From the Journal Star:
District 150 School Board Vice President Linda Butler was elected Friday as president of the board, which again passed over longtime member Martha Ross.
Ross has been on the School Board for nine years, longer than any other member. After Friday’s 4-2 vote, she said the practice of selecting a board president was “unfair” and “biased.”
“We as a board are supposed to model how we want our children to perform. We want our children to treat each other fairly … but yet I really feel that is not what is happening with this board and it is a personal feeling that I have not been treated fairly for whatever reason,” Ross said during the meeting, adding that “it has the appearance in this community as being discriminatory and biased.” […]
“I’m not upset because I know who I am as a person and I know what I’ve contributed to this community in the last 30 years,” she said, later adding “but If there was a spirit of fairness, I would’ve had my turn.”
I think it’s painfully clear that the other board members simply do not have confidence in Martha Ross as a leader. There may have been some question over whether this was race-based in the past, but given that the last two superintendents the board has hired have been black, and now the new school board president is black, I really don’t see how that argument holds water.
I don’t see anything in the school code that says the board is obligated to elect as president the member with the most seniority. I don’t see anything in the school code that says every board member is guaranteed a turn as president. All the school code says is, “The president of the board of education shall be elected by the members thereof from among their number and serve for 2 years…” (105 ILCS 5/10-13).
If fairness is defined as “conformity with rules or standards,” then this election was fair. If Ross believes that every board member should have a “turn,” then she should take her beef to the state legislature and lobby for a change in the school code. But calling your fellow board members biased, unfair, and discriminatory every time you lose an election is probably not the best way to secure their confidence and votes in the future.
Excellent post. If Martha is so “frustrated” with the fairness of the Board, perhaps it is a good time for her to step down and let someone else have a go at it.
Maybe it’s time for me to concede that Martha doesn’t deserve her “turn.” Up until now, I have believed she deserved that chance. From my own perspective, I don’t see that Butler or Wolfmeyer are so much more qualified. Butler almost never speaks at board meetings–other than to announce “feel good” events, etc. Perhaps as board president, she will find it necessary to express her reasons for voting, etc.–of course, Wolfmeyer doesn’t reveal her reasons very often either.
Anyway, I do understand both sides of the argument and, in the end, I don’t think it matters much who is president.
You seem to have a very short memory or are using selective recall CJ. “If fairness is defined as “conformity with rules or standards,” if you truly believe this, then how could you forget the year they “suspended” the rules in order to make sure Martha would not be elected when she was the only one qualified under the rules to be president. There was no conformity to the rules then or the standards.
The rule used to be you had to have been vice-president first to be eligible to be president. Also, the president and vice-president were not supposed to come from the same district. Where was the conformity to the rules then? So much for standards.
The news reported last week that another #150 administrator had resigned, but didn’t have the name yet. Does anyone know who it was?
Ava Hoffer resigned. This is listed on the HR report from the last board meeting.
Ava Hoffer. She worked at central administration office.
http://peoriastory.typepad.com/peoriastory/2010/11/the-moving-expenses-57000-but-thats-not-all.html
Two down…
Whaaaaaaaawhaaaaaaawhaaaaa Martha Ross. NOT QUALIFIED
Ava Hoffer was EMPLOYED…worked????? Questionable
mortified: Agreed….hehehe
District Watch will meet at Monical’s on Knoxville and Lake at 6:30 Sunday. I find the following items to on the agenda for Monday night’s BOE meeting to be interesting.
Felicia McKinnon – Instructional Improvement Officer (who is she and is this a new position?)
First Reading – Board Policy # 5:400 – Board Policy on School Resource Officers
First Reading – Board Policy # 5:130 – Electronic Communications/Social Networks
BRADLEY UNIVERSITY CONTRACT
Proposed Action: That the Board approve contracts with Bradley University to host a staff event on August 18, 2011, as well as high school graduation events on June 2, 2012 at Renaissance Coliseum, at a combined cost of $11,488.25, plus operational costs estimated at $4,159.37.
“I…I…I…” could we please elect board members who can speak on behalf of their constituents vs. themselves when deciding on board policy and graduation??? Wouldn’t it be nice to see a breakdown of the graduation expenses per high school before being asked to rubber stamp a recommendation for the Bradley Coliseium? Personally, I would like to see my child graduate at the Coliseum, but we would prefer to make an informed decision which would require knowing the graduation costs PER HIGH SCHOOL before the vote goes to the board. I apologize in advance if this info has been made public and I failed to uncover it.