|
what we call the school non-attendance calendar, which if you're not familiar with it, is the
<br />calendar in the family court that deals with students who are not going to school and for
<br />whatever reason are not getting there and are, therefore, not getting the education which as a
<br />community, we are committed to seeing that they receive.
<br />Then, as I said, most importantly, for me, I'm a foster parent, and my foster daughter, who was
<br />also my niece, is a student at Shady Grove and has attended Shady Grove since she started
<br />school in the first grade. And, I'm a proud parent at Shady Grove, and as I said, I'm known
<br />down there as Terra's Uncle Tony, not as these other things. I supposed I ought to also say that
<br />presently, I'm the vice president of the governing board of HAAS, which means I have some
<br />actual familiarity with some of the financing and, you know, money challenges that Shady Grove
<br />and other schools that HAAS serves.
<br />Here's what I would want you to know. The public schools for a variety of reasons, many of
<br />which are, are perfectly understandable and do not reflect some failing on their part but are
<br />simply built into the fabric of trying to deliver something as complicated as an education to a
<br />community as varied and as, as complicated as our community is with the rural areas and the
<br />different, you know, the different cultural backgrounds of the various families and the various
<br />kids. There's all kinds of reasons why the public schools are not able always to provide
<br />successfully an environment that kids feel they're able to function in and succeed in and so they
<br />don't go. And, they don't go. And, their parents can't make them go. And, it's a, for those
<br />families, it's a big mess, because I can't tell you how many kids I've seen who are 16-17 years
<br />old who have never been to school for all practical purposes. Their attendance is 70-80-90
<br />absences in the course of a school year, and, of course, any of you could understand, nobody can
<br />get an education if you're not there.
<br />And, that's our future. That's the future of our community. Shady Grove doesn't have that
<br />problem. The kids who go to Shady Grove go to Shady Grove. And, my particular kid has
<br />learning challenges, and Shady Grove from day one has stepped up big time to help her deal with
<br />the issues that she has surrounding dyslexia and reading. And, the extra attention that she gets,
<br />the support she gets from the school and, frankly, from this guy and these two young ladies back
<br />here who are her classmates, means the world to her. Means the world to me. We need schools
<br />like this. If you could have ten Shady Groves, we'd be much better for it. Cost you about a tenth
<br />of what we're spending for the big public institutions. We need those, too. I'm a big fan of
<br />public schools. I went to public schools, and I'm a supporter of public schools, but they can't do
<br />the whole job. And, schools like Shady Grove provide a place where people can get to and
<br />where kids can go.
<br />And, I can tell you, the education these kids are getting—the arts, the music, the science—it's
<br />wonderful. I would invite any of you some time, just come on down to Shady Grove when
<br />they're putting on one of their productions, and you will see an amiable chaos like you can't
<br />imagine. And, you will see parents by the dozen who are there. You don't see that at some of
<br />the public schools. You can't get the parents to go there. In fact, when the parents do go there,
<br />they're angry. So, whatever you can do for this school, I'm not here to talk about the two-year
<br />permit or the four-year permit. That's not my department, but I'm telling you, we need Shady
<br />EXHIBIT A
<br />10
<br />
|