For all my 3,000+ monthly faithful readers - I do have several blog posts coming up that I hope you will enjoy. Until then, I leave you with a cute little song I haven't thought of in years until tonight.
Queen of Denial,
Just floating down a river of lies.
On the agenda: Public Comments begin at 1:41 New Business - - Chamber Membership Services /Larry Ford begins at 5:07 - Land Bank Parcel at 4274 Dixie Hwy begins at 6:52 - Bond Pre Payment begins at 12:17 - Chamber Luncheon for July 15th begins at 20:40 Old Business - - Beautification Committee Report - a. Rain Garden Section b. Landscaping Contract 2016 begins at 21:58 - GLDC Update begins at 36:32 DDA Coordinators Report begins at 40:02 DDA Member Comments begin at 49:06
On the agenda: Special Orders - - Public Hearing for sidewalk repairs begins at 3:27 Public Comment begins at 41:28 New Business - - Appointments to Planning Commission, Roads & Drains Committee & Personnel Committee begins at 45:50 - St. Matthews taking steps against hunger run/walk - Jean Schluckebier begins at 47:08 -Water Main Bids - Curtis Road begins at 55:52 - Fire Department Hydrant Mapping begins at 57:46 - Resolution R15-12 Street light at 3600 block Williamson Road begins at 58:50 Board Member Comments begin at 1:01:14
There is still time to volunteer and sign up for the Cass River Cleanup
July 25th - 7th Annual Cass River Clean Up. From the Cass River Greenways Blog site:
"The Cass River Greenway Committee is hosting the 7th Annual Cass River
Clean-up. We will be spending the morning of Saturday, July 25th
cleaning up a five to six mile section of the river between the Dixie
Highway and downtown Bridgeport.
Volunteers are needed to walk along the river and collect all types of
trash. Wear old clothes and boots, hip boots, waders, or old shoes. We
suggest you bring mosquito repellent. If you are interested in helping,
please pre-register by calling Bill Wheeler, Parks & Recreation
Director Bridgeport Township at 989.777.0940 ext. 222, or send an email
to wheeler@bridgeportmi.org . Volunteers who register by July 10th and
give us their t-shirt size will receive a free t-shirt!
All
volunteers are to meet at Davis Park in Bridgeport by 8:00am (Davis Park
is located behind the Fire Dept. and Township Office Building).
Breakfast and event instruction will be provided at that time. A
completed volunteer waiver form is required from every participant
before taking part in the event, which will be available at the
orientation."
The Cass River Greenway website can be viewed here - http://www.cassriver.org/
I thought Wednesday night's meeting was very positive, upbeat, constructive. There will be several new positions that will be opening and posted. They will be looking at solving the problem of not enough lunch aides for Adkins School. They dealt with the issue of the contracts for Mrs. Selby and Ms. Silvey.
There is one thing that was brought up at the meeting that I would like to address. Mr. Bruns shared that he has heard the concern from Bridgeport Staff that city employees are hired over internal applicants. I understand what Mr. Bruns is talking about because I have heard the comments myself and I have read several comments along that line I think on MLive on several of the stories about Bridgeport. I think that the term "city person" is a very poor choice of words. When I first read the comments online and heard them around the school, my first thought was "was that meant as a racial slam?". Then I thought a little more and figured that it was meant more as a territorial term or issue, not racial. People need to choose their words very carefully and be sensitive to how it may be perceived by others, and how it may be offensive to some. I understand they mean people from outside the district. I also understand that they are concerned that internal applicants are being overlooked for positions within the Bridgeport District. In the business world, or school districts, it does build a better rapport with the employees if they feel that all the time and work they have put in will be rewarded when they have the chance to advance to new positions. It seems like common sense, practical, to hire from within first; But there will be times when the most qualified person is needed for the position and that person may not be a internal applicant. That is a tough call and one that I am glad I don't have to make.
If you don't want to be publicly talked about, Don't go out in public and behave in a manner that will get you talked about.
Your name can only be besmirched if you besmirch it.
There are three sides to every story; Your side, Their side, And the truth which usually lies somewhere in the middle. Always look for the truth no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
Know that I will never be intimidated by bullying or evil stares.
If you want to bully people, expect a response from me.
If you bully women or those weaker or smaller than you, I lose all respect for you.
If you call yourself a man of God but walk the path of a sinner, I lose all respect for you.
God knows all His children's hearts, stand before a mirror and look deeply to see the truth that He sees.
On the agenda:
- Citizen Participation begins at 0:50
- Unfinished Business and/or Agenda Adjustments begins at 4:20
- The agenda was adjusted to include a presentation by Shauntel Manning. This begins at 5:18
- Committee Reports - Policy Committee Report and also the Brunkow Building Sale Discussion and/or Action begins at 1:12:07
- Director Of Professional & Organizational Learning Contract Discussion and/or Action begins at 1:32:09
- Superintendent's Contract Discussion and/or Approval begins at 2:20:52
- Superintendent Search begins at 2:35:00
- Board And Superintendent Comments begins at 2:40:24
All I keep saying since witnessing Monday night’s school board
meeting is WOW!If I had to sum it up
with just a few words or phrases it would be: Dysfunctional, Hopeless, Incompetency,
Who’s On First? Who’s Running The Show? Personal Political Agenda’s Don’t
Belong On The School Board, Time To Shut It Down……………….Just my opinion.
First up was John Rhines during the citizen participation
segment.He always has good comments and
points he brings to the meetings.
Next up on the agenda was a presentation by Shauntel Manning
a district employee.I was somewhat
familiar with Ms. Manning from a April 27th, 2015 School Board
Meeting when she got up and spoke during the citizen participation segment of
the meeting.I had also saw a post made
by Ms. Manning on a gofundme page that left me wondering what it was really
about.I read her post and thought to
myself there must be some kind of personal issue behind it and that it was not
the appropriate place to post it.
I listened to her presentation and was left with questions
and a feeling that there is more going on here than I know about. One thing she
stated was that the Board of Education is her employer but they are not.The school board only has one employee and
that is Mrs. Selby.Ms. Manning is
employed by the Bridgeport School District, which Mrs. Selby is the Interim Superintendent
of.
I don’t understand
all the rules about unions and the employee’s contracts so again I was left
with more questions.The main point of
Ms. Manning’s presentation the best that I can figure is that when Superintendent
Selby moved her from the High School to Adkins Middle School that constituted a
breach of contract. To the best of my
understanding it seems that Ms. Manning was hired by Mr. Hill as a math coach
for the high school, but later Mr. Hill changed her contract to be something
like College and Career Coordinator.And
at some time Mr. Hill changed her title again, I am not exactly sure to what,
administration assistant or something.At some point she was also given a several thousand dollar raise, and
this was all done by Mr. Hill without board approval.Was there a spending freeze in place during 2014, enacted by the school board? Was her contract even a valid contract? Was
she still acting as a math coach at the high school at the time she was
moved?Were the changes to her contract
made by Mr. Hill also a breach of her contract?I don’t understand it all.
She also talks about how her contract expired on June 30th,
2015.She talks about she was hired under
an Administrator contract but that Superintendent Selby changed her to a BEA employee
and now she has a regular teacher contract?It sounds like the union took action against her original contract, and
maybe the other new hires under Mr. Hill, and it all ended in MERC
hearings.Sounds like it is a result of
the MERC hearings that her contract was changed?
There was also discussed that she is certified to teach math
for grades up to grade 8, but not for grades 9 to 12.There was a position that was open at the
high school but she could not apply for it because she is not certified for grades
9 to 12.She says she is certified as a
coach for grades K to 12, but if she cannot teach math to grades 9 to 12, why
would she be hired to be a math coach for grades 9 to 12?If you can’t teach it why would you be
allowed to coach it?Too many rules and
regulations, certified not certified, it is all too complicated for me.
One comment made by Superintendent Selby that caught my
attention was that the teachers at the High School absolutely would not work
with Ms. Manning, would not respond to her as a math coach at the High School.I don’t know Ms. Manning personally, so I
could be wrong, but my impression was perhaps there is a lot of animosity from
her towards others and possibly from school staff towards her.Will she ever be able to work with others in
the school system in a harmonious and productive manner?Is there too much baggage that she will bring
to whatever position she has in this school district?They talk in the board meeting about how
other staff are all pulling together and doing more work for less pay, doing whatever
is necessary for the future of the school.Ms. Manning talks about how that is her goal, to help the Bridgeport
students, but I didn’t have the impression that she is willing to do whatever
is necessary or the best for the students and to work with others.Does it really matter whether she is coaching
students at the High School or Adkins Middle School?She would be helping students and isn’t that
what every teacher should be striving to do?
Sadly this is a situation that would probably be best left
up to legal counsel.If I owned my own
company and Ms. Manning was my employee, I think I would part ways with her;
and perhaps that is what would be best for the Bridgeport School District.
One thing that bothered me happened during and after Ms.
Manning’s presentation.Her parents also
attended the meeting and were sitting with Ms. Manning.At one point during the meeting it appeared
that her father was making confrontational actions and saying things towards
others at the meeting.I was tempted to
turn my camera on him and his behavior as he moved from one person to another,
but decided to keep the camera on the board.When Mr. Manning physically approached 3 different people in a way that
I interpreted as a threatening manner, I felt he should have been removed from
the meeting.I am a person that is a
staunch opponent of removing any person from a public meeting but I felt that
Mr. Manning’s actions were taken to the level that would have justified to have
had him removed.After Ms. Manning was
done with her presentation, she and her family moved to seats in the very back
of the auditorium but they were loud and disruptive throughout the rest of the
meeting.Board President Jay Bruns did
finally “gavel” them late in the meeting, but I felt it should have been done
much earlier.If Mr. Manning ever attends another meeting,
I hope that he will not be allowed to again behave in this manner.
Another discussion during the meeting was a contract discussion
for Director Of Professional & Organizational Learning, Ms. Regina Silvey.The discussion got a little sidetracked I
feel due to some comments made earlier in the meeting by Ms. Manning.Ms. Silvey was also one of the people that
was approached in what I felt was a threatening and harassing manner by Mr.
Manning earlier in the meeting.I
suspect that Ms. Silvey had a lot of frustration from this meeting and events
over the past 9 - 10 months that perhaps came out in this discussion.I can understand her frustration.
The change proposed in Ms. Silvey’s contract is due to the
fact that she has been helping handle the duties for the Title 1 Turn-Around
Director position since Mrs. Selby was named as Acting Superintendent in
December 2014.They have 2 people doing
the duties of 3 separate positions.The
board gets into a long discussion about the proposed raise for Ms. Silvey and
also into a discussion of instead of having 2 people performing the duties of 3
positions, to go ahead and hire another person to take over one of the
positions.There are pro’s and con’s to
all sides of this argument:Yes it would
be better to have one person performing each job, but the budget limitations is
also a valid argument.
It struck me that no one on this school board has the
necessary understanding of the issues involving the priority school status, the
budget and the deficit crisis that this school system is facing.
Another discussion during the meeting was changes that
should be made to the 1 year extension of Mrs. Selby’s contract as Interim
Superintendent.It has been brought up
that there are minor changes that are necessary, and in the best interest of
everyone involved, in a Superintendent’s contract.I am not going to discuss all the details
that were discussed during this, it was a long discussion; I will just say that
I was very disappointed by what I saw and heard from the board members about
the contract.I felt that the board
truly does not have the respect that I feel they should have for Mrs. Selby.If I was her, I would probably have told them
“It’s Been Interesting, Good Luck, See You Later!”.. Luckily
for the Bridgeport Schools and students, Mrs. Selby is a much nicer and more
patient person than I am.
If I was sitting in Lansing and saw this meeting, along with
all the other problems that this school board and district have had for years,
I would shut this district down.This
meeting left me with little hope that this school board will ever be able to function
in the necessary manner to bring this district out of the mess that it has
allowed it to become, and especially to ever make it a thriving district.
