The 1/12/13 School Board Listening Post Demonstrated the Board's Inability to Be Quiet and Listen Without Trying to Control What People Say and How They Say It

Marla Swesey, the Iowa City Community School District Board President, tried to control the Saturday, 1/12/13 listening post instead of just listening to community opinion about the board's proposed diversity policy. She admonished West High parent Chris Arpey, who said he found it difficult to trust the board collectively to do what it says it will do. She bid him and other speakers to "be respectful."

There was nothing disrespectful about what he said. Swesey may not have liked to hear how Arpey feels about the board's trustworthiness or lack thereof, but that doesn't mean he expressed himself in a disrespectful manner.

Arpey said, "I cannot trust you collectively to do what you say you're going to do. It's not that I don't trust you individually -- indeed, I know none of you personally. To me collectively you lack a clear sense of direction and purpose."

A lot of us agree with him. The board does lack a clear sense of direction and purpose. 

Marla Swesey insisted on alternating "pro" diversity speakers with "con" diversity speakers. A few speakers toward the end of the listening post side-stepped Swesey's requirement by declaring themselves to be "neutral." Thus it was difficult to get a sense of where the majority of parents and community members who attended the listening post stood.

When I came in, a half hour late, vehicles were parked along the school administration building's driveway, on the sidewalks, and in every available parking space except handicapped spots. After I parked and came into the building, I had to stand outside the board room. I had difficulty seeing or hearing what people had to say until I was offered a seat inside.

I was particularly proud of the school children/teens who attended the meeting and spoke. They knew their futures are at stake and were willing to step up to give their opinions. One high school student, I believe it was Emily Hollingsworth, said that "Kids are mean, and if poor kids are bused to different schools, everyone will know who the poor kids are."

Another high school student, a sophomore, said that he didn't think the diversity policy would work because it's too disruptive, particularly to neighborhoods.

When Marla Swesey bid us all to refrain from applauding what individual speakers said, one man in my row said, "Yes, Mom."

Marla said, "Well, I am a mom," but that's really beside the point. I know she's a kind person, but she's not our mom or our teacher and she shouldn't treat us like an unruly mob of third-graders. We were mostly adults in the room. 

Several speakers stood up to say that the board should stop talking and listen.

"The listening post is for us," one parent told the board. "It's not for you to talk. You're taking up our time, so fewer people are able to speak."

Perhaps the board forgot that they canceled their proposed Saturday board meeting and turned it into a listening post instead, but we hadn't forgotten.

Three Iowa City councilors, Mayor Matt Hayek, Rick Dobyns, and Jim Throgmorton attended the meeting. That was good, because the Iowa City Council created many of the problems of non-diverse neighborhoods and hence, non-diverse schools in the first place.

One community member said, "It's not bigotry to acknowledge differences between groups. It's bigotry to deny differences between groups."

I agree. Minimization and denial of the problem gets us nowhere. Years ago when Jim Throgmorton held his University of Iowa seminars on the "myth" of the southeast side, those of us who live on the southeast side of Iowa City knew better.

If a diversity policy is approved, we need to know how it will be implemented. So far, we know that the board stated that high school students won't be bused. But if West High has reached capacity and is over-crowded and City High still has the capacity for 200 more students, how will capacity be equalized between the two schools? That hasn't been explained.

I also think it's silly to talk about 200 empty seats at City High as though that capacity will continue to exist over the next several years. Obviously we should be building a new high school now if we hope to meet future needs instead of looking to City High to absorb all of the overflow from West High. A new comprehensive high school can't be built in a day or two.

However, will the Iowa City community vote for the Revenue Purpose Statement February 5th, which would make a third comprehensive high school possible, without a clear picture of what the blank check will be used for? Without a clear facilities plan in place, why would anyone vote to give the district and the board a blank check? Will the physical plant waste and misspend much of it, as they've done in the past, and then ask voters for more money later on?

It is particularly foolhardy to bring up the red herring of a diversity policy less than a month before the Revenue Purpose Statement election February 5th. That horse has left the gate; early voting has already begun, but without specifics, why would the community vote to award the district a blank check? The board already forgot the availability of SILO money and used the school district's general fund for things that the SILO money could have been used for instead.

"Whoops! We forgot to spend the SILO money we so desperately needed," the board said, in effect.

What makes the board's forgetfulness particularly unfortunate is that the SILO fund can't be used to reimburse the district's general fund, so those errors can't be undone. We still don't know what the school district will spend the SILO money on.

No, this board doesn't engender confidence. And no, it's not disrespectful to say so. It's the truth. If speaking truth to power is a problem for elected board members, maybe those individuals need to hear the truth more often.