Reply to APS Elementary Planning Mtg at Swanson - Option 1 in, Option 2 out, McKinley Moms out of contro

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Reply to "APS Elementary Planning Mtg at Swanson - Option 1 in, Option 2 out, McKinley Moms out of contro"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The one thing that is for certain: APS has, wittingly or unwittingly, turned parents and school communities against one another.  Calling your fellow McKinley parents crazy because they’re freaking out over what they perceive as a significant loss for their community?  Referring to the Key supporters as the “Key crazies” because they have the nerve to express concern over the impact the move will have on the immersion program?  You all have either too much time or too much anger for your own good.  It’s elementary school!!!!!  It will be ok regardless of where your kid ends up. And if opposition to the proposal bugs you, tune it out.  Be nice to strangers.  Meditate.  Forgive parents who become a little unhinged when it feels like they’re getting screwed.  This too shall pass ....[/quote]

Listen to her comments!  She screamed at one point to break up or blow up Tuckahoe. So she herself targeted other communities. She lack principles in her arguments other than nothing that impacts me. [/quote]

Calling people mentally ill and crazy on an anonymous internet site isn’t  exactly awesome either.  Why do you care if some random woman at a school board meeting has principles?  That was my only point.  You can keep railing against whomever you please.[/quote]

Why do I care if she has principles and makes life miserable for staff with her aggressive and disruptive behavior?  Because staff said afterwards it may go to the other way of doing boundary changes — making a decision and sending letters over the summer notifying your new school assignment.  Remember all the times APS has gotten data and other facts completely wrong but were revealed in the community process?  Or the McKinley debacle when staff forgot to include entire planning units in their calculations?  Not a chance for the community to catch anything.  No input when your one planning unit gets carved off for middle school or high school because they forgot to check that sort of thing. [/quote]

+1.  I think certain members of the community don’t appreciate the impact of their increasing levels of crazy on the community engagement process.  Maybe they haven’t been in APS long enough (or at least not paying attention long enough) to see how APS has been pulling back on community engagement, reducing the data and tools they make available to the community, etc.  Every time the community uses engagement as a weapon to abuse the staff, engagement gets a bit shallower (and rightly so, in my mind).[/quote]

It's interesting to me that you think it's gotten worse. I think it's actually much better than it used to be back in the day when John Chadwick led these meetings.[/quote]

I agree the engagement process is improved this time.  There is no less opportunity to provide feedback; just fewer opportunities for individual PTAs to exert direct, private, and pressure and intimidation.  Anyone can still meet one-on-one with Board members during office hours, via email, etc.  But now everyone gets to witness those "backroom deal shenanigans" firsthand rather than hearing about them through rumors and speculation and conspiracy theories.

Rather than pulling back on the data, staff has reached out to community members to help ensure they're working with the best data they can and APS continues to work with the County to improve its forecasting data as well.  It'll never be perfect; but efforts are certainly going in the right direction.

Engagement isn't getting "shallower" - staff is getting better at sticking to the overall view and repeating their messages and answers rather than getting looped into debates with immature, entitled "adults."  [/quote]

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