Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Tonight was the first Board of Ed meeting in Norwich. Want to make any wagers on if I was in attendance?

If you had money on "yes, you were there" .. ding ding ding WINNER!

I spoke during public comment in May - pretty eloquently - imploring the BOE to take a long, hard look at the way they budget AND spend their money. Then I went back in June and, you guessed it, spoke again.

In July, I met with the Superintendent and in August with her and the Chairperson of the BOE. 

I'm serious and I'm not going away. I'm passionate about this and will not be deterred.

Last week, I tossed around the idea of speaking at tonight's meeting. I could share with them what I said at Moriarty Back to School night. I could tell them how I issued a challenge to the families to attend ONE more event than they did the previous year and to volunteer one more time. Then I should challenge them, the BOE, to talk to one more parent than they did last year, one more teacher, attend one more event, or return ONE freaking email from an interested, engaged parent. 

After writing Highs and Lows, I thought I could share that with them. Tell them that the highs and lows that are getting shared around my table all relate to their time at school. They love music, technology, gym, and writing. The lows are things like "when we were done with our science experiment" or "when I had to leave school for the day - I LOVE school" I would tell them that I do not think I have a unique experience, that my kids are representative of many our students. That our staff is doing really AMAZING work and it shows in our students. 

So after thoughtful deliberation, I decided not to speak at all .. I figured who wants to get the reputation for being "that mother" who is always complaining. 

Tonight I attended the meeting, I listened, I took notes. There are things I heard that make me shake my head .. I heard things that literally wanted to send me running from the room, hands in the air, screaming. There were things I heard that made me believe - there is much work to do. 

I got in my car to head home and thought .. I should have. I could have. If I could do it again, I would ..... 

I'm not dwelling on the the shoulda, coulda, woulda ... it might be different next time.