BY MIKE FUHRMAN
A Statesville resident has launched a petition drive to put public pressure on members of the Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education to resign.
Patrice Miller, a 2016 graduate of South Iredell High School and recent graduate of Campbell University, launched the online effort on May 24 after learning that six of the seven I-SS board members met secretly via text message on more than 30 dates between December 2022 and April of 2023. (Only Charles Kelly did not participate in the secret texts.)
During the long string of messages, which Iredell Free News first reported last month, board members Anita Kurn and Brian Sloan — in a discussion about student discipline — joked about having Statesville High School students fight in a Thunderdome at the school’s football field. Vice Chair Mike Kubiniec and other board members also made comments targeting LGBTQ advocates on different occasions.
“Sitting on the school board means working with the community to improve student achievement,” Miller said. “It does not include breaking the law and laughing about what was done. This doesn’t show respect or integrity on their part.”
Board members have denied breaking any laws, and only board member Doug Knight has offered anything resembling a public apology. “I ask for grace for my mistakes,” he said during Monday’s committee of the whole meeting.
State law requires elected boards to meet in public. Whenever a quorum of board members meets to discuss school business, the public must have advance notice of the meeting and the meeting must be held in public. State law does not differentiate between an electronic meeting and an in-person meeting.
These board members, Miller said, have demonstrated that they are not suited to help district students “move forward and grow.”
Miller is not the first individual to call for the board members to step down. Statesville City Councilwoman Doris Allison is the most prominent person to call for the board to resign. Several Statesville High School students, in letters published by Iredell Free News, also called on the board members to quit. There have also been numerous calls for the board to resign on social media.
Miller hopes I-SS students and parents and concerned citizens will lend their name to the effort by signing her petition. And she hopes board members will do the right thing.
“These kids and the community deserve better because these children are our future,” she said. “They deserve to be taken care of, to go to schools and learn, and to have public transportation to and from school, they deserve meals from the school whether they pay for it or get free and reduced lunch.”
Read & Sign the Petition
Click HERE to read and sign the petition or visit https://www.change.org/p/stop-school-board-from-ruining-our-schools.
Related
Viewpoint: An Open Letter to the Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education
Viewpoint: This is what happens when voters elect partisan extremists to the school board
Letter to the Editor: Working at Statesville High School is a blessing
I-SS Board member asks for ‘grace’ following news reports that board met secretly via text message
Where do I sign!!!
Recall? Apparently according to an article in 2013 by Jim McNally in the Statesville Record and Landmark, in Statesville and Troutman,” voters can ask for a recall election for any or no reason, according to the ordinances in the city and town, respectively.” It was done once in 1963 over the
issue of integrating the public swimming pool. I wonder if what has happened recently, 60 years later, warrants a recall? Is recall an option in Iredell County government? If it is not allowed then it should be added to county ordinances to be consistent with Statesville and Troutman ordinances.
The two school districts that currently permit board recalls are Burke County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
Ms. Miller, please point out to me where it says the taxpayers are responsible for feeding and caring for your children? You state: “They (children) deserve to be taken care of, to go to schools and learn, and to have public transportation to and from school, they deserve meals from the school whether they pay for it or get free and reduced lunch.” Oh really? This seems like social welfare, perhaps a mindset of entitlement or just plain vanilla socialism where government (taxpayers) takeover the job of parents. I’m not sure where you learn this sort of thinking?Correction: you learned it in the public school system!
Yeah, I agree with Dan. Let the kids starve! Screw ’em. They should get a job and pay for their meals just like everyone else. Actually, here’s an idea: We could make them fight each other for meals in the Kurn Thunderdome!
No, don’t let them “starve”. Make parents be parents and they provide for their offspring. Is that so radical? You will never agree with anything other than it’s government’s (taxpayers) responsibility to care for your mistakes in life.
Dan, Patrice was referring to all children. Yes, ALL children deserve a free appropriate public education. If children are hungry, it is difficult for them to concentrate. Patrice has worked very hard to be successful. Where did Patrice learn to be a hard working, stellar student? From her amazing FAMILY. How do I know? I had the honor to be her public school teacher – in a school where children shared and used kind words. This is not socialism – it is loving thy neighbor as thyself.
That is part of the state constitution.
Yes, people do expect services for the taxes they pay. Feeding children would be my top choice for those dollars. Why on earth are so many people against taking care of children?
Patrice, I would love to connect with you and pull our strengths together. Will you be attending the school board meeting on June 12th?