I wrote the following piece just after Mr. Smith announced that he would reveal the concerns of individual influencers, but hadnt yet stipulated what they were. Concerns that now the board is apparently classifying as community concerns. I think this was Sept 22nd of last year. I paraphrased this note in public comment at those meetings because you only have so much time. But reading it now, after mediation has once again collapsed, I think its worth posting: ----------- From the BCS point of view the LASD board has waged a campaign of worst possible options and gimmicks, one after the other, from siting BCS at the camp site in the first place, to making 11th hour changes to facilities offers, to bidding on Raynor, to getting creative with FUA restrictions and your own litigation. With these actions comes rhetoric. While BCS could lift litigation tomorrow if a deal were struck, the district has got a long road ahead of it to change the attitudes of district parents hostile to BCS. Attitudes the board itself has built with their communications and actions. Lets be clear, the LASD message up until this meeting has been that BCS is not a public school, or is not open/transparent/inclusive enough to be one and does not deserve reasonably equivalent facilities. This is your message, repeated endlessly. Its gotten to the point where winning is seen as more important than peace, or even fiscal sense in this district. And by winning here, I mean you have framed victory as sticking BCS with something less than equivalent (because they deserve less in your opinions). And as Mr. Taglio surprisingly mentioned on the evening of Aug. 29th, he believes theres a population in the district that wants [the LASD board] to be even more aggressive with BCS [referring to lockouts]. How do you get more aggressive than a lockout? That doesnt sound like a population that wants a long-term agreement? I guess Im wondering how the board plans to move forward? How do you rally the district to vote for a bond for all of us when youve spent the last 10 years harping on how BCS is not deserving of equivalent facilities. Again, BCS can shut down litigation tomorrow if this, or future mediation succeeds. The LASD board on the other hand cannot simply turn the attitudes of the district on a dime, even if litigation is halted on both sides. You must start to turn this ship *now* or any new agreement will fail to take hold in this district, just like the last mediated solution. ----------- Over the last 4 to 5 months the LASD board never succeeded in turning this ship. If anything they stoked the engines. Is anyone surprised by this latest result? What I would add today, is that the desire for peace by the larger community trumps the desires of a few individual influencers, no matter how influential. Make peace, lead well, and youll be able to pass a bond without a problem. Strife? Poor leadership? And a bond for any students, LASD or BCS becomes extremely unlikely. My prediction is that the polling research results will show at best the same, but most likely less support for a bond than there was before the last election. If the LASD board wants to complete the long, long delayed phase II project to improve the districts facilities, they really need to learn how to make peace.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 15:45:46 +0000
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