Total Pageviews

Search This Blog

Friday, July 17, 2020

What happened between Monday and Thursday for Superintendent Greene (draft)

Almost from the get-go at yesterday's meeting, Superintendent Greene seemed to be searching for an out for her plan. This is a significant change from earlier in the week.

On Monday she met with Meninack Club and where she didn't give her entire plan away she gave a lot and seemed pretty confident in it as she did so.

https://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2020/07/superintendent-greenes-less-than.html

Then at Tuesdays' zoom board meeting, she presented her plan in full, and there was not a lot of pushback or even questions from the board. All indications were it was full speed ahead.

When I stopped watching, I was depressed, I knew I would keep fighting, but I felt like, I and the others who had been working and fighting so hard had just run into a brick wall. I thought at best we might pull a few votes away from her when she presented the plan Thursday, but it was destined to pass.   

So what happened?

There has been a steady drip, drip, drip of emails to her and the board. Charlotte Joyce said she had received 3000. That is parents and teachers expressing their concerns and fears, letting their voices be heard.

Then the media was really taken an interest, driven by Stacie Dern, and Marla Bryant contacts and Alex Joseph's organizing. Every day, heck multiple times a day Marla and Stacie had somebody talking to a reporter, and Alex organized the car caravan to the school board building that not only made the local news but the national news as well. Marla and Alex also created Facebook pages that have seen tremendous growth.

Duval Schools Pandemic Solution Team

https://www.facebook.com/groups/572642573643740/

Duval for a Safe Return to Campus

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3113515588762958/

They, with the assist of thousands of letter writers and speakers, were really getting the word out.

The thing is where this week was impressive, it didn't just start this week and had been going on for a while. Maybe all of it collectively was the straw that broke the camel's back, or maybe there was something else.

The numbers have really gotten bad. Jacksonville's 7 day average of cases was over 700. It was less than fifty when we closed. Then statewide, we are averaging over ten thousand cases a day for the month of July and we also broke the record for deaths three times in the last week. 

I think it took courage for the superintendent to postpone her plan, and I am cautiously optimistic it will changer greatly for the better, but the reality is, as of now, it is just a postponement.  We could get the same exact plan next Thursday.  I plan to thank the super but also to let her know the safety of her staff and students must be her top concern.

If you want to as well, here is her email.

GreeneD@duvalschools.org  

No comments:

Post a Comment