Lee's Summit Residents It Is Time To Stand Up

Day 8 of an 8-day countdown to our next public school board meeting on April 14th at 7:00 pm.
Dear Citizens and Patrons of the LSR7 School District:
Tomorrow night’s meeting is about holding me, the Board of Education, and Dr. McGehee accountable to the community. The Board of Education is to provide vision for the school district, governance with regard to laws and policies, and good stewardship of the taxpayers’ money. The superintendent is to provide management over the operations of the school district in a professional, ethical, and transparent manner.
I am but one board member. I made my call to action originally in the KC Star. I have laid the case out to the public on many levels including the lack of transparency, law and policy violations, misleading statements to the public and district employees, and misconduct behind closed doors and most recently in the public eye. I have given the facts and timelines to the public in hopes that they will hold me, the board members, and Dr. McGehee accountable. Tomorrow night is about the taxpayers telling us what they want. If you are a taxpayer or patron of the Lee’s Summit School District, no matter who you work for nor if you have children or not, we are accountable to you.
I have been told many times that the public does not care what we do because of the lack of attendance at our meetings. I have been told that the superintendent can use whoever he wants as legal counsel for the board. I have been told that I put way too much stock in the comments section of the district employees survey and that the employees are happy. I understand the district employees fear of retaliation for asking questions and speaking out because my questions and concerns have been handled with animosity and accusations of misconduct by Dr. McGehee and board leadership. This has been going on behind closed doors, in emails, and one to one conversations. After speaking out publicly I got the same accusatory reaction and the community saw exactly what I have been experiencing in plain view. When I continued to speak out, attorneys were brought in at the discretion of board leadership to refute my concerns and hush me. However, I am accountable to the taxpayers. I urge you to embrace your civic right to attend our public board meeting and if you feel inclined let your elected officials know your concerns.
“The power of the people is greater than the people in power.” - Wael Ghonim
Respectfully,
Bill Baird

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