Lynch at Large

Thanks to Mica Cook, a parent in the district, who called in and described what must have been just about the oddest public meeting I have ever heard of. Another parent has made available this description which I provide without comment.

Oh, hell, I will comment. There is nothing on earth like the light of scrutiny to put petty tyrants in their place.

The Pine Bluff Commercial also has a report on the proceedings in Lovely old Watson Chapel.

Here is Amanda's version.

Wow, what an experience.

People were literally packed into the administration building. There was zero elbow room. The bulk of people were trapped in an area where they could hear/see nothing. The meeting room entrance consisted of two large double doors. They would only open one. The other remained closed and locked so that we couldn‚t open it ourselves. Yet the crowd stuck in the lobby area didn‚t budge.

In addition to the regular board meeting, they decided to have a whole separate meeting beforehand in which the administrators from each school gave their own report. It went on forever, with the intent of tiring people down and forcing them to leave I'm sure. It didn't work. It also didn't work when they intentionally turned the air off. The temperature, combined with the body heat became severely unpleasant. Again, the crowd didn't budge. Didn't they know that would only agitate an already irritated crowd?

Before the meeting, several FED UP parents and students protested outside of the building (IN THE RAIN) with signs (designed/created by Amanda, thank you). It was wet and nasty, but it was necessary.

Guess what else. There were two Pine Bluff Police Officers and one other security guy there to keep everyone in check. At a school board meeting?? C'mon. There's plenty of violent crime elsewhere in the Bluff to prevent. The 5-0 told us we could not bring our signs into the meeting room. They asked someone to leave who brought in her particular posterboard sign which said; The 14th Amendment Protects My Parental Rights. Dressing my Child is my Right

I wondered if these officers had ever heard of the whole First Amendment thing? The crowd was agitated. The officers were continuously pulling people to the side who got too loud. They were continuously putting their hands on people who were being disruptive. I was sickened. After the open communications on the uniforms began, however, the police didn‚t have a chance in Hell of keeping the crowd quiet.

Wendy spoke first. Great job, Wendy. She received much applause and invoked quite a response in the crowd. After Wendy, parent after parent began taking the mic. After about only 6 speakers, the school board decided to shut it down. Led by some crazy girl in the room *coughs*, the crowd then began to chant "no more uniforms" in unison at the board members as they left the room. They didn‚t like that. Security didn't like that. But they had chosen to end the meeting without letting everyone have a turn who deserved a turn. They demonstrated that they were not concerned with what the public/their residents felt. They deserved the shouting.

I was somewhat disappointed with the news coverage because none of it captured the important things that occurred at that meeting. None of it captured the true spirit of that crowd nor did it clearly convey the sentiments being expressed by the students and parents in attendance. Surprisingly, the media source that really did it up right was the Pine Bluff Commercial *gasp*.

If the administration stays true to their history of tyrannical supremacy, the outcome of the meeting will NOT lead to change in the policy. But, I wouldn‚t call this meeting a total effort in futility. Bonds were formed at this meeting. A step was made towards a genuine unified front among parents. I am confident that if nothing else, there will finally be some very clear and visible opposition to the Administration, who for too long has gone unchallenged due to the lack of a cohesive and consistent group of concerned people unafraid of retaliation. That group is in place now and
will only grow!