Before we share our questions for the Aristocracy at tonight's Constituency Meeting, we'll first introduce you to SAA's Constitution and Bylaws.
Any legitimate organization has founding and governing documents such as a charter or a constitution. A well-run organization usually has the pride and confidence, and transparency, to make that document publicly available. That document would tell you very important facts about the organization’s structure, authority, limitations, and governance and more. Therefore if you wanted to find out about, for instance, its board of directors, or its provisions for checks and balances of power, you could simply read about it in that governing document.
In the case of SAA, a constitution document does actually exist, but you’ve probably never seen it or read it before. You may scour the SAA website looking for it, but your search would be in vain. Maybe that's just an oversight? Or maybe the current SAA administration and Secret School Board are intentionally hiding it? Whatever the reasons may be, they are inadequate.
Transparency demands that such documents be made easily accessible. Unfortunately, transparency is not a core value at SAA – but our readers know that secrecy, silence, and hubris sure are. Don’t just take out word for it, one long-time, generational Secret School Board Board member openly declared at last year’s Constituency Meeting that "I hate the term 'transparency' because it just doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.” [See The Main Event - Delegate Q&A - Part 2] Just what you want to hear from the SAA Aristocracy, right?
Eyes On SAA has sources within the SAA community, for which we depend upon and are very grateful. We received a copy of the SAA Constitution from one such source. So this unofficial, unauthorized Blog is currently the only place on the entire world wide web where SAA’s Constitution is available for reading. Think about that.
Here are a few important provisions from SAA’s Constitution relating to tonight’s Constituency Meeting:
I. Article V defines the "constituency" of SAA as the membership of its exclusive constituent church - Spencerville SDA Church. We have already cataloged the repeated and systematic disenfranchisement of Spencerville's church members by its own leadership in our recent blogpost: RIGGED
II. Bylaws - Section B details precisely those duties which the (disenfranchised) constituency is charged with. Notice that it does not say: "13. Be a rubber stamp for whatever the Aristocracy wants, says, and does."
III. Bylaws - Section C sets the timeframes for the Constituency Meeting to be notified, published. and held. These requirements were violated last year and this year, as we detailed in RIGGED.
IV. SAA's Bylaws - Section C.4 requires 1 delegate for every 25 church members. Last year there were 81 delegates. This year there are only 65. That's a full 20% decrease in delegates. Therefore if Spencerville SDA Church adhered to the SAA Constitution & Bylaws, then the 20% drop in delegates would directly reflect a full 20% decrease in membership from 2021-2022. Really? Membership has dropped 20% in one year? From 2,025 members to 1,625? We don't believe that. Check the church bulletins over the past year - do you see a mass exodus of existing members defecting that dwarfs the numbers of new members joining (even if just for the tuition discount) that results in a loss of membership - of a full 20%? Nay. Nah. No. So either Spencerville SDA Church's membership is dying, or its church leadership is lying. We pick Door #2 - lying - the delegate count is again RIGGED.
V. You will find carefully screened, vetted, and groomed names on the very recently-unmasked SAA Secret School Board list, but you'll never find the name of a teacher or even a teacher's representative there (Attention Mrs. Walker - you don't count as a "Teacher Representative" because you don't represent the teachers - you fire their best administrator then duck for cover). But at least SAA's greatest asset, its hard-working and dedicated teachers, get to be delegates for the Annual Constituency Meeting - where their votes can be thoroughly diluted by a RIGGED delegate slate, all the members of the Secret School Board, and all the suits at the Chesapeake Conference who sold them out last April Fool's Day.
VI. Finally, here's who runs "The Show": Secret School Board Chairperson Mark Noble, and his deputy parliamentary code enforcement bulldog, German Rodriguez. They're the executive producers, directors, and the lead actors (Mrs. Bowerman too) - and the bouncer - so there is no doubt, this is their "Show". It's all RIGGED.
There's more in the SAA Constitution & Bylaws which you can read at your leisure.... or you can just ignore it like Spencerville SDA Church leadership does!
Anyway, now that you have more information about the who, what, where, when, and why of the Annual SAA Constituency Meeting, we bring you what you really came here to read:
Eyes On SAA’s Questions For Tonight’s Constituency Meeting
Lillian Hepburn-Richmond has prepared a list of important, substantive questions concerning operations, management, transparency and accountability, for Delegates and Non-Delegates alike to ask SAA’s Head of School and Secret School Board Chairperson (the “Aristocracy”) at tonight’s Constituency Meeting. These are questions that stakeholders have been asking and deserve to get straight and substantive answers to.
If you have additional questions you would like delegates to ask, or that SAA should answer regardless if they are asked, feel free to post a comment to this blog with your question.
As we did last year, we will prepare a report on what takes place at tonight’s 2022 Constituency Meeting and post it to this blog.
A. Abnormally High Turnover of Administrators & Teachers:
1. How many teachers are leaving SAA after this school year? There was already a mass exodus of teachers in 2021 following the politically-motivated and idiotic firing of Elementary Principal Judie Rosa. What's the count this year? Will we reach double digits for a staff of 41 (as per the website)?
2. How does this and last year’s staff turnover compare with the average turnover rates of other schools?
3. To what do you attribute these high turnover rates?
4. What measures do you take to remediate the disruption and discontinuity this causes teachers, students, and parents?
5. Why can no administrator (especially 3 people of color) either survive or tolerate working under Tissiana Bowerman? Mrs. Rosa was fired less than 2 years in. Mrs. Paul-O’Neil left less than 2 years in. Her successor, Mr. Regis, announced his departure after 8 months. These are indisputable facts.
B. Neutrality of SAA Administration/Staff on Controversial Matters
6. Is there a policy or practice in place requiring neutrality of teachers in presenting or discussing material of a political or controversial social nature?
7. Are there any consequences of a teacher in failing to remain neutral in their presentations and discussions? What would those consequences be?
8. Is it the explicit or implicit direction of the school to incorporate Critical Race Theory (CRT) into the school’s curriculum? If so why? If not, why not?
9. What policy steps or measures will be taken to ensure that CRT is, or is not, incorporated into the curriculum?
10. What is SAA’s position on efforts in academia to normalize or promote LGBTQIA+ expression or alliances?
11. What is SAA doing to stop the promotion of ideologies normalizing LGBTQIA+ expression or alliances in this school?
12. Does SAA teach its students Biblically-based sexuality in an organized or systematic way?
C. Follow-Up to Eyes On SAA Blog Posts:
13. Is it true that a SAA staff member slapped 1 or more SAA students? How were those children supported by SAA after this incident? What punishment was imposed on the SAA staff member? For background, see our Blogpost: Report: SAA Teacher Physically Assaulted 2 Students
14. Why has SAA failed to bring back an affordable lunch program since December 2021, by instead offering unhealthy foods at high prices for "fundraising"? Fundraising by making a necessity (a child's daily school lunch) unaffordable for less affluent families? How equitable. For background, see our Blogpost on how SAA’s children’s school lunch program disappeared.
15. Where can SAA families access the SAA Family Directory to contact other families and build community? Why was this directory removed from RenWeb access? For more background, see our Blogpost on the confiscating our school family directory.
16. Why does SAA never offer any town-hall meetings for Mrs. Bowerman or Mr. Noble to provide information to parents about decisions being made, and answer their questions in an open forum? Strictly enforced 2 minute time limits for Q&A at a propagandized Constituency Meeting once per year that begins at 7:00 p.m. does not qualify as a town hall meeting. For background, see our Blogpost: The Main Event - Delegate Q&A - Part 2
17. Is SAA’s vaccine-passport mandate still in effect? By whose authority was this mandate approved? Will medical and/or religious exemptions be given to those who apply? For background, see our Blogposts on SAA's Vaccine Passport Mandate and In Government We Trust?
18. When and where did the discussion of a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), which was promised by SAA Secret School Board (SSB) chairperson Mark Noble to the 2021 Constituency Meeting, occur? What was the outcome of that discussion? How was that outcome made known to the SAA community? For more background, see our Blogpost
19. At the 2021 Constituency Meeting, Tissiana Bowerman made the following promises, for which she must provide evidence of fulfillment:
A. SAA’s curricular material (including textbooks) will be posted online for parents to examine, and which other material would be considered by curriculum committees. (For more background, see our Blogpost: The Principal's Report - Part 2) Has this happened? Where can these curricula and materials be found?
B. SAA will begin “PFE” (Partnering for Eternity) a mentorship program for cross-generational relationships that will provide scholarship money for elementary and secondary students (See our Blogpost: The Principal's Report - Part 2 ) Has this happened? How has this been communicated to the SAA Community?
C. SAA will begin “Disciple Development” of students by engaging them in activities and a “Spiritual Growth Plan” by developing plans/benchmarks/themes based on character traits (See our Blogpost: The Principal's Report - Part 2 ) Has this happened? How has this been communicated to the SAA Community?
D. Inclusivity & diversity will be intentional in the classrooms, a curriculum is being developed for classroom implementation. Meanwhile, teachers and administration are working toward those goals but without the framework. Mrs. Bowerman’s expectations going forward are professional development for staff, a search for best methods and materials, and to work with our community and continue following the plan that NAD has on this. (See our Blogpost: The Principal's Report - Part 1) Has this happened? How has this been implemented?How has this been communicated to the SAA Community? Is "inclusivity and diversity" code for CRT still being snuck into the school by activist staff members with a hidden agenda of divisive political indoctrination?
Lack of Transparency of SAA School Board: (See our Blogpost: Spencerville Adventist Aristocracy (SAA))
20. Does SAA’s Secret School Board (SSB) actually claim to serve in a representative capacity for parents of students?
21. Without their contact information, how are parents expected to contact their representatives on the SAA Secret School Board (SSB) with their concerns?
22. How are SAA Secret School Board (SSB) members actually chosen? There is a widespread perception that SSB members are quickly and quietly approved by the Spencerville Church only after having been selectively recruited or groomed in a backroom manner by Tissiana Bowerman, SSB Chairperson Noble, or Spencerville SDA Church Pastor Chad Stuart. Is this accurate? If not, what is the actual process?
23. Are there any term limits on SAA Board membership?
24. Will SAA Secret School Board (SSB) meetings be streamed for the convenience of stakeholders to observe the proceedings? If not, why not?
25. Are the meeting agendas of SAA Secret School Board (SSB) made readily available for stakeholders to read? If so, how? If not, why not?
26. Are the meeting minutes of SAA Secret School Board (SSB) meetings made readily available for stakeholders to read? If so, how? If not, why not?
27. Are stakeholders given the opportunity to directly express their concerns to the SAA Secret School Board (SSB) at its meetings? If so, how? If not, why not?
28. It seems like there are not consequences for bad decisions by administration, and that the SAA Secret School Board (SSB) just always backs them up. Are there any “separation of powers” of operational authority between the SSB and the administration? Are there any “checks and balances” between the SSB and the Administration?
Or is the SSB nothing more than a hand-maiden to SAA Administration?
29. Can you describe the last 3 times in which the SAA Secret School Board (SSB) exercised any such checks and balances of SAA Administration?
General School Oversight Matters:
30. To whom should parents report matters of concern regarding the administration?
31. To whom should parents report matters of concerns regarding the school board or its leadership?
32. Explain how it was in the best educational interest of SAA students for the school to remain primarily online for most of the 2020-2021 school year, when so many other private schools offered much more in-person learning?
Thus endeth our questions.
As we did last year, we will prepare a report(s) on what takes place at tonight’s 2022 Constituency Meeting and post it to this blog.
Shining Light. Breaking Silence. Holding Accountable.
We’ve got Eyes On SAA.
-Lillian Hepburn-Richmond
(A Cohort of Concerned Parents)
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