I'm writing in response to your editorial about the public comments at the Lansing School Board meeting on 6/11/12. I'm contacting you about some factual issues with respect to the board's decision to allow community members to speak in opposition of granting a staff member tenure--specifically, that the board had the ability to shut down the discussion.

I encourage you to read the federal court opinion in Baca v Moreno Valley Unified School District (1996) and subsequent opinions upholding the decision. In short, school boards cannot allow positive and/or neutral community input without also allowing negative and/or opposing views. So, the board had no standing to shut down the discussion without violating federal case law. Moreover, the "complaints" were not subject to the chain-of-command procedure but were in reference to a pending board of education vote (whether or not to grant tenure) so, in this case, the complaint process was inapplicable.

Warm Regards,

Walker Reynolds
Lansing

v8i24

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