Publication Parents Welcome the Choir Parents to Wentzville School District Policies

Last week, KMOV ran a news story describing an incident that occurred during a Choir trip to Six Flags.  The incident involved students bringing and consuming alcohol during the trip, some of whom arrived back at the school visibly drunk.  The incident resulted in the suspension of six students from attending graduation.

The policy for possession and consumption of alcohol is very strict, as it should be.  Such misbehaviour is rightly banned, due to the illegality, risk of harm, and liability to the chaperons and the school district.  If a student abuses that policy by consuming or possessing alcohol, then let the consequences fall where they may.

However, we're talking about simple implementation of policy at Timberland High School... so something must have gotten screwed up.  As it turns out, two of the suspended students didn't consume or possess alcohol.  They were suspended for just "knowing" that other students had the alcohol at the event.  They are being punished after making a personal choice to not consume the alcohol, or even possess it, because they knew there would be consequences.  However, they didn't realize that this was the Wentzville School District, and that means (say it with me)... "flexible policies"!

These students fell victim to two unwritten policies in the school district.  The first unpublished policy must say that if a student makes a personal decision to refuse to participate in an inappropriate act offered by another student, they then must report that to administration.  I've looked for the "big brother" policy on their website, but have failed to find it (rumor has it that its located in a safety deposit box somewhere in Arizona).  If the students were made aware that such a "snitch" policy existed, they would have been able to make an informed decision to tell the chaperons, and avoid any punishment.  Instead, they are now at the whim of Winston Rogers' snap judgements, and the blind eye of support he enjoys from the Wentzville School Administration.

The second unwritten policy (which was given to me as a draft from the District entitled, "F*** Off, but Thanks For The Tax Money") is that parental involvement in issues involving Timberland High School students is not acceptable.  A report from a parent involved in the issue describes that they were not made aware of the issue until after the students were interrogated by Wentzville School administrators.  Additionally, when the students were picked up by their parents after the event, no administrators were on hand to discuss any issues.  To date, Winston Rogers and the rest of the Wentzville School district administration have failed to return calls and emails to the Choir parents.

These are the same policy and communication issues that the parents of the publications staff have come to expect from the Wentzville School District, Wentzville School Administration and Winston Rogers.  So, as a Wentzville School District parent, I would like to welcome the Choir parents to the realization that the Wentzville School District has no interest in parental involvement, and to personally wish them good luck in dealing with Winston Rogers and the mindless support he enjoys from the district... you'll need it.

The Quagmire of Flexible Standards

Recently, news has surfaced that MTV has visited Timberland High School.  Reportedly, the visit was to feature a THS student in MTV's show "Made", a show about helping teens learn what it takes to achieve their goals.

As altruistic as this show sounds, MTV is not exactly a network that promotes sound family values.  For example, here are some of MTV's other shows...

• Jersey Shore: The current "standard" (should I say "sub-standard"?) in inappropriate role models.  Bar brawls, constant swearing, even more constant conversations about sex, cast members "hooking up", and excessive drinking -- which often leads to throwing up and/or promiscuous behavior.
• 16 & Pregnant: This reality series attempts to highlight the difficulties associated with being pregnant and becoming a young mother. However, the show is light on education ("doing the hokey pokey" and other metaphors are used), while spending most of its time focusing more on relationship drama than issue-related content.
• My Super Sweet 16:   The show highlights the "sweet 16" parties that are thrown by affluent parents.  Parents act like jerks.  Kids act like spoiled jerks.  This show sets unrealistic aspirations for teens.  The messages that this show sends to teens include; "my daddy will get me anything I want"; teen's goals should be to make their friends jealous; material rewards at any cost; feeling entitled is acceptable.
• I Want A Famous Face:  What better message to send to your teen than, "if you don't like the way you look, then expensive and risky surgery is for you!"

There are numerous other examples of MTV's glamorization of teen angst and misbehavior, but I don't have that much time (or patience) to write about them all. 

So, here's the quandary - If a school district finds it so morally reprehensible to show a photo of a tattoo that memorializes someone that died from breast cancer, how can it then turn around and allow a TV network into the building that glorifies teenage misbehavior... including tattoos?  Even though the show "Made" has a positive message (that achieving any worthy goal takes commitment and hard work), it's aired between shows like "Is She Really Going Out With Him" and "Disaster Date".  To put it simply - even if you put healthy, lean turkey on a turd sandwich... it's still a turd sandwich.

So, if I might reference one of Winston Rogers's supporters that helped to silence the parents at March's Wentzville School District board meeting:  She thanked Winston Rogers for saving her child from having to view tattoo related material.  Now, I'd like to thank Winston Rogers and the Wentzville School District for exposing my children to an entire TV channel dedicated to the glorification of the worst influences of teen life... sex, drugs, and the pursuit of immediate gratification at any cost.

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!