Even More Rotten Apple Nominations

What's included here are what I think are the best 2008 GSW Rotten Apple Award nominations. See if you agree.
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Deena Hayes: "Slaves & Slavemasters" Dec. 19, 2006.

GCS Board member Deena Hayes will probably have a lifetime achievement award after we're done here. See if you remember this oldie-but-goodie. This was such a good one, despite its date, that I had to nominate this one:

During the Dec. 19, 2006 GCS Board meeting, Hayes mentioned slaves and slavemasters during a discussion of the district's Very Strong Needs program:

“I was concerned when we moved this program to Lincoln because I saw what happened to the community at Wiley and the organizing that went on at the school between parents, some of our teaching staff, and some of our central office staff against that community.

“When you take a community or a program whose participants are affluent, middle class and predominately white; and you move them to a very vulnerable community that is working class, poor and predominately black and of color, it can be very exploitive.

“Out of their own mouths you have heard the derogatory ideology coming from the participants in this group. ‘If parents, other parents did to their children what we did to ours, it may produce some of these gifted children’. Talking about the field trips. Someone even said earlier this year that ‘we didn’t even care that the school didn’t make AYP’ and I guess it’s because you knew it wasn’t your children.

“And so I have real concern about putting this kind of program at one of our schools until you have the talent and the experience of a department that can help them make that adjustment. Because when you have that kind of superiority and you put it at a school like Lincoln or at Wiley, and you talk about ‘mingling’. That’s like slave and slave masters mingling. Equality never had to be at the table. And it produces that sense of superiority and inferiority.

“I spent the weekend with a young man, a sixth grader at Lincoln and he talked about ‘the smart white kids’. I remember a VSN parent who’s a good friend of mine who had a child at Wiley and when the bathroom broke when the program was segregated, which it always stayed segregated at Wiley, that when their, the bathroom broke on their wing that white child had to go to the ‘black’ bathroom.

“You are breeding something here. And I wish we would stop recklessly and carelessly doing that. I would vote right now to disband this program and to send these parents back to their home schools and let their children take advantage of the advanced learner program and if they want more special services for their kids to go and seek those. But I really wish you would stop putting this program, and I’m definitely opposed to it going to Welborn, given the history of this program at two schools in predominately black and poor communities.”

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Deena Hayes: "Check Yourself." Jan. 9, 2007

The fallout from GCS Board member Deena Hayes' "slavemaster" comments drew ire from the community. Here was her tacit response at a January 9, 2007 Board meeting (and my comments on a blog the next day--the very early days of Guilford School Watch):

Why am I also not surprised to hear Deena’s reaction and response: “If people don’t agree with me, then you have to ‘check yourself.’”

Well, Deena, my wife and I “checked ourselves” as you asked, and both the original comment and your response fit the character of the speaker. If other board members condone this way of thinking then perhaps, they need to “check themselves” too (thus sayeth my better half). Those sideshow antics may work over at City Council or at the County Board, but here at the School Board, when you’re entrusted to make policy and handle my taxpayer money involving the lives of children (including my daughter), I expect a little civility, respect and tolerance for all students and parents.

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Terry Grier: "I have to work with these people." January 9, 2007.

The fallout from Hayes' "Slavemaster" comments even extended to former GCS Supt. Dr. Terry Grier. At that same January 9, 2007 board meeting, a parent accosted Grier for what Hayes said.

Well...here's what happened:

According to a concerned parent who spoke out during last night’s School Board meeting, she cornered Grier after Deena Hayes made the now infamous “slavemaster” comments at the Dec. 19 2006 meeting. Grier told her “I have to work with these people.” Why am I not surprised at this response.

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Terry Grier: "Black Children at Kiser" February 27, 2007.

So I wonder how ole' Terry Grier is doing in Sunny San Diego these days. Because Grier didn't escape putting his foot in his mouth during his tenure here in Guilford County:

An excerpt from Feb. 27, 2007 edition of GSW:

I told you I was going to break some news this week.

Supt. Grier really should not be in charge of running schools.

Multiple and reliable sources familiar with the chaotic discipline situation at Kiser Middle School tell us that Dr. Grier made some rather disparaging remarks at the beginning of this school year as he announced the hiring of the then-new principal Sharon McCants. Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say that at an early faculty meeting this school year, McCants quoted Grier as having said that “she was inheriting a school with 85 students on long-term suspension, a school with the second-lowest reading scores in the county and a staff who doesn’t think black kids can learn.”

One confirmed witness to McCants sharing this with the faculty said, “Many of the faculty at Kiser feels that his statement reflects his own feelings about race.”

This is not the only time Grier has put his foot in his mouth. Published reports last summer said that Grier used similar language when being debriefed by state assistance team members at Andrews H.S. last year, which led to Grier walking out of one of the meetings.

And for all this, Grier got a raise and a salary extension. Wow.

I’ll just bet Charlotte-Mecklenburg is thanking their lucky stars they didn’t hire him.

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Kris Cooke: "Clueless" May 9, 2008.

Election Night. While the numbers didn't go my way that evening, remember me posting about this little exchange between GCS Board member Kris Cooke and at-large Board candidate Michael McKinney:

Another example of out-of-touch Board members…

From this week’s Rhino Times:

Election night brought together school board member Kris Cooke and [GCS Board at-large candidate Michael] McKinney, who it turned out she knew – at least by sight.

“What are you doing here?” Cooke asked McKinney.

“I’m running for Board of Education.” McKinney responded, evidently puzzled.

“Are you?” said Cooke. “I didn’t know. I never put the face with the name.”

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Sheesh!

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Okay, folks. Those are my top 10 Rotten Apple Award nominations. If there are any recent ones that you remember, don't hesitate to send them on. We'll compile the nominations, narrow them down to the top three or four or five, and we'll pick the best one. You can research the archives from this blog site, as well as my previous "campaign" blog site for possible nominations.

Start posting your nominations here to this strand, or e-mail them to me at guilfordschoolwatch@gmail.com. Nominations will close on Monday, Dec. 29.

E.C. :)