MO State Rep Rob Vescovo Files Legislation to Prevent Abuse of Taxpayer Dollars

Missouri State Representative Rob Vescovo sent out a press release today announcing the filing of his first piece of legislation.

The Fox C-6 School District has been handing out cash rewards and paid vacations to some of our administrators for unethical behavior, for not following school policies and for bullying parents and patrons in our district.

Being rewarded for this type of behavior does NOT set a good example for a National District of Character!

Thank you Mr. Vescovo for bringing this problem to the attention of our state legislators! 

From the Office of Rep. Rob Vescovo 112th District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

January 14, 2015

CONTACT: Rep. Rob Vescovo
573-751-3607

State Rep. Rob Vescovo Files Legislation to Prevent Abuse and Waste of Taxpayer Dollars

Legislation would prevent continued abuse of paid administrative leave


JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – State Rep. Rob Vescovo wants to protect Missouri taxpayers from footing the bill for ineffective government employees who are placed on paid administrative leave for misconduct. Vescovo today filed HB 519 to end a practice he said is costing Missourians hundreds of thousands of dollars or more each year.

House Bill No. 519

“This is a non-partisan bill that will take aim at ending the ongoing problem of this wasteful practice of paid administrative leave for employees who should be terminated,” said Vescovo, R-Arnold. “This is a practice that would never go on in the private sector where employers would refuse to pay ineffective employees to not do their jobs. However, because there is too little accountability when it comes to how taxpayer dollars are utilized, we have seen this blatant misuse of taxpayer funds far too often in the public sector.”

Vescovo said issues with the Fox School District first drew his attention to the problem. It was in June of 2014 when Superintendent Dianne Critchlow and three other school administrators were placed on paid administrative leave. Vescovo noted that Critchlow made an annual salary of more than $260,000. He said the issue resurfaced again just a few weeks ago when the school district’s food services director, who was hired with an annual salary of $65,000 despite lacking the certifications and education necessary for the position, was also placed on paid administrative leave.

“Folks in my district are outraged by what has gone on here as their tax dollars have been thrown away to people who should have been fired, but instead have been paid to not work,” said Vescovo. “The unfortunate truth is that this goes on all over the state and the nation. As someone who believes in government accountability and sincerely wants to protect taxpayers from abuse, I am committed to doing all I can to bring this wasteful practice to an end here in our state.”

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New Bill Payments Report to Debut in May 2014 Board Packet

I received an email from Fox C-6 Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lorenzo Rizzi on Wednesday April 14, 2014 in response to my Public Comments about the Bill Payments and Credit Card Statements I made at the April 2014 school board meeting. I also commented about the Bill Payments and Credit Card Statements at the at the February and March 2014 school board meetings as well.

Dr. Rizzi's email stated:

"I am writing to inform that beginning with the BOE May meeting, the payment of bills will show more detail which includes credit card purchases. These will be included in the board packets and posted on the website each month. I have scanned an example for your viewing."

So, starting in May 2014, you will be able to download school board meeting packets and review the bill payments for the month in the new format. I responded to Dr. Rizzi and thanked him for the change. Hopefully, the district will update ALL of this school year's board packets to the new Bill Payments Report format on the district website. It will be very easy for the district to rerun the reports using the new format and replace the pages in the board packets. The district already updates the board packets on the district website each month a few days after the school board meeting to include the Bill Payments Report that was provided in the "Late Materials" just prior to the school board meeting. It should only take a few hours to replace the Bill Payments reports in the board packets for the entire year.

The updated report will be very similar to the old report that had been in use for years before the district switched to the Tyler Systems software last July. The new report format includes two new columns of data. There will be a TRANSACTION DESCRIPTION column and an ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION column for the the fund account.

View a Sample of the New Bill Payments Report

Each month you can download the public portion of the school board meeting packets from the district's website. The board packets contain the board meeting minutes, letters to the district, bill payments report, staff separation and new hires reports and other documents that are provided to our school board members each month a week prior to the next school board meeting. School board meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month each month (other than July when there is no meeting). So, you can look for the documents online a week before the next board meeting.

The school board meeting packets contain the Bill Payments Report that our school board members review prior to approving the payments each month. Not all of the Bill Payments are included in the board meeting packets prior to the board meeting. There is usually another Bill Payments Report included in their "Late Materials" which is provided to them just prior to the board meeting. The payments in the Late Materials can be anywhere from $1.5 Million to $4 Million dollars or more. The April 15, 2014 school board meeting Late Materials contained an additional $1,582,835.19 in payments for the board to approve. Having descriptions in the bill payments report will help our board members and the public.

You can download Fox C-6 Board Meeting Packets from the district website using the link below. Currently only the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school year board packets are on the district website.

Fox C-6 Board Meeting Packets on District Website

It's taken a while to convince our school district to put the payment descriptions back onto the Bill Payments report. Last fall I spoke to Assistant Superintendent Mark McCutchen at the Arnold Days parade about the missing descriptions. Since Mr. McCutchen is in charge of finance, I asked him if he could add the payment descriptions back onto the bill payments report because the public has no idea what the purchases were for without a description.

The public is certainly going to ask questions when they see a payment for $24,723 that was paid to The Bridal Shoppe and there's nothing describing what the purchase was for. The majority of people have quite a puzzled reaction when they find out that the district spent $24,723 at The Bridal Shoppe. Had there been a description column on the bill payments report documenting that the payment was for choir robes, then maybe there would have been fewer questions regarding the payment.

It's good to know that our school board is beginning to see the need to be more transparent. It's a very important step towards rebuilding the public's trust of our school board and school district leadership. Prior school board decisions and lack of communication with the public have caused a great deal of distrust in the community. It will take time to restore that trust. Superintendent Critchlow has made it quite clear by her responses that transparency isn't as important to her as it is to the community.

And, attempts to block the public from speaking with the school board without first speaking to a school district administrator regarding school board decisions also undermines the public's trust and it does not follow school board policy.

It's important that our administrators and school board members read and understand our school board Policies and Regulations and that they follow them as well. They clearly document the roles of our school board and our Superintendent. They were written and adopted to be the rules for governing our school district.

Per our school board policies, 

"As a member of the school Board, I shall: Accept my policy-making responsibilities and require the Superintendent to administer the school in accordance with those policies."

You can read more from Fox's school board policies about School Board Member Qualifications, their Role, Oath, Code of Ethics and more in the document below that contains just those sections from the Fox C-6 School District's board policies and regulations.

Fox C-6 School Board Member Qualifications,

Role, Oath, Code of Ethics and More

March 18, 2014 School Board Meeting Review

Have you ever wondered what the Fox C-6 Superintendent is getting paid to do when you discover that an entire section of the updated Board Policies, Regulations and Forms was left out of the documents?

What's really sad is the fact that the part that was left out of the updated Polices, Regulations and Forms was the section on Employee Performance Evaluations in the Forms section.

I would like to think board member John Laughlin for making a motion to remove Section 4.2 - Approve - Policy/Regulation/Forms Manuals from the Fox's Board of Education agenda at last night's meeting after I spoke to him about the updated Policies and Regulations just prior to the meeting. Board member Steve Holloway seconded the motion. The BOE then voted to approve removing it from the agenda for last night's meeting.

I told Mr. Laughlin prior to the meeting that the community had not been properly informed that the updated policies had been posted on the district website for review. Superintendent Critchlow didn't tweet or post anything on the News page after the February BOE meeting to notify the public that the documents were available for public to review and to make recommendations on them. So thank you to Mr. Laughlin and Mr. Holloway for removing the approval from the agenda at last night's meeting.

The section that was left out of the All Forms document was Section 4600 - Performance Evaluation. It was listed in the FORMS - Table of Contents on the Missouri Consultants for Education website where the public can download Fox's latest DRAFT copy of Fox's updated Board Policies, Regulations and Forms. You will need to download the ALL FORMS PDF document from the Missouri Consultants for Education website in order to see that Section 4600 is completely missing from the All Forms document.

I found the missing Section 4600 in the 2012 draft of the updated Board Policies and Regulations on Fox's Website in the FORMS document. I pulled out Section 4600 and made them available here:

Section 4600 - Employee Performance Evaluation Forms

Section 4610.6 - Superintendent Performance Evaluation Forms

I've also assembled ALL of the updated Policies, Regulations and Forms into a single PDF that you can download and view as a single PDF document. It makes it much easier to search rather than trying to read them in chunks as they have been posted on the MCE website. You can view or download the file from the link below:

2014 Fox C-6 Board Policies, Regulations and Forms for Review

I wanted to highlight the following section from Section 4160.6 - Superintendent Performance Evaluation Forms as I thought the Superintendent's Performance Evaluation forms were very interesting. These forms are used by the Board of Education to review the Superintendent's performance on an annual basis. They are required to complete this by February 1 each year.

Superintendent Performance Evaluation

PURPOSE:

One of the primary responsibilities of the School Board is to evaluate the administrative leadership of the school system. Developing performance standards for administrators can be cost effective, reduce crisis management and set and maintain direction.

The purpose of the evaluation process is to provide both the superintendent and the board with information, which can be used to improve the effectiveness of the chief administrator, improve the quality of the school system and strengthen the relationship between the school board and the superintendent.

The results of the evaluation shall be used by the superintendent to identify and nurture strengths and to provide specific direction for improving performance. The board shall use the results of the evaluation to improve communications, to clarify roles and expectations and to make critical employment decisions regarding the superintendent’s contract.

CONTENT:

The superintendent’s effectiveness shall minimally be evaluated according to these six general areas of responsibility:

1. Instructional Leadership
2. Policy & Governance
3. Communications& Community Relations
4. Organizational Management
5. Human Resources Management
6. Values & Ethics of Leadership

Standard 1: INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP

This standard stresses the superintendent’s performance in leadership through empowering others, visioning, and helping shape school culture in a manner to enhance student performance outcomes.

Performance Indicators:(Do not rate individual indicators. These are listed only to help you think about the standard.)

1. Supervises the development & implementation of effective, research based practices allowing the district’s students to meet or exceed Missouri Performance standards
2. Promotes academic rigor that focuses on learning and excellence for schools
3. Creates and supports a community of learners that empowers others to reach high levels of performance to achieve the school’s vision
4. Models learning for staff and students
5. Promotes and expects a school based climate of tolerance, acceptance and civility
6. Develops, implements, promotes and monitors continuous improvement processes
7. Provides for effective educational services for the at-risk students
8. Establishes instructional strategies that include cultural diversity and differences in learning styles
9. Applies effective methods of providing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting student achievement and uses good research and assessments to improve the learning process.

Standard 2: POLICY AND GOVERNANCE

Working with the board to formulate internal and external district policy, defining mutual expectations of performance with the board and communicate effectively.

Performance Indicators:(Do not rate individual indicators. These are listed only to help you think about the standard.)

1. Implements decisions/policies of the BOE and provides follow-up reports.
2. Responds appropriately to board concerns
3. Informs the BOE of federal and state laws and changes in laws
4. Uses legal counsel in governance and procedures to avoid civil and criminal liabilities
5. Provides regular reports to the BOE on school district transactions
6. Serves as liaison between the BOE and school staff, facilitating communications and representing BOE positions and decisions accurately
7. Review existing policies and procedures and makes recommendations to the BOE for necessary revisions
8. Keeps the BOE abreast guidelines of DESE & U.S. Department of Ed.

Standard 3: COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS

This standard emphasizes the skills necessary to establish effective two-way communications not only with students, staff and parents, but the community as a whole including beneficial relationships with the media. It also stresses responding to community feedback and building community support for the district.

Performance Indicators:(Do not rate individual indicators. These are listed only to help you think about the standard.)

1. Promotes and maintains a positive attitude/climate in the district.
2. Maintains open communications with local police, fire, juvenile, & other governmental entities.
3. Demonstrates effective communication skills (written, verbal and non-verbal contexts, formal and informal settings, large and small group and one-on- one environments)
4. Promotes involvement of all stakeholders to be involved in the development of District programs and services.
5. Understands the role of media in shaping and forming opinions as well as how to work with the media. ("It's all about the summit!")

Standard 4: ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT

This standard requires the superintendent to gather and analyze data for decision making and for making recommendations to the board. It stresses the skills necessary to meet internal and external customer expectations and to effectively allocate resources.

Performance Indicators:

(Do not rate individual indicators. These are listed only to help you think about the standard.)

1. Demonstrates budget management.
2. Ensures that the annual budget is aligned to support the District goals.
3. Develops and monitors long-range plans for school and district technology and information systems, making informed decisions about computer hardware & software,& staff development & training needs.
4. Assesses and recommends facility and capital improvements.
5. Establishes procedures and practices for dealing with emergencies such as weather, threats to the school, student violence and trauma
6. Ensures a process is in place for continuous maintenance of existing facilities are conducive to positive learning
7. Analyzes available instructional resources including applications of technology and assign them in cost effective and equitable manner to enhance student outcomes

Standard 5: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

This performance standard requires skills in developing and implementing a staff performance-evaluation system. It also requires skills in applying ethical, contractual and legal requirements for personnel selection, development, retention, promotion and dismissal.

Performance Indicators:(Do not rate individual indicators. These are listed only to help you think about the standard.)

1. Keeps the Board informed of personnel issues.
2. Identifies and applies appropriate polices, criteria, and processes for the recruitment, selection, induction, compensation and separation of personnel with attention to issues of equity and diversity.
3. Establishes standards for staff performance, accountability and evaluation.
4. Develop and implement staff development programs to provide on-going education for all staff. Provide training for all staff in the areas of legal concern, including, but not limited to, harassment, discrimination, confidentiality, special education and disciplining of students.
5. Involves staff in assessing, identifying and implementing staff development needs and activities.

Standard 6: VALUES AND ETHICS OF LEADERSHIP

This standard requires the understanding and modeling of appropriate value systems, ethics and moral leadership.

Performance Indicators:

(Do not rate individual indicators. These are listed only to help you think about the standard.)

1. Exhibits ability to work well with individuals and groups.
2. Earns respect among professional colleagues.
3. Manifests a professional code of ethics and demonstrates personal integrity.
4. Expects professional conduct from all staff members.
5. Handles crisis management in a controlled and professional manner.
6. Promotes the establishment of moral and ethical practices in every classroom, every school, and throughout the district.

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There's still more to add to this article which I'll do later this evening.

I had the chance to speak with Assistant Superintendent Andy Arbeitman about his email from last month and the response I sent to him and the school board. I also had the opportunity to speak with a couple of our school board candidates for the April election.

Fox C-6's Revised School Board Policies - A District of Excellence?

So, why has it taken Superintendent Critchlow and the Fox C-6 School Board more than 3 years to update our school district Policies, Regulations and Forms?

That seems like a valid question. I wouldn't think that updating and revising Polices and Regulations would take more than a year. It's been 2 years since Superintendent Dianne Brown (now Critchlow) announced that the overhaul of the district policies were ready to be reviewed and were going to be placed on the district website. From my audio recording of the March 2012 board meeting, here is exactly what Superintendent Brown (Critchlow) told the public at that meeting:

"We are finally ready for the forms and manuals and policies to be reviewed.  This would be an overhaul of all of the school district policies. They will be placed, I believe tomorrow night, Debby, on the website? And, sent out to staff or we will have a place that staff can log into. We’re not sure if we can send that big of documents for download. And we’re going to leave them up until June so that staff can make recommendations and the public can make recommendations.  Then we’ll bring those recommendations back and my guess is....”

In 2012, it sounded like the policies would probably be approved sometime that fall if the district was going to "leave them up until June so the staff can make recommendations and the public can make recommendations". Those documents have been on the website now for nearly 2 years and haven't been updated during that time according to their PDF Creation Date.

However, the overhauled policies weren't originally posted on the district website like Superintendent Brown (Critchlow) said they would. I had to email the board secretary and former school board member Ruth Ann Newman asking when the revised policies would be posted for the public to review a week after the board meeting. The response I received from Superintendent Brown (Critchlow) wasn't at all what I expected considering what she said at the March 2012 board meeting. Her email stated that the draft Board Policies and Regulations were NOT for public review at this time. That's definitely not what she said at the school board meeting.

This is what Superintendent Brown (Critchlow) emailed to me on March 29, 2012 regarding the updated board policies:

"The draft of the Board Policies and Regulations are sent via email to the staff for comments (not for public review at this time in the process).  Policy review and adoption has always been handled in this manner. They then will be placed on the district web site after they have been adopted by the board."

Her email response contradicted what she said at the school board meeting. I was glad that I had an audio recorded of the meeting so I could quote back to her what she said at the meeting. Otherwise, it would have just been my word against her word as to what she actually said at the board meeting. Now you know why I record board meetings and it's probably why Superintendent Critchlow won't record board meetings like they used to in the past.

Superintendent Brown (Critchlow) sent me the following response on March 30, 2012 after I quoted to her what she said at the March 2012 school board meeting:

"Hello Rich! Debby will gather all of this information and shoot it to you electronically today. 

Please let us know if it all doesn't transmit."

Without my audio recording, there's a good chance that the public wouldn't have been able to review the revised policies for the last 2 years while the district and the board worked on making revisions.

I still had to make another request to get the documents posted onto the district website like Superintendent Brown (Critchlow) originally said they would.

I'm not really sure what Superintendent Critchlow's aversion has been for the last 4 or 5 years to posting documentation on the district website like they do in other school districts. Our school board policies state that she's responsible for keeping the board and the public informed. Making the public call and request documentation like bill payment descriptions gives the impression that she's trying to hide things from the public. Developing school district policies is a community effort. She even said at the board meeting that the public would get the chance to review them and provide recommendations. So why would she say one thing and then say something different after the fact?

With the amount of salary that Superintendent Critchlow and her assistant superintendents are getting by our school board, wouldn't you have expected a lot quicker turn around in reviewing and updating our district's Policies and Regulations?

Fox C-6 had the 4th Highest Superintendent Salary in the state of Missouri in 2013 and the 2nd Highest Average Administrator Salary in the state of Missouri in 2013 according to records found on Missouri DESE's website.

If the Fox C-6 school board is paying such high salaries, they must believe that Superintendent Critchlow and her assistants are doing a great job. Based on their salaries, they should be doing one of the best jobs in the state. So, why would it take so long to update and revise our district's policies?

After 3+ years of work on revising and updating Fox's School Board Policies and Regulations, why would the latest revision still have someone listed as a point of contact who retired from the district in 2008?

Shouldn't someone have noticed this mistake after 3 years of reviewing and updating the documents?

You can download and review the latest revision of Fox's School Board Policies from the Missouri Consultants for Education website here:

Direct link to Fox C-6's revised Board Policies/Regulations/Forms on the
 Missouri Consultants for Education Website

When the first draft was posted on the district's website in March 2012, I emailed the district and gave them a list of contacts that I found in the Policies and Regulations that had been retired from the district for years that needed to be updated. I also supplied several grammatical and typographical corrections as well. Many of those items have been corrected. But, it's now been 2 years since I notified the district about retirees being listed as contacts and they're still in the latest revision. It makes you wonder if anyone has ever fully read our Policies and Regulations.

So what are we actually getting for Superintendent Critchlow's $256,131 salary?

I think that's a really good question and one that everyone in our community should be asking our school board since the board is responsible for setting her salary.

Her salary doesn't include her other benefits and the additional 14.5% that the taxpayers put into her retirement account each year. If you are paying someone that much money to lead your school district, shouldn't they be making sure that people are doing their jobs and and checking their work? After all, Fox is a District of Excellence!

I'm not really sure how our school board has been able to justify Superintendent Critchlow's raises year after year when there are things that just never get done. I've asked them but I've never gotten a response. Superintendent Critchlow usually has an excuse as to why Fox can't do what they do in other districts. But when does it end and the Fox C-6 taxpayers start receiving the benefits that taxpayers are getting in other school districts?

I think the majority of people in our community are in agreement that Superintendent Critchlow's salary is outrageous and that she is way overpaid. My father always tells me that it's the school board's fault for paying her too much!

I think that her over the top salary has caused her to have an over the top attitude towards anyone questioning her salary, her conduct or the job that she's been doing as a school district superintendent. It's also created a lot of resentment and morale problems within the district for employees as well as the community. It's hard to believe that our Fox C-6 School Board members can't see that this is a problem or that they haven't had any complaints from people in the community.

If Fox was ranked as high as Lindbergh in academic performance or if Fox had the ACT Scores and the same high Percentage of Students Taking the ACT like Rockwood or Parkway, then there might be a reason to possibly pay her more than $200,000 per year. But, when speaking with people in the community, all I've heard is complaint after complaint about how high her salary is.

Perhaps, our school board doesn't realize that Fox's demographics, annual budget and academic performance don't warrant the salary increases that they have given Superintendent Brown / Critchlow since she became superintendent in 2005.

I've written numerous articles over the last several years concerning Superintendent Critchlow's salary. I've compared her salary to other superintendents across the state and provided demographic comparisons for those other district's and communities as well.

Superintendent Critchlow may not think that her pay is out of line. But people in the community talk quite a bit about how much she's getting paid with taxpayer dollars. Our school district is not a "For Profit" corporation. It's a publicly funded entity. Therefore, the public has every right to question our school board as to how much they are paying her and they deserve to have the school board respond and not Superintendent Critchlow or Assistant Superintendent Andy Arbeitman.

The community expects Superintendent Critchlow to do the job that our school board policies document that she is supposed to be doing. The community also expects the school board to do it's job and provide proper oversight of our school district and be held accountable for their work. If the board just "rubber stamps" everything and they don't ask questions then we get into the situation that we're in now where Superintendent Critchlow is just raking in the money and not getting a lot done.

Perhaps, everyone in our community should start calling the anonymous hot line to report to the school board what they think about Superintendent Critchlow's salary and how much they've increased it over the years. If the community was given the chance to speak anonymously without retribution and retaliation and without fear of being sent Cease and Desist letters, they might speak out more often.

If you read the recent state audit of the Hickman Mills School District, you will get a sense of understanding as to why this occurs. An article in the Kansas City Star said, "That's what happens when not enough people are watching." It also occurs because people don't speak up when they see problems.

Speaking to our school board for 3 minutes a month doesn't mean that they're going to listen or respond. They just say, "Thank you!"

Superintendent Critchlow or now Assistant Superintendent Andy Arbeitman responds for our school board even on matters that only our school board can answer. So, without more voices from the community, everyone will have to continue to watch our school board overpay Superintendent Critchlow for not doing the job that she is supposed to be doing per our school board policies.

According to Superintendent Critchlow and her supporters, the district is doing great and there aren't any problems. According to a recent letter from one supporter, 99.9% of the people think things are great. My father recently told me that I'm not the only one complaining as Superintendent Critchlow would like everyone to believe. He called her comments "propaganda" to try and discredit me.

My father recently heard enough complaints from some of his friends at a trivia night that it was the first time I really heard him voice his concerns about the district. He was really concerned that the school board wasn't asking questions about bill payments especially if there weren't any descriptions on the bill payments. He said if the school board isn't asking questions then they should be voted out. I told him that there are a couple of board members that have been helpful with improving transparency and that they shouldn't be voted out. It's just a matter of time before we get enough responsible board members on our school board that don't have spouses or daughter in laws in supervisory positions to make a difference.

Superintendent Critchlow isn't going to allow the community to know what questions I bring to our school board when I speak at school board meetings. She's not going to document Public Comments in board meeting minutes with enough information to let you know. My Public Comments are documented as "Concerns within the district." or commented on this or commented on that.

Since the school board votes to approve the board meeting minutes each month, it doesn't appear that they are following the school board's Code of Ethics policy that states, "As member of the school Board, I shall: Maintain the public trust through full and open communication."

The board is responsible for approving the generically written minutes for the Public Comments that our board secretary writes each month documenting what I said at the meeting. However, if someone comes and praises the district, there will be quite a bit more detail for those Public Comments. Their letters will even get included in the board meeting packets. My letters to the board have never been included even though they were handed to the board and requested to be included as a matter of public record. Superintendent Critchlow is purposely failing to include them. That's how she can give the appearance that she's doing a great job and that everything is great within our district.

I have even emailed and asked for board minutes to be corrected to include more details after they were posted the month after a meeting. Superintendent Critchlow responded and informed me that the Missouri School Board Association told the board secretary that the board meeting minutes follow state law and won't be changed. It sounds to me like Superintendent Critchlow isn't doing her job of keeping the pubic fully informed.

If you want to see changes occur, it's time for you to start contacting your school board and showing up at school board meetings and start asking questions. After all, it's your school district and the Fox C-6 School Board represents you as a taxpayer.

Please be sure and tell your friends and family what's been going on with the leadership in our school district so they can contact our school board members as well. Your voice can make a difference!