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i know you’re all on the edge of your seats - i AM running a few minutes late but i WILL be livetweeting this albemarle county school board meeting for the next few hours.
matt haas is reading a statement about collaboration with the city school board to “be more unified in our efforts” re: diversity. i hope he means it — the city school board does actually appear committed to hearing the concerns of antiracists.
the most recent city school board meeting was encouraging
the last county school board meeting... did not go well
living in charlottesville in 2018 means reminding your lawyer that you’re gonna be at a school board meeting & making sure a comrade is available to feed your dogs in case things go sideways.
this meeting was supposed to be last thursday. it was moved less than 36 hours before its scheduled time. then moved again to midday after it was pointed out it conflicted with yom kippur.
minority hiring: not going great. 
tie dye racist santa is here! he’s been arrested for cutting the tarps off the confederate monuments & for purchasing razor blades inside the exclusion zone downtown this past august 11thwtop.com/virginia/2017/…vTdailyprogress.com/news/local/vet…tMOCd
MOCda board member asks for specific numbers on the number of minority teachers at each school. she doesn’t have those numbers right now but they’re working on it.
like the speaker at last night’s council meeting who talked about the importance of POC counselors for patients of color, children of color benefit from learning environments where there are teachers teachers of color.
today’s albemarle county school board meeting agenda is here (there doesn’t seem to be a permalink to the agenda - click today’s date at this link). public comment is scheduled for 5pm. plenty of time to get down here & sign up to speaesb.k12albemarle.orgJHvj
dr. haas must’ve provided his comments at the beginning of the meeting to WINA ahead of time.
i certainly hope this represents an actual change in direction for the county school board, not just lip service.
wina.com/news/064460-co…
i certainly hope this represents an actual change in direction for the county school board, not just lip service.
wina.com/news/064460-co…
it’s disappointing, but not surprising, to see the year-long efforts of @hatefreeacps erased from this conversation. they brought this issue to the school board and have done incredible work in both policy research & community mobilization.
we’re a little ahead of schedule - it’s 3:15 and we’re at the softball restroom improvements (scheduled for 3:40)
this is actually an interesting conversation - the restroom updates for the baseball facility were a gift. they are apparently quite nice. there is a title ix concern now — they seem anxious about the risk they’ve exposed themselves to here.
folks, i am watching a powerpoint about grading. i truly am braver than the troops.
board member paige asks if the grading practices study includes any data on racial disparities in grading. the presenter says that’s “outside the scope” of the study, which was intended to ensure grading practices “are fair for all students.” so that seems very much in the scope?
dr haas talking now about data they looked at about race and attendance & grades when he was a principal. says it was very enlightening when they looked at the data that way & were able to close some gaps.
the study was only of teachers’ grading practices. they hope to include surveys of students & parents about their feelings about grading practices, too, but thought it was important to talk to teachers first.
and now a powerpoint about the legislative packet. the school board will have their yearly meeting with legislators in early november.
we are nearly a full hour ahead of the schedule outlined on the agenda. it remains to be seen if they will opt to take an hour recess so public comment still starts at 5, as advertised, or if the will forge ahead and hold it without community members planning to arrive at 5.
we’re on the last agenda item before public comment: discussion of the upcoming joint session of the school board and the county board of supervisors.
that meeting is next thursday.
(this item is scheduled to take 30 minutes.)
that meeting is next thursday.
(this item is scheduled to take 30 minutes.)
for the record, this is not an effective powerpoint slide.
in a very normal occurrence for all small town school board meetings, three legal observers just arrived.
i love you legal observers.
i love you legal observers.
oh would you look at that, they skipped the planned recess and will be beginning public comment 55 minutes early.
the first speaker is a teacher talking about an existing policy, enacted years ago, that effectively & drastically reduced anti-LGBT hate speech in schools. confederate symbols are used to intimidate, discriminate, and ostracize. they should be banned, too.
it is very difficult not to clap or snap. she did great. but if i clap i’ll be arrested. this is normal and healthy.
“i am disappointed in every single one of you,” says the second speaker. “you are supposed to be leaders in our community and you have failed in that.”
“the fact that you find it necessary to make threats against your constituents in order to silence them speaks volumes.”
another community member tells me there are a dozen cop cars and a police van waiting outside the albemarle county office building. outside this school board meeting. it’s 4pm on a tuesday in the police state.
third speaker:
“stop hiding behind the legality” and “acknowledge your conscious decision” to continue allowing hateful symbols in schools.
@hatefreeacps has provided AMPLE information, “your decision [not to ban hate symbols] is a policy choice, not a legal obligation”
“stop hiding behind the legality” and “acknowledge your conscious decision” to continue allowing hateful symbols in schools.
@hatefreeacps has provided AMPLE information, “your decision [not to ban hate symbols] is a policy choice, not a legal obligation”
he reminds them they are MAKING A CHOICE by arresting and brutalizing community members. the city school board had NO POLICE PRESENCE at the last meeting. and we were allowed to snap & clap.
the next speaker is reading a letter from a mother who was assaulted by police at the last county school board meeting, in front of her child.
this is a powerful letter. @hatefreeacps will you be publishing the full statement?
“because of you, my child will never return to albemarle county public schools because he fears for his safety.”
“because of you, my child will never return to albemarle county public schools because he fears for his safety.”
next speaker is calling out the board’s statement that they hope to create “teachable moments” instead of prohibiting hate speech. she cites an incident when students posted pictures of themselves with antisemitic graffiti & how it affected jewish students.
oh good, the confederate statue defender is up
“i don’t feel threatened by any statement in maintaining order and a proper environment for free speech here in our meetings.”
“i salute the board for taking that position.”
unsurprisingly, a racist is fine with other racists silencing & arresting antiracists.
“i salute the board for taking that position.”
unsurprisingly, a racist is fine with other racists silencing & arresting antiracists.
huh, his comment is mostly about the revenue sharing agreement between the city and the county. does he think this is the board of supervisors? this is a school board meeting, sir.
“i am gravely offended by communist symbols” including che t-shirts. he finds this more offensive than confederate symbols.
he claims a friend of his saw che personally murder his family. sure thing john.
he claims a friend of his saw che personally murder his family. sure thing john.
“i’m here today to offer you some free advice,” says the next speaker, a local antiracist activist & professor.
“this meeting & its fetishization of order over justice” are a “complete embarrassment & a moral failure”
“this meeting & its fetishization of order over justice” are a “complete embarrassment & a moral failure”
more support for @hatefreeacps!
“the way you’re handling this shows how deeply you’re embedded in white supremacy.”
“people are allowed to get angry,” “that’s how we change the status quo”
“the way you’re handling this shows how deeply you’re embedded in white supremacy.”
“people are allowed to get angry,” “that’s how we change the status quo”
“you’re trying to isolate yourself from the public” and it’s clear “you’re not interested in hearing what they have to say”
“you, in particular, should be ashamed of yourself.”
“you, in particular, should be ashamed of yourself.”
the next speaker is reading aloud a passage from white fragility, a book another community member gifted to kathy galvin, mike signer, and heather hill during a recent charlottesville city council meeting
hopefully they read it
next speaker also addressing the “teachable moment” policy — “let’s look specifically at what is being taught.” the confederate flag “is a representation of the creation of a slave holding republic”
the flag “represents the resurgence of the ku klux klan” and “the terrorism in charleston of dylann roof”
if there are to be teachable moments, we need to be mindful of what we are teaching.
he also calls for the charges against those arrested at the last meeting to be dropped.
if there are to be teachable moments, we need to be mindful of what we are teaching.
he also calls for the charges against those arrested at the last meeting to be dropped.
brief interruption of public comment for a presentation by several students about solar power in schools. they were supposed to present prior to public comment but they weren’t here yet because it started an hour early.
the meeting has a hard cutoff time of 5:30. the board assures us this presentation will be just a few minutes and won’t prevent anyone who is signed up from speaking.
back to public comment. nancy gives a huge shoutout to @hatefreeacps and says without their work, dr haas wouldn’t be working with the city school board to address this issue.
she also asks the board to consider apologizing to the representative from orange county hate free schools coalition. when they came to the august 23rd school board meeting, board member kate acuff called one guest a bitch.
she also asks the board to apologize for board member jason buyaki’s confederate flag tie at the august 23rd school board meeting.
“you’ll either be quiet or you’ll leave the room,” kate acuff tells a woman in the audience who had the audacity to clap.
the next speaker opens by reminding the board that it’s impolite to roll your eyes when people are speaking to you about violence they’ve experienced. they ask them to refrain from doing it for the rest of the meeting.
they address acuff, who sits on several boards related to mental health, asking how an expert in mental health could be so oblivious to mental health effects of hate symbols.
acuff interrupts, reminding the speaker they are prohibited from addressing individual board members.
acuff interrupts, reminding the speaker they are prohibited from addressing individual board members.
“i don’t have enough time to explain to you how damaging it is” to have these racist symbols in schools says the next speaker.
they also reiterate the community’s dismay over acuff calling a woman a “gendered pejorative” (she called a guest speaker a bitch. in a meeting.)
they also reiterate the community’s dismay over acuff calling a woman a “gendered pejorative” (she called a guest speaker a bitch. in a meeting.)
“kids are smart. kids know you don’t value them.”
second to last speaker up now. he is reading a statement from a friend who is banned from the premises after being arrested at the last meeting.
second to last speaker up now. he is reading a statement from a friend who is banned from the premises after being arrested at the last meeting.
“the children screamed and sobbed as they watched their aunt be handcuffed right in front of them,” “i’ll never forget their faces” as they “huddled in terror” behind their mother.
“you all must face what you have done: you terrorized your own students.”
“you all must face what you have done: you terrorized your own students.”
this statement too calls on the board to apologize for school board member jason buyaki’s confederate flag tie at the august 23rd meeting.
“there’s been a lot of talk” about these “teachable moments,” but the last speaker is curious what the board has learned from all this.
“there doesn’t seem to be any desire on your part” to learn from the community.
“there doesn’t seem to be any desire on your part” to learn from the community.
all this talk of civility, but this this board is being rude as hell. the amount of eye rolling and exaggerated sighs, smirking, not paying attention to speakers...
“at this point it’s certain that there will be people running against you for your seats,” but the speaker hopes that won’t discourage them from making attempts to do better in the time they have left. really engage with constituents.
many of tonight’s speakers informed the board their seats are in jeopardy. every one of these people will be replaced in the next election.
and that concludes public comment. a minute after it was scheduled to begin. because it started an hour early.
david oberg is apologizing to the public for the meeting being scheduled so poorly. he saw that wednesday was yom kippur and didn’t realize scheduling it for tuesday evening was an issue. it was then moved to 2:30, which he also claims he didn’t realize would be a problem.
and meeting adjourned.
it’s worth noting that board member jason buyaki, who wore a confederate flag tie to the august 23rd school board meeting to discuss banning confederate imagery in schools, didn’t show up tonight.
albemarle county school board chair kate acuff gets a police escort to her car to protect her from the scary crowd of antiracist soccer moms
aaaand here’s school board member katrina callsen leaving with tie dye racist santa.
here is a thread with the text of the letter that was read during public comment tonight from one of the parents arrested at the august 30th school board meeting. she could not read her own statement tonight because she's been barred from the premises.
