We're from the government and we're here to help....

I'm starting to get Hawkeye about his police state routines, which I've previously thought extravagant.

Self report. The new nun and monk orders.

Batavia school board member Kathy Roberts has resigned.

Roberts has been on the board for 22 years. Her term expires in April 2015.

The school district is giving people until June 7 to apply for an appointment to fill Roberts' post. The school board will select the person June 25.

Applicants must be a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years old, a registered voter, a resident of Illinois and a resident of the school district for at least one year before the date of appointment.

Submit letters of interest and resumes by 4 p.m. June 7 to board secretary Lisa Hichens, at [email protected] or to school headquarters at 335 W. Wilson St.

Roberts' resignation comes after an April election in which three experienced trustees did not run. Remaining members Cathy Dremel and Gregg Hodge were elected in 2011; Tina Bleakley was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2012, and then was elected in 2013.

Besides new board members, the district will also have a new superintendent starting July 1. Hichens will take over for Jack Barshinger, who is retiring.

BATAVIA – Batavia High School science teacher Margaret Humphrey said she was disappointed that the School District 101 board voted Tuesday to issue a written warning of improper conduct to high school social studies teacher John Dryden.

Dryden was disciplined for warning his students they had the Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate themselves before answering an in-class survey about emotional and at-risk behavior.

“I feel his name was dragged through the mud,” Humphrey said Wednesday. “The school district was not acting in the best interests of the students.”

Humphrey, who has worked at the high school for 14 years, has resigned, effective June 3. Humphrey said her resignation was triggered not solely because of the survey flap but also because she said there is “distrust between faculty and administration.”

Humphrey’s son is a Batavia High School student, and he filled out the survey. Humphrey said she was concerned about his privacy rights because students’ names were pre-printed on the surveys.

She was not alone. An online petition at www.thepetitionsite.com has garnered more than 8,000 signatures supporting Dryden’s actions.

The Batavia school board voted Tuesday night to authorize a notice of remediation against Dryden. Board member Jon Gaspar was the sole board member to vote “no.”

The notice warned Dryden of improper conduct and the possible consequences thereof. Before the board issued the notice, Batavia Superintendent Jack Barshinger docked Dryden a day’s pay.

7:15 Student and Family Privacy Rights

Survey Requesting Personal Information

School officials and staff members shall not request, nor disclose, the identity of any student who completes any survey or evaluation (created by any person or entity, including the District) containing one or more of the following items:

Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student's parent/guardian.
Mental or psychological problems of the student or the student's family.
Behavior or attitudes about sex.
Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior.
Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom students have close family relationships.
Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those with lawyers, physicians, and ministers.
Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or the student’s parent/guardian.
Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program).

social emotional learning...am I the only one who is pissed that this state has decided that it has the right to monitor and "correct" our emotions through its agents?

Schools are the de facto gateway for kids to get social services.

Using the schools in this way is not inherently bad; it just confuses the issue about what the school's mission is.

Thinking about this on the way home from work, I think Firefly inadvertently identified the probable reason for this survey.

They're under pressure to "do something." They are not, however, under pressure to do something "effective" or to do the right thing.

They just have to have something to point to that shows they made an attempt.

So they may very well understand that the identifiable survey will give skewed results, but they don't care..

I think schools used to be used more as propaganda machines for the government than they are now.

social emotional learning...am I the only one who is pissed that this state has decided that it has the right
to monitor and "correct" our emotions through its agents?

Dryden was disciplined for warning his students they had the Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate themselves before answering an in-class survey..

No that wasn't exactly why he was reprimanded, and you know that-