RED HOT CONSERVATIVE

After posting the following  article below Lumberton ISD board member initiated correspondence with me which you can read below her photo…….

The news of Texas students  wearing burqas in Lumberton ISD fortunatly hit the local and national news. 

The following is a letter written to April LeBlanc  to  the mother of one of the girls with the burqa on in Lumber Independent School District from the vice president of the school board, Leslie Daigle.  I would like to say this is shocking but seems to be common place with Texas Education administrators across the state. 

Mrs. LeBlanc,

I am happy to listen to the concerns of the community, and you are welcome to contact me at any time. However, regarding issues in the classroom, it is usually in the best interest of the child that the parent communicate with the teacher, then the principal if necessary, then the superintendent. Our getting involved in an education or personnel matter can hinder the process,and I don’t believe it is appropriate for a board member to initiate contact in a situation such as this.

I have three children (two daughters in college and a son in high school) and I understand a mother’s “Mama Bear” instinct.  I also understand how events can catch us up and sweep us along. It is my opinion that you created just such a situation when you made the decision to go to the press (or accept their attention) with this story. Was the opportunity for reasonable discussion, explanation, and quick resolution of your concerns sacrificed for sensationalism?

You mention your daughter’s “struggles because of all this.”  I have to wonder if her ongoing struggles are the result of the initial incident (the photo and her being asked to make a written statement), or your allowing her to be drawn into this media storm. Now I read that you both will be taking part in a Cscope forum. I think that the forum is a great opportunity for those with Cscope concerns to air their opinions and offer potential solutions. I have some ideas of my own to offer.  But as for you and your daughter, where will it end? What action is in her best interests? When will she get resolution and closure so that she can move on?  The water has gotten very muddy. As a mother, I can’t imagine that clarity for her will come from continuing along this path.

Sincerely,

Leslie Daigle

Ms. Russell,

Since my email to Mrs. LeBlanc was in response to her email to me, I will provide it for you to post so that the complete context is available to your readers. She emailed me on March 1, after she had appeared in the media and well after the usual time frame in which a parent would contact a board member with concerns.

Board Member,

Why haven’t you contacted myself or other parents in regards to our current situation. I would assume as a individual with an elected position, your first priority would be to represent parents and voters needs. There has been no contact from you or Valastro concerning my daughter, her experience, or her struggles because of all this. There has been no investigation that we are aware of. The only known student that I am aware of that the school district allowed to speak on their behalf to the media,was a student that was not even in my daughters class. If you would like to hear Madelyn’s experience or another student that was in the same class feel free to call me. I also would like you to know that I have not hired an attorney, and am trying my best not to withdraw her from LHS. Again I would like you to hear what happened that day in that class period, the class period with now the viral burqa photo. I hope to hear from you soon.

April LeBlanc
mother of Madelyn McLemore from
Mrs. Peters 5th period World Geo. Class

Ms. Daigle,

Thank you for contacting me and sending me Ms LeBlanc’s email to you. Is
there a time frame that a parent has to contact a board member written down
somewhere? What is the time frame for the board to contact the parents?

I did not see that Ms. LeBlanc’s email warranted your response. I found your
response very insensitive to the student as well as the parent. Ms. LeBlanc
did not call the media they called her.

Sincerely,

Ginger Russell
www.redhotconservative.com
www.txcscopereview.com

Ms. Russell,

School boards in Texas ISD’s have three main tasks:  Pass a budget, set a tax rate, and hire/fire/evaluate the superintendant. He is our only employee.  We don’t become involved at a decision-making level on issues like this unless the grievance process gets to a certain point.  That is described a little on page 21 of the LISD student handbook, which parents sign for and receive every year.

This is copied and pasted from that handbook:

COMPLAINTS AND CONCERNS
Usually student or parent complaints or concerns can be addressed by a phone call or a
conference with the teacher or principal. For those complaints and concerns that cannot be
handled so easily, the district has adopted a standard complaint policy at FNG(LOCAL) in the
district’s policy manual. A copy of this policy may be obtained on the district’s website at
www.lumberton.k12.tx.us.
In general, the student or parent should submit a written complaint and request a conference with
the campus principal. If the concern is not resolved, a request for a conference should be sent to
the superintendent. If still unresolved, the district provides for the complaint to be presented to
the board of trustees.

Of course we want to know about the concerns that our parents, teachers, and “stakeholders” have, but it is not appropriate, given the fact that our role is really more of a business one, to ever initiate contact and “offer” our help. First of all, I am one vote of seven, and that only means something in a posted meeting in which we are scheduled to take action on an issue.  Also, if a trustee has gotten too involved in a student or personnel issue and it does happen to reach a higher grievance level, that trustee would need to excuse himself.  I can certainly (and do!) share things I’ve “heard” with the superintendent, but it would rarely be to a student’s benefit to go around the teacher and principal.  That interaction is the privilege of the parents. All of that to say that there is no time frame unless it pertains to a formal grievance process, which is a rare occurrence in our district, and the board would never contact the parent.  The point that I was trying to make was that it seems to me (speaking as a parent) that, if Mrs. LeBlanc and Madelyn were so upset (and struggling), why did she not immediately follow the usual protocol, or at least ask what that might be? Her email to me sounded petulant. As a mother, I simply cannot understand why she would spend her time granting interviews instead of demanding meetings.

This isolated incident quickly became a tangled mess.  Burqas and teachers and lessons and Cscope and TEKS and statements and testing and media and who said what and in what tone…  The Cscope concerns are serious ones, and absolutely need to be addressed. I have never been a Cscope fan, and have expressed my own concerns for two years now. The World Geography lessons at LHS are a SEPARATE issue that also need (and have or will be) addressed.   Confidentiality laws (these are children, after all) add to the confusion.  I have received over 100 emails from around the country, ranting, cursing, and using obscenities that I can hardly believe were typed by human fingers. The telling thing is that I received only three emails (and no phone calls) from local people, and one of those was supportive.  Most people around here knew that the media was falsely turning an isolated incident into a district-wide agenda. The forum tonight was an example of that.  Every school district in the surrounding area uses Cscope, and perhaps at a deeper level that required of LISD teachers.  Why was precious forum time used used to tell, yet again, the story of one incident in Lumberton that wasn’t even a Cscope issue?

I am extremely conservative, both fiscally and socially. Surprised?  The idea that I am behind covering up a liberal agenda in our district is laughable to those who know me.  Anyone who had attended one board meeting would know that. The lack of logic and reason in discussing and addressing these concerns, along with the emails from so-called “conservatives,” has helped me understand how that Socialist has gotten himself back into the White House.  If we can’t do better than this to gather our forces, distinguish the real problems from the distractions, and take action, then Lord help us.

This was quite a bit more information than you asked for, but I thought it was a good opportunity to shed some light on the matter.

Sincerely,

Leslie Daigle