Thursday, August 28, 2008
By Wendy Gragg
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The suggestion that Waco Independent School District trustees gave an elementary school preferential treatment it did not afford G.L. Wiley Middle School became a key topic at Wiley’s temporary injunction hearing Wednesday.
Slide show: First day of school at G.L. Wiley
Slide show: G.L. Wiley hearing Thursday, Aug. 21
Slide show: East Waco speaks out at Aug. 7 school board meeting
Video: Watch what the community had to say
Witnesses testified that when supporters of Meadowbrook Elementary School protested the district’s tentative plan to close that neighborhood school, the board backed down. But trustees did not regard similarly an effort by Wiley supporters, and some witnesses Wednesday suggested race may have been a factor in the board’s decision.
The hearing went into its second day Wednesday before 170th State District Court Judge Jim Meyer. The plaintiffs — two Wiley families and a group of the school’s supporters called Fighting to Save Our Children — are asking the judge to grant a temporary injunction to keep Wiley open until the lawsuit they filed is resolved.
10-18-08 Waco ISD officials pledge G.L. Wiley, Doris Miller school campuses won't go empty
09-03-08 G.L. Wiley group ends lawsuit
08-30-08 Judge backs Waco school board's controversial closure of Wiley Middle School
08-29-08 Judge to rule on Wiley injunction this morning
08-28-08 Talk of racial discrimination again surfaces in G.L. Wiley hearings
08-27-08 Waco ISD trustee, G.L. Wiley principal among witnesses in court hearing on injunction to keep school open
08-26-08 Wiley reopens as Waco ISD trustees vote again to close its doors
08-23-08 Waco ISD administrators to helm Wiley classes on Monday
08-22-08 Judge approves restraining order reopening Wiley for first day of class Monday
08-21-08 Racial discrimination lawsuit and injunction filed to stop Wiley's closure
08-18-08 Waco ISD officials trying to ease Wiley students' move to their new schools
08-12-08 Group taps attorneys to consider challenges to Wiley's closure
08-11-08 East Waco leaders announce effort to hire legal help over Wiley's closing
08-10-08 Interview: Waco ISD school board chief looks past G.L. Wiley furor
08-09-08 WISD seeks healing while East Waco leaders mull future amid frustration over Wiley closing
08-09-08 Mayor voices optimism for East Waco, Wiley students
08-09-08 What next: Advice for Wiley Middle School parents on the start of classes
08-08-08 Waco ISD school board votes to close G.L. Wiley Middle School
08-02-08 Education leaders question value, impact of Texas' school-rating system
08-01-08 Waco ISD state ratings offer mixed bag of successes, frustration
07-25-08 WISD unveils options for G.L. Wiley's future
07-24-08 Meeting tonight to discuss G.L. Wiley's future has been cancelled
07-22-08 WISD board meeting Thursday on options for G.L. Wiley's future, including potential closure
06-13-08 Despite continued low rating, G.L. Wiley gets another chance
05-31-08 Waco ISD officials see improvement in TAKS scores
04-14-08 TAKS scores could decide whether G.L. Wiley Middle School remains open
Opinion
08-30-08 Editorial: Beyond G.L. Wiley's court ruling
08-23-08 Editorial: G.L. Wiley turmoil
08-17-08 Letters: G.L. Wiley closing
08-17-08 Jean Laster, guest column: Waco ISD selective about whom it invites to table
08-13-08 Editorial: Future for Wiley?
08-09-08 Editorial: G.L. Wiley closure mishandled
08-07-08 Editorial: Rush job on G.L Wiley
08-06-08 Editorial: Accountability system failing Texas
08-06-08 Nikka Davis, guest column: Waco, don't fail us now
08-03-08 Pat Atkins, guest column: Walls vs. equal opportunities in WISD
07-23-08 Editorial: Future of Wiley
06-15-08 Editorial: Effort at GL Wiley
Meyer signed a temporary restraining order last week that required the Waco ISD to reopen the school Monday, despite the school board’s Aug. 7 vote to close the East Waco school. About 93 students attended Wiley on Wednesday, district officials said.
The lawsuit, as well as both temporary orders, allege violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act and Texas Education Code, and racial discrimination by the school board in voting to close Wiley.
Gary Bledsoe and Donald McCarthy, the plaintiffs’ attorneys, called six more witnesses to the stand Wednesday, in addition to the six questioned Tuesday. They said they have one more witness to call this morning before the defense begins putting its eight witnesses on the stand.
Meyer seemed exasperated by the number of witnesses and the time spent questioning each.
“You’re doing a terrible disgrace to these children by dragging this case out,” he said to Bledsoe and McCarthy at the end of the day. The same topics continually came up during questioning, including the school board’s decision last February not to close Meadowbrook Elementary School.
Last winter, the district was considering regrouping grades, so there would be fifth- and sixth-grade intermediate schools. Part of the proposal included consolidating Meadowbrook and Kendrick elementary schools. About 30 Meadowbrook parents and supporters attended a February meeting to plead with the board not to close their school.
That night, the board voted to postpone grade restructuring. The district put the brakes on other plans as well, after trustee Pat Atkins spoke about the need for the district to do some long-range planning before making a lot of major decisions.
Lester Gibson testified Wednesday that he was directed by school board president David Schleicher to show up at the board’s meeting about Wiley earlier this month with a larger group than Meadowbrook had.
“He said if we showed up with 100 (people), we might, basically, we could get the ear of the board,” Gibson said. “We took him at what he said.” A group of more than 200 people showed up at the Aug. 7 board meeting.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys asked witnesses Wednesday whether racial discrimination was a factor in Wiley’s closure.
Former educator James Elliot was asked whether he thought low enrollment was a pretext for racial discrimination in the decision to close Wiley. He said he did not know, but he said he knew about talk of school consolidation in another part of town and that school didn’t close.
Former Wiley principal Cleoda Bables told Bledsoe and McCarthy that he believed race was a factor in the closure. But when defense attorneys asked the same question, he answered, “I don’t know if it was racially based.”
The questioning delved heavily into the hardship the closure is putting on parents and students, especially special education students.
Attorneys also questioned witnesses, such as Gibson and former school board member Wannika Muhammad, about the details and intricacies of holding committee meetings and properly posting agenda items. The plaintiffs maintain that listing “Status of Wiley” on the agenda for a school board meeting does not alert people that the school could be closed.
“That agenda item, in my opinion, is pretty vague,” Muhammad said. “What are they talking about, the status of the building, the status of the staff?”
Judge Meyer said he granted last week’s temporary restraining order based on the agenda’s vagueness.
Testimony will continue this morning, and Meyer said he would like to finish the case before the day ends.
wgragg@wacotrib.com
757-6901
Comments
By Erica S.
Aug 29, 2008 1:15 PM | Link to this
Yipes-- my apologies for the multiple posting! Dang browser is giving me issues this morning.
By Erica S.
Aug 29, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this
NEIL: Exactly which schools in the area are you refering to when you mention "predominantly Anglo"? According to the WISD website, out of the 20 elementary schools listed, only ONE school in Waco ISD has a majority of Anglo students (Mountain View). And 16 of those 20 have a 'white' demograpic of 20% or less, and 9 of THOSE ones have less than 6% 'white'. I'm not arguing your point, just making an attempt to point out that there is only one elementary school in ALL of WISD in which the majority is Anglo, and thus the issues with closing Wiley obviously isn't a race issue, or all they'd be closing nearly ALL of the elementary schools!
By Erica S.
Aug 29, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this
NEIL: Exactly which schools in the area are you refering to when you mention "predominantly Anglo"? According to the WISD website, out of the 20 elementary schools listed, only ONE school in Waco ISD has a majority of Anglo students (Mountain View). And 16 of those 20 have a 'white' demograpic of 20% or less, and 9 of THOSE ones have less than 6% 'white'. I'm not arguing your point, just making an attempt to point out that there is only one elementary school in ALL of WISD in which the majority is Anglo, and thus the issues with closing Wiley obviously isn't a race issue, or all they'd be closing nearly ALL of the elementary schools!
By Erica S.
Aug 29, 2008 1:01 PM | Link to this
NEIL: Exactly which schools in the area are you refering to when you mention "predominantly Anglo"? Out of the 20 elementary schools listed on the WISD website, only ONE school in Waco ISD has a majority of Anglo students (Mountain View). And 16 of those 20 have a 'white' demograpic of 20% or less, and 9 of THOSE ones have less than 6% 'white'. I'm not arguing your point, just making an attempt to point out that there is only one elementary school in ALL of WISD in which the majority is Anglo, and thus the issues with closing Wiley obviously isn't a race issue, or all they'd be closing nearly ALL of the elementary schools!
By Neill Morris
Aug 29, 2008 9:31 AM | Link to this
I went to WISD's web site, and got the numbers. WISD is 50+% Hispanic, 30+% African American, 12+% Anglo, and less than 1/2 a % other. Meadowbrook Elementary is 70% Hispanic, and it's East Waco counterpart,J.H. Hines, is 87% African American. G.L. Wiley isn't listed. If the African American community wants to change the way things are done in the WISD school board they need to show up to vote. The same goes for the Hispanic community. The schools in this area that are predominantly Anglo do better on testing, not because the schools are better, but because their parents are involved in their education. They make their children do their homework, they make sure they have a healthy environment at home, and in the community, they don't sit around waiting for the elected officials to make it better, they make it better themselves. Responsibility is a great privilege. Take responsibility for your children. The only difference will be made by you. Stop blaming others for you failings. Get involved at home.
By apple
Aug 29, 2008 2:45 AM | Link to this
After reading the comments...sometimes the privileged cannot call it, heck I can't even call it completely b/c I'm not an expert for closing schools down or administering a whole school of young kids for this underprivileged kids but some things on a general level I have gathered about this...
Just will be happy when the happy medium is found to at least move 1 baby step forward.
Maybe a retired top Austin judge to volunteer to mediate?
By Concerned
Aug 28, 2008 10:41 PM | Link to this
I just want to know where all the "Fighting to Save the Children" people were when then school was "missing the mark" five years ago. It seems like its no big deal when the "winds of change" aren't touching you and things can go on the way they have always gone on. Yet, when the "winds of change" do begin to impede on your territory, all heck breaks loose and people from all over start to take notice in the community. Where was all this support five years ago? I don't get it? It's not the teachers or the administrators. It's the community. It's the people who condone certain bad habits and behaviors at home and then send them off to school. People have to stop blaming everyone else and the school system and start looking internally. Looking beyond the TAKS itself, what can a school with a lower than 200 enrollment, and I guess now lower than 100 offer a student that is as enriching as another school that is more equipt and capable? Again, I don't get it. Why people bring up race everytime something doesn't go their way? I mean for gosh sakes, I've been on this earth nearly thirty years and I hear it over and over again. It's sad. If this was a school that wasn't predominantly African American, and it was under order to close, would there be this same backlash against the "powers that be?" I can't say really, but do you think there really would be this same outcry? This kind of mimicks the egotistical rantings of the Honorary Rev. Jesse Jackson in most of his carefully chosen political outbursts. I don't hear anyone raising a hand to help someone who's not the economic minority or for that matter non-African American when they have had injustices against them. And I'm not saying this situation is an injustice. I think it's mearly a numbers game. The children deserve a better equipt learning environment. Period! People are calling this a fight to save the children? This is a fight to get some headlines in my opinion. Where were YOU when these children really needed you? Where were you when they needed help on homework and needed a ride to tutoring? Where were you at the PTA and parent meetings? Where were you when a child needed proper supplies? Where were you when a child needed mentoring? Community leaders....ask yourself..."where were you then when you could have made a difference long before now?"
By Chris
Aug 28, 2008 2:55 PM | Link to this
When nothing is working, and you more media coverage for your cause and are angry because you lost.....don't despair...play the RACE CARD and
Cha-Ching
instant news coverage and ability to blame others. Unless your of Caucasian "race" and then you're S.O.L
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Andrightlyso/racecard.jpg
By Dave
Aug 28, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this
I agree. Lester needs to do his job or use sick time when he's nosing in other peoples business and stop doing it on county time!
By Jesse Toress
Aug 28, 2008 1:35 PM | Link to this
Lester Gibson you need to start worrying about your dam job and stop messing in school business. Stop doing the school boards work on county time and repair you own precincts problems or leave town and visit your buddy in Dallas that also yells racism every ten minutes!!!
[1 2 3] next
Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F, except on Tuesday when it's open until 9 p.m.
Post a comment
*HTML not allowed in comments. Your e-mail address is required.