This is exactly how Dr. Edwards acts in every situation. I was on the calendar committee for one year several years ago. It was back when they were first considering the calendar option of one week vacation every six weeks that the system now uses. Dr. Edwards’ minion opened the meeting by saying we as a group “were charged with finding a workable calendar for the next school year” and then gave us a list of parameters with which we needed to follow. Some were pretty basic….she wanted the first semester to end before the winter break, the teachers needed 2 days off for workshops, 90 days for each semester, etc…but the one that really stood out was there needed to be a week off every six weeks so students can ponder their learning. Given that we were “charged” with these parameters we did as we were told. We were given the opportunity to discuss other options but never given the opportunity to vote on them as they didn’t fit the parameters. The calendars came out exactly as she wanted, with school starting on the first or second day of August because once you start filling in the slots with her requests there aren’t many other ways to fit it all in. When the inevitable complaints started coming in from parents, the official statement from the administration was (paraphrasing here) Well, we didn’t make these calendars, a committee of parents, teachers and staff determined this to be the best options. Dr. Edwards laid the entire thing at the feet of the calendar committee. I’ve never believed another word out of her mouth since then.

I find it interesting that there’s more chatter around town about the redistricting than there is about the election. There’s folks who know exactly what each map shows but can’t remember if it’s Mark Jones or Lewis Arnold or whatever. The candidate websites and the taped forum with Q&A are good resources for folks who are still making up their minds.