Showing posts with label accountability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accountability. Show all posts

Friday, July 3, 2009

Want to Help?

A number of people have asked how they could help bring some sensibility and fiscal responsibility back to the administration of the Iredell-Statesville Schools. I will list some here, if you can think of others please leave a comment and share your ideas.
  • Spread the word. Tell your friends, relatives, and neighbors about our efforts.
  • Tell every teacher and teacher assistant you know that we support their efforts and will do everything possible to improve the quality of the schools.
  • Attend the Concerned Citizen's School Advisory Committee meeting on Tuesday, July 7th, from 7:00 p.m. until 8:45 p.m. in Meeting Room A at the Iredell County Library.
  • Attend the I-SS Board Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, July 6th, at 5:00 p.m. at the ADR Education Center on Garfield Street. This is the meeting where most of the actual business of the Board is conducted. Also, this meeting is held in a former classroom, therefore our group would be very noticeable. The public is not allowed to speak at this meeting but our presence will speak for us.
  • Attend the regular Board Meeting on Monday, July 13th, at 6:00 p.m. in the meeting room on the second floor of the Iredell County Government Center. And please consider speaking during the public comment segment of the meeting. If you are going to speak make sure that you sign-up before the meeting on the sign-up sheet that is outside the meeting room. You only get three minutes to speak so take some time before the meeting to think of what you want to say. The Board policy is that they do not respond to any comments during the meeting, and I have learned that they do not like to respond at all, but perhaps if we get enough people to comment the Board will feel required to respond.
  • Write a letter to the editor of the Statesville Record and Landmark.
  • Contact the investigative news team at one of the local TV stations.
  • If you have children who attend I-SS, talk to them about their experiences in and out of the classroom. When school starts back up, talk to their teacher and find out what extra work the teachers are being required to do and how that is effecting their classroom teaching.
  • Do everything possible to make sure that the I-SS administration is made to act with accountability and complete transparency.
  • If you know of something that I-SS is not doing correctly, then consider filing a formal complaint. You can do that on-line using the I-SS web site using the link below, or you can pick up a complaint form at Tuesday's meeting.
Online Complaint Management System

Again, these are just few suggestions and, of course, it needs to be a group effort if we are going to make a difference. So, do consider being an active participant. One last thought, I think we need to have some way of identifying the members of the group when we attend school meetings. Perhaps we could wear an arm band of a particular color. Any suggestions?

Saturday, June 20, 2009

School Board Accountability

AN ACT MAKING IT UNLAWFUL FOR A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER TO WILLFULLY FAIL TO DISCHARGE THE DUTIES OF THE OFFICE.
SECTION 1. G.S. 14‑230 reads as rewritten:
"§ 14‑230. Willfully failing to discharge duties.
If any clerk of any court of record, sheriff, magistrate,
school board member, county commissioner, county surveyor, coroner, treasurer, or official of any of the State institutions, or of any county, city or town, shall willfully omit, neglect or refuse to discharge any of the duties of his office, for default whereof it is not elsewhere provided that he shall be indicted, he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. If it shall be proved that such officer, after his qualification, willfully and corruptly omitted, neglected or refused to discharge any of the duties of his office, or willfully and corruptly violated his oath of office according to the true intent and meaning thereof, such officer shall be guilty of misbehavior in office, and shall be punished by removal therefrom under the sentence of the court as a part of the punishment for the offense."
SECTION 2. This act becomes effective December 1, 2009.
Approved 4:36 p.m. this 15th day of June, 2009