Herban Sprawl

11 November 2009

Happy Veteran’s Day to Uncles Cookie and Earl, and especially Big Kitty

I neglected to wax brilliant about one important detail in that four page dissent submitted by the volleyball coach….

All that business about alleged conflict of interest on the part of the independent 3rd fact finding panelist is poppycock. Here is why.

A fact-finding panel consists of a representative of each side in the disagreement. Those two are to select an independent third person, who is then the chair of the panel and presides over the hearing. In the event the two sides are unable to agree on a third person (and they never do), they request a list of candidates from the local circuit court judge. Judges maintain a list of people who are skilled in mediation just for these purposes. The two representatives then jointly select someone from the judge’s list and the proceedings then begin when the chair agrees to be on the panel and sets the hearing schedule.

Susan Willis’s panelist, the volleyball coach, and the administration’s panelist selected that panelist. That panelist was not forced on anyone, contrary to what that 4 page list of fake problems said. The panelist had no need to recuse himself.

If anything, he was the best person for the job because if the school administration had been out of line, he would have been looking for ways to ding them. He would have been listening real hard for evidence of coercion.

I was heartened to hear City Councilwoman Anita Price offer her hope that Susan Willis would put this behind her, and allow the whole business to be laid to rest. I know that took guts because the black community isn’t going to be happy that she didn’t stand up for the sistah, but as the former REA president, Anita Price knows the real story about Susan Willis. And that’s the story no one else will ever hear on the record.

I hope the good teachers and kids at Fleming were able to start today with the weight lifted from their shoulders, and I hope the community isn’t stupid enough to buy the junk that was in those four pages. If Susan Willis wants us to believe her, she’s going to have to release the WHOLE report, not just her representative’s piece. I’ve written one of those myself (and the teacher’s attorney didn’t have to rewrite it, I should add) and I know what her job was. I’ve sat in that seat. Let’s see the whole report, Susan… Come on… show me what you’ve got… Come on… I dare you….