This is Part 4A of a 4 part series I have been writing on what it is like to be an elected school board member of the Hollister School District. I have labeled this column “4A” as I had already written the 4th part of this series, but thought what I have written here will be an important backdrop to the original to be published shortly.
The dots I am trying to connect for the readers are what seemingly hinders school board members from being truly effective. I need your help, as always, to improve the Hollister School District. Knowledge is power.
VERY SOON AFTER I won my seat on the governing school board of the Hollister School District, some members of the community brought to my attention certain things that were happening in our schools. These people were not just casual acquaintances, but folks who raised their children with mine, or attend church with my family, or otherwise just folks I trust for good reasons. They also worked for the Hollister School District.
As a school board member, I believe that knowing what is going on in our schools, finding out how we manage potential toxic behaviors and other social ills, and having some back and forth with those involved is important.
Based on the above-mentioned comments I received, I met with the management of our school resource officers (“SROs”) and had high-quality dialog with them. While it took some time to occur, the board did get an official report about our school resource officer program. However, I thought it was weird and incomplete, given the concerns that I previously expressed to SRO management. Essentially their report was “Everything is fine; no change in program or additional resources necessary”. But then why did I meet about the SRO program to begin with? Because I heard evidence to the contrary.
So I decided to take a different approach. In the goal-setting exercise I previously wrote about in this fine media outlet, I asked for the board to set a goal for the Hollister School District to have zero prohibited items (i.e., drugs and weapons), zero violent incidents, and zero injuries on our campuses. If an entity sets goals, there will be reports about them. The SROs and district employees would have direction. Unfortunately, I was shot down like a duck on opening day of hunting season.
More importantly, I later was told by the district administration simply to have complaining staff members call an anonymous crime reporting tip line maintained by general law enforcement – not the school district.
So I am at odds with the school district administration and apparently local law enforcement because I want to know what is going on in our schools, and that we are taking steps to ensure that our students not be exposed to prohibited items and violent incidents, and have zero injuries.
There are some that are not going to be happy that I wrote this, even though it is not a complaint about any one person. It’s the system that is broken, not the fine people of Hollister.
It is my belief that you elected me to tackle the hard issues any school district faces and overcome the common hurdles an inquisitive board member may encounter. You elected me because I will try. I am.
I look forward to hearing your comments.