Look in the Mirror, People

This school start time thing continues to be totally out-of-hand.

At the school committee meeting earlier this month, a woman opposed to the change got up and spoke about how our children are watching us, watching to see if we use "I Care" rules, then she accused the school administration and school committee of not using I Care rules in the process to make this decision. Meanwhile, other women on her side of the debate were saying derogatory things about certain school committee members and the superintendent under their breaths. Including the "B" word. Nice.

I ended up speaking at that meeting in support of the time change, though I hadn't intended to (and seeing myself onscreen afterward as the meeting has been rebroadcast about 20 times on local access is not at all pleasant), and since have been the recipient of some nice phone calls - and plenty of dirty looks.

Things have only gotten worse.

One woman I know was verbally attacked in the parking lot of her church, told she was naive, a sucker for moving to this town with "crap" schools, told she better pray no kids die because of her, and so on. There is a contingent of women engaging in bullying behaviors around this, and it's more than disconcerting.

The content of the attacks changes daily, and this is really because none of their issues are truly valid. When you peel away the layers, it's about personal inconvenience for these women, not about what is doing what is right for the kids, big picture and long term - or even small picture and short-term. While I know our solution for this time change is not perfect (none are, really), it's decent, there is data and research behind it, and we need to go forward with it. My husband has found acceptance surveys online of other school districts that have done this kind of change and even with vehement (though minority) opposition at the outset, there is upwards of a 92% acceptance rate (yes, ninety-two) by the end of the first year.

This group is actively and vocally supporting an incumbent school committee candidate (town elections are tomorrow) just on the time change issue (he opposed it) - a known bully himself! He actually said to another school committee member at the Feb 4 meeting, "Well, G, you and I can settle this in the hall." And this guy actively supports increasing class size through the whole system, which I think would be far more detrimental than a start-time swap. Can you imagine 30 Kindergarteners with one teacher?

Sometimes this town is really hard. Insular is just the tip of the iceberg. There are some seriously entitled people out there. People who think that democracy means they always get their way, and when they don't get what they want they throw around words like "travesty of justice" and "permanent psychological damage." Perspective and true reason is hard to come by. But, damn, the view is nice - which I suppose is why we put up with it.

(I was just reminded of the big hullabaloo over PAYT last year. You'd have thought the world was ending the way some people went on about that. That has gone JUST FINE. Truly. The world did not end. Selectmen were not recalled. I'd say over 90% of the town likes it now.)

As for the woman who talked about "I Care" rules? Look in the mirror, lady.