Board Marches Toward Change
On February 28th, Sarah Pearson, the President of the Piedmont Board of Education, opened up a discussion about change. Initially leading everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance, she stood in the center of the semi-circle table, surrounded by the four other members and the Superintendent. This was the second meeting of the month, as the Board meets bimonthly on the second and fourth Wednesdays in the Council Chambers of City Hall to discuss issues involving the School District and seek to make decisions that will improve the schools.
To start the meeting, Ms. Pearson introduced Mr. Kessler, the president of the Association of Piedmont Teachers (APT), who spoke about APT’s concern for school safety in relation to the February 14th shooting in Parkland Florida. He explained that the group had voted to declare March 14th a day of action, suggesting the possibility of letter writing to officials, moments of silence in respect for the people who died, murals, and marches. His words later prompted Board Member Doug Ireland to show his support for APT, and to voice his concern for the safety of teenagers in Piedmont and across the country.
Superintendent Randall Booker expressed his support for APT’s actions. He mentioned the nation-wide plans for showing respect to the victims of the Parkland shootings on March 14th and spoke on behalf of the School District in supporting students in taking part. He spoke of the importance of standing in unity during times like these.
Mr. Ireland spoke passionately about a couple different issues, including the mental health of students and the environment that Piedmont families create at our schools. He expressed horror at the number of students who are in states of, or who have ever been in states of, depression and at how many have contemplated suicide. Drawing connections between depression and stress, he mentioned the intense environment surrounding college that exists in Piedmont. He voiced a desire to change the level of expectations that are placed onto students as they apply and decide where to go to college.
In response to the recent resignation of the Athletic Director, a common occurrence for Piedmont High School in the past two years, he admitted that blame has to be placed on the parents and community. His assertion set the tone for the rest of the meeting: a desire for change.
Continuing with the theme of changing and improving, Dr. Cheryl Wozniak presented to the Board about past and future opportunities for members of the community to learn about diversity, inclusion, equity and other issues.
The Let’s Talk sessions have been successful, with many Associated Student Body members from the High School attending, along with other faculty and members of the community.
As expressed by Dr. Wozniak, there will be more sessions for people to attend, along with other events, including the “Unity in Community” assembly, which is organized by students. These attempts are all in the hopes of teaching people about diversity and engagement in order to fulfill new social justice standards for administrators.
Terry Montgomery spoke to the Board about measure H1, and the Board moved to accept her report.
Next, Pete Palmer presented the new Safe School Plans. The plans focus on emergency drill protocol, with the major change being the implementation of lock down drills. Amal Smith, a Board Member, spoke in favor of this change, mentioning that the frequency of fire drills has allowed students and faculty to have memorized the protocol. The Board approved the plan.
The next major item on the agenda was the issue of the new Math Pathways proposal. Dr. Wozniak also presented the proposal, explaining the changes that were being made and the many options that students will have if the proposal is passed by the Board. The changes would allow students entering high school to have the opportunity to study over the summer and then take an assessment to accelerate and take a more advanced class, for example.
Personally, I think that having so many options about math classes could be a bad thing. Students at Piedmont are constantly stressed and many take on very hard classes and have large work loads. Adding more options, and therefore more ways to seemingly get ahead or excel, will only cause the stress level of students to increase.
Math teacher, Diana Miller, later told me that she, along with others members of the Math Pathways Committee, attended the meeting to hear the information presented and the Board’s decision. The Board voted three to two in favor of the changes, which pleased Ms. Miller. The discussion was not a brief one, and had been going on for months. Ms. Miller said she was “impressed by the depth of discussion between the five Board members before the vote”, as all members thoughtfully considered what is best for the students in Piedmont.
by Zoe Adams, Piedmont High School Senior
by Bella Oglesby, Piedmont High School Senior 