Editor,
I appreciate the effort and detail that went into a June 15 article on the protest and counter-protest outside South Whidbey High School on June 11. The reporter did an exceptional job of speaking with both sides and laying out arguments, counter arguments and factual responses.
Unfortunately, a member of our community made several false statements about how the South Whidbey School Board operates, statements which I feel warrant correction. These false statements range from minor to major and infuse every part of the quote.
On the minor side, South Whidbey School Board policy #1400 allows for public comment but does not specify length allowed. Gov. Inslee shut down in-person meetings in his Proclamation 20-28 on March 24, 2020. The Zoom Q&A system allows for comments of at least 1,476 characters, as we have received and read comments that long, and commenters have strung multiple comments together when they had more to say.
As for the more major falsehoods, I or another member of the South Whidbey School District leadership team has read public comment from community members at every business meeting and board workshop since board meetings moved to Zoom.
At the Oct. 14, 2020 board workshop, the board listened or responded to 102 comments or questions from community members. At the Jan. 27, 2021 business meeting, we had 69. The board has taken 20+ comments or questions from community members during many of the board meetings, and during the height of the pandemic, the board relaxed its usual rules on public comment to directly answer questions in addition to taking public comment.
The board did this because it felt it was important to provide instant answers where possible to parents, guardians, students, staff and community members during a public health crisis.
However, SWSD board policy #1400 is explicit that “the board is not obligated to respond to questions or challenges made during public comment.” This portion of the policy has been in place since at least 2018.
In addition to reading public comment at board meetings, I also respond to all emails sent to the board, and myself and Dr. Moccia have reached out to conservative members of the community to offer to meet with them individually or in a small group to discuss their concerns, but we have not had our offers accepted.
While there is always room for improvement, I believe that we have not silenced members of the community and have in fact gone out of our way to listen to and engage with the community. That is a belief, and certainly up for debate. But many of the claims that the member of the community made are simply false, and all discussion and attempts at improvement should be based on common truth.
Brook Willeford
Langley
