SFMPOP meeting on local access
It was anyway. At 7 on the dot it switched to a NOA-TV ad and “Traffic Time.” SOme of my barely-coherent liveblogging:
6:30-ish: I stumble over the meeting looking for Funny.
Art teacher from McMain—none of the ideals of the plan are around Booker T., like places to go after school, RTA, etc.; “Please listen to us. We want what’s best for our kids.”
She had on a black t-shirt with Booker T in a red “No” circle.
The podium looks sponsored by Entergy
McMain supporter: as a parent, wouldn’t send her child into the Booker T community, not the only parent who’ll look at site, neighborhood and base a decision on that. $40 mil into a building and send children to an unsafe neighborhood, expecting parents all over Orleans to send children there “and I think that’s foolish”
Beverley Clark: They say it’s about buildings, not schools but schools are more than buildings, and you choose your own house and it reflects you, right? No move to Booker t; a blue ribbon in arts, only one in LA ever, and SACS. Told that kids excelled despite facilities [brown-haired freaky looking woman looks petrified. Until she smiles] We watched other schools being built and given new schools, were open 1st after the storm, chose not to charter. Have a public library and RTA and fields nearby “and we’re 5 feet off the ground.”
Percy Marchand: had to leave, Christian hands out fliers.
Sandra Reed: RE the accelerated timeline for public comment, as a resident of Central City and representative of community groups, the comment period—it takes time to understand the plan and offer a informed comments, a document of this size with this kind of technical info, regular folks need time to look at it; there was a 90-day extension for the plan, “and that was no hurricane.” Will ask, “beg if I have to” to give an extra 30 days for folks to read and decipher the–
G Bitch
NOLA
September 18th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Damn! Its things like this that make me wish I wasn’t out of town right now…
September 19th, 2008 at 6:43 am
S’allright, Loki. I videotaped the bastard. We’ll save your fun for when you return.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Hell of a place to cut off the filming of a meeting such as this one. Sadly symbolic of the way this whole process has been handled.
September 19th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Can you please post video on youtube?
September 19th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
YouTube! 5:30 is a tough time for parents, esp. those who are also teachers. Or who go to work.
September 19th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
As usual these things are arranged to provide the appearance but ot the actuality of accessibility.
September 20th, 2008 at 8:30 am
I do have the proceedings on a VHS tape. If anybody wants to transfer that into a digital format for all to see, please contact me at liprap2@netscape.net .
Another kicker in all of this is the one parent who was there representing McDonogh 35 itself. She put forth a plea to have McD 35 included in Phase 1 rather than Phase 2, and noted that other concerned parents and faculty were unable to attend the meeting that night due to a McD 35 football game.
Two minutes per person ain’t enough to tell ANYbody what is wrong with such a complex plan as the one the RSD, BESE, and OPSD is trying to rush past us all. Many children in this city are still being left behind. I wish they WERE technically savvy enough to post it all on YouTube. Instead, we get this:
http://nops.tv/index.html
If and/or when it appears on there, let me know. Please.