Maybe our superintendent will send me another Cease and Desist letter due to the fact that I sent several emails trying to find out why the district didn't post the Bill Payments with the board packets on the district website. You can read the email exchanges and the questions that they DID NOT respond to in my previous article here:
For nearly 2 years, I have been asking our school board to post the Board Packets, Bill Payment and Financials on the district website at numerous board meetings and in emails without receiving a single response from our school board as to why they refuse to post them. Our school board does not understand Open Government and Transparency. This is one of the biggest failures and most disrespectful behaviors I have ever come across in dealing with elected officials.
Our school board members were voted into office to represent the community and be our voice in the school district and listen to our concerns. I told Ruth Ann Newman that corrections needed to be made to our school board policies for typographic and grammatical errors as well as removing points of contact from them that have retired years ago in February 2011. She told me that all I did was complain and that they were working on rewriting them at that time. That was more than 2 years ago. The district posted a completely overhauled and updated version of the policies on the district website more than a year ago. The board and school district still haven't finished reviewing them and approving them for adoption. If this is how your school board responds to the community and fulfills their role as school board members, then WE SHOULD NOT BE VOTING INCUMBENTS BACK ONTO THE SCHOOL BOARD!
Ruth Ann Newman and Pete Nicholas are up for re-election on the April 2, 2013 ballot. I hope that the voters and patrons of our school district take note and spread the word that OUR SCHOOL BOARD IS UNRESPONSIVE AND THAT OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS NEW PEOPLE ON THE BOARD! It would be nice to let our superintendent know that the community has reached its limit with the problems going on in our school district by NOT CASTING ANY VOTES for Ruth Ann Newman or Pete Nicholas. We DO NOT NEED Ruth Ann and Pete on the school board for another 3 years. From speaking with many people in the community that have been paying attention to the press that our school district has been receiving, they will not be casting votes for our incumbents. It is up to you to inform your friends, family and neighbors before the election about how our school board and school district has been treating the public. Please link to this article on Facebook and Twitter. You can make a Positive change in our district.
On April 2, 2013, I will be casting my votes for Mark Jones and Steve Holloway. Both Mark and Steve are graduates of Fox High School and have children in our school district. Mark Jones doesn't have anyone working for the school district and he cares a lot about our school district just as I do. Steve Holloway's wife is a teacher at Antonia Elementary and I was very impressed when I met her. Many people have told me great things about her as a teacher. I also know that Steve has done a lot of work helping Antonia Elementary and he cares about our district as well. Neither Mark nor Steve come from a political background. They just want to help improve our school district!
Dan Kroupa is also running for the school board and I have my concerns if he were to get elected onto the school board due to his political connections with the City of Arnold and Ron Counts. Ron Counts was helpful in getting Dianne Brown-Critchlow placed as our school district superintendent. Ron Counts and Dianne Critchlow are very close and with Dan Kroupa being closely involved with the City of Arnold, I believe that if Dan were to get elected that it would significantly upset the chances of getting a school board that is responsive to our community. These are my opinions and I have the right to voice them. I have always been respectful in expressing my concerns and opinions despite what our superintendent, some of our administrators and school board may want you to think.
As a Community, I hope that you vote for Mark Jones and Steve Holloway in the April 2, 2013 school board election. Please put the Community back into our school board and remove the self-serving and non-responsive members of our current board.
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE THINGS IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH YOUR VOTE ON TUESDAY APRIL 2, 2013!!!
By casting your vote on April 2, 2013, you can exercise your right to show our school board anonymously how you feel about their behavior, attitude and unresponsiveness without having to endure the ridicule and offensive slander that I have received for voicing my concerns at school board meetings and in speaking with people in our community.
You have the right to vote and I hope you exercise that right in the upcoming election!