By: Diane Benjamin
The Unit 5 response to concerns about both School Board President Alex Williams and teacher Matt Chapman was to create a video of employees talking about how great Unit 5 is. The video quality is horrible and garbled.
Hear it yourself at 40:25: https://vimeo.com/event/5178296
That is yet another fail for Unit 5.
Public Comment begins after that video.
It was funny to see Normal West students show up to support a teacher they have never had because he is at Normal Community, not West. It was funny to see the kids cite a 1968 Supreme Court Case and ignore the 2006 Supreme Court ruling that stated: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-473.ZS.html
Held: When public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, they are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline.
Worse, at least one speaker confirmed Matt Chapman teaches Special Ed students, likely the most impressionable.
Anyone believe the Normal West pink haired girl speaking at 56:25 found the 1968 case herself?
A father spoke at 59:44 concerning the comments made by Alex Williams. Of course Williams did not respond at any point in the meeting.
Art and Camille Taylor showed up like they always do when their politics is jeopardized. Both want you to forget this incident: https://blnnews.com/2020/08/05/the-art-and-camille-taylor-police-reports/
1:15:30 – a teacher talks about the fear of families here illegally. She doesn’t believe in borders, like every other country has except those in Europe who allowed an invasion and are now suffering the consequences.
Representative Regan Deering attended the meeting to present a certificate to the District concerning the Evans baseball State Championship. She also spoke at 1:20:00. Her comments are worth your time.
See 1:26:10. A lady thinks she is defending Matt Chapman. She admits we live in a time of great political divisions. She claims to speak for “middle” Americans who wants the District to ignore outside political influence. She claimed schools are supposed to rise above politics while stating they should realize the great work Chapman does for students.
It is WAY over her head Chapman wearing a political T-Shirts is why he went viral. He brought politics into his classroom.
Unit 5 could solve their Chapman problem quite easily. Tell every employees that wearing any political attire is banned and a fireable offense.
Of course they won’t do that, indoctrination needs visuals.
I have around 60 emails just about Williams that were sent to Unit 5 just from people concerned with what he wrote on social media. Only a few people with that opinion took the time to speak last night. That means the Williams and Chapman supporters think they won:
Saturday the leftists will show up for No Kings, the media will dutifully report they are the majority opinion. Reality is far different. Unfortunately the right thinks emails accomplish what showing in person to speak does. It doesn’t.
Emails are objectively not that impressive. Anyone can send one. Who knows how many of those folks live in the District. Or the town. Or even the State. Seeing who shows up to a meeting and speaks is how you measure constituents’ level of concern about something.
And last night showed that the issues you and the McClean County Republicans have been trying to whip people up over are non-issues for most people in the District. All that effort and only 3 speakers is incredibly underwhelming.
@ Underwhelmed – These issues aren’t determined by whether one side had six more commenters at the board of education meeting than the other. That’s a straw man argument.
The Williams issue generated over 800 signatures asking for his resignation. The Chapman issue went nationwide. An unknow number of emails from concerned parents went to the administration or the board complaining about the political and social bias of Williams. If Weikle and Williams didn’t get the message they are dense.
Will this make a difference? I think it will. Unit 5 is on notice. Don’t poke the bear again.
One student claiming harm will become a legal nightmare for the district.
Not surprising the school board and superintendent will do nothing to correct the issues with their employees and the board president. Their message is clear: Christian and conservative American values are not welcome in their government schools.
If you want to opt your family out of a secular system that actively works against you and your faith, but you feel underqualified to homeschool, please come and visit White Horse Academy, Bloomington Normal’s classical Christian school, serving grades K-7 next year.
If you desire your children to have a robust education designed to partner with parents to raise faithful Christian cultural leaders, setup your tour at http://www.whitehorseclassical.org or email me directly:
deanfletcher@whitehorseclassical.org
I was not aware… but I looked this up and love that this is a new school here! Keep up this great work!
As I remember at a school board meeting when I was a board member terminating a teacher was nearly impossible once they have tenure. If it is still like when I was a board member it has to go before a committee in Springfield comprised of none other than teachers and administrators. Our lawyer said let me hold up my hand with fingers raised on how many teachers have been terminated this year. We saw no fingers. The best we got was a negotiated contract payout and a good bye and gag order. The teacher subsequently goes down the road and finds another teaching job.
Chapman should be terminated. Schools have considerable responsibilty and influence over students. Court cases have proven that. Allowing what he did opens the door for others to do the same. No different than wearing a shirt that says Abolish Catholicism. Where do you draw the line? The district should have some policy regarding staff attire. They had better hope they do or end up in court some day being sued.
As far as for Krystle Able…. she doesn’t deserve my time for a response. Trash should be kicked to the curb where it belongs to be collected to be dumped in a landfill.