Board deferred a decision on the Plan at its February 5 meeting because some Board members were concerned that spending plans articulated in the District Improvement Plan did not line up with the ongoing budget discussion. Answers to these important questions were not provided tonight.

The Board will have a special study session this Saturday to discuss budget issues. The meeting begins at 10:30 am at the School of Mines & Technology in Room CB 309.

UPDATE #2
The document is online at: http://tinyurl.com/diplan (pdf file)