Parents who have had it with teachers dragging their feet getting back to work will surely be infuriated over this call. Board members of a school district in Oakley, California, which is in the San Francisco Bay Area, were caught mocking parents during a video call and could only respond with “uh oh” when they realized all of their remarks were being broadcast live. I’ve said it for a while now and I think a lot of other people have done so as well. Some teachers are just lazy. They worried about COVID even though it’s safe to reopen the classrooms. The science is clear. Reopen the damn schools. Kids don’t get it and they don’t spread it. And now, even with teachers being vaccinated, they still don’t want to work.
Where I live, in Northern Virginia, the teachers cut the COVID vaccine lines. They still want to stay home. And yet, these are the same people who complain about their salaries. They don’t work year-round to start, and now they're pulling this nonsense. Sorry, teachers, you earn every bit of scorn from parents. Kids are committing suicide and experiencing a horde of mental issues due to lack of in-person learning, and we have these clowns taking swipes at parents (via ABC 11):
In the video, board member Kim Beede uses expletives in talking about parents. The board also talks about making parents call in and record their public comments rather than making them appear live in a meeting and the recording would cut them off at exactly three minutes.
Board member Lisa Brizendine said in the video that the public forgets that there are real people on the other side of the letters.
"They don't know what goes on behind the scenes," said Brizendine. "It's really unfortunate they want to pick on us. They want their babysitters back."
1) When officials at the Oakley Union Elem. School district thought they were meeting privately, they used profanity to insult & threaten parents upset by the district's prolonged school closures.
— Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) February 18, 2021
Here's when they realized their mtg was being broadcast to the public.
"Uh, oh." pic.twitter.com/OXbHWq9FMy
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2) Before she realized the public was listening in, School Board President Lisa Brizendine criticized parents who continue to be frustrated by the district's Covid-related school closures:
— Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) February 18, 2021
"They want to pick on us because they want their babysitters back."@nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/Z0jaRQWKn9
3) School Board Trustee Richie Masadas then appeared to link parents' frustration over close closures to drug use.
— Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) February 18, 2021
"My brother had a delivery service for medical marijuana and his clientele were parents of kids at school."@nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/vgAhY90lmG
4) What school board officials thought was a private chat, also included Superintendent Greg Hetrick trying to sell the board on new technology that aims to limit public comment by cutting off parents "mid-sentence."
— Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) February 18, 2021
"It just cuts them off mid-sentence and it's done," he said. pic.twitter.com/6hK3huf3Hb
5) Notice how quickly the video feed shuts off after school officials realize their profanity & insults were broadcast to the very same parents they were disparaging.
— Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) February 19, 2021
Makes you wonder if the board still plans to adopt that "new technology" to limit public comment.@nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/szqd3TpWUb
The fallout was immediate. This isn’t about education. It’s about power as always. This is what they say when they think the cameras are off. I’ll say it again. They’re lazy. They don’t want to work. You don’t get into education for a payday. Sorry, that’s not how these careers pan out unless you’re shamelessly corrupt—and there’s a lot of that too on these school boards. It caused the school board president to resign. Good. She should be sprinting for the exit after this call. Who the hell do these people think they are (via NBC Bay Area):
President of the Oakley Union Elementary School District Board of Trustees has resigned after being caught on video making disparaging comments about parents during a live public meeting Wednesday night.
Superintendent Greg Hetrick was describing a proposal to limit public meeting comments to three-minute audio clips made in advance when trustee Richie Masadas noted, "It's easy to hide behind a screen."
Apparently unaware that the public video feed was still live, trustee Kim Beede said "Are we alone? If you're going to call me out. I'm going to f--- you up."
[…]
Hetrick issued a statement Thursday saying, "Last night at the Oakley Union Elementary School District Regular Board Meeting there were unfortunate and truly inappropriate comments made that were heard by many. These comments are not typical and more importantly they are not what the community should expect from our school district."
He added, "The comments made were not in alignment with our Vision and are definitely not what any of us stand for as leaders. I know that we lost trust with the community. I will not make excuses for what happened or why it happened. I am the superintendent. I am responsible and accountable and I am truly sorry for what took place ... I know that our students deserve better from us."
Oh, shut up—you got caught. Eat it. Deal with it. Now, screw off. Everyone on that board should frankly go to hell. Vacation is over. Remote learning doesn’t work. You have to get back into the classroom. If you can’t do that, find another job. Sit down, shut up, and listen to the science which is telling all of you that keeping schools closed is unnecessary. Any argument to the contrary is grounded in idiocy and political nonsense. This is how the unions are flexing their muscles while also leaving your kids in a mental trainwreck. Some real cast of characters we have here spearheading the education system.
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