The Pinnacle of Hypocrisy Huntsville City Schools Style ~Friday Edition #hsvboe

Superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski answers questions from the press following Thursday night's Huntsville school board meeting. (The Huntsville Times/Michael Mercier)

Why is it when a longtime HCS teacher  is accused of violating district policy, everyone immediately calls for her (or his) head, but when a private company does the same thing, or usually something far worse, everyone rushes to defend it? This is indeed The Pinnacle of Hypocrisy.

Pinnacle is a privately run alternative campus that often takes in children who’ve been expelled from Huntsville City Schools.
Huntsville city has no direct authority or oversight of pinnacle

Why is it when student's, alumni, and any number of councilmen and officials call to inform the Superintendent he is making a gargantuan mistake changing the name of Lee High School, he acknowledges his mistake and backtracks on his proposal, but when J.O.Johnson High School alumni and students protest, and any number of councilmen and officials call to inform him he is making a gargantuan mistake changing the name of Johnson High School,  he violates district policy and changes the name of not just Johnson but Davis Hills Middle School too?  This is indeed the Pinnacle of Hypocrisy.

 Last night the Huntsville City School Board of Education violated their own policy on the Selection of School, Facility, and/or Property Name (Policy 2.9, presented September 5, 2013) by concluding the process and voting on the new names approximately three weeks before they were allowed to do so.

Why is it public officials, and citizens expressed environmental concerns about unsafe traffic patterns, heavy trucks sharing roads with school buses, and  air quality at two schools located two miles from an active rock quarry in New Hope, but those same officials say the air quality is safe at two schools located less than half a mile from an active rock quarry?  This is indeed the Pinnacle of Hypocrisy.

 Other elected officials speaking against the quarry were Mark Russell, president of Huntsville City Council, Madison County District 3 Commissioner Eddie Sisk, state Sen. Paul Sanford, state Sen. Shadrack McGill, state Rep. Wayne Johnson, Gurley Mayor Rob Sentell, Gurley Councilman Robert Wren.

So much hypocrisy, so little time.

#hsvboe

Update~ The High Tech Lynching of Eleanor Burks

Huntsville teacher suspended for violating testing policy

Here we go again.

Eleanor Burks is a 4th-grade teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary. She has been with the school for 27 years.

You know the drill.

School board leaders allege Burks assisted a student in changing test responses on the May 5 examination. Evidence came from the student himself, who said in a statement read aloud Thursday that Burks told him to erase an incorrect answer and to re-read the question, "because I may want to change it."

Another long time educator is tried and convicted in the court of public opinion.

The board upheld Burks' suspension. Board vice president Laurie McCaulley addressed school district employees afterward, asking that they all review the policies and procedures they must follow to do their jobs properly. 
"We don't want to see nothing like this come before us again," she said.

Those who make and enforce the rules, get to break the rules. (Links inserted for emphasis)

Prior to the board vote, the hearing turned ugly as Stan McDonald, Burks' lawyer, accused the board of violating its own hearing policy under the Students First Act, the law that in 2011 replaced the state's previous tenure laws for teachers. McDonald objected to McNeal's testimony because she was not a sworn witness and because he was not allowed to cross-examine her.

And who wins in the end?

Not the students and taxpayers that's for sure.

Sigh