School board meeting the catalyst

I attended the Odessa School Board meeting on March 22.

I fear this is only the catalyst. I am in disbelief.

I am an alum of Odessa schools and a teacher. From a professional perspective, I cannot fathom conducting myself in any way that would harm a student. Educators’ responsibility to student safety and respect supersedes any other. I care about my students.

There are times classroom behaviors require sternness, but never screaming, putting your hands on a student or insulting or demeaning them.

There have always been small-town-type problems in Odessa schools. Gossip. Bullying. Superiority. But what is happening now goes deeper.

It is allowing students with disabilities like autism and down’s syndrome to suffer panic attacks and stuttering, to be called “stupid,” to be physically jostled and screamed at, to be ridiculed by peers and adults, to be told there is no God!

Some of the faculty present at the meeting audibly scoffed when one parent stated she is a Christian woman and related, through tears, that her teenage daughter no longer believes in God because her teacher told her God doesn’t exist.

What is most mind-blowing in this mixed bag of problems is that parents have nowhere locally to address these problems. After 10 guardians stood up and poured out their hearts about what their children faced, the board chairman’s response was an accusatory. Parents rebutted his claim, stating that they have submitted forms. But the chairman shut them down.

If parents are telling the truth, where did these complaint forms end up?

It’s time to start asking questions before the public light-shedding becomes much larger. In a town of that size, discord spreads like wildfire.

Kaci Bleau

Odessa