Gaslighting aside, there are definitely some folks who will support this realignment and others who will decry it - mostly based on how they perceive their outcome. If they're moving to a "better" or closer school, logic dictates they will be happy. This board is undoing the previous injustice and they want this redistricting to happen. For others who are moving to "make room" or "align to the forecast", they will publicly crucify the BOE, committee, and process. It's super easy to do that on these boards anonymously. So it's very difficult to wade through the commentary on both ends of that spectrum because context matters.
Where this really begins to break down is how the line is drawn between the 2 camps - those who are getting a good outcome versus those who are getting a bad outcome. Regardless of your stance, there are very clear issues with how this is all playing out. I can't say for sure how much of it is conspiracy, inexperience, or incompetence. My guess is that it is a little of all 3. The committee was handed a nearly impossible task to begin with and changing core criteria (i.e. removing no questions asked, changing capacity) late in the process invalidates much of the work done to this point. From a conspiracy perspective, there is obviously a back channel from the BOE to Cropper's map edits. He is fed information that the committee doesn't necessarily have and he is being guided by the people paying for his services. To argue that based on how the maps have evolved is silly. The inexperience of the current board is fully on display, won't even bother with examples. The incompetence is fuzzy to me because that is where you bleed into potential conspiracy territory. When it's obvious the BOE has been long working to reallocate the bond funds, certainly back as far as the realignment committee process started, nothing was mentioned. The board knew that they would be changing the bond allocations and that it would impact the planned capacity at certain schools. Yet, they presented the future capacity numbers per the bond as voted on by the county. I can't imagine a scenario where this wasn't an intentional and conscious decision by the BOE... not to share their bond plans with the committee/public long before they outed themselves by presenting it to the BOCC. If you're calling the board's transparency into question, it appears justified.
I won't get into the raw politics of the drama around Rape's foot in mouth disease or the chair kicker's faux outrage. It's embarrassing and I suspect eventually when it comes out that we all paid legal fees to defend the cowboy for shooting his mouth off, it will get more interesting with how he was the choice to bring a censure vote to Rape. Pot meet kettle. But honestly, this is likely unavoidable as every board will have members who play out their own little reality show for us. Small time politics.
As we come into the home stretch, much of the focus will be on the committee's recommendation to the board. It was an ugly choice to have the committee vote on individual neighborhoods in open session and I hope that doesn't happen again. But, I suspect it will and on many levels it's the board offloading their dirty work and giving those who are getting a bad outcome their bogeyman. It will get lost on many people that ultimately the board can (and will) do whatever they want neighborhood by neighborhood as they give the committee members a hard time. The board could very well bail out the committee by passing much more grandfathering, but that appears to be pushed off until the February BOE meeting... which will be after the committee makes a recommendation. Crappy timing.
When I started this thread a year ago last week, I was looking for my popcorn and by and large it hasn't disappointed so far. So I will pose a couple of questions passed to me from Sunshine CJ, a comrade and fellow popcorn muncher from the last redistricting. I'm sure he will be reading replies:
Quote:
Just have two questions for the thread:
1. Why does CAPS want in Weddington HS instead of Cutty with Cook Jr as principal who takes after Marvin's Cook and doesn't put up with parental involvement or influence?
2. Does SVHS get a turf field? That would be awesome for their lax program...
I'll be watching and snacking on popcorn.
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