MUSD school board from a parent’s view

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I remember when I went to school back in Chicago, you never really knew anything about the school board. They were just a group of people in the background that helped make some of the important decisions about the district. It was only when an issue “hit home” that our parents would get involved. They would then go to the meetings and have a chance to have their voices heard. Not only were they able to speak about the good; they were able to speak of the bad and ugly, too.

Since moving to Maricopa about two years ago, I have seen a completely different approach to education. We have a school board that doesn’t follow the rules about posting meetings or minutes the way they are supposed to. Members of the board and principals are close friends and magically help each other. Parents are welcome to attend meetings, that is if they are aware of them with enough time to show up, but are not allowed to speak for more than three minutes, and not allowed to speak negatively about any student, parent, teacher or staff member.

Now don’t get me wrong; I understand that a board meeting cannot just be a chance for the public to complain. What I do wonder about is why would any parent attend a board meeting unless they had a problem? Problems are usually negative, hence, why we call them problems.

Now back to why I feel so strongly about this. I am a mother of two school-aged children and have been forced to send my children elsewhere for school. I have one that is being bussed out to Kyrene and one at the new school, Pathway Prep. My children do not attend school together and do not go to school with anyone that they live around because of the way this district is run. I feel that I was put into an impossible situation when deciding where to send my children to school because of the school board. My oldest went to Saddleback Elementary for first grade and loved her friends and teacher very much. It wasn’t until issues with the principal that I was forced to change schools.

Now I should have had the option of speaking to the school board with the issues that the school was doing that was wrong. They do not offer this to parents. We get the “too bad, so sad” answer, and nothing ever gets fixed. I have attended a meeting where the board decided to go into executive session because they heard something they didn’t like. I ask everyone what happened to adult conversation and “freedom of speech?” This is supposed to be a country that is fair, and a board is supposed to be the one to ensure all is fair and taken care of quickly.

Parents in this town need to be able to be heard, especially those like myself that are active in their child’s education. It is not right to cause us to send our children 25 miles out of town for school just so we can have a say in our child’s education. It is only when this school district gets its act together as a whole that MUSD will have a chance to become the school district it should be.

Rose Smothers

Submitted photo

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