You gave me your business card as I left Old Central yesterday and urged me to call you if I had anything else to add to my two hours of rambling. I appreciate your patience with me. As I write this you are in the midst of your interview with Art and I’m sure you will find that illuminating as well.
By now our School Board has changed its policy book to allow Board members to be treated as politicians rather than personnel. (Here’s the Tribune’s account) This means that Art’s accusers may no longer be able to hide behind the public data laws with quite so much security. As I told you I’m looking forward to reading your report when it is made available as I have been led to believe it will be. I still have some more contributions to add to it.
I’m telling you all this on my blog because you indicated that you were well aware of Lincolndemocrat. BTW – My readership is peaking as interest in Art’s travails from curious bystanders, friends and foes alike check to see what the bloggy bs’er has to say. I consider it my to be as transparent as possible. Heck, I’m practically cellophane now that the Board has indicated transparency is a virtue.
As you read in the last three posts I am having a little difficulty giving your pledge of neutrality the full weight you earnestness invites. I’ve drunk too deeply from Matthew 10-16 in the New Testament to surrender to my naivety. Don’t worry, I’m not a Bible thumper. I’m an agnostic which does not prevent me from taking in good advice wherever I find it.
I have promised to send you at least two additional items which make two additional people a focus of your probe. I told you about an employee I’d spoken with who has a compelling story about mistreatment at the hands of our current Administration. I feel a little bad about alerting you to this person but I did take six pages of rough notes in my interview. As I promised you I will hand over those notes (copies really) to you after first typing them up. I’ll add to the notes my additional recollections of our conversation because I can’t take short hand but do have a pretty good short term memory. When we met I told this ex employee I needed five hours of interview in the two hours I had to talk. I think you will see in the fuller version I’m typing out that this employee offered a lot more than two hours of recollections.
And I too am a target especially after describing my meeting with the Superintendent to you. I did, as I told you, write down some rough notes after the meeting in the event it should ever become a matter of interest. Surprise, surprise. That’s just how it turned out. I did do most of the talking. Those note are in a pile of paperwork somewhere in my office. I’ll get them to you just like my interview notes from the unhappy employee. I rather resent having to waste a couple of beautiful days at my typewriter after our cold and rainy Spring/Summer but I’m leaving town in a couple days to visit my son. I guess I’ve got to get cracking so you can get on with your own work.
I actually woke up after three hours sleep last night and began typing up the employee’s notes. Darn, I had really hoped for a good night’s sleep since the night before I hardly caught a wink of it. I sort of hope that all the currently anonymous accusers are having trouble sleeping too. I know that’s sort of small minded of me but at least I’m being honest about my shortcoming.
There is, of course, one more potential target, or set of targets) in this investigation of yours besides me, Art and an ex-employee who little prospect of a generous referral from ISD 709 HR Department for a new job. That would be one or more employees currently serving the District. Until the brave decision to blacken Art’s reputation I had no great interest in sifting through the latrine for archeological evidence. (Did you know that historians recently investigated Abe Lincoln’s old outhouse in Springfield?) Its funny how when one person starts tossing buffalo chips it primes other people to get in on the act.
You have my sympathy for the tedious and dispiriting interviews you have to conduct. It can’t be much fun listening to people bearing so much animus. On the brighter side our School Board’s also just approved a civility policy. I thought you should know that in case it helped brighten your day.
If anything else comes up I’ll be sure to blog about it. I’m sure someone will alert you.
