Last night, I wrote this piece about the scheduled school board meeting and swearing-in ceremony for the new superintendent: Who the Hell Thought This Was a Good Idea? I was home trying to stream the meeting. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback that I got some things wrong.

I tuned into the meeting via the district’s website around 6:00 PM. After 25 minutes with no broadcast (others have said the meeting didn’t start until 6:30 PM,) the video began playing with the swearing-in of Dr. Bernier. Because there was no intro or clarifying detail on the web page, I believed I was watching something that was taking place in real time rather than a pre-recorded video of something that happened earlier in the day.

Thus, I was under the impression that the start of the meeting was delayed because they were having a reception. I posted several messages on social media, tagging the district with each one. They did not respond to clarify or correct. (I find that ironic as one of the items on the consent agenda was the renewal of a contract with a company to manage their social media accounts. Do they not think that they should monitor and respond during key events like a monthly board meeting? It was item 40 on the agenda, page 820 if you’re searching for it.)

As time went on, I wondered how long would the reception last and wrote my post. Actually, the Board meeting had gotten underway. Thus, under a mistaken impression, I blasted the Board for holding a party when they needed to get down to business. I was wrong about that and write this to correct my previous post.

I’m not taking down the post because this is what it’s like trying to provide information and a viewpoint in a never-ending cycle. News sites and journalists know this well as they try to meet deadlines and later have to edit their pieces as a fuller understanding emerges. I have chosen to write this follow-up to give more perspective for those who read Grumpy Old Teacher.

What in the post do I stand behind? I still believe that a special ceremony and reception was a bad look given the budget challenges the district is facing. They could have done the swearing-in at the beginning of the meeting.

I also expressed disbelief that the feed truly was experiencing difficulty. I was wrong about that, it really happened, but I stand behind my skepticism that I apply to statements from the school board and district administration. Often, they don’t give us the full story or will dissemble.

One of the challenges that the school board has is that many of us in the community have a low level of trust. Anyone following the saga of revising the Master Facilities Plan should pick up on that. Few of the people speaking out believe that the Board will revise their decision/plan based upon community feedback. This is a problem that the new superintendent will have to address. In his interviews, he expressed his understanding that trust has to be built in the community for a school district to achieve its goals.

I will also admit that writing a blog means the writer has to develop a style that fits the medium, that is, to apply wit and humor in a way that distinguishes the blog in the crowd. Sometimes, that devolves into unwarranted sarcasm and I am prone to that at times. It happened in last night’s post.

In closing, I want to thank the gentleperson who left a comment in a Facebook group about spending many years in charge of streaming the JEA meetings and the technical challenges in maintaining that are immense. Your perspective was a needed balancing for what I wrote.