Mr. Buddy Garrity
02-02-2006, 06:52 AM
Local pastors call for PAISD student walkout
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Posted: 02/01/06 - 05:38:44 pm CST
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The Rev. Randy Vaughn of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, left, along with several other religious leaders asked for a student boycott in light of Dr. Willis Mackey recently being asked to resign by the Port Arthur School Board. Guiseppe Barranco/The News
Group seeks support for superintendent
By Ashley Sanders
The News staff writer
A “revolution” is in the making in Port Arthur.
During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, 12 pastors united at the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church under the direction of the Rev. Randy Vaughn to call for a voluntary student walkout - a protest to the recent announcement of Superintendent Willis Mackey's resignation.
“We are mad as hell, and we are not going to take it anymore,” Vaughn told the dozen or so spectators that joined in the press conference.
“In an effort to halt what we believe to be a runaway school board, the ministerial leaders here are asking parents to keep their kids at home, participating in a full Port Arthur Independent School District walk out, to begin Feb. 3 and to keep them at home until TEA (Texas Education Agency) responds to the problems in this school district.”
The pastor added that “the school board had walked out on the students and so the students should walk out on the board.”
Vaughn said he and members of the community have repeatedly tried to contact TEA about their concerns for the district. According to the pastor, their complaints have not been met with adequate attention.
“We are going to say ‘no more' to this board until TEA sends forth a management team,” Vaughn said. “This walkout launches a revolution, and you do not control a revolution.”
For parents taking their children out of the Port Arthur schools, Vaughn said many Port Arthur churches will be opening their doors to children in need of care while their parents are at work.
“We want TEA to take governance of this district,” Vaughn continued. “We are encouraging parents to keep their kids out of school until further notice.”
Board reaction
While Trustee Gregory Flores attended Wednesday's press conference - a show of resolve for his faith in Mackey, other board members only heard news of the school boycott through the grapevine.
“I think that at this point, I am glad to see some input from the community and community leaders,” Board Member Willie Mae Elmore said. “The situation that we are facing is greater than what I feel can be handled by a board of seven people.”
As for the group's call for a Board of Managers to control the district, Elmore said sacrifice is often necessary for improvement.
“If sacrifice has to be made, whether it is me or anyone else, I am for whatever is best for the children of the district,” Elmore continued. “If TEA takes over, I will never cry about it. We need to do what is best for our children.”
As for the loss of time in school, Elmore said that she was very concerned about students missing school with the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) test just around the corner.
Also upset about the possible repercussions of students missing class is Trustee Donna Worthington.
“This is just an obstruction of education,” Worthington said. “To pull kids out of school just to make a showing - I just can't imagine anyone wanting to do that.”
Worthington said it was not worth interfering with student learning to make a political point.
“Half of those kids don't even know who the superintendent is or what the board does,” she said. “Good parents that care about their kids will not take them out of school.”
Agreeing with Worthington, Board President Julia Samuels said she was appalled by the request of Port Arthur religious figures to pull students from schools.
“I just can't believe that a group of religious leaders would stoop so low as to take students out of school just to get their point over,” Samuels said. “They are teaching students to break the law.”
Samuels said the religious leaders behind the requested boycott do not care about students' education, that they only care about assisting former Board member the Rev. Donald Frank's personal agenda.
“The religious leaders are supporting Mr. Frank, who lost his election by a landslide,” Samuels said. “The religious leaders should have been out there campaigning for Mr. Frank and maybe he would still be on the board.”
As for the possibility of dissolving the Board of Trustees, Samuels said she will accept any measures TEA may take for the betterment of education in Port Arthur.
“You know I don't take that personally,” she said. “I want what is best for the kids.”
Samuels added that she did not think that many parents would participate in the boycott and that the actions of the religious leaders will not get the attention of TEA.
“I don't think parents will go for this,” Samuels said. “They know the importance of the quality of education. I think the masses of the kids will be in class come Friday.”
Trustees Terry Doyle, Mattie Londow and Lonnie Linden could not be reached for immediate comment on the boycott.
Former board member Frank commented that the boycott was necessary to get stronger TEA intervention. Otherwise, according to him, the board will continue to force qualified superintendents to flee the district.
“Our children are constantly getting the short end of the stick,” Frank said. “This is the straw that broke the camel's back. We are depending on TEA to do something for our children.”
TEA cautions parents on penalties
TEA spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson said by telephone interview Wednesday that students who have an extensive period of absences will be in violation of state law.
“Students who are absent from school for an extended period of time will be in violation of law,” Culbertson said. “Students have to be in class 90 percent of the time to receive credit.”
Speaking for TEA Governance Director Ron Rowell, Culbertson said the director has issued a statement with regard to the issue of Mackey's resignation.
“TEA Governance Director Ron Rowell confirmed that the superintendent and the board have reached an agreement and that Willis Mackey will be offering his resignation Thursday night,” Culbertson said. “This is a voluntary buyout of his contract.”
Culbertson said no exact amount had been reached in the monetary settlement between the Board and Mackey.
“Details are still being worked out,” she said. “Mr. Rowell said he believes this to be a positive step forward for the district. He said there has not been a lot of positive movement in the district in recent months and that hopefully this resignation will help get some of the tension rectified.”
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Posted: 02/01/06 - 05:38:44 pm CST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Rev. Randy Vaughn of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, left, along with several other religious leaders asked for a student boycott in light of Dr. Willis Mackey recently being asked to resign by the Port Arthur School Board. Guiseppe Barranco/The News
Group seeks support for superintendent
By Ashley Sanders
The News staff writer
A “revolution” is in the making in Port Arthur.
During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, 12 pastors united at the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church under the direction of the Rev. Randy Vaughn to call for a voluntary student walkout - a protest to the recent announcement of Superintendent Willis Mackey's resignation.
“We are mad as hell, and we are not going to take it anymore,” Vaughn told the dozen or so spectators that joined in the press conference.
“In an effort to halt what we believe to be a runaway school board, the ministerial leaders here are asking parents to keep their kids at home, participating in a full Port Arthur Independent School District walk out, to begin Feb. 3 and to keep them at home until TEA (Texas Education Agency) responds to the problems in this school district.”
The pastor added that “the school board had walked out on the students and so the students should walk out on the board.”
Vaughn said he and members of the community have repeatedly tried to contact TEA about their concerns for the district. According to the pastor, their complaints have not been met with adequate attention.
“We are going to say ‘no more' to this board until TEA sends forth a management team,” Vaughn said. “This walkout launches a revolution, and you do not control a revolution.”
For parents taking their children out of the Port Arthur schools, Vaughn said many Port Arthur churches will be opening their doors to children in need of care while their parents are at work.
“We want TEA to take governance of this district,” Vaughn continued. “We are encouraging parents to keep their kids out of school until further notice.”
Board reaction
While Trustee Gregory Flores attended Wednesday's press conference - a show of resolve for his faith in Mackey, other board members only heard news of the school boycott through the grapevine.
“I think that at this point, I am glad to see some input from the community and community leaders,” Board Member Willie Mae Elmore said. “The situation that we are facing is greater than what I feel can be handled by a board of seven people.”
As for the group's call for a Board of Managers to control the district, Elmore said sacrifice is often necessary for improvement.
“If sacrifice has to be made, whether it is me or anyone else, I am for whatever is best for the children of the district,” Elmore continued. “If TEA takes over, I will never cry about it. We need to do what is best for our children.”
As for the loss of time in school, Elmore said that she was very concerned about students missing school with the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) test just around the corner.
Also upset about the possible repercussions of students missing class is Trustee Donna Worthington.
“This is just an obstruction of education,” Worthington said. “To pull kids out of school just to make a showing - I just can't imagine anyone wanting to do that.”
Worthington said it was not worth interfering with student learning to make a political point.
“Half of those kids don't even know who the superintendent is or what the board does,” she said. “Good parents that care about their kids will not take them out of school.”
Agreeing with Worthington, Board President Julia Samuels said she was appalled by the request of Port Arthur religious figures to pull students from schools.
“I just can't believe that a group of religious leaders would stoop so low as to take students out of school just to get their point over,” Samuels said. “They are teaching students to break the law.”
Samuels said the religious leaders behind the requested boycott do not care about students' education, that they only care about assisting former Board member the Rev. Donald Frank's personal agenda.
“The religious leaders are supporting Mr. Frank, who lost his election by a landslide,” Samuels said. “The religious leaders should have been out there campaigning for Mr. Frank and maybe he would still be on the board.”
As for the possibility of dissolving the Board of Trustees, Samuels said she will accept any measures TEA may take for the betterment of education in Port Arthur.
“You know I don't take that personally,” she said. “I want what is best for the kids.”
Samuels added that she did not think that many parents would participate in the boycott and that the actions of the religious leaders will not get the attention of TEA.
“I don't think parents will go for this,” Samuels said. “They know the importance of the quality of education. I think the masses of the kids will be in class come Friday.”
Trustees Terry Doyle, Mattie Londow and Lonnie Linden could not be reached for immediate comment on the boycott.
Former board member Frank commented that the boycott was necessary to get stronger TEA intervention. Otherwise, according to him, the board will continue to force qualified superintendents to flee the district.
“Our children are constantly getting the short end of the stick,” Frank said. “This is the straw that broke the camel's back. We are depending on TEA to do something for our children.”
TEA cautions parents on penalties
TEA spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson said by telephone interview Wednesday that students who have an extensive period of absences will be in violation of state law.
“Students who are absent from school for an extended period of time will be in violation of law,” Culbertson said. “Students have to be in class 90 percent of the time to receive credit.”
Speaking for TEA Governance Director Ron Rowell, Culbertson said the director has issued a statement with regard to the issue of Mackey's resignation.
“TEA Governance Director Ron Rowell confirmed that the superintendent and the board have reached an agreement and that Willis Mackey will be offering his resignation Thursday night,” Culbertson said. “This is a voluntary buyout of his contract.”
Culbertson said no exact amount had been reached in the monetary settlement between the Board and Mackey.
“Details are still being worked out,” she said. “Mr. Rowell said he believes this to be a positive step forward for the district. He said there has not been a lot of positive movement in the district in recent months and that hopefully this resignation will help get some of the tension rectified.”