Fox C-6 Watchdogs: A New Era in the Fox C-6 School District

Fox C-6 Watchdogs: A New Era in the Fox C-6 School District



Wouldn't it be great if this would happen in Lee's Summit?  If the citizens in the Fox district can force these kind of changes so can the citizens in Lee's Summit.



A New Era in the Fox C-6 School District

The June 30, 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting was very different than the
board meetings that I've attended over the last several years. First, there
were more than 200 people in attendance at the meeting. This was the
largest turnout of citizens that I've ever seen at a school board meeting.

For many people attending the board meeting, this was the first time
 they've ever attended a school board meeting. It's important to stay
 involved in your school district and ensure that your concerns and
suggestions are heard. Thank you for attending and showing your support.

A little controversy and budget concerns within our school district appears to
 have awakened the community to the problems that have been plaguing the
Fox C-6 School District for quite some time. It's going to take time to get things
 turned around but I believe we have enough new and concerned school board
members to lead the school district in a positive direction. Board president John
 Laughlin addressed the public on many issues of concern.

Four individuals made Public Comments at the board meeting. Kevin Harding,
 Rich Simpson (myself), James Osia and Matt Hay. It was good to see more
 people from the community voicing their concerns to our school board.

I renewed my request to the school board to have open public discussions with
 the school board prior to board meetings like they do in the Rockwood school district.
 I also suggested that the school board and/or our acting superintendent request a
 state audit to ensure that our district is following good accounting procedures and
 processes. Cheryl Herman told the public that the district had a state audit before
and that they found no problems. However, the prior state audit did find areas of
concern and the state auditor recommended making changes in several areas. The
2001 state audit can be found online for review.

Some notable points about the meeting:
  • More than 200 citizens attended the school board meeting.
  • School board president John Laughlin answered patron's questions during Public 
  • Comments.
  • The school board procedurally approved the 2014-2015 budget but plans to
  •  be making amendments to the budget over the next several months.
  • School board president John Laughlin responded to Kevin Harding and
  • informed the public that the school board did not request/authorize sending 
  • out Cease and Desist letters to citizens in the community. (NOTE: Board
  •  policy allows the superintendent to use legal counsel for school matters 
  • without prior authorization for most issues.)
  • The board has been operating without a Chief Financial Officer for several months.
  • The new CFO (John Brazeal) will start on July 9th.
  • No administrators told the audience that they could leave prior to Public
  •  Comments. (Typically Dianne Critchlow would inform the audience that 
  • now was their chance to leave the meeting just prior to Public Comments.)
  • KSDK, KMOX and Fox 2 News were at the board meeting and interviewed 
  • board president John Laughlin and citizens attending the meeting.



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