More Media Coverage of Wentzville School District Censorship

Hi All,

The internet news buzz continues to grow about the Wentzville School District and the ongoing issues of censorship and parental communication...
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Kalen Ponche of the Suburban Journals - a subsidiary of the St. Louis Post Dispatch - wrote a followup article highlighting the continued frustration felt by parents and students alike.  Of interest in the article is the comments made by the current Wentzville School Board President Dale Schaper. 

First, Board President Dale Shaper stated that they "simply followed district policy" in only allowing 15 minutes to speak.  What he fails to say is that nowhere in the policy does it state that public comments are limited to 15 minutes.  Instead, the policy states:

5. Due to the possible number of speakers during the public forum, the Board President may limit or extend the speaking time.

Since Board President Dale Schaper had the perogitive to adjust the speaking time, I want to make sure that it is perfectly clear that the 15 minute limitation was his personal decision. 

Board President Dale Schaper also stated that parents and students can "request a spot on the agenda in the future. The request must be made in writing five days before the meeting."  Unfortunately, this again illustrates that the issue has no importance to the Wentzville School Board, since they don't deem it necessary to proactively address it by adding it to the agenda themselves.

Lastly, board member David Hurst added yet another example of the Wentzville School District Administration being out of touch with their own policies.  Mr. Hurst stated that "he didn't know all the details about what was not allowed to go into the newspaper or yearbook."  However, per the Wentzville School District Student Publication policy...

The building principal shall forward the statement and copies of the article to the Superintendent and the Board of Education for their information.

Obviously, this never occured, or Mr. Hurst and the rest of the Wentzville School Board would be better informed on what was going on.
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A letter was sent to the Wentzville School Board and Administration from the Society of Professional Journalists.  According to their website, the SPJ is a "broad-based, national journalism organization founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi. SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry, works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists, and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press."

The letter condemns the Wentzville School District for allowing censorship, and illustrates the damage they have done in allowing it to persist. 
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And finally, one of my favorites...

Frank LoMonte, the Executive Director of the Student Press Law Center, posted a scathing editorial on the latest activities of the Wentzville School District.  Mr. LoMonte's blog entry, dated March 29th, does an excellent job of highlighting the irony of the Wentzville School administration practices.
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And on a final note.... Please read the "Call To Action" notice on the left, and remember to vote next Tuesday, April 6th!  Change happens... but only if you want it to happen!

The Great Wentzville School District Communication Experiment

Hello all,

As you may know, election day in Wentzville is April 6th, and is right around the corner.  There are two seats up for election on the Wentzville School Board.  The incumbent school board members are Dale Schaper and Joe McDonald.

As you may also know, Dale Schaper's use of "arbitrary" policy managed to censor the parents of Timberland High School journalism students at the March 18th board meeting. 

What you may not know, though, is that ongoing attempts at communication with the district since that incident have produced nothing.  As a matter of fact, we've been effectively told that parents aren't welcome in the district if you have a problem.  If you have something to say, you only get three minutes a month... if we let you.

So, if you have been following this blog, and have any doubts about why this district needs to change, I'm proposing a little experiment... and all it will take is the time to send one email.

Step 1:  Choose. 
You can send an email to any one address, some of them, or - if you're feeling saucy - all of them! 

Board Members:
Dale Schaper, daleschaper@wentzville.k12.mo.us
David Ness, davidness@wentzville.k12.mo.us
Sherry Cox, sherrycox@wentzville.k12.mo.us
David Hurst, davidhurst@wentzville.k12.mo.us
Joe McDonald, joemcdonald@wentzville.k12.mo.us
Michael Cecil, michaelcecil@wentzville.k12.mo.us
Terry Ratcliff, terryratcliff@wentzville.k12.mo.us

Administration:
Superintendant - Dr. Terry Adams, terryadams@wentzville.k12.mo.us
Assistant Superintendant - Dr. Melody Marcantonio, melodymarcantonio@wentzville.k12.mo.us
District Spokesperson - Matt Deichmann, matthewdeichmann@wentzville.k12.mo.us

Step 2: Ask a question.
Ask anything!  You can ask to be pointed to statistics for the district, or past performance in achieving "adequate yearly progress" (AYP).  Or for bonus points, make the question about something semi-controversial or topical.  Examples of some topics could be:

• How is the district going to pay for full day kindergarten after two years?
• Why are parent/teacher conferences at the high school conducted in public, in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974?
• Would the district be willing to consider a dress code for students?
• Why do kids need to spend so much time "MAP test prepping"?
• Why can't my kids sell brownies/cookies to raise money for their activity?
• Can gays/lesbians go to prom in the district with their dates?
• And, or course, you can ask any questions about the censorship issues I've been covering as well.

Step 3: Wait
Did you get a response?  We can wait....
What about now?  Still no.... I hope you're not holding your breath!
....On the odd chance you did get a response, was it respectful?  Or was it dismissive?  Hmmm... thought so.

Step 4:  Send me your results.
Drop your results in a comment to this blog post.  I'd love to post some of the questions and responses - if any.  (If you wish to remain anonymous, please edit all of your personal info from the comment!)

Step 5:  Vote
Okay.  You caught me!  I did say that all you had to do was send an email, but bear with me for just a couple more moments...

Now that you have witnessed the root of the issue that the parents of the Wentzville School District have been struggling against, you now have the great gift of being able to make an educated decision.  It's obvious to many of the parents that the Wentzville School District board members need to enforce a pro-parent, pro-communication policy within their ranks, and within the Wentzville School administration as well. The only way to do this is to put in place board members that support this approach... and the only way to do that is to vote!

Media Coverage of March 18th Board Meeting

Hi again,

After waiting a few days for the coverage to spread, I think its time to collect a list of links to the media coverage that the Wentzville School Board meeting on March 18th garnered. 

• Two local TV stations provided coverage of the incident.  KMOV, Channel 4's report can be found here.  KSDK, Channel 5's report is here.
• The Post Dispatch was in attendance, with the subsequent news article found here.
• SCC Worlds, a community news organization for St. Charles County, was in attendance as well.  Their report, along with video of Dr. Terry Adams' statements after the meeting, Wentzville School Board statements during the meeting, and parent and student comments can be found here.
• The Student Press Law Center posted an article as well, located here.
• JEA Scholastic Press Rights Commission covered the incident, as well.  The article can be found here.

 More as it develops....

Of Fools and Cowards - The Ballad of the Wentzville School District

"Inconceivable."  That was one person's reaction.
"Below the belt."  That was another person's statement.
"I've never seen a school board do this to parents." was a comment from one TV reporter on the scene.

That about sums up our experience tonight at the Wentzville School Board meeting in the Wentzville School District.  Personally, I've never seen such a display of arrogance and disregard for the people that they apparently serve.  If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have believed it.  But I'm getting ahead of myself....

The evening started pleasent enough, with excellent weather, a good turnout (50-60 people), and plenty of sense of purpose.  Our agenda, as a group, was to speak to the board about our concerns regarding the censorship policy of the Wentzville School District, and lack of communication with Wentzville administrators and Wentzville board members, and in support of a great teacher.  We didn't want to make the evening about the faults of a particular person.  We wanted to air the issues regarding our kids, about our attempts to work with the district, and the unnecessary loss of a great teacher.

Every school district in its right mind knows that success hinges on working with parents to address issues.  And any good administrator or manager knows that nipping problems when they are small keeps them from becoming big.  Every school district seriously pursuing educational excellence appreciates parents that care...
... and then there's Wentzville School District.

Instead of open and honest communication between parents and Wentzville board members, which they've continued to dodge, the agenda was all about Principal Winston Rogers.  It seems that the Wentzville Administration and the Wentzville School Board conspired to censor the parents!

Yep, you read that right.  Parents and students were censored at an "open" forum.  How?  Arbitrary policy, of course...one of the core issues that we find so abhorent in the district.  According to the posted board meeting policy...

Addressing the Board

Public comments are welcome at each regular Board meeting during the period designated for citizen statements. To address the Board, sign in before the meeting convenes at 7 p.m. at the Board table. Citizens will be called to the podium by the Board president to make comments which must be limited to three minutes

So, accordingly, we came early to sign up in order to voice our concerns.  Several students and parents signed up prior to the meeting to speak.  We also knew that comments may be limited, just based on time. 

Little did we know how limited....

At the beginning of the open forum section of the Wentzville School District board meeting, the board president, Dale Schaper, made the astonishing statement that - according to some policy that I have yet to be able to find in their posted policies - comments would be limited to 15 minutes, and only the first five people that signed up would be allowed to speak.  This was in obvious collusion because - surprise - four of the first five speakers were friends and family of Winston Rogers.

We got to hear how misguided and immoral we, the parents, were for speaking out for our children's education. (Umm... this might be a bit embarrassing, but...  yeah, we're right behind you.)  What a great job Winston Rogers is doing, and as an example he's making the teachers dress up so they look better. (Teachers leaving, students upset, parents angry... obviously these aren't as important as having a nice pantsuit!)   How the teachers that influence students (I call that teaching) should be ashamed.  During this show, the parents and students that had come to talk about issues, and not people, left the meeting. 

How do I know this was planned?  First, the people that had managed to get the "golden tickets" to speak were there LONG before we arrived.  I personally arrived 45 minutes prior to the meeting, and they were already seated inside.  Second, according to the board's own policy, posted on the doors of the meeting room, they have the right to extend comment time based on necessity.  Board President Dale Schaper apparently didn't notice the extra 50-60 people in the room (Again you don't see us?  Honestly people, we're right here!), and obviously felt there were no other issues to discuss.

After we had vacated the room, with shouts of "stack the deck", "censor the parents" and "that's okay, we'll just talk with the media", one board member, Mike Cecil, did notice there was an angry elephant in the room, and motioned that our group should be allowed to speak.  Dale Schaper begrudingly allowed one speaker from the group, since he deemed that having one student speak out for such a large issue was equivilent to having four people speak out about.... well, nothing!

The Timberland High School senior newspaper editor spoke of how she has accomplished much under Coach McCandless, and how thanks to her, she is now proudly the 4th best highschool editor in the country (based on national competitions a few months ago.)  At this comment, a dismissing snicker was heard from Assitant Superintendent Melody Marcanotonio... a supportive and professional response to an aspiring journalism student overcoming dyslexia, don't you think?

And where was Mr. Rogers, since the public comments were all about lauding his ability to make teachers buy a new wardrobe, and how he struggles against immoral parents that make their kids think?  And how the school is such an improving place, by refusing to even return a greeting of "good morning" to my son, and attempting to save us from pictures of teenage girl's shoulders? Witnesses saw him in the building, but he didn't have the courage to attend the meeting or even look at the parents he helped to ire. 

So, not only was this shocking and insulting to the students and parents, it was high drama for the media in attendance.  Local TV news teams from the NBC and CBS affliates in St. Louis were in attendance, as well as a reporter from the St. Louis Post Dispatch.  Comments I garnered from the reporters told me that they had never seen a school board act as arbitrary and arrogant toward students and parents before, and they were in agreement that there was a deep and definite issue in the Wentzville School District.

And still, we the parents, that simply want to talk to the board and administration, are still ignored and in the dark. The sad part about all this, is that I'm sure that somewhere out there, a surprisingly shy Mr. Rogers, an overly-comfortable (and, up for re-election) Wentzville School Board president, and others in the Wentzville School District administration are lying in bed with a feeling they have won.  They feel that they've accomplished something... but I doubt they can put their finger on it.

Board Meeting Rally/Protest

Hi All,

As a reminder to those that follow this blog, the upcoming parent/student rally and protest against the censorship of the Timberland High School journalism programs, the continued harassment of journalism program mentors and students by Principal Winston Rogers, and the advocation of censorship by the Wentzville School District Administration and Board is quickly approaching:

When: March 18th, 2010 @ 6:45pm
Where: One Campus Drive, Wentzville MO

As far as I can tell, after doing a little research and speaking with media reporters, this could be one of the largest education protests in Wentzville history.  The numbers, if those that have RSVP'd on the facebook Team McCandless page appear, are staggering.  I'm expecting that attendence could be well into the hundreds!

Given a crowd of that size, I'd like to toss out few suggestions:

• Meeting Participants: Get there early if you plan to speak.  While there are posted procedures that state people may speak at the event, there is no guarantee that the number of people permitted to speak won't be limited.  Also, according to the posted agenda, the speaking portion comes near the beginning, so punctuality will be rewarded!
• Demonstrators: We will need particpants to be part of the street demonstration.  The most effective place to demonstrate would be at the intersection of Campus Drive and Pearce Blvd, we should have more than enough demonstrators to also gather in front of the Board offices.
• Parking:  There should be plenty of parking in the Holt High School parking lot for the board meeting.  Please be courteous of other businesses in the area, and limit parking to the school grounds.  The most appropriate place to park for street demonstrators is at the Middle School, which is just a short walk from the Pearce intersection.  Again, please respect the surrounding businesses and the flow of traffic.  There will most likely be press coverage, so we don't want bad publicity.
• Attire: Wear your "Team McCandless" shirts to show your support.  If you don't have a "Team McCandless" shirt, green is the color of the day!  Again, we intend to have press coverage, and the more visually interesting this rally is, the more likely it will get aired/printed!  The weather forcast (as of this moment) is clear but cool... so dress appropriately!
• Signs:  If you are particpating in the outside demonstration, please consider bringing signs of support/protest.

Signage Guidelines:  We are attempting to make a positive difference, so please make sure your sign is appropriate.  If we cannot convey a positive message, then we will not succeed.  Here are a few general guidelines in creating your message that should help prevent embarassement for our cause.

• Positive messages:  Your positive messages can show support for Ms. McCandless, the journalism program, free speech, and the like. 
• Protest messages:  Messages against censorship, teacher and student harassment, administration censorship policy, and school board silence are all appropriate. 
• Avoid messages that directly reference administrators or board members with unsupported claims or generalities.  For instance "Winston Rogers sucks" is inappropriate, but "Stop Winston Rogers' Censorship" would be okay. 
• Avoid messages that would be considered insulting, slanderous, obscene, vulger or in any other way inappropriate.  (You guys are journalism students, so use what Coach Mac has taught you!)

Finally, lets make this an event to remember!  If you can, bring friends, family, neighbors... anyone that you can!  Let's try to make it into the history books with the largest educational protest in Wentzville history. I think Cathy McCandless and all the students in the Timberland Journalism programs deserve it!

Timberland Needs Collaboration, Not Clobbering

After sleeping on some of my earlier comments, and after some consideration and conversation, it has occured to me that there is another possible perspective on the current failures of the Wentzville School District administration, and the censoring of Timberland High School's publications by Principal Winston Rogers.

Let's assume the original perspective of the Wentzville administration in hiring Principal Rogers based on his prior experience is correct:  It is true that socio-economic status of a community contributes to educational decline.  And it is also true that making even a small improvement in a failing school is an improvement.  And that such an environment has many challenges to overcome to gain such a success, such as lack of parental involvement, lack of attendance, and a whole host of teen problems (drugs, pregnancy and violence).

To overcome those challenges, even for a small improvement, probably takes a stern management style that works in an environment with less-than-adequate parental support, less-than-adequate teacher performance, and certainly with difficult-to-handle kids.  In that environment, a "my way or the highway" attitude probably works well.

Now, after nine years of honing a brute-force managerial style, he brings it to Timberland High School.  Here at Timberland, the parent involvement is magnitudes greater, which creates less troublesome teens (notice I didn't say trouble-free), and has an environment that attracts highly-qualified (and independant) teachers.

This bully-like approach probably worked at Berkeley to reach a minimum level of performance from teachers and students... but Timberland is already past that.  The horsewhipping that the teachers and curriculum are taking will result in the same effect as it had at Berkeley... to reach a minimum level of performance.

And that, I'm afraid, is what is going to happen at Timberland if censorship is allowed to continue.  The censorship and harassment of the journalism program is just the first symptom of a larger illness.  One of the next things to go might be student development trips, much like the D.C. trip the journalism students experienced this year. It could be prom that gets cancelled next, due to some "inappropriate attire" controversy.  Who knows. But the overwhelming amount of grief given to teachers wanting to exceed will stop them from bothering to try, which is the first step in deteriorating the Wentzville schools.

I urge you, if you have not already, to join Team McCandless, and help us in stopping thisdestruction while it can be stopped.

A Positive Move, But At What Cost?

Reports surfaced today that a judgement has been rendered about the controversial yearbook portraits.

As you may know, yearbook staffers, the Timberland High School journalism teacher Cathy McCandless, Timberland High School Principal Winston Rogers, and Assistant Superintendant Melody Marcantonio met yesterday to discuss "inappropriate" student portraits and activity pictures in the upcoming Timberland yearbook.

The description of the meeting I've been given can be summed up into one word... "tense". The impression I've gotten was that Principal Winston Rogers was unprepared to defend his judgements on the yearbook portaits, while Melody Marcantonio acted mostly as the meeting administrator.

I've been told that frustration levels were so high, that Ms. McCandless left the room in order to depressurize, and to reduce the tension. Since one principle of this blog is to not seek information from her directly, I'm not sure of the exact exchange that led to her temporary exit from the meeting.

So, today, the decision was passed down from Ms. Marcantonio that ALL the portrait pictures will be allowed. Also, the questionable swimsuit picture will be allowed, as long as written approval is gained from the student and her parents.

This is a very positive decision, and is possibly an indication that Team McCandless has started to get a message through to the Wentzville Administration. However, this decision is not without its issues...

Due to the excessive delay caused by this fiasco, there are implications in the final production of the yearbook, it's delivery schedule, and possibly to the final cost. It is unclear at this point, but the yearbook price could increase dramatically, and those that have pre-ordered their yearbooks may have to pay a "surcharge" when they get them.

And of course, the greatest cost is to the kids, to the journalism program and to its teacher Ms. McCandless. This abuse has taken its toll. The journalism staffs are emotionally tattered - their work being inconsistantly questioned, criticized and censored. Ms McCandless has already resigned, consigning the children to a lesser journalism program (assuming anyone in their right mind would take such a job with the history of the current Wentzville administration).