At the June 18, Oscoda Area Schools Board of Education discussed the possibility of discontinuing the rebroadcasting of its meetings. Three members, myself, Betty Hayman, and Sherry Clouse, opposed the idea, Mark Poland, Anne Holley, Neal Sweet and the administrative staff in attendance including the superintendent advocated the idea at this meeting not recorded for broadcast. They say by broadcasting the meetings it hurts the schools image.

This forum has very informative and I would like to get the feeling of the area public. Please leave your comments.

Any government body that does not want the largest audience of citizens to see and experience proceedings is not to be trusted.

I am not well versed in the various happenings in the Oscoda School System but I suspect it is not showing the meetings that is hurting the schools image.

Let the sunshine in!!!

Hey thanks chiliman for the ray of sunshine! We need it here!
Chiliman is right; the televised meetings are not what is hurting the image of OAS. In the words of R.D. Laing, "the range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change; until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds". What the leadership of OAS is failing to notice is that this community is made up of extremely bright and articulate people who know what is taking place at the school. We've removed the rose colored glasses put upon us by the leadership and others that want us to believe all is well, so leave them alone. The "cats out of the bag" so to speak and can never be put back in. We're aware, we're upset and we deserve more from our elected board members. More than that; the students deserve more. Students First? I think not. False Image First? Yeah, that's the vision.

What was their rational?

I can only think that they are tired of appearing foolish. If they keep the viewing public down there will be less bad press... it makes a sort of warped sense. It would make more sense to just start acting like public representatives.

What!!! Not televise the School Board Meetings!...What can they be thinking!!!
Sounds like they might have something to hide...and since the public is getting wise to this they want to cover it up...
It has nothing to do with "school image"..it has to do with the public getting wiser to what's going on...keep the meetings on TV I say!!!
Wouldn't that be like the Oscoda Press saying that they want the newspaper to be private and only sent to certain people?...I think not!!!!!
It's called Freedom of Information right?!!!
Can't wait to see what's next...shame I wasn't a comedian..this would be great material for an act...
Nope...keep the meetings on TV...makes for entertaining television if nothing else...

The school district's image ALREADY is hurt--it is NOT the broadcasting of the meetings that causes that hurt. It seems to me that the Board's time would be better spent on finding SOLUTIONS to the district's poor image and not on finding ways to HIDE it.

I agree with anonymous. Once again, the suggested solution seems to try to hide the truth from the public. It is very important to continue broadcasting the meetings. Bravo to Sherry Clouse, Mark Parent, and Betty Hayman for standing up for what is right.

Keep the meetings televised!!! CB and her minions want to slither off into the dark. The last thing those of her kind want is light on the situation. It is too bad that they do not see the only way to change the public's perception of them and the school system is to act in an open and honest way. Problems can not be fixed until the are acknowledged. Maybe the public needs to hold an intervention for CB and the majority of the board :)

The Board gives me the impression that they may have something to hide by not wanting the meetings televised. If they were working above board and up front, they would not 'FEAR' the meetings being televised. The 'FEAR' being, the PUBLIC knowing just exactly whats going on behind the false facade, instead of the just few who actually ATTEND the meetings in person. Televising is the means of reaching the parents and public who are not able to attend these meetings for whatever reasons, and it makes Snow White and the three dwarfs +, a little nervous. Keep the meetings televised. We, as parents, students and Tax-Payer's, have the right to know. I say YEA!!

I think they should be streamed onto the internet as well. ;)

Keep them on TV. What some members of the Board apparently fail to realize is that the TV camera is not the problem, the camera just records what happens. If some members of the Board feel that the "image" of the Board and/or district is damaged in some way by televising the meetings, maybe they should reflect on what they are doing at the meetings that is being recorded by the camera. The camera just records what actually happened; maybe they should use the tapes to really critique their own public image and they way the Board interacts with each other.
Maybe they should try treating one another with a little respect. Maybe they should stop disrespecting each other and the people who have the courage to speak up at the meetings when they are rolling eyes, making faces, sighing loudly, or making condescending remarks to people who hold different views than they personally do. Maybe they should think about who is actually on the Board in order to be of service to the greater community, and who is on the Board for their own personal interests.
Taking the meetings off the air would take away many people's opportunity to keep up with what is going on with the school, especially if they are not able to attend. Isn't increased communication and community involvement one of the goals that they were supposed to be working on in the schools? What are they trying to hide? Maybe they should spend less time trying to cover their hind ends, and the hind end of the superintendent
every time she gets it in a sling, and more time trying to figure out how to really serve the community. People in this town are waking up to what's really going on, and it is about time. Taking the meetings off the air just makes people think that the Board has something to hide.

An open letter to Mark Parent.
Mark, after reading the local paper I am very infuriated with the school board and administration. I can only assume that sometime in the future the school board meetings will not be televised. First, I would like to say that in lieu of the current controversy concerning the special education department, it makes no sense to lower the amount of time for a special education director and keep the curriculum director. The administrators are ill prepared to handle special education matters on their own. It takes much more than attending IEP meetings to properly take care of such delicate matters.

Secondly, I would like to address statements made by some of the school board members and administration such as people who come before the board are only in it for their 15 minutes of fame as if people weren't really trying to send a message to the school board and administration. I can also only assume that they think we are idiots since they believe that the local newspaper editor writes an editorial and we all do what she says (ie. voting no on the sinking fund millage).
I get my information from many sources and above all I vote as I want, not because someone tells me to vote a certain way. Well, if Mrs. Beardsley, the administrators and some of the school board members can assume I am an idiot I can only assume one thing...I believe they do not care about how this community feels nor do they actually know their constituents. Obviously they believe most of us aren't capable of having opinions that matter and "saving face" means more to them than getting it right. Mrs. Beardsley has had many years to try to get it right yet the controversy continues and instead of trying a new method to get things accomplished the same autocratic methods of management seem to continue and accomplish nothing.

Thanks for trying Mark. It means alot to many of us. I don't expect anything to change but it makes me feel better that at least one of you is listening.

Oh BTW..accidently read the survey question wrong so please deduct a "yes" from the total. I wanted to vote "no" they should not stop televising them. Sorry!

When was it decided to lower the hours of the special ed. director?(I missed the last board meeting). Another poor decision made by the leadership of OAS. No wonder our kids are leaving in droves for neighboring districts--oh, and it has nothing to do with the fact the board meetings are televised.

Keep televising the meetings! I cant always attend the meetings, but I watch and keep informed. Maybe that is what the board and the superintendent are worried about.

Also, maybe someone can confirm...I heard that the A/P English teacher resigned. Is that true?

Jennifer McDougall is tentatively scheduled as the advanced placement(AP) English instructor for the 2008-09 school year. As far as I know she is coming back to teach. Hope this helps.

IFH,

The discussion of the special ed director was among the discussion of how to cut administration costs in the district, the main focus was the need of an assistant principal at the high school. I agree with you, the curriculum director is the least necessary position aside from a full time athletic director. In a small declining district, curriculum position could be combined possibly with one of the principals positions or eliminated altogether!

The state mandates the curriculum, teachers at OAS in each of the departments and grade levels are paid to devise pacing guides and common assessments for teachers to teach from, so what does the Curriculum director do? Slide shows to show how wonderful the students are doing on standardized evaluations!

Interesting, Interesting, Interesting. Thanks Mark for shedding light on this topic.

Do NOT stop televising the Board meetings. It is through the televised meetings - especially for those of us who work in the evening - that we can check the pulse of OAS.

I can certainly understand why they would try to stop it. I was amused that members of the Board and Admin team thought that the issue was with the Speakers to the Board. CLUELESS!!!!

Kids are leaving in droves because of mismanagment of funds, inappropriate assingment of educators, lack of programs, lack of BOOKS! and resources for the teachers. Ask your kids how many classes don't have books!

The Superintendent is responsible for securing funds. If those funds can't be obtained, then we need a new Superintendent who is HONEST, creative, and has the big picture in terms of kids! Not Herself.

As Mark pointed out, right now I am scheduled to teach A.P. English. That, however, could change before fall. I have not resigned from my position at Oscoda Schools. I will admit that I have sincerely contemplated it, but the bottomline is that I truly enjoy the students at OHS and love teaching them.
With that said, I am not always satisfied with the way our schools run and there are many changes that I would like to see happen.
Furthermore, I believe that we, as adults, have the responsibility to voice our opinions and try to make improvements. It does no good to turn a blind eye to the problems in our district. I would love to see us openly address our problems and work together to resolve them.

I think it would be a crime if Mrs. McDougall resigned. However, it wouldn't surprise me. I understand that there is quite a flood of folks applying elsewhere.

I keep hammering about the administrative turnover - and to lose a talented teacher like Mrs. McD - well, how do you replace that experience? It can't be done.

I think there is a school improvement process, however it is pretty lame with the last word being given by Herself. Since she is NOT an educator, doesn't have teacher certification, does not have the years of teaching experience, and has not experienced the classroom, not sure how she could effectively deal with "School Improvement". To prove a point - look at test scores.

I think a work group of the board for their policy making role as well as fiduciary responsibility along with a group of experienced educators could make some serious headway into improving OAS.

The Board has been in the dark too long. Some of the members obviously appreciate being mushrooms. Others have had bright spots for quite awhile.