Bad Week For School Boards—Bad Year for Most Everyone

[Modern School]

In her blog, SF School Board Member, Rachel Norton, refers to the attack on the Panama City, Florida, school board, as an act of desperation and hopelessness, typical of how people are feeling today. “At almost every Board meeting, people come before us who are feeling very angry, desperate and hopeless—I am not sure we are fully prepared for what could happen if one of them were armed.

To read the rest of this post, please go to http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2010/12/bad-week-for-school-boardsbad-year-for.html

[MichiganVote]

1. Most school board meetings don't have an armed security guard available.

[msongs]

2. hey it was a FABULOUS year for the military and corporate parasites and leeches nt

[txlibdem]

3. the district is asking its employees for millions of dollars in wage and benefit concessions.

How about we cut 50% of the school board positions, make them take a pay cut and then freeze their pay at that lower level for the next 3 years, and take a big chunk of their retirement (nice, fat, BIG retirement check) back. The school board and school administrators are to blame for any failures in our educational system --not the teachers. How dare the fat cat bureaucrats even think to ask the hard working teachers and other staff to take pay cuts without sharing the burden themselves FIRST.

Fire all the school boards. Remove their retirement privileges due to incompetence, misrepresentation, negligence and failure to do their jobs. Make school board members responsible for student test scores.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. School board members are paid?

Our aren't. They don't get any benefits either.

[roody]

6. Ours get the health insurance, but no pay.

[txlibdem]

7. They get legal expenses, reimbursement as well.

Here is info for Arizona

Will I get paid?

No. Members may be reimbursed for travel and subsistence expenses for authorized school purposes.

As a board member, can I be held personally liable for legal claims against the board or the school district?

As a general rule, no. By state law, governing board members cannot be held liable for actions taken in good faith and within the scope of their authority. Boards also may receive legal counsel to advise them, and the liability insurance of most, if not all, organizations covers board members who are acting in their official capacity.

http://www.azsba.org/static/index.cfm?contentID=122

So they can screw up the school system and destroy our children's lives with impunity as long as they "were acting in good faith." BS.

[stopschoolpaddling]

10. God I don't even Know if our school board members get paid or not.

I sure hope not because that would just be the equivalent of being paid to do NOTHING! I was at the last board meeting and I am hear to attest that not an intelligent word was heard from any of them.

[roody]

5. The Ukiah Unified School Board just gave back five furlough

days to management, and nothing to teachers and students.

[txlibdem]

8. How much does a Principal and Vice make a year and in retirement?

I knew a retired VP who said she pulled down $80k a year retirement. Sickening.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. How is that sickening?

Depending on where that vp lives, $80K can be a comfortable middle class income. It's certainly not excessive.

It's also entirely possible that part of that income comes from personal investments and accounts. I've been putting away an extra amount for my retirement for many years now so I will be living on more than merely the retirement I get from my employer. Many of us in education do that.

[stopschoolpaddling]

9. Parents who want to address the school board about anything where I live

in Searcy County School District are ignored 9 out of 10 times. If the superintendent doesn't "allow" you to be on the "agenda" you are not even allowed to slip the board members a note inside the room where the meeting is being held. What do we know about this man's previous dealings with his "school board"?

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Nothing is keeping you from contacting them via email or phone, is it?

Can you get contact info for them?