School board meetings are often tedious and full of obscure details, so rather than give you a play-by-play, I'm only going to point out some things I found interesting.
I arrived at the high school library about a half-hour early and soon got bored sitting in my chair, the only one in the room. So I did a little investigating.
I couldn't find a card catalog anywhere, so I checked out the shelves themselves.
On the very bottom shelf of one of the Fiction racks, I found two copies of
The Fountainhead and one of
Atlas Shrugged. My spirits were momentarily lifted at the discovery that the library actually HAD copies of the books. Then I looked at the last time the books were checked out - 1994 and 1995. I may have to donate a copy of
Anthem to the school, because that seems more on the intellectual level of high school students. I pulled Rand's books out so that they stuck out and would be more easily noticed.
There was no copy of Aldous Huxley's
Brave New World, nor was there a copy of Orwell's
1984, but they did have
Animal Farm.
I suppose there's a chance the missing books are checked out, but I'm not banking on it.
But there WERE copies of the following -
Hillary Clinton, A First Lady For Our Time,
Madelieine Albright, and three different
Maya Angelou books, including
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings!
I was unsuccessfully looking for a book on Reagan or Jefferson when other audience members began filing in.
Before the meeting started, one of the board members took down the names of everyone in the audience. This strikes me as rather odd. Why do they need to know who is in the audience? Why must I surrender my anonymity to observe the process? I guess what I'm asking is, why is who I am any of their business?
But on to the meeting.
The only important thing about their financial report is that revenue is outpacing expenditures.
There seem to be some unanswered questions about a bill for "elevator maintenance and inspection."
In their Policy Updates, I believe they changed a policy so that bus drivers hired prior to the enacting of their criminal background checks will be required to undergo the background checks, not just new hires which had been the policy. But whether or not they actually changed the policy is far from clear. They did a lot of mumbling and tangentry, so I'm not certain.
Under old business, it was reported that there are seven or eight roof leaks, so look for them to want us to buy them a new roof pretty soon.
Under new business, I have to wonder how many copiers a high school needs. It was reported that the school has one in the office and one in the library in good working order "but the others are about shot." So they are looking into buying new ones.
Also in new business, the school is required to form a "Wellness Committee" to come up with a plan for determining what foods will be served, not only in the cafeteria, but also in vending machines, the concession stand at ballgames, and even classroom birthday parties for students. Thayer has stacked it's committee with what I call Health Nazis - nurses, nutritionists, dietitians and the like. In other words, people who are going to advocate for rabbit food. Not one advocate for individual consumer choice in sight.
The problem with such a plan is that it seeks to address multiple different problems with a one-size-fits-all solution. A child who eats twenty oranges a day is going to get fat, and is not going to be helped by being told to eat more fruits and vegetables.
Likewise, a child for whom a low-carb diet is working does not need to have his pork rinds taken away from him, where a child on a low-fat diet might benefit from ditching his pork rinds.
Should we limit the calories of a student who gets up at 4:00 AM to do farm chores before school, is active in sports, and does evening chores after school? Probably not.
And should we eliminate ALL sodas, including diet ones?
And what happens if a plan is put into place, and the school day molds itself to this plan, only to have the government, as it periodically does, completely change what it considers to be a healthy diet?
But enough of that . . .
The only other item of note is that the high school is looking into buying new/more gym seating. From the quick peek I took into the basketball game last night, it's a totally unnecessary waste of taxpayer money.
# posted by The Last American @ 8:36 AM
