Frazier Park, CA (Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 at 10:30 p.m.)—About 55 parents and concerned community members met with consultants until after 10 p.m. Monday, Aug. 20 at Frazier Park School. They discussed their aspirations for their school district, and their distrust of the current administrator and board. At least four candidates for the upcoming school board election were participants in the discussion.
"You’ve been hired to help close down a school," several parents charged. Consultant John Storey of Public Consulting Group protested, saying they were there to do a "facilities assessment." His partner in the project, Tim Haley, an architect, also said they were evaluating school facilities to provide greater information with objective eyes to the ETUSD Board of Trustees.
Jerry Rogers of Piñon Pines expressed skepticism about the mission of the two consultants from Sacramento. "This $14,500 is just a donation of money to your firm from our district and at the end the report will go to the board and they will make the decision they intended to make all along.You will make no difference," Rogers said. Others said the consultants were a "smokescreen" for the adminstration "to hide behind."
In a striking show of hands, 50 said they had lived in the district for 10 years or more and all but four said they owned their homes here; 29 currently have children in the district’s schools. Others said their children have gone to district schools and that they have a financial interest in maintaining a good school system here, "because everyone’s property values depend on a reputation for good schools."
The two consultants will tour the district’s campuses again on Tuesday. They invited parents and community members to meet with them to walk the various campuses. They also said they hoped to be able to talk candidly with teachers during their tour.
See more in this week’s issue of The Mountain Enterprise.
This is part of the August 17, 2012 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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