R-BB School Board Member's Actions are Embarrassing

I couldn’t help but notice that the townies on the Richland Bean Blossom School Board were up to their old tricks as they provided plenty of negative fodder for articles in Herald Times and The Journal. This post election rebuking by Janice Stockton is in retaliation for election of two qualified individuals to the local school board thus denying Mrs. Stockton and Mr. Thrasher the critical mass required to return the school system to the dark ages. Stockton’s remarks at last weeks school board meeting were proof positive she has no intention of cooperating with other board members to find common ground as she has fully alienated the rest of the board and the superintendent. Stockton and Thrasher are throw backs to an era that many in the R-BB school system have run, not walked, away from. They want to return the school system to a time when school board members roamed the dilapidated hallways and micromanaged the day-to-day operation of the corporation. Where teachers and staff made alliances with board members to protect their jobs and where nepotism ran rampant.

Larry Thrasher the former pool janitor was elected in ’02 and Janice Stockton a former elementary teacher with the school system was elected in ’04. They both ran on a low key agenda to get elected however once elected it was quickly evident they were not as interested in educational improvement as they were in having a controlling interest in the day-to-day operations of the school system. It was widely known that Thrasher was no fan of Brad Tucker the former Principal at the High School and this was most certainly a contributing factor to his early departure. Thrasher and Stockton reverted back to habits of previous boards when board members routinely overstepped their roles and responsibilities by meeting with staff, parents and groups outside of their official authority of the collective school board. Evidently their activities have managed to fan the flames with the contract bus drivers, an already volatile situation. Repeatedly the superintendent has reminded them that individually board members have absolutely no authority but this hasn’t curtailed their activities. Board members are also entrusted with information that needs to be held in strict confidence especially when it comes to matters of personnel, reportedly this trust has been breached by these two on a routine basis.

In the comment portion of the meeting Stockton made several unsubstantiated accusations and offered up a lot of innuendo that indicated a very negative overall mood and general working conditions within the school corporation. By highlighting certain policies and guidelines she was somehow attempting to validate her authority all the while refusing to support a board member code of ethics that Superintendent Edington had suggested just a few weeks earlier. As she spewed her venom the superintendent and other board members were obviously caught off guard by her accusations, all except Larry Thrasher that is, earlier he had deferred his comments to Mrs. Stockton by saying she had enough to say for both of them. What Stockton’s tirade was really about is she now finds herself all alone with the ouster of Larry Thrasher. She doesn’t have anyone on the Board she can manipulate and consort with. The old townies worked very hard to take control of the school system with this election and fortunately they failed. Stockton was obviously so upset with the outcome of the election that she couldn’t restrain herself from venting and letting her true colors show through. The old townies would have liked nothing more than to chase off another superintendent and throw the school system in complete chaos. Thank goodness the voters reversed the trend toward reverting to a bygone era by returning Randy Wright and electing Dana Kerr to the R-BB Board. However, they will all have to tread lightly as it is obvious there is still one snake in the grass.