Sunday, March 20, 2011

Letter to all ....

I am the parent of the sophomore student that was attacked at KGHS on Feb 4th and I attended the school board meeting on March 14, 2011, where the subject was school safety.
I sat at this meeting with my son as all of the public comments were made, and I am very disheartened at how Lynn Pardee handled herself during this time. There were parents and speakers addressing the issues they have and how the school board has failed each of these children and the community and Ms. Pardee was laughing, smiling and just making it all a big joke. 
My son has been through more than any normal teenager should have to go through while attending high school and here this women sat mocking him, laughing in his face and acting like all of these comments were just made up because all of us parents just got bored and needed something to do. This is a serious problem for my family and many others that live in this community and all the time she just laughed.  The three boys that had to stand there and watch her laughing and grinning should never have had to witness this from anyone. No one should make fun of any child and especially a child that has been threatened, beaten, or abused by the system. Two of these boys were bullied and here she sat bullying them more. Was what happens to them not bad enough that she has to add insult to injury?
Then to make a statement after all of the parents had left saying that she felt bullied and threatened? Has she lost her mind? No one threatened her or bullied her, but she sat there in her chair all high and mighty and bullied these boys, and the rest of the board sat there and let her.  This community wonders why our school systems are not doing anything about our children being bullied. Why should they? They are bullies themselves. Lynn Pardee proved it to all of us on Monday night March 14th.
Pardee further insulted everyone there by saying bullying starts at home and her people were doing their best and the parents were at fault. My son will never be the same and this women’s horribly insensitive behavior made it even worse.
 I am emailing this letter to all the school board members, board of supervisors, administrators, and the Virginia Department of Education.  I have done this with all of my emails, I do not expect a response from the schools, as not responding is their way of pretending no one ever contacted them and they didn’t know anything about it.  I have been told they can’t talk to me because they have to ask Candace what they should say or how they should act. I’m still waiting for a response from my last email.
King George Parent
For your reference:
Bullying is a form of abuse. It involves repeated acts over time attempting to create or enforce one person's (or group's) power over another person (or group), thus an "imbalance of power". [2] The "imbalance of power" may be social power and/or physical power. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a target. Bullying types of behavior are often rooted in a would-be bully's inability to empathize with those whom he or she would target.

This letter was sent to the local newspaper.
This is what i got in return:
I recived two very thoughtful emails from our board of supervisor, with great concern and asked that we keep them up to date on all going ons.

This is one of them:

I just wanted to let you know that I've been paying attention to all that you, your son, and your family have been through over the last few weeks.  I'm certainly sorry that you have had to deal with such troubling circumstances and want you to know that many in our great community have expressed their concern and support for you. 
I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,

Thank I got this email: from a school board member:

I am sorry that you have construed Mrs. Pardee's gestures and attitude in such a negative way. She is one of the most polite and caring people that I know, especially when it comes to all of the children in our schools. Knowing Mrs. Pardee as I do,  I can safely say that she was smiling at the children at the podium in a gesture of assurance and friendliness and to make them feel comfortable in front of the School Board. I listened to Mrs. Pardee and interpreted  her comment about bullying starting at home to mean that parents should discuss the act of bullying with their children in the home.
As I told you in my email to you on March 1st, I am truly very sorry for what has happened to your son and also for the frustrations and anguish that you and your family must be going through after such an ordeal. I am anxiously awaiting the final results of the investigation of the incident, as well as the allegations inferred against the School Division on the handling of the incident. Until that time I cannot, and will not,  publicly comment on any information concerning this incident until all of the information has been presented.
As far as the Public Comment session on the School Board meeting last Monday evening, it is a time for the public to address the School Board on any issues that the public speaker would like to talk about. It is not an open forum or discussion session between the School Board and the Community. The School Board meetings are our business meeting in which we have a pre-advertised agenda of items for the evening. That doesn't mean that we don't listen to, or act upon the issues, concerns, or problems of the public speaker. We do. Occasionally during the Board Comment portion of the meeting,  we will try to address some of the issues of the evening that came up during public comment session, if we have some pertinent information in relation to the issue. But, we have to maintain the agenda and the purpose of the meeting. Some of the School Board representatives hold Town Hall  meetings within their districts throughout the year to provide that open forum for two-way discussions with the community as a whole. You also have the email addresses and phone numbers of each representative on the Board, who will listen and respond.
I don't know why you wouldn't expect a response from me on any email or telephone call that you send. The only email that I have received from you has been on March 1, 2011 at 3:55pm, in which I answered you that evening at 11:06PM. If there have been others, I have not received them. I generally prefer phone calls or face-to-face meetings over emails as the first line of communications.
Sincerely,

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Update

I wanted to let everyone know that my son is now getting a home bound teachers and work from all his classes. He is trying hard to keep up his spirits and taking it day by day. He is a little worried because a lady (she is a dentist) seen him at a event and said he may have to have his jaw re broke, we will find out on the 24. He now has all the wires off but can not chew so is on soft food only.
I wanted to take this chance to let you all see what else is going on in our school systems. The following link is another child in the local Elem school that got held by knife point on school grounds.
I have email address if anyone would like to send emails on behalf of my child and this child. Just send me an email and i will give them to you.
Here is the link:
http://www.journalpress.com/king-george/2458-knife-to-students-throat-merits-12-day-suspension