News Tribune

FalconTruth 1 year, 1 month ago

Well with what I have heard from someone that spent all day at the hearings on Saturday, is that the superintendent has broken the law also by not keeping the teacher's records in the district office. So does that mean he should be fired also? I would think the board really only has two ways to handle this; 1. fire both the principal and the superintendent (and look at what that will do to the school without the outstanding principal) or 2. retain both, counsel both on the proper way to handle these items, and put this school district back on track. The board, if it really cares about the welfare of the children and the parents ability to have confidence that when I drop off my child that I know they are in the best hands possible with the principal out there almost every day to welcome my child by name and also knows my name, which is unbelieveable, I can't see any other way than to retain both of these people, and that is what my VOTE would be !!!!!

• Sign in to suggest removal

True 1 year, 1 month ago

Well said! Mrs. Winslow would be a tragic loss.

• Sign in to suggest removal

Esyle1311 1 year, 1 month ago

Are the transcripts going to be of the entire private hearing? If so how would one go about obtaining them after the decision is made? I'm curious to see if they contain information/reasons that have not been released to the public yet!!!

• Sign in to suggest removal

GLuetkemeyer 1 year, 1 month ago

Dangerous Precedent ... The Blair Oaks school board will be setting a dangerous precedent if they decide to value PAPERWORK (which does not directly impact the students) more than overall JOB PERFORMANCE (in issues such as student safety, student performance, staff stability, etc.).

Does that mean that if any other paperwork or documentation is out of order that school personnel are in jeopardy of losing their job??? Not exactly a stable working environment.

If you go into a teacher's room and ask for lesson plans for the entire year, and the teacher can't produce them, would that mean that the district will assume that they were NOT teaching all that time? IF they don't have a current copy of the curriculum on file in their room, would that be interpreted as them NOT FOLLOWING district policy, and later be grounds for termination?

The Blair Oaks district has in the past struggled with special education paperwork. Many parents are aware that the district has been out of compliance, but have chosen to work WITH the district instead of taking measures against them.
Entire student IEPs have been missing in the past, annual IEP dates missed ... There is no precedent that action was taken AGAINST anyone for those types of infractions which DIRECTLY affected students.
While special education paperwork has seemed to improve, the district has been given a chance to correct the situation.

Have any of those past failures been reported to the school board?

The school board is deciding on what seems like an issue that affects one staff member, but its implications reach much further ...

It will be a dangerous precedent to set, and they have not been given an overall look at how the district fairs with PAPERWORK in other areas ...

Ginger Luetkemeyer

• Sign in to suggest removal

justdoit11 1 year, 1 month ago

Ginger, if you weren't at the trial let me inform you on what was revealed. The evidence against Lorie was overwhelming. Your accusations of "clerical error" was dis-proven immediately. There was no "clerical error" because there were no evaluations done. There isn't a superintendent in the nation that would think it was appropriate to not complete annual teacher evaluations. Another proven point at the hearing was that she lied and misled the district on Career Ladder money. Did you also hear that because there is no teacher accountability due to lack of evaluations that the elementary Standard test scores have not met the requirements. How embarrassing when the other schools in the district have. I'm tired of you speaking on behalf of many district patrons when you really are representing a few. Furthermore, your children don't even go to school here. It's time that you stop your nonprofessional approach and use some common sense. It makes me sick that you call yourself an educator when you truly don't value education any more than this. I'm very disappointed in you.

• Sign in to suggest removal

JCLifer 1 year, 1 month ago

The good thing is hopefully they can get a new principal who cares about student learning.

The assessment results at that pitiful school have been dismal for years.

I'd hate to have my child in that underperforming school. Of course, many people around here have very low expectations and don't want their kids to be better educated than they are.

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

I agree with Justdoit11 I'm not sure how the school that you teach in can tolerate the fact that you have so publicly criticized another school's superintendent....even to the point of running a FB site. This reflects poorly on your employers for tolerating this, especially since you work for a religious school.

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

And Ginger, you are trying to muddy a lot of water. The state does not require teachers to submit daily lesson plans, but teachers' lesson plans are ultimately scrutinized in the form of annual MAP testing. The state does, though, require its administrators to utilize performance-based teacher evaluations.

For those who keep saying that more training needed to happen....that's a crock. If the principal suddenly knew how to do them after the February meeting, she knew how to do them before. It seems all she needed was for someone to light a fire under her butt.

And have you people ignored the fact that she had teachers sign both the 2012 evaluations AND last year's 2011 evaluations just a few weeks ago. Falsifying documents!!

Those of you who keep pretending to ignore this are just making yourselves look stupid.

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

And I am thrilled that the new BO Board Members will get a chance to eat their words. They will soon find that their "opinions" really do not matter. When you are on a school board, you are obligated to uphold the law....not to make a mockery of it and sway with public opinion. Once they fall in step under the Missouri School Board Association guidelines and let a little time pass and gain a little experience, they will regret their support of this principal. Time is a great teacher.

• Sign in to suggest removal

Bakeragr 1 year, 1 month ago

Ginger isn't speaking for just a "few" people. There are hundreds of us in the district, yes IN the district, and we are MAD at the underhanded tactics that have gone on. Look at the school board elections tonight and tell me if you think people aren't paying attention. WE ARE WATCHING and things will be changing, I guarantee it.

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

I would encourage all of you who have turned in to the Falcon Pride FB site in order to "watch the action" for the past month to either "unfriend" the site or at least to quit dignifying it by reading and participating in it. It does NOT represent the integrity and the pride of Blair Oaks. It instead represents gossip and false information. If you are a business owner or business person in this region, be clear that many of us do NOT condone this site and do NOT approve of the fact that some of you have jumped on the bandwagon and signed on as friends. Enough is enough.

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

1. The 2011 evaluations were falsified, and I'm going to bet that the teachers are both uncomfortable with being put on the spot during the hearing to admit that, and they are probably also a little bit afraid of the fact that they participated in that deceit. It probably seemed like a good idea before the hearing, but not-so-much afterward.
2. There were two different years during her ten when the principal did not do "any" of her evals.
   

Seriously, were some of you so busy updating your FB statuses during the hearing that you did not even listen to what was being said?

PEOPLE OF BLAIR OAKS, this is a huge tarnish on our district. Let's rally behind what it right....and Falcon Pride is nothing but a trash site. Take more pride in your district and your community than to keep falling for this! You have been duped!!

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

And by the way, ladies, that Falcon Pride website has you all looking like very stereotypical serpent-tongued gossipy women...not like truly informed, empowered women. There are one or two bitter women who have led the rest of you down a very ugly path. Spend a little time reflecting. Is this really how you want to see yourselves?

You are better than this. Sign out, sign off, and move on.

The FB train has not only left the station, it jumped the track a looooong time ago.

• Sign in to suggest removal

stlfarmer 1 year, 1 month ago

BTW, Falcon Pride puts on information regarding state statutes and school policies. Is that trash to you? I would hope not. It publishes school board meeting agendas and informs people of where to vote. Don't be angry that social networking works by informing the public. It is a respectful forum and place for discussion. They have now elected the two people they were in favor of. I'm sure the nearly 600 members would disagree with your opinion of Falcon Pride.Are you not allowed on there? Don't be bitter.

• Sign in to suggest removal

justdoit11 1 year, 1 month ago

Just because you have them as a friend on Facebook doesn't mean they support you. I'm not sure why it's titled FalconPride when it's so embarrassing and only saying bad untruthful things..

• Sign in to suggest removal

online_editor 1 year, 1 month ago

I removed several comments that contained personal attacks aimed at other participants, and some that referred back to them. (Also, one post strayed from the topic of the article and contained an incorrect link too.) If your comment was removed but also contained issue-oriented views related to this news story, please try reposting those viewpoints without the personal jabs. You can review our general policies via the link above the comment posting box. Basically, we discourage insults of others who are commenting here, as well as allegations of wrongdoing that are not part of the public record (potentially libelous allegations) and encourage civilized discussion of the issues surrounding this news topic. Thank you. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

For those of you who have kids at the elementary and have tuned in on FB and who turned out to vote, you are correct....the principal is very nice and she does know your name. When I was a kid the lady on Romper Room could look at her little magic mirror and call out my name, too. But at some point our kids outgrow Romper Room. It's "nice" to have a principal who knows who you are, and after 11 years in the district I would expect that. But it's more "important" to have a school leader who spends less time on PR and more time on guiding, supporting, and yes, evaluating his/her staff. Evaluations are not "pop-ins". They are clearly defined by the Department of Education. What she was doing does not count. It's not even close. And if I had to hear one more time during that hearing that she stops by weekly and bi-weekly and that a time or two a month the staff have data team meetings I would have barfed. Seriously, these folks were as scripted as the cast of an elementary school play. Of course they had the same "director." And speaking of "directors", why was GL scripting the principal's attorney at every break? Is it because the poor guy walked in without really knowing what he was going to face, so she had to help him plan new strategy at every break. That poor poor guy. He got blindsided by facts.

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

I would think that a lot of households are really suffering. Have you seen how many students Falcon Pride has allowed on her site? That is so, so sad. I would think that the spouses of some of these faithful Facebookers would be getting a little weary of the venom, too. Bitterness breeds. Those of you have kids at the elementary, ...you have been duped by a very few. If you really look on Falcon Pride, there are only 20 ish people who have kept that site going. It's pretty obvious that everyone else is just tuning in and turning out to watch the "Bad Girls of Blair Oaks" go at it. Not even reality TV can hold a candle to this. (Husbands, aren't they starting to embarass you a little?) Hear that sound....it's the sound of your property value sliding downward. Way to go "Bad Girls"

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

Oh...and is this about paperwork, you better believe it is...the most important paperwork that a principal can do. And is it a clerical issue....you better believe it is....if I go to my boss/principal, she better darn well respect me enough to keep my personnel file up to date...not the owner of the company...not the superintendent...my DIRECt superviser. If my boss told me to fix a problem, I would do it tomorrow. And if my boss gave me a due date, i would meet it. I would not turn in my paperwork the following year after I had already been given my pink slip.

• Sign in to suggest removal

justdoit11 1 year, 1 month ago

SpinControl you said that perfectly!

• Sign in to suggest removal

SpinControl 1 year, 1 month ago

Wow. It's curiously quiet in Falcon Pride Land. I have to think that some of you are starting to feel some remorse. Even if you really do, heart and soul, support that principal, the cyberbullying has been relentless. Seriously, some of you just can not feel good about what you have written. And those of you who have peeked in multiple times a day to watch the beatings have got to feel guilty for that, too. This is beneath you. You are all learning a really hard lesson, but a valuable one. You will be changed for the better once this is done. I'm really glad that Mr. Spicer was elected to the Board. I think once he steps off of the bandwagon and really looks at the facts, he will realize that he, too, got caught up in the frenzy. He is a sincerely nice man, he has just allowed himself to be blinded. Serioulsy folks, the issue isn't about whether or not you like the principal. The issue is about whether or not she has done her job...not just part of her job...her whole job. How many of you who have jobs are allowed to just do the fun part of it? And if you haven't been doing your job, how many times/years should you have to be told to do it? I have to tell you, too, I think that the principal regrets the past month. She is a lot worse off now than she was. She, too, got caught up in the fever of Falcon Pride. I'm going to bet she wishes it would all just go away and that she could just ride off into the sunset. Quietly. I guess she still can if she wants to.

• Sign in to suggest removal

Poeme 1 year, 1 month ago

SpinControl, do you really believe that your condescending remarks are going to bring on remorse? What about your cyberbullying? Do you feel good about what you have written? Why are you so threatened by educated women? Do you feel as though the principal is the only one at fault?

• Sign in to suggest removal

online_editor 1 year, 1 month ago

I removed a comment because it contained a reference that assumed to know the identity of another participant. And with that, we're closing commenting on this page. Thank you for your feedback. If you'd like to make additional views known, feel free to write a letter to the editor at editor@newstribune.com for publication in print and online. Please limit your comments to 400 words and include your name, hometown and a phone number for verification. Thank you. -- Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune

• Sign in to suggest removal