Board Meeting Comments

As part of the facilities, master plan please get representative community feedback on some of these recent constructions so we don’t repeat the same mistakes. One can be grateful for a new building and also see that we can do better. some of these newer buildings have issues with drainage ditches being too close to students or insecure buildings or common spaces that have been repurposed for magnet projects, or areas where building security was not well thought out. We do hope when assessing buildings and communities that more feedback will be taken into account so maybe we can start to reverse some of the enrollment trends by being responsive and transparent. Have a good evening.

Thanks everybody for being here tonight. It would be nice if all of the communities involved would get regular updates and community meetings like the one they had at Mayfair lab recently. Stakeholders shouldn’t have to hound board members at church to find out basic information about a tax plan from 2018 or a large grant from 2023. In the past, if folks would complain, some would blame principals for not keeping their communities up-to-date and that kind of cycle is just tiring. Just do better. In an effort to make EBR great it would be immensely helpful to keep stakeholders informed whether it’s changes to programming,implementation of large grants, or changes to the construction timeline. Just let folks know what’s going on even when things aren’t clear. Unfortunately, some of the lovely people who give presentations at this board are less lovely when stakeholders reach out to them seeking clarity. Daring to be great begins with you.

Although, this discipline language change is a response to a state policy it would help to revise this policy further and omit ambiguities. Some staff may feel students showing joy or talking to each other at lunch is “disrespectful,” which could reinforce a cold, hostile adult-centered school environment. Too often the board insinuates they want to shift from old school practices to welcoming 21st century schools, but fail to update policies accordingly. As we dare to be great, it would be great to get all staff on board with creating warm, healthy environments for all students and making sure they have real supports to do so. Thank you.

Clearly the goal in this discipline update is to protect staff from liability when they take action related to safety, but the board can further update policies to protect staff so they can deliver instruction, not only from disruptive students, but also from various departments using school staff and students to churn our performances or products to make adult jobs seem relevant. Too much instruction is sidelined for stunts for social media or props for potential audits. Please kindly further help staff who work in classrooms with relevant policy updates. Not only protecting them from unnecessary disciplinary action, but allowing them to actively engage in more instruction without directives from above. Less optics, more support.