The district's director of communications Kelli Price relayed the message to media after they arrived to cover the meeting. Reporters for the Joplin Globe, KZRG, and the local television stations waited outside as school officials talked with approximately 30 parents who were concerned about a school bus incident that occurred Tuesday afternoon.
The meeting was scheduled after students were kept on a bus in 90-degree heat just a block and a half from the school for 45 minutes.
The district released the following statement after word of the incident hit the streets:
This afternoon, there was an incident involving a school bus near McKinley Elementary School. Shortly after picking students up at McKinley Elementary at the end of the school day, the school bus driver pulled over to address student behavior on the bus. The principal was then called to help address the situation.
The district released the following statement after word of the incident hit the streets:
This afternoon, there was an incident involving a school bus near McKinley Elementary School. Shortly after picking students up at McKinley Elementary at the end of the school day, the school bus driver pulled over to address student behavior on the bus. The principal was then called to help address the situation.
When the principal arrived, he boarded the bus. The principal, along with a School Resource Officer, then escorted all of the students off the bus and walked them a block and a half back to the school where parents were called to pick up their students.
Teachers and staff remained with students until they were picked up. Student safety is a top priority at Joplin Schools. This includes safe transportation to and from school.
To protect student and staff confidentiality as required by law, we are unable to share specific details. We will fully investigate the incident and review any and all safety procedures related to the matter.
While the news release cited the holy grail of "student and staff confidentiality," there is nothing that would have prohibited district officials from releasing what they knew about the specifics of the case without mentioning any names.
That and keeping the media from attending the meeting appear to be in direct contrast to the transparency that district officials have been trumpeting.
While the news release cited the holy grail of "student and staff confidentiality," there is nothing that would have prohibited district officials from releasing what they knew about the specifics of the case without mentioning any names.
That and keeping the media from attending the meeting appear to be in direct contrast to the transparency that district officials have been trumpeting.
12 comments:
Price needs to go
Send moar shovels!
The whole is gettin deeper!
Was this meeting posted 24 hours in advance??? Was this meeting listed as a "c;psed session" persuant to state law??
Where were the board members to make things right? Fort, Martucci, Koch???
959...you must have loved the emotional days of CJ,Loveable Landis,"Sincere" Sharp,Etc..Koch has gotten the big ego going but please Debbie Fort and Martucci are effective. The key is getting a quality Superintendent..then again not sure if Joplin's elite would know what an educational leader is...
Price is not needed.
Communication should be provided by the principal, Rudder, or Sachetta
Ms Price........count your blessings everyday.
I fail to see how a bunch of unruly kids who will not sit down while the bus is in motion somehow ends up being the fault of the School Board. Just ban those kids from riding the bus and let their parents deal with the situation. I swear Joplin is the buckle on the Drama Belt.
It continually amazes me on the amount of comments left by people that are uninformed, but know everything. As soon as anything is slightly amiss the BOE is slammed. Where were these same people when the previous Superintendent and BOE were running the District into the ground? So many comments and absolutely not one idea how to make it better. Those that are Huff supporters need to realize that those days are gone! This BOE and administration were left with a monumental task if rebuilding the District and trust. If you have a better solution, a real one, go to a BOE meeting and present it.
Concerned Citizen and others,
I couldn't stand Huff, Landis or Sharp, like I said, we traded idiots for morons. Mark my words, when the new Super. arrives, within 1 year a lot of people will be wishing CJ was back (I really hope I'm wrong). How do you think I feel? I voted for the three stooges, with the exception of Martucci this year. Also, I do not feel that this incident is the BOE's fault. I think that overall it's been handled rather well by administrators. The BOE hasn't even touched it yet so I'll reserve judgement on that. I also attend every BOE meeting possible.
Three words to the moronic parents:
Control your kids.
Maybe this is not the right comparison but if a teacher was having a problem with many students in their class would it not be unreasonable to invite the parents of the students to attend a meeting? From what I saw on the news, those that actually attended the meeting were satisfied with the results. The fact that it was not a BOE meeting or a general public meeting might be considered appropriate if the principal was going to discuss behavior (both student and driver). We were not there, maybe your young student was but as a child they can not grasp all the factors that were going on. The driver, like it or not, IS responsible for the safety of those children. If he/she did not believe it was safe to operate the bus that is his/her responsibility. The driver warned the students (I only know that because others have posted it), the driver stopped the vehicle, contacted his/her boss at the bus station and waited for assistance to arrive. The principal and the student resource officer escorted the students off the bus and back to the school. What else could the driver have done if the kids were not behaving?? I am sure there are video cameras on the bus and maybe seeing part of the video with the kids out of control (with faces blurred) might convince the people that think this is the same thing as child abuse and everyone in the district should be fired that there was more going on than we know.
@10:01 AMEN!!!!
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