By Ronda Watson Barber
OhioMBE Publisher
Black children missed a bunch of in-class instruction last school year because some buildings in the Columbus City School district didn’t have heat. Heat is an essential element for students in Central Ohio during the winter months. Ironically, we didn’t hear about administrative offices being closed because of trifling building conditions. There has been excuse after excuse. Students were directly impacted and the board is silent. Everyone is pointing the finger at others. No accountability for children missing classes. There have been news reports on shoddy unhealthy building conditions. The teacher’s union is fighting for better working conditions. I requested the performance reviews of Maurice Oldham, who “runs’ Operations, although an elected board member was unaware of him acting in the role and Capital Improvements Director Alex Trevino. They both met district standards.
If last year’s performances in Buildings & Grounds, Transportation, and Capital Improvement are acceptable, then the district and the elected board need to revisit its standards. There needs to be a standard of excellence. Black children deserve clean well maintained school buildings. They need to get to and from school in a timely and safe manner. How is any of this up for debate? Why is it not happening? How is there NO mention of health citations and closed buildings in the evaluations?
Why is there no accountability for Black children not being able to attend school in a safe secure environment? Why did the elected board renew contracts for the upcoming school year for any administrator responsible for health citations, shoddy building maintenance, and transportation issues? What will they do differently in their administrative roles to insure that Black children attend classes in a safe environment? Has the elected board had a conversation with the administration on these important positions? If the same people are in charge, common sense would indicate you will get the same results. Were last year’s results acceptable? Why is the elected board allowing Black children to attend unsafe school buildings without penalties to the adults or professionals in charge? Their silence and inaction speak volumes.
Black students matter!
Just my thoughts…rwb
