These so called “friends” of Garden Valley School are anything but. They operate in secrecy, afraid to give credence to their real cause. A group supposedly 60 strong afraid to make their real agenda know in fear of recriminations – really, if it were true there would be nothing to hide. Kind of reminds you of McCarthyism – old Joseph use to say he had names and issues in his brief case, as it turned out the brief case was only filled with booze.

If you’re thinking about relocating to an “idyllic” spot like Garden Valley, think again. What’s really sad is that the primary leaders of this “Fiends” movement are relative newcomers…one from California, and another that’s only been here for less than four years. Yet they are causing major chaos in the community. Don’t come to Garden Valley!!!! These folks will suck the life out of you!!!!

@Werner: The $2 million was part of the bond money to build the new school.

Werner: I ASKED QUESTIONS, unlike others, the $2 million was a portion of taxpayer’s bond money to be used to build a new facility for the kids. The former superintendent (secretly, without board approval or knowledge) demanded a check to be cut and handed to him, on his day off. Tell me that’s okay?

The “Friends” feel that a person on the administration and board members who DID EVERYTHING they could to protect the taxpayers money should be gone. They have been continually chastised, mean and evil behavior towards them (from individuals who “claim” to be Christians), recalls, etc. They have put their businesses on hold, spent little or no time with their families, all for the kids! Tell me what the “Friends” are doing is really for the kids?…Really?

THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY! Unfortunately people wish to only listen to one side and make judgment. There is a story. Let’s just say “I would love to see the “Friends” reaction then!!” If they only knew.

http://www.michaeltomlin.com/sccs.html

This is the website for the superintendent. Take a look at what he does to supplement his income as a “mouthpiece” for those trying to cover up major screw ups.

I’m not part of the group but I know several people who are. They aren’t particularly crazy and most have lived in GV a long time.

I wouldn’t rely on the local newspaper and so-called reporting to get any information.

@GV Resident:

And your point is???? Dr. Tomlin is a part-time superintendent. He can’t supplement his income? And what major screw ups are you insinuating he’s tried to cover up? I bet you have as much evidence to present as your “Fiends of Garden Valley School District.” When they’re asked to present their evidence, they never do it.

I am from way out of state and I find this hilarious. The superintendent and his “partner” of a finance officer are the biggest manipulators I have ever met. This article doesn’t get both sides of the story at all and better reporting needs to be done. Who wrote this article anyway? Too scared to show your name? It is probably a combination of Tomlin and Fox themselves… can’t believe he is a communication consultant. The guy could manipulate himself out of a horse’s arse. These two are only in it for eachother, have gotten in way over their head, and for the first time Tomlin doesn’t know how to get himself out of it.

Why would a superintendent go from big time to small time? Ever wonder that? He was fired from his last job maybe? Got into the same kind of trouble down there?

How do you know that the last superintendent demanded he got a check written to him secretly? Hi Paula!

GV Insider, sounds like you’re close to the issue – big surprise.

GV Gal – Liz, yes he is part time at four days a week which almost every other business would still categorize as full-time. Pretty good part time gig at $80K +.

The point is that he has made a career out of manipulating the media and “spinning” information to his advantage.

I was at a meeting addressing the 10 days the district had to respond to the records request. The question was never answered and the document produced to supposedly prove it was done was not in the time limit. If the district didn’t meet the time limit I would just prefer he come out and say “we blew it”. I could at least respect that.

What funny stories these are! Funny how some people feel they have the facts, while others have NO clue what they are talking about. The point of the super being a 4 day a week super, was to impress upon people that he’s THERE 5 days a week, even some times on weekends. We have never been so lucky to have someone like him in our school, people have no idea! The “arm-chair quarterbacks” think they know it all, when 99% of them don’t even WORK at the school…how would they know? Because once in a blue moon they show up for a monthly board meeting makes them pros at judging people? Lord help us all when judgment day comes! Be sure your sins will find you my friends! I think it’s interesting that “out of state” knows so much when they live “out of state”. I also love how people think they know who someone is on here…good guesses…but truly a guess! It’s a battle, and a sad one at that. A community that once was a great place to live, and where you enjoyed the company of everyone, has turned into a horrible place to be. You pass someone on the street, and look the other way, because you don’t want to get into another “have you heard about…
” blah, blah, blah story. I agree..these out of state people who just moved here, or these busy bodies that obviously need more to do with their time, need to just leave the valley! Go back to where you came from. Churches are torn in 2, families have even been changed by the fueds. Get over it. FOGVS…so away…leave us alone, we’re tired of all your help!

Mother Bear — so what the hey??? The Women want attention, or the KIDS, get your full of your self ass where it belongs, and not off YOU…

I’m with GV resident on this. That’s too much money for a part-time job in a small town. This issue is similar to what happened in Eagle when Mayor Phil Bandy resigned over a questionable dual job situation at taxpayers expense. GV residents and FOGVS need to present clear, concise and accurate arguments–whatever the issues may be–to the School Board first, and if not satisfied, to the State Board of Education. Recall elections are always an option. I would suggest reading Idaho Statutes, Title 33 Education for guidelines on what to do:

http:///www.legislature,idaho.gov/idstat/Title33/T33.htm.

If the School Board or any agent thereof refuses to provide public records, file a Freedom of Information Act.

On the subject of too much pay, I am personally weary of hearing the sacrifices and low pay of Idaho legislators who receive, yes, $16,000 something, but also receive full-time benefits for part-time work, which ordinary mortals are apparently unentitled to, for a total of about $30,000 yearly for three months-give or take a few days or weeks of work. WAAAH! How many Idahoans receive that much for so little time??? That amount would equate to about $90 grand-plus a year for perpetuating problems instead of solving them.(D-minus this year, except for no tax hikes). I am an elected official too, work just hard and longer, and receive absolutely NO PAY. That’s a true PUBLIC SERVANT. See DAILY’s article about Idaho legislator in Parade magazine.

Good luck in Garden Valley; it is a beautiful place as evidenced by travel there and BG’s always superior photos! I’m eager to travel there again and watch plays under the stars. You sound like good folk who just want the best for your kids and towns. Leave the personalities and pettiness out of it; instead take action, solve the problem and embrace the good things that led you to GV in the first place.

All the Best,

KTA

Middleman,

If things were going “just fine”, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. I am a huge fan of most of the teachers and staff members at the school including the principal. One needs only to look at the admin staff in other similarly sized districts or larger to see we are top-heavy in that regard. I do have a feeling that the necessary up-coming budget cuts will force a hard look at that – which is too bad because likely some very hard working and good people will lose jobs or have hours cut.

I never said one or the other had to go.

I also don’t agree with either side’s methods of dealing with the issues. I do know defacing property and harassing people’s families and employers isn’t exactly taking the high road on this thing. And I’m not talking about the FOGVSD.

As for Elmore, I really don’t care if she’s recalled or not. I frankly don’t have enough evidence either way to make a decision on that. I have seen her publicly humiliate (my opinion) patrons and colleagues which I’m not a fan of but have no idea if that’s worth recalling her. She votes the way she thinks. I read the recall petition in the paper and if the allegations are true then I guess we have a problem. The voters in her area will decide.

The lesson here could really be for the residents of Garden Valley. Often, candidates for school board have no opposition and voter turnout is always notoriously low (under 100). We ask a lot from these volunteers and it’s always interesting to see new board members go through the learning curve they need to go through before really becoming effective. It’s a difficult and very important job – but the school belongs to the community. It’s our job to make sure our elected officials are representing us.

GV Resident….the recent flyer that was sent out talked about the “public records papers”. in doing the research that I spoke of, I spoke with someone about this. Seems that the “hold up” would be on the end of the person wanting the public records information. They are in default of over 2000.00 for the papers they wanted. The school supplied them, and the other side never showed up with the money for collecting those. Once again, need to get all the facts before you make such a comment. Sounds like the lawyer is sitting there with the papers waiting to be picked up, and no one is showing up with the money to get them. Why would that be the schools fault?

@ Mother Bear:

It’s MILD MANNERED women never make news.

Resident….I’m not sure you have those facts straight on the time line. I too, was at the meeting that Dr. Tomlin had regarding the “Connect the Dots” nonsense that the FOGVS group put out. He clearly showed when everything was taken care of, and it fell in that time line. I believe that he said that at a certain point, and it was before the deadline it was all handed over to the lawyers, both the schools and the person requesting the records. He showed numerous emails from the school lawyer to her asking if she was ready for them, or some time of communication. Days & weeks went by without any contact from her. Almost seemed as if she dropped it. At the point the lawyers took charge of it, the school was done with it, the lawyers would handle it. I saw ALL the emails Tomlin showed, and they all supported everything they have said. I believe those letters are public records, and available for anyone to see. Also, one board member would have NO control over how fast anything moves, and anyone who knows boards should know that. Therefore, why would Elmore be the only one taking the blame for that (if it were true). Why aren’t we recalling ALL the board members that were involved…why just her? They make it seem like she was personally standing there blocking the whole thing?? Silly nonsense. once again, there are true facts out there, but people keep believing the rumor mill. The reasons for Elmore’s recall are just silly. Plain & simply silly. Why not recall her because she parts her hair on the left and not the right? That’s how silly they are. These “factual” people need to read the “real” reasons that board members can be recalled, and this is board members for any institution. Public drunkenness, embezzlement, things like that…not the silly ones listed on her recall. Also people being upset for what her husband has said or done. Her husband is not the school board member, SHE is. Why recall her for what her husband has said or done? If the day comes when we have to pay the price for something our spouse has said or done, my wife will be in trouble. Who hasn’t said something stupid and regretted it? But recall someone over it…that’s silly!

Resident…I actually enjoy reading your comments, and think you post some good points. You seem to think clearly, and don’t see to be altered by what you have “heard”, and I appreciate that. I wish more were like that. I will say though, there are still a few things you don’t have your facts straight on. I know that YOU didn’t insinuate that Elmore was the one holding up the records request, but that is one of the reasons listed on the petition for her recall. I believe the exact words are: “deliberately impeded the request for public records for over four months when the legal deadline was ten days”. SHE did not hold anything up. Couldn’t do that if she wanted. It’s a board, not a single person that makes decisions, and regarding this, as I said before, it has been in the hands of the lawyers for weeks, therefore not the board members problem anymore, it’s now a lawyer thing. I’m not sure what the “real” reason is for the public records request, but from what I have heard, and from what I have gotten from the meetings I’ve attended, it seems to be something from the old super, and trying to find some dirt with that. Still trying to get after someone who had something to do with him leaving. Still digging up old bones is what I call it…or a witch hunt….or a big waste of money! In regards to the Dunn recall and the petition. The person who did the petition, and who tried to pull it when they realized there were issues with it, should have investigated this more before they agreed to do it. There is no way in the world that I would sign up for doing something like that, without checking to make sure 100% that it is correct, legal and OK for me to do. I would have all my facts down pat before I agreed. The fact that she agreed to do it, and THEN decided it wasn’t ok is really her own problem. She’s an adult, she needs to think those things through before signing up for it. I think she was taken advantage of. I think someone from friends talked her into doing it, and took advantage of her. Do I think she’s innocent? yes, but she should have checked all the facts before signing her name to something this important. Something that could possibly land her in a legal mess. She knows as well as they do that there are problems with that petition, and that’s making her nervous. I would be nervous too if I were here, but that’s a life lesson learned! I do not agree with the line of “they did what was within their rights to do so”. Although they DO have the right to do a petition and reall it (and I think I talked about this earlier). It’s a violation of MY rights, because when they recall her, whom I may or may not have voted INTO the position, now the BOARD will choose who will fill her spot, I as a voter have nothing to say about it. THAT is not OK. I still feel that if you don’t like her, when it’s time for her to run again, find someone to run against her, or vote against her, or whatever, but don’t recall her.

@Middleman – I do think we agree on far more than we disagree on. The petitioner made a mistake and I’m sure she has learned from it. I can see no benefit in turning the matter over to the prosecutor when the situation was discussed in the open meeting and seemingly settled prior to the election. Yes, she should have done more research and yet she did attempt to withdraw the petition – Dunn may still be in her position if she had been allowed to do that. We have been told that you can’t “un-ring” the bell but if the election or petition were not legal why would we go through with it anyway? I read the election laws on the state website and it seems there isn’t a whole lot of language that addresses this issue. The law doesn’t necessarily allow for this type of thing but it didn’t seem to forbid it either. (Mr. Tomlin – any thoughts here?)

@Michael Tomlin – happy to stand corrected on the response time. I don’t however recall that letter being offered at the meeting (could be wrong). Still think the time involved from start to end was nuts. Yes, yes, I know private information had to be redacted. I’m sure you also wish the timeframe was shorter.

The underlying reason for the records request seems to be in response to the defense of a staffer who supposedly accessed someone else’s e-mail account without permission. It was rumored to have been said that because the school e-mail is essentially public property, then the public has a right to view those e-mails. How ridiculous – first for the staffer if it’s true and second that it comes to this for a patron to prove a point. It’s this sort of tit for tat that gets out of control and before you know it lines are drawn and sides are taken. There just has to be a better way.

This particular blogoshpere has been somewhat refreshing in that people have been able to respond to written articles and have discussions that they wouldn’t be able to have in the open meetings. Everyone can respond, think, ponder, ask questions etc. I’ve learned some things and heard points given from different perspectives than my own. It’s called civil discourse whether it takes place on a blog or in a meeting.

Good Afternoon Resident…nice to hear from you again. As far as the petition goes, and the “unrung bell”. I believe by law, once the election had started (which it had with absentee voting), then you can’t stop it, it has to be completed. (I’m not sure of which Idaho Code that is, but I’m sure it’s there somewhere). She should have thought about that BEFORE she filed the petition with the school. As I said, she’s an adult, and once your an adult, you have to responsible for decisions you make, which is why you need to read up on everything and be sure what you are doing is correct. I believe that is why she wanted to pull it, she knew there were things that were not correct, and knew that if it got investigated, she would be in trouble. As I said before, I feel bad for her, but she needs to think about that. The people that should feel bad should be the ones that talked her into doing this for them (since none of them lived in that zone). They took advantage of a nice girl, who was too young to know the difference. Shame on them. Not only is the school filing with Bo. Co prosecutor, but I called Dunn, and she herself has a filing with them as well. It’s not going to be pretty, that’s for sure. When the sheriff comes knocking at some doors here in town, maybe THEN the nonsense will stop. If you dig deep enough, you’ll find that Dunn just happened to be a pawn along the way to get to Tomlin & Fox. They picked on her over the baby situation. In voting for should the baby go or stay, she was the final vote, which said the baby goes. The petition to recall her came RIGHT after that. They were mad because she didn’t let the baby stay (the petitioner, as well as alot of the signers on it have children in either K or 1st grade at the school. All young moms that didn’t know what they were signing). It’s clear that the “friends” don’t like Tomlin, and they will try their best to get to him. What a shame. He’s a great guy who has NOTHING to hide. Will visit with anyone who wants to take the time to talk, show them any paperwork they want to see…he has NOTHING to hide, no one at the school does.

In regards to the public records request. It IS true that any e-mails sent on the schools server (or any public server) are public information. I have not heard about anyone hacking into anyone elses e-mails, I really find that hard to believe, and if that did happen, shame on them. I have tons of e-mails that I send each day, and would NOT want someone going through them, that would be similar to someone breaking into my house and going through my underwear drawer…eeewww! you have that false sense of privacy, and someone reading your emails would just seem wrong. I don’t know what they are looking for, or what their point of it is…..I have a hard time thinking that someone would get that sort of “usable” information on emails. Or at least good enough info to get someone fired or recalled! Once again, people need to look at Idaho Code and see what the “standards” are for recalling someone. I agree that it’s been nice to converse back and forth with people on here, and hope that people have learned some things on here. I have attended board meetings at the school many times, more so in the last few years, and find them rather boring. They mostly have political things to talk about, budgets (which are not interesting to listen to unless you work at the school), updates on things with the new school, things like that. Very boring for the normal citizen. I do check my facts though, and if I hear someone being accused of something, I dig deep into it to see both sides. Just like every story, there are 2 sides. I wish more people would take the time to hear both of them.

Middleman – Thanks. I wasn’t at the meeting where the baby issue came up but I was at a meeting a few years ago when another teacher asked for similar consideration with an infant and was granted that permission. I would have to check the records to be sure but I think Dunn was on the board and agreed to the arrangement. Different time, different agreement, new board members, but probably a little hard to swallow why the previous teacher was allowed and this one wasn’t. Two board members also went to observe the classroom and found no issues. Whatever though – the decision was made and we haven’t heard a peep out of the teacher in question so we should all just move on from that particular issue.

All young moms didn’t know what they were signing? Really? I know some of these young moms and they seem pretty sharp to me.

I also read the law on elections and found no language addressing this specific issue of stopping a recall election- there may be no language that is that specific. Either way you and I can agree to disagree on whether it should go to the prosecutor. I say no since Dr. Tomlin did poll the petitioners, etc. and made the statements at the meeting.

I like your style and your willingness to hear both sides. I try to live that way myself though I am human and as such am subject to making mistakes. It would be interesting to know what you might find if you investigated the story of a staffer accessing e-mails. I did ask at the time and was not given an answer citing employee confidentiality issues. Then again, might be a good time to let it go.

I can COMPLETELY agree with you that generally board meetings could be called “bored” meetings and be just as accurate.

GV Resident: Just to clarify, this “baby” issue involved having the teacher asking for an *second* semester of bringing her infant to school. A single semester had been granted in that previous case. Not, as you said, that it really matters anymore!

As for the staffer involved with the request for email records, why not put in your own request for public records re: all public records requests made by Anne Keddy-Hector. I did! And the answer is: Paula Fox! Keddy-Hector is working with others in an attempt to discredit Mrs. Fox and have her removed from her position as business manager for the district. They won’t find anything.

Elizabeth – I wasn’t so interested in what Keddy-Hecter would find. I was more interested in her motive which I know you cannot speak to. Are you saying Paula was the staffer who accessed e-mails of other people without permission? Did I read that wrong? Kind of hope so.

Hey, Resident!

We still don’t know what Keddy-Hector wants. We can only speculate. Paula did not access other people’s emails. That was what Stan Kress accused her of and he even got our IT guy to try to pin that on her, but the IT guy came back and said there was no evidence. Kress knew this, yet did not disclose this to the board and still tried to fire Paula.

Paula was the one who protected tax payers’ money. Whenever Kress would do something a bit “hinky” with school funds, Paula would let board members know about it. This is why Kress’s cronies want to get rid of her. She is a whistleblower. And damn straight she should be! Yet she’s been crucified for the past two years for not only doing her job, but doing it better than most people in her position would!

Resident, it’s a witch hunt. These folks want to get rid of the people that brought Kress “down.”

When people are upset about what’s happening or have an idea, they really just want to be heard more than anything. I’ve been to board meetings in the past where that has been handled in a way I felt was respectful to patrons while still leading the meeting and not taking too much time. Conversely, I have been to some board meetings in the past year where the entire board seemed very combative and condescending towards patrons which leaves people feeling like they are not taken seriously and yes, disrespected. I know it must get tedious when everyone wants to put their two cents in but we are a small community and as someone pointed out – friends and neighbors too.

Being a board member is a big job – chairman of the board even bigger. There is some finesse required when working with people. Especially people who are passionate about one cause or another. We humans are funny creatures – but it’s the one thing we all have in common. We shouldn’t expect perfection from board members or patrons but we should try to listen to each other. I think we can do that and still comply with open meeting laws.

Mrs. Dunn: You have made your point about the open meeting law. My point was simply that meeting got out of control. Unfortunately, it was your job to control it. This is not D.C., it is Garden Valley, and our values dictate that we treat folks with a little respect. I do thank you for your years on the board, but feel that chairperson was really not a position you should have been in. I hope with time, you will find another outlet for your volunteering, the world does need more folks helping and less folks fighting!

GV Resident,

The school did not refer this to officials after we said we would not.

As the legal election entity the District reported the irregularities of the election to the County – including a mistake we made in accepting the petition.

The District has filed no charges, nor has the District made any charges. But there were numerous irregularities reported to us during the election and we simply sent that collection to the County, as is our responsibility.

We would have done the same had the Trustee won the election – failure to do so would have brought charges of “cover-up.” We do not get to pick and choose when we follow the law – we must do it every time.

Thank you BOISE GUARDIAN for running this article. I know GV is a little north of your usual posts but is has been a good opportunity for folks to speak their mind and work on differences… You provide a great service for many people and deserve the Best National Blog Sammie award!

I think a mediation would be a great idea. Although I do believe Dr. Tomlin has made several attempts. He had a “question & answer” thing in which he & Mr. Fisher took anonymous questions from the group and answered them. It was great, this was your time you could speak up and say what was on your mind. After about the 200th “Is Cody Fisher going to get fired” question, it got a little old, but still a great effort on the schools part. He also did a Saturday (oh wait, he doesn’t get paid to work on Saturday’s…why was he there working for free…where are the taxpayers) a coffecake chat session in which the newly appointed Board Chair was here and they tried to talk some things over. I think it’s such a black & white issue with both sides, there is no gray in each of their minds. Each of them have their minds made up what they feel and who is wrong. Maybe they need to actually hire an outside mediator to sit in on some sessions. I agree, before the next school year starts things need to be calmed down. When I drive by and see that lovely school, it makes me sad to know what is going on with it.

after reading more posts im sitting here wondering why some people wont drop the baby thing. if she wants to take her baby to work get a job at a day care. bottom line is baby’s cry which disrupts class.”i should know i was a student in holly mortimers class” if a student disrupts they are sent to the office so others can still learn. would it be ok if all the students brought there dogs to school. all these issues need to be looked at with a little common sense and they can all be put to a close just as easy

The baby issue is ridiculous, Two of the board members(Pete Wier & Mrs. Koenig) voted to allow the baby to stay with the teacher in her class. This was against the advise of district legal counsel,thier insurance co.and school district policy.let alone common sense.Just because something was done wrong in the past doesn’t mean it has to be done again. Why would these board members want to put all of the tax payers in the district at extra risk on an issue like this? Most parents put thier children in a day care center or stay at home with them.All of this information was discussed at the board meeting the night the baby vote was taken.But some of the board were willing to take the risk and place it on all of us. Where was the principle in this mess? I thought he was the boss of the teachers.Why would he even consider to allow this issue to get as far board?

Editor – Checked with Sec. of State. The elections board does not reach down to this level for these types of elections – the County Prosecutor is the one who would handle it though there is a question as to who can send a letter in on behalf of the district. Seeking clarification on that in the morning. Thanks.

As far as the “baby issue” goes GV Resident writes it best, “the decision was made and we haven’t heard a peep out of the teacher in question so we should all just move on from that particular issue.”
Mountainman- I am sure the principal was doing what was best. Staying out of the issue since he is the father of the baby and husband of the teacher.
Lets keep this family out of this mess and allow them to continue to work with our youth.
If you want to know the reasons they are recalling board members ask a “Friend”. Lets not assume that the “baby issue” is the REAL issue here. There seems to be a lot more going on. It seems that the teacher in question is fine with the decision and it needs to be dropped.

gv mom have you ever heard a kid complain about a teacher having to leave the room? no because they dont care. and the fact that you said you made the decision based on a 6year old’s oppinion says alot about you. and im not sure what the age range of the mothers has to do with anything.

GV Mom…trust me, I know the first grade teacher and she is one of the best the school has ever had. However, bringing the baby is NOT an option…period. It doesn’t matter if your the best teacher in the world, a baby is a distraction. You asked the kids…they are 6 & 7 for Pete’s sake…of course they are going to say it’s OK. Go around and ask patrons in the valley what they think about it….they were LIVID. Their tax dollars paying for daycare. What other job do you know where you can take your kid to work with you? Have you ever been to Albertson’s and see the checker with her baby? Ever been to the bank and see the teller with her baby? Ever been in the hospital and had the nurse come in to see you and have her baby? no, it just doesn’t happen. When you choose to have kids, you choose to figure out the daycare issue. When my wife & I had children, it broke her heart to leave the kids in day care, but that’s what you do. You don’t take them to work with you. I have actually read in a letter that was sent out to chosen patrons, that the Fishers were just fine with the decision, and wanted the baby-talk to end. They were thankful for the time that they WERE allowed to bring her. You must realize also, the baby did not stay in the classroom. Numerous times it was told to people that the school secretaries were doing babysitting duty during the day (on taxpayers money that someone above is so concerned about with Dr. Tomlin, funny how it didn’t matter this time)…also the other teachers were taking the baby into their classroom to “watch” it. The poor thing was all over the place. She’s a great baby, and yes, Mrs. Fisher is one of the best, however, she will have to decide on being a full time teacher and putting the baby in daycare or staying home with the baby, it’s the choice that every mom has to make. I believe the school contacted every other school in the area, and EVERY ONE OF THEM said NO WAY! NO BABY! To say, “well, it’s different in GV”…no, it’s not, bottom line, it’s all the same. Do you realize that a parent of a 1st grader could come back and sue the school saying “my kid did not get the proper education because the teacher was too busy with her baby in the classroom”? Wouldn’t that be awful? The school had 2 former staff that were allowed to bring babies, and if you listen to the stories of the students who were in their classrooms (as listed by one above)…it was AWFUL for them. I think you should check YOUR facts and get some names of students who went to school during that time, and get their opinions. Bottom line, is the baby issue is LONG over. However, it IS the reason this whole mess started.

Middleman- It is not the whole reason this started. This mess started in August with the public records request.
Some facts to get straight that were stated at the December board meeting:
1. The baby did stay in the classroom unless the mom had to use the bathroom.
2. The poor thing was not passed all over the place. And this wording makes it sound like the teacher did not act responsibly. The only people who know what happened, worked and did not work are the teacher and the admin.
You are right though, the baby should not have been in the classroom. The baby is out now. I think everyone needs to drop the issue.
“Bottom line, is the baby issue is LONG over.” No more howevers….

snowbird i was a student in holly mortimers class when she brought her kids and trust me when i say i cryed pooped and did everything babys do. they were passed from student to student all day. i dont personally know how it worked in this situation but common sense tells me you cant give complete attention to the class under these conditions. and as far as dropping issues i agree and believe all these issues should be dropped and there should be nothing left to talk about except maybe the criminal way the petition way collected

@Snowbird:

From what I’ve heard, the baby may not be in the classroom anymore but is still in the school, being passed from staffer to staffer during the day. Time for the board to get crackin’ on the issue again, ’cause it’s still a liability and a misuse of taxpayer’s money having school staff babysit the kid.

gvgal- You for sure have your facts wrong!
The teacher works part time now, only in the afternoons when her child is taken care of by someone who only works in the mornings. So you are saying the school can tell the mom and child to stay out of the school when the mom is not working? Nobody is babysitting the kid at the school. Seriously get your facts straight before you start spreading more rumors. Just what we need!

Moving on out of imbecility…..let’s remember that next Monday is the start of National Volunteer Week — and a WONDERFUL opportunity for the Garden Valley community to grab ahold of! This is what I witnessed: Last night, after several hours of preparation, our VOLUNTEER school board went in to a 6+ hour meeting, lasting from 6pm until after midnight. Today, several of the members continued in their effort to find more revenue sources, take patron calls, look at the biomass fuel alternatives, etc., etc., etc., while one is still continuing her fight against recall. They are doing this along with running their normal lives and businesses. How about we all start off fresh next week, and actually THANK them for their volunteer efforts. The way we have all (myself included) been acting, if we were children, instead of “adults”, we SHOULD have landed at a well-deserved place out behind the woodshed!

If we truly want what’s best for the young people of the community, we better take a hard look at the role models we are providing. I think we could all do a little improvement in this area. I would be totally appalled to have any of my children start behaving some of our ill-conceived attempts at acting like adults.

So, here’s my proposal — lets start over. Stop the madness, stop the recalls, use the democratic process, start waving to each other as we used to when we pass by on the road….and next week — as a goal — make National Volunteer Week a meaningful one to our community — let’s start acting like the great neighbors we’ve always (well, “usually”) been! Let the kids see the new “us” — and THANK our volunteers. They are serving the best they know how, putting in many hours — and if someone doesn’t like what they’re doing, give them the courtesy of a pleasantly stated piece of feedback. And, if that still doesn’t satisfy…..do the right thing and run for election to be a VOLUNTEER. I’ve said my piece, so, please give it a shot — I know I will.

@Hillbilly

Perhaps we should initiate a recall for Weir & Koenig who voted against policy on the baby issue!

Nah, it would be fitting, but the district can’t afford the time, effort and funds for another recall. Funny how the FOGVSD don’t care about that aspect of their antics!

Elizabeth – in reference to your previous post – are you saying that Stan Kress did “hinky” things with the school district’s money? We know about the deposit but your post says “Whenever Kress would to something “hinky” with school funds, Paula would let the board know about it.”

What do you mean by hinky and how many other incidences were there besides the deposit at Les Bois? Maybe I should send Paula a thank you card.