The Art of Decorum

 

Oct. 19, 2023 OSD board meeting

By Gretchen Garrity

A simple definition of communication can be expressed as the act of exchanging information and ideas through verbal or written means. It implies a two-way exchange. It doesn’t have to be agreeable--disagreement is allowed--but the process of communicating should include a give-and-take with equitable footing for both parties.

At the October 19, 2023 Ozark School Board Meeting, the definition of “full and open communication” as expressed in their Policy BDDH-1 Public Participation at Board Meetings means something entirely different.

Let’s keep in mind that the taxpaying voters in Ozark elect the members of the Ozark School Board to represent their interests regarding the education of Ozark children and the governance of the school district.

Thursday night, a citizen was removed from the meeting for merely murmuring from her seat when the school board discussed renewing a data agreement that gives students’ PII (Personal Identifiable Information) to both DESE (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education), and a third-party entity, NWEA.

That the data agreement and data transfer has been ongoing for many years is an important point.

Have parents authorized or have they been properly informed about the amount and type of private information sharing of their students and families? Have they been informed of the implications for the children?

The citizen did not jump up and down or scream or yell. She did not stop any board proceedings. She threatened no one. Her two chair neighbors simply corresponded their disappointment. She merely gave voice to her disappointment. Additionally, as the person who was sitting next to her, I also expressed dismay over the decision to give away student data, which can be used to determine a child’s future (see here).

In fact, I was the one who actually said, “Shameful” when the board voted against tabling the issue. This was after another citizen had spoken to the board about the danger of sharing students’ PII. Two board members, Mark Jenkins and Christina Tonsing, voted against signing the agreement until it had been looked into further, however, the motion to table the item was defeated on a 5-2 vote.

Apparently, the school board had also passed a new “decorum” policy earlier in the meeting (the public part of which began soon after 3:30 p.m. and lasted until after 9 p.m.). The targeted citizen was not present at the meeting nor did either of us see the flyer on the door when we arrived at the meeting at approximately 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m, respectively.

 

Board President Sarah Adams Orr

 A few hours later the new policy was enforced by a police officer who threatened to arrest the targeted citizen if she did not immediately leave the meeting. It was a shameful spectacle of board overreach.

That the school board is unable to act with the decorum and respect it is insisting others use, and is unable to handle the least criticism speaks volumes about its own fitness to serve the public good.

Instead of forbearance and professionalism, instead of reading the brand new policy in the meeting so that all were aware of the restrictions, they essentially laid a trap for an active citizen who has been questioning the board for some months regarding a variety of issues.

Isn’t the essence of education the ability to communicate knowledge in a way that brings understanding, that fosters confidence in one’s position and the ability to defend it?

The Ozark School Board’s action at the Oct. 19 school board meeting betrayed a weakness of both character and confidence in their decisions. Board President Sarah Adams Orr objected to the “outburst,” and said the offending individual would be removed if there was one more incident. But within a moment or two, the board suddenly took a recess, only to return with a police officer who demanded removal of the citizen. While the video did not catch the whole event, there is almost 3 ½ hours of audio that prove the complete innocence of the ousted citizen. It is clear and conclusive. And the live-stream of the meeting should be released as soon as possible to reflect that.

Patty Quessenberry, member since 1997

 In my opinion, the citizen was targeted because she is critical of some of the board’s actions and is not afraid to say so. In fact, I would suggest that the new “decorum” policy was approved and hastily posted on the door (it’s hard to say when it was actually posted and I cannot find an online version of it), and then used to justify removing her from the public board meeting.

She was targeted by a school board that is arrogant and unused to being challenged. We have seen this across the nation as citizens begin to take back the political power that resides with the People. If the school board had an ounce of decorum and understanding of their public role, they would publicly apologize to the citizen.

Barring that, they should attend a County Commission meeting to learn how to conduct a public meeting, where the People’s business gets accomplished and freedom of speech is not feared, even if it's disagreeable.

@right2winozarks #ozarks #missouri #schoolboardmeetings #bully #police #sheriff #christiancounty #freedomofspeech ♬ action dramatic cinematic(1308615) - makesound

Your Vote Matters

 

By Gretchen Garrity

At the May 30, 2023 Ozark School Board meeting, a small but significant event occurred that illustrates the importance of electing the right people to serve on the board.

Although the sound and video quality is poor, the meeting can be seen below, and the issue begins at around the 38-minute mark, when the Missouri School Boards Association’s (MSBA)-recommended policy changes were next on the agenda.

According to the time-stamp notes on the recorded video, “Supt presents package of revised policies from the MSBA, explains that District staff reviews those policies then makes recommendation to board to approve them with suggestions...”

Per school board policy, agenda packets should be available four days in advance of the monthly meeting, but the packet was not available until late on the Friday before Memorial Day, a three-day weekend/holiday. This meant the board would need to look over their information packets during the holiday weekend in order to be ready for the Tuesday meeting start at 4 p.m.

Consequently, a small but important recommendation was nearly rubber-stamped by the school board. It involved what looked like minor changes in policy text, but these and other similar changes were sprinkled throughout several of the over twenty documents the school board needed to review.

The changes for policies included replacing pronouns like “he/she” to “they” or “their.” In one striking example of bending over backwards to exclude pronouns that indicate “he” or “she” was this below. The green text is the new change. The text to be replaced is in red with a strike through. Click on the image for better clarity.

 The first nine words of the above sentence includes the word “student” three times. The awkwardness of the sentence was apparently worth being able to exclude the pronouns “he” or “she.” Another example:

 A board member pointed out these were grammatically incorrect within the context of the policies. What may have accounted for the change? Board members discussed that it might be to save space or for a more nefarious reason. At any rate, Board Member Christina Tonsing was the only member who had noticed the revisions. To the board’s credit, they voted 7-0 to leave the original language in the policy handbook, which stopped gender pronoun language from being inserted.

To recap:

1) Board members were given access to the board packet late on a Friday of a three-day holiday weekend.

2) Administrative staff previously reviewed the packets before sharing with board members, and recommended that the MSBA changes be adopted into the Ozark School District policy handbook “with suggestions.”

    a) Either the staff members did not review the packets,

    b) The packets were reviewed and approved because administrative staff approved of all the changes, 

     c) Administrative staff did not notice the changes as problematic, or glossed over them.

3) One board member noticed the changes that smacked of a creeping gender ideology being inserted into the policy handbook, and mentioned it at the meeting.

4) The school board did the right thing when the issue was addressed.

Several things stand out:

1) Why is the Missouri School Boards Association sending packets to the administrative staff to review ahead of the meeting instead of to the Ozark School Board?

2) If the MSBA is sending recommended policy changes to the school board, how and why is the administrative staff getting access and reviewing them before the board?

3) How often has the school board simply taken the recommendations of the MSBA and the administrative staff as adequate and consequently rubber-stamped policy changes that are under their local purview?

One alert school board member was able to avert an insertion of, at best, poor grammar into the policy handbook. At worst, it was an attempt to begin inserting gender ideology into official documents.

Elections matter.

There are two seats on the Ozark School Board that are coming open in 2024. The deadline to file as a candidate is December of this year.

Ozark Schools Support Team presents alternatives

 

 

Photo: Christian County Trumpet

From the Christian County Trumpet:

OSST wants Ozark R-VI to MSBA now, become independent

 

Town Halls to Address Concerns with Ozark Schools

 

By Gretchen Garrity

The Ozark Schools Support Team is holding two town hall meetings on Thursday and Saturday at the Christian County Library, Ozark branch. The first meeting will be August 17, from 5:30-7 p.m., and the second will be August 19, from 9:30-11 a.m. The library is located at 1005 N. 4th Ave., in Ozark.

Topics to be covered include the top-down organizational structure that prevents local control, the role of administration members, how to best utilize school board members, the current audit petition, how you can get involved, and much more.

A small example of information from a brochure that will be available at the town hall meetings includes:

• Ozark Schools spending has increased in the last five years from $63.3 million to an estimated $101.6 million for the 2023-24 school year.

• The Ozark School District has at least $90 million in debt.

• Building maintenance has been deferred

• Teacher salaries are lower than nearby districts

RTWO spoke with a member of OSST, Ruth Downey, and asked her a few questions.

How do you get buy-in from a school board that has long operated under the current system? What would you say to a member if you had their undivided attention, but only for a few minutes?

The school board training that we have seen would seem to give the organization’s story with a slant and implies that all control is in the superintendent’s hands while limiting or ignoring the influence the school board has--with only a passing mention of students or students’ needs and priorities.

The training indicates that board members are not to interact with the public that elected them or give their personal opinion to anyone at any time. It is necessary for the parents and taxpaying community to become better informed as to what is going on in their district, not just what their students are exposed to or what is being communicated in the local press. The school has unlimited positive communication channels open to them, making it difficult to get information to people unless they are willing to look for it and network with those who are working to improve our schools and the education our students are receiving.

An example of this is the claimed graduation rate of 97.6% in Ozark schools, yet over 40% of our students are currently testing at achievement levels that are "Basic" or "Below Basic.” These terms mean they have a minimal or partial understanding of the material they are being tested on: Reading, Science, Math, and Language Arts. This implies that 40% are not work, college, or citizenship ready and are not prepared to function in the world today, much less prepared for what the future will bring.

It seems as if the children and their academic well-being have suffered greatly in the last few years. What can turn things around quickly?

The biggest problem we have seen is the pressure coming on school districts and school boards from state, national even international organizations with little or no awareness of this happening at the local level. School boards can change that by using the responsibility they have and asking more questions about these outsiders, and transparently sharing that with their local community, including the financial cost of some of these programs. These organizations are not locally based and many do not share our values and concerns for our families, short and long term. Doing this would allow local schools to be local and get back to teaching curriculum with content and structure learning for their students’ benefit.

There is a move in many different public institutions to move away from institutional accreditation for certain positions. Do you see that happening with school associations? Why or why not?

Like most businesses, staffing is a huge challenge within education. Missouri recently passed a law that lowered the requirements for substitutes allowing community members that are not certified to share their skills and experience while supporting local schools and benefiting students. Ozark schools have taken advantage of volunteers and tutors from the community as well.

Traditionally, licensing and certification has been a way to limit those who can participate in a given field and is often used by organizations to control who can and cannot participate. We have heard of teachers being threatened with loss of their certifications, their livelihood and way of supporting their family, if they do not conform to administration dictates. This is a harmful use of power. That said, there is a place for basic requirements for teachers; we are just not sure these requirements should be dictated by organizations on the state and national level.

It seems as if the schools ask for more and more funding, but scores keep falling. Why is that?

Schools keep increasing the number of non-teaching administrators with an average salary double that of teachers, while adding layers of administrative tasks on teachers. Teachers spend more and more time filling out reports, teaching values that may or may not be the values of Ozark and Christian County, and maintaining discipline and less time on content, comprehension and understanding. They are often required to use curriculum that limits what and how they can teach and frequently cannot use creative approaches that allow them to connect with their students in a meaningful way.

One suggestion, an easy one, is that the superintendent should not sit at the same table as the school board. Why is that important?

This sounds symbolic, but superintendents have been in the habit of literally running the meetings which gives the impression, particularly to the public, that they are in charge of the board, rather than that the school board is the legal authority in charge of the superintendent.

The school board has the authority from the State of Missouri to hire and fire the superintendent, which is not always apparent to the general public. In past meetings the superintendent has been in full control of the meeting as the superintendent already sets the agenda prior to the meeting, controls the information packet distribution to the board and the timing of it. This often results in insufficient time to digest the contents and supporting documents by board members and does not allow them to make informed decisions.

Most decisions seem to be already made prior to the open board meetings and the school board has little or no input and basically operates like a "rubber stamp.” Another simple thing to change would be to simplify access to information on the school's website. Other schools have much simpler lists that are easy to locate with budgets, financials, monthly reports, minutes and agendas going years back. Such access would lower the difficulty for the public to be informed and address issues as the agenda is again, controlled by the superintendent, and available to the public the minimum 24 hours required by law.

If the public wants to address anything not on the agenda (which they don't see until 24 hours before the meeting) it takes a minimum of a week and a visit with the superintendent to perhaps have that opportunity as the superintendent may or may not add something to the agenda. Ozark has promised to begin archiving the open school board meetings, something they have not been doing.

Anything else you would like to share?

Our teachers are devoted and among the best around and desire what is best for their students. Sadly, their ability to be creative and to teach is constrained by requirements and curriculum they are given by school administrations. They often work under trying circumstances with limited resources. Our children, our grandchildren, the students of every school, are our most precious resource and the future of our country. They deserve the best. It seems, however, that the current structure of the education system is serving itself and its goals while neglecting the education of students.

___________________________________________________________________________________

For more information about the town hall meetings and the Ozark Schools Support Team:

Email: OSST65721@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OzarkSchoolsSupportTeam

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OzarkSchoolsSupportTeam

Website: https://www.ozarksst.com

Manufactured News

By Gretchen Garrity

We tend to think that news on the local level is pretty clean. Agendas don't seem to be much of a thing. 

Or are they? Let's take a look.

The Springfield News-Leader published an article on August 7, 2023 (keep that date in mind) titled "Ozark school board issues 'rebuke' of member who hosted solo 'town hall' meetings," by reporter Claudette Riley. In Riley's defense, reporters do not usually write the headlines.

Knowing that people often read only the headline--especially those who are online and don't subscribe to either the digital or physical edition of the paper--the impression overall is a negative one.

While Riley quoted part of the public letter the Ozark School Board issued in response to School Board Member Christina Tonsing's community chat, she left out some important points that bring clarity to the issue.

Link

The actual meat of the Board's letter was this ill-advised statement:

"However, under Missouri Law individual Board members have no authority outside official Board meetings or unless a majority of the Board votes, to provide specific authority to an individual Board member regarding a matter. The Missouri Court of Appeals has stated as follows: 'Unless otherwise authorized by the board, individual members are not empowered to act and cannot govern.' Colombo V. Buford. 935 S. W. 2d 690, 698 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996)."

Tonsing responded publicly by pointing out the cited court case actually supported school board members meeting with the public:

"The quoted sentence, which IS indeed found written in the opinion on the case (seventh paragraph under "Discussion" part C, found at https://law.justia.com/cases/missouri/court-of-appeals/1996/wd51723-2.html, does not AT ALL reference one board member holding listening sessions or anything else like that. It instead is used to support the next sentence's conclusion (note the use of the word 'thus') that groups of less than a quorum do NOT violate the Sunshine Law, so they CAN talk together with each other (and as the entirety of that point in the court case addresses, with the public) without worry of violation. Ironically enough, the very quote attempted to use to quell individual "meetings" with the public, was instead intended by the Appeals Court to support them:

This court previously addressed the issue of what constituted a "public governmental body" in Tribune Pub. Co. v. Curators of Univ. of Mo., 661 S.W.2d 575, 584 (Mo.App.1983). There we recognized the power to govern as being a factor in determining what constitutes a "public governmental body", stating that "the quintessence of a `public governmental body' is the power to govern.... It defies semantics to believe that the legislature intended inclusion of bodies or entities barren of the power to govern in the definition of `public governmental body'." Id. Unless otherwise authorized by the Board, individual members are not empowered to act and cannot govern. Thus, because members of a body cannot act individually. Groups of less than a quorum of the board would not logically fall within the definition of a "public governmental body" subject to the Sunshine Law."

Read Tonsing's July 22, 2023 response for yourself. (Scroll down) It's quite good. While the Ozark School Board's letter was linked to in the article, Riley failed to link to Tonsing's public response, which frankly, is a devastating critique of the Board's action against her.

The real issue, that the School Board was somehow threatened by a board member meeting with the public which elected her, was entirely missing from the article. Does anyone else wonder why the article was just now published on August 7, when the Board's public letter was presented at the June 29, 2023 meeting? Timing is everything, as they say.

MOVING ON

 On Thursday, August 10, 2023, a marvelous puff piece of an article was published about Lori Wilson, Ozark School District's interim superintendent. Riley was again the reporter.

In over four printed pages of text, there is not one criticism to be had of Wilson. Additionally, surrounding a link to the article about Tonsing (see screenshot above), is the following:

"Wilson said the community wants transparency, good communication and fiscal accountability. She said all of those are high priorities."

It goes on:

"Board president Sarah Adams Orr," (the same gal who signed the Board letter rebuking Tonsing for meeting with citizens) "said the district has committed to hosting four town hall meetings this school year dedicated to hearing from the community...Orr said parents and taxpayers are also welcome to "email or call board members with questions, comments" before and after the meetings. She said public comment regarding agenda items will still be accepted at board meetings."

RECAP

1) August 7: article published about Christina Tonsing's June 29 public rebuke by Ozark School Board.

2) August 7: Springfield News-Leader's Claudette Riley interviews Interim Superintendent Lori Wilson and Board President Sarah Adams Orr.

3) August 8: Riley tweets out a thanks in response to a School District teaser tweet about the upcoming puff piece on Wilson.

4) August 10: Springfield News-leader publishes article about Lori Wilson.

Does anyone believe this is all just a coincidence?

There are many well-known issues with the Ozark School District. That is why two new board members were recently elected. It's why groups like Ozark Schools Support Team exists. The OSST has published an open letter to the School Board. It is worth reading. You will get a truer picture of the situation. And then attend one of their two town hall meetings scheduled for next week.

By all means attend everything the Ozark School District is offering and take advantage of the new spirit of transparency there. But don't rely on either the press or the school district to give you the whole picture.

 

Letter to the Christian County Library

  

Sparta Library Branch

 

(A letter from a Christian County citizen was shared with us, and we were given permission to reprint it here. It is a gentle and truthful expression of what the citizen has encountered at the library while searching the bookshelves.)

To: Renee Brumett, Executive Director, Christian County Library, rbrumett@christiancountylibrary.org 

The Respected Members of the Christian County Library Board, boardinfo@christiancountylibrary.org

We are fairly new to the area and I recently spent some time in the Christian County libraries in Ozark and Sparta. I found the facilities lovely and librarians readily available as well as helpful. I also appreciate the facilities available to the community.

I spent several hours in each library in the younger children’s department and was quite concerned about what I found there. I reviewed over 100 books and titles in the bins between the two libraries and found the lack of Christian-oriented picture and board books in this area quite disappointing. I did not find any in the Sparta library, though I could have missed one, and I can’t say I noticed any in Ozark either. The only books I found with any religious tone were fact books about different types of religions. It is my sincere hope that some were currently out with patrons.

There seemed to be very few classics for parents to share. There were a considerable number of books that advocated for alternative genders, alternative families, or addressed social and racial issues. These often contained content that criticized or vilified those with more traditional and historical views of family, implying them to be wrong or portraying these positions as outside acceptable norms. Several were disrespectful of traditional positions of others if they were not aligned with what was presented. Normalizing without context comes with huge downsides and long-term consequences that do not seem to be recognized or addressed in any way.

Historical estimates of the LGBTQIA+ populations in the US range from 2 to 5% to the current popularity of gender identity fluidity and optimistic 7% of the 2022 Gallup poll.¹ These are self-identified identities that tend to shift with maturity as these identities are most common among young adults who may be influenced by current trends, popularity, and peers. WorldPopulationReview.com indicates that the Missouri population is 3.2% , dated May, 2023.² I would suggest that the 3.2% for the entire state of Missouri is not concentrated in Christian County and believe that they may be over-represented in the materials I viewed.

Many of the books were full of beautiful images but often contained problematic content.  The apparent lack of available material that better reflects the families in our communities is quite concerning. It appears a more balanced or contextual approach to history would be appropriate as well – virtually all the books referencing race were about American slavery with no historical context (i.e., virtually every ethnicity, nation and tribe in the world engaging in it throughout history). There is more historical balance on Wikipedia.³,⁴

According to Census.gov^{5 6} estimates dated July 1, 2022, we have approximately 3.7% Hispanic or Latino population yet I only saw two books in one library in Spanish and am not sure I saw any in the other. Yet with a 1% population of Black or African American most of the books that dealt with race were focused on this population. There may have been one or two that referenced Asian. There may have been one book about Native Americans (First Nations or Aboriginal, as preferred) though Missouri has significant history in the area. The apparent lack of available material that better reflects the families in our communities was quite concerning. It seemed that a more balanced or contextual approach to history would be appropriate as well – virtually all the books referencing race were about American slavery but did not find anything that addressed slavery in a historical manner (i.e., virtually every ethnicity, nation and tribe in the world).

A cursory search for churches⁷ in Christian County yielded a count of 97 churches, searching Ozark, Nixa, Sparta, Clever, Billings, Highlandville and Republic. This number did not include 2 churches I am personally aware of (both with 50-100 regulars). Yet there seemed to be a complete lack of anything modern or traditional regarding two parent families or Christian-based. Given the statistics of Christian County, this imbalance in available books is concerning to me as it does not accurately reflect our county and local communities nor does it seem to meet the standard set by the American Library Association of inclusion regarding audience:

“Articles I and II of the Library Bill of Rights are clearly inclusive regarding audience (“allpeople of the community the library serves”) and materials (“all points of view on current and historical issues”). This includes both fiction and non-fiction materials regardless of format.”⁸

I am not advocating for banning material though I considered some not quite age appropriate or in an incorrect location. I believe that there is quality material available that could address these surprising lacks in the collections I viewed. A cursory look in the YA (Young Adult/Teen) section suggested that this section also had similar issues in the available materials. The Public Libraries are to reflect the communities they serve and appear to be using taxpayers money to normalize agendas that do not.

I appreciate the time and effort that the Librarians and the Library Board devote to our libraries and hope that these imbalances will be addressed in the near future.

Sincerely,

R.D.

___________________________________________________________

Sources I am sure you are aware of include: 

Brave Books

Tuttle Twins

Zondervan

https://learnourhistory.com/

Answers in Genesis – from board books to science

Institute of Creation Research for Science

There are any number of series that focus on character rather than preference 

____________________________________________________________________________

1 https://news.gallup.com/poll/470708/lgbt-identification-steady.aspx

2 https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/gay-population-by-state

3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery

5 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/christiancountymissouri

6 https://www.christiancountymo.gov/about-us/county-statistics/ 

7 https://www.churchfinder.com/churches/mo/ozark etc. 

8 "Religion in American Libraries: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights",American Library Assoc., October 4, 2016

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/religion (Accessed July 25, 2023) 

Document ID: e40c0dfd-70f5-40e4-3d4c-14317cefa0b9