On the Other Side the Grass is Always Greener: LASD/MCC School Boards, September 16, 2024

[XLFD]

The regular monthly meetings of the two biggest school districts in Mason County took place on the night of September 16th, 2024, with the Ludington Area School District (LASD) meeting at 6 PM (following a 5 PM special meeting to hold a disciplinary hearing) and Mason County Central (MCC) holding their board meeting at 7 PM. 

Both meetings were short and low on action and discussion items.  The title of this piece refers to three topics that came up, one at each meeting, which weren't part of the board's actions but were the most interesting parts of these sessions.  Let me explain in three parts.

5 PM:  LASD, Browner not greener

As typical in a special meeting where a disciplinary hearing is held, the board convened and immediately went into closed session, and so I had to amuse myself for nearly an hour before the next meeting.  I decided to check out the greens at the Ludington Elementary School (LES) where this meeting was held (the administration office is currently being worked on).

Back in the summer of 2022, one semester after the LES had opened, a local expert on landscaping contacted me and wanted to show me some things at the new school pertaining to his field.  I saw a lot of dead and dying trees and grass.  And while many of the poorly planned landscaping done by an outside contractor was updated at extra costs, much of the problems still remain, especially under dry conditions as we have had late this summer.  

The front of the school has some degree of irrigation, but once you go over to the west side of the building (above pic), you see desert, open wasteland and trees that have lost their leaves at the top, before fall has set in.  Those evergreens planted in the background are likely there to hide this from parents who drop off their kids, but these conditions are all over.

Above, you see another area devoid of any healthy-looking grass towards the southwest corner of the school.  Some genius thought that putting eight maple trees close together in this area was a great idea.  If these trees stay healthy and grow, they will flood the immediate area with leaves at the beginning of each school year, and once a wind blows, those fences will make sure they stay there until they're picked up.  

The south side has patchy green weeds on occasion among the dead grass, but otherwise, it's mostly a dust ball.

The east side isn't any better with no signs of irrigation or any other sort of lawn care even though it is in a more visible area and is part of a play area.  

Even these newly planted trees in the LES's front yard (north) are feeling the neglect.  The leaves on top of trees missing are a sign of serious dehydration, one has to believe that the trees they replaced had the same malady due to the lack of any care by groundskeepers.  One begins to see why the board was inclined to want artificial turf at Oriole Field, because apparently they would rather want to replace the turf every nine years than tend a natural grass field.  

I urge everyone in the district to go and inspect the LES grounds for yourself to see the ecological nightmare the school has propagated.  I made it back to the meeting before they reconvened and decided to discipline the student and took this picture.

6 PM:  LASD, Grass greener in the other gender?

A couple dozen folks showed up for the regular meeting, despite the two actions under review being uncontroversial (approving bond expenses and changing policy allowing the superintendent to suspend a student for a month rather than ten days without board approval).  The three candidates for the two open seats and the two incumbents of those seats were all present.  Trustee Scott Foster (far right in picture), keeping to theme, informally wore a green shirt that advertised Guinness Beer.  As one of the two incumbents, this was a bad look, since students at the school are forbidden from wearing shirts that advertise alcoholic beverages.

One of the items up for discussion was Title IX, which thanks to some parents in the district being members of Moms for Liberty, was not an action item-- an injunction ordered by a Kansan judge saw to that.  Thus, after Todd Schipper announced his new leadership position in the LEA, and Mike Shaw introduced himself as a candidate for the position of city councilor, I gave out my position:

XLFD:  "In this election year, with a fair number of choices for the two spots currently held by Trustees Foster and Ashley, and with a very contentious topic in front of the board for discussion, but not action, I hope the incumbents and any candidates present will make their opinion known on that topic.  This year's Title IX amendments were the federal government's attempt to sneak in provisions that would allow gender dysphoric boys to compete in girls' sports and use facilities traditionally off-limits to those sporting the wrong parts.  

I've went to multiple meetings of all school boards in the county since March of 2023 when similar legislation was passed in Michigan Amending the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act, and yet in that period, until Dr. Corlett reminded me after last meeting, have I ever heard of that change.  I am likely not alone, the changes went mostly under the radar, with only a few state government sites and newspapers in the southeastern part of the state broadcasting the change.  

This is unfortunate.  As I made known at the last meeting, I would be uncomfortable sending any of my daughters or granddaughters to a school where they would allow the insanity of letting a boy participate in girls' sports and use communal showers, bathrooms, and changing areas designated for girls.   Then go ahead and discipline school employees and girls who objected to any boy making a claim of being a girl and taking advantage of Lansing's progressive agenda.

Rather than some meaningless campaign slogan or jingle, please give the voters some substance and take a stand either way if you are running for the school board.  Don't be as sneaky as our state government was last March. [END Comment]

While nobody took the bait of actually explaining their position on this important topic, I was contacted later by one saying that he would put out a stance on it shortly.  Trustee Mike Nagle would indicate that the second reading done of the Title IX Amendments would not mean anything other than they would be ready to act quicker later on when a final decision is made and the injunction is off.  

It was revealed later on that due to shoddy contracting, they would be re-siding part of the school at a cost of about $100,000, mostly picked up by Christman Corp.  Unfortunately, I hadn't caught that on my foray around the school, too distracted by the shoddy contracting work costing the school a good look and much more than $100,000 for three years running by the landscapers.

7 PM:  MCC, The green, green vomit-stained grass of Godwin Heights

I had a similar Title IX comment for this board meeting, which was very light on substance, to support Trustee Darrell Storvik who made his position known against it at the last meeting.  Such frankness over a controversial topic was refreshing, but Storvik probably doesn't realize that the state's Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act was amended back in March 2023 to do the same thing statewide.

Instead, I took the opportunity to ask for an update and first offer a compliment to their football squad to the very sparsely populated board room:

XLFD:  "Since I love both an underdog and my alma mater, I have to admit a guilty pleasure in seeing MCC's football squad wallop Ludington's on their home field.  This was additionally impressive, since Ludington battered their opponents 110-12 in their two other outings.  

Otherwise, I hope the district can give an update on the MHSAA investigation I initiated after the last meeting as to whether they have been able to supply to their investigators what they never supplied to me after a comprehensive FOIA request:  proof of eligibility for the student in question. [END Comment]

Trustee Barry Pleiness was willing to give me an update right after the comment, but since he likely didn't know about it firsthand, he allowed Superintendent Jeff Mount to address it.  He relayed that the MHSAA had found no improprieties and the case was dropped.  I verified this over the next 24 hours with my MHSAA contact

As you can see, the MHSAA does not conduct very thorough investigations, allowing the school district to pretty much act as its own policing agency.  Thus, a phone call to the superintendent and a couple of other items that do not indicate a change of address has actually occurred, allows them to say, we'll take everyone at their word.  With the individuals involved, that's not a wise thing to do if you are truly after the truth.

In the second comment period, Margaret Greiner, who will be a write-in candidate for the three trustee spots coming open (with only two on the ballot), lambasted Mount for not having Athletic Director Beebe attend any of the meeting over the last year when coaching issues were a hot-button issue (and still is) so that he could speak for himself.  She stressed the need for the district to mail out newsletters to those parents in the district who have no internet access or who prefer such mailings.  

Oscar Davila would volunteer to be the district's representative to the Michigan Association of School Boards annual delegate assembly, with Gena Nelson as alternate.  So where was the grass in this meeting and why do I think it should be listened to by the LASD Board? 

Trustee Pleiness made an additional comment at the end of the meeting that highlighted what I have been saying over the last few years.  He went down to Godwin Heights (in Wyoming MI) when the MCC squad went down to scrimmage with their team.  Both teams had put in a lot of effort, but over the course of the scrimmage, many of the players for GHHS would be throwing up, regularly cramping up, and ready to pass out due to the workout.  He noticed at the same time that MCC players were much more in shape and showed fewer signs of being stressed out by their equal efforts.

I checked after the meeting to find out that the game took place on August 29th at 7 PM at the artificial turf at the high school.  A check of the weather history shows the JVs would have been playing in temperatures over 80 degrees, the daily high, only slightly going down later on.

This meant that these young men were decked out in full football gear on astroturf that if it was the same stuff installed in Ludington, would have created a heat island easily above 130 degrees to those on the field.  If you don't realize this as an incredibly unhealthy playing environment, with a heat index deep in the red, you may be school board material.  

But Trustee Pleiness told his fellow trustees, parents, and other members of the public that they should be very proud that their young boys were made of stronger stuff than those of Godwin Heights who more easily shown the negative effects of dehydration, heat stroke, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and hypothermia than our boys at MCC-- not to mention the effects of unknown volatized hydrocarbons that may have been lingering in the overheated air over the tire crumb infill.  Thanks for unwittingly showing why that game should have never been played that night.