Several people wanted to know how my statement to the school board ended... Got stopped by the blinking red light-- promised so I said I would post it. My name is Gretchen Weiss-Elliot. I have had 5 children that are currently in the ESD or have attended Everett schools. I greatly admire the educators that have that have been involved with my children’s life. My son Nathan is currently at Cal Poly in their engineering program and I give a lot of credit to the educators that were involved in his life especially Ms. Tracey at Eisenhower who saw Nathan’s potential and forced him to live up to it. All students have that special teacher that has influenced them in someway. I had one in each of the schools I attended—Ms. Raymond at Jefferson, Ms. Romerdahl at Eisenhower and Ms. Lindstrand at Cascade. I am a nurse-midwife that has worked at Providence Hospital for 15 years. One of the things that I support and respect most about the Providence organization is their no tolerance policy for retaliation. If anyone at Providence sees something that is either unsafe or behavior that is inappropriate they are encouraged to report it. The person making the report feels safe in doing this as they know that if they report something and the person they report retaliates in any way that this behavior is NOT tolerated at all. This means that if someone in housekeeping is treated poorly by a top surgeon and reports it and later that surgeon retaliates against that person that that surgeon will be reprimanded and possibly dismissed if this behavior continues. I have actually seen this happen. With the announcement of the building of the CRC building I wanted to know how my children’s teachers felt about the project. I had children in elementary, middle and high school at the time. I couldn’t find ONE teacher that supported the project. I asked these teachers why not get involved and voice their opinion. Each and EVERY teacher I spoke with conveyed the same theme—If they voiced their opinion the superintendent or the school board may not have the power to fire them but they did have the power to make their teaching position miserable—giving them 5-6 different classes to teach or classes that they didn’t enjoy teaching. They did not feel safe voicing their opinion, as there was a significant fear of retaliation, not by their school administration but by the board and superintendent. The only teacher/coach that I know of that took a stand on this issue was Mr. Bertrand. He voiced his opinion about how unsafe the cinder tracks were at both Cascade and Jackson, as he witnessed first hand the injuries his athletes received. Every year he was promised a new track and every year this promise was broken. AND then the board announced the building of the CRC at cost of $20-28 million. That is when he went public and that is when parents got involved. Because of his commitment for the safety of his students, he was able to get parents, students and the press involved. This “forced” the school board leadership to provide SAFE tracks for both Cascade and Jackson. Ever since then Mr. Bertrand has had a target on his back. He was the one educator that spoke up. He has seniority as a teacher but currently he has 5 different classes this year in three different areas, confirming the expectations of other educators of what would happen to teachers that spoke out. And now without explanation the school district is “heading in a new direction” and not renewing Mr. Bertrand’s coaching contract. Mr. Bertrand IS that teacher I listed above—He has been the one to influence and change SO many lives, not only of his students but the lives of so many members of our community. Pam, your son was coached by Mr. Bertrand, do you support this decision?? I have so much admiration for the students and educators at Cascade. They brought me to tears several times this year with their amazing food drive and when the STUDENTS unanimously chose a special needs young woman as their homecoming queen. The school should be celebrated for this. Instead due to vindictiveness and retaliation by the superintendent of schools, these good deeds will be overshadowed as parents and students need to go to battle for their beloved teacher and coach. We as the citizens of the Everett School District really need take a look at how this district is run. We had two bonds that were not past last year due to poor decision making by the board and superintendent. We have teachers that are unable to voice their opinions due to fear of retaliation. Maybe it is time for the citizens of Everett to vote no confidence for their current school board leaderships. We need educators that feel that they are part of the team and feel safe to express their opinions. Having a superintendent and school board who really listens to the public and their educators will rebuild confidence and trust in ESD—that is what is needed to pass bonds and provide the best possible education to the students of Everett. Just because you can… doesn’t mean you should. Please reinstate Mr. Bertrand’s cc coaching position Thank you, Gretchen Weiss-Elliot
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 18:16:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015