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TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:27 am
by blackturtle.us
Only a few people attended this short meeting and all were employees or board members. The meeting lasted about forty-five minutes. Board member Sandy Sprouse was not present. All other board members were present. Highlights as follows:

1) Trona Care Clean Up (September 24th) - Trisha Funke talked briefly about this upcoming community event.
2) Superintendent’s Report:
.....a) Test Scores - Available at CA Department of Education website. In general, Tomes indicated that the test scores are not impressive.
.....b) Tornado Boost Period - High school added an intervention/enrichment period this year to help “boost” academic performance.
.....c) Technology - Things not working perfectly, but crew working to fix issues. (Lots of new technology installed over the summer and not all of it is working flawlessly.)
.....d) Patriot Day - Following pep rally on Friday (09/09) 9/11 Memorial to be held.
.....e) Onace Long - Memorial service being planned, but no date set.
.....f) Recognition for “Calm Resolve in the Face of Adversity” given to lifeguards Marlo Soto and Megan Maclean for saving a man and his daughter while on duty at the community pool during this last summer.
.....g) RFQ for Proposition 39 - Energy Efficiency Act has made $250k available to TJUSD for Installation of energy efficient lighting.
.....h) Refinance Pool Bond - Discussion of possible refinancing of pool bond in order to save community members some money on property taxes.
3) Trona Teachers Association - Two teachers updated the board on a few items relevant to the elementary school and high school. Of special interest was an upcoming music presentation at the elementary school.
4) Board Policy 9250 - Regarding a stipend for board members and health benefits available to board members. The board voted not to give themselves a stipend of $400 which was necessary in order for them to receive the same health benefits as employees. By not taking this stipend they are only eligible for the health benefits available to retirees. [Some bureaucratic rule somewhere requires employee status in order for an individual to be eligible for coverage under the employee health benefit plan.]

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 4:55 pm
by ergot
blackturtle.us wrote:Patriot Day - Following pep rally on Friday (09/09) 9/11 Memorial to be held.

Patriot Day my ass! I'm sure there was no discussion whatsoever about what the USA did to motivate the attacks. The truth is far too offensive to be discussed in public schools.

Did the 9/11 Memorial go something like this?

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 8:31 am
by desertrat
ergot wrote:
blackturtle.us wrote:Patriot Day - Following pep rally on Friday (09/09) 9/11 Memorial to be held.

Patriot Day my ass! I'm sure there was no discussion whatsoever about what the USA did to motivate the attacks. The truth is far too offensive to be discussed in public schools.

There are two equally clueless ways that a large percentage of the general public reacts to the 9/11 attacks:
1) Conspiracy Theory - Some claim that it was all an inside job planned out by the government and that large bombs were placed in the buildings ahead of time in order to bring down the buildings. They claim that airliners crashing into the buildings would not be enough to bring the buildings down. The idea is that the government needed an excuse to go into Iraq and Afghanistan and that the 9/11 attack/disaster was the ticket.
2) They Hate Our Freedoms - The idea that we were innocent victims of extremist aggression and that we did nothing as a country to provoke the attacks. This turns into patriotic circle jerks where people praise the military and the brave souls who lost their lives in the tragic event. We wind up with Patriot Day as a result and focus on the victims and fail to learn the lessons of 9/11.

And now for the truth:

The 9/11 attacks were the direct result of the USA's history of killing civilians, overthrowing regimes, and assassinating leaders in other countries. Our use of military intervention over the past several decades has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and it only escalated after 9/11. We need to come to grips with the fact that when we kill people in other countries that the relatives of those people will seek revenge. Extremist ideology may or may not be adopted to help afflicted individuals to maintain focus and resolve, but the result is attacks. Although we have the luxury of the most modern and powerful military on the planet, the oppressed people victimized by our military do not have this luxury. So, they strike back in any way they can. It's easy for us to call it cowardly, but aren't the true cowards those who attack defenseless people using modern military weaponry? Think about it.

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 6:35 am
by panamint_patty
The no homework debate: Kat Timpf vs. Tyrus
This is meant to be funny and so there was no attempt to deal with the most pertinent issues pertaining to homework, but that's a discussion for another time. For now, just enjoy the humor and try to ignore the fact that most of what is said is irrelevant.

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 7:23 am
by tronagirl
Adults Try Public School Lunches
I was never a fan of school lunches. Making a lunch was a hassle and pack and go stuff like Lunchables taste like crap. There just aren't any perfect options when it comes to school lunches.

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 8:11 am
by twister
panamint_patty: Although I did find the Kat Timpf vs. Tyrus video to be worth a few chuckles, it was remarkably amateurish considering that it was produced by a major network. I'd give the writing a C and the presentation a B. It fell well short of what you'd expect even from Saturday Night Live and was way off the mark compared to Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, or John Oliver. Thanks for the post. It's interesting to see cringe-worthy videos like this now and then. It helps us all to appreciate quality productions all the more.

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:41 pm
by dilbert
Two Local High School Football Teams Must Forfeit Games After Brawl On The Field
Sometimes I think that people take silly games way too seriously! :roll2:

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Fri Sep 16, 2016 7:23 pm
by tronagirl
School Bans Cheerleader Uniforms In Class After "Impure Thoughts"
No surprise that this is from the great state of Utah...

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 6:58 am
by shadylady
Should Curvy Teachers Have Tighter Dress Code?
Technically she's not out of line, but she didn't accidentally happen to put on a tight-fitting outfit. She's dressed to get attention and so if there are some haters who are critical of her, we can't pretend that she didn't know what was coming. Just the same, she's within the letter of the dress code and so she has not actually violated any rule or code, she's just kind of pushed the limits a little.

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - September 09, 2016

PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 7:17 pm
by mrgreen
Obama administration combats K-12 sexual assault
Something isn't right about this report. I can't think of a single case of "sexual violence" happening at the school that I went to. It's as if the federal government is attempting to create a rationale for over-reacting to a non-problem. Is this just an excuse for a clampdown on civil rights in general?