Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:22:16 -0500
From: Mark Stinson
Subject: Child abuse and blatant neglect , a parent speaks out
This statement is my opinion and beliefs based on what I have personally witnessed . I am voicing my opinion as my right of free speech .
What would you do if someone abused your child ? What would you do if someone’s arrogant and self centered actions were so destructive to your child that your child lost a years worth of progress and development just to work through therapy to regain what they lost . What if someone neglected to do their job to provide support for your child but instead blew you to the side because you and your child didn’t matter to them . What would you do if that person threatened the people that helped your child the most to have a normal happy life ?
My youngest child was abused when he was very small and this resulted in light adhd and anxiety . He was locked in a closet and left alone on numerous occasions before he turned two years old suffering mal nutrition bruises and burns with several injuries to his head . He was so traumatized he had nightmares for years after he came to live with me. We have had him in therapy on a regular basis since he was very small . He is very intelligent and very active . We have worked hard to help him get past the nightmares , bed wetting and soiling . He slept under my arm curled up in my bed until he was 8 years old . I worked with Paul Tierney and several other child
specialist to help my son adjust and function more like any other normal child . The teachers and principals we worked with were our greatest asset as they listened to us and worked with my son so he could excel academically . The little things they did really didn’t cost the school system anything but the effort made all the difference .
Last year before Christmas he had finally started sleeping in his own bed . His bed wetting was almost gone and he hadn’t had any accidents soiling his pants at school . We finally were making progress with him towards normalcy . Like any other child he responds well to structure, routine and consistency . His favorite part of the day was his ride to and from school on the bus .. For nine years the bus stopped in front of our home to pick up all three of my children . It was his routine to get on the bus , talk with friends , get in the mood for school , go to school , ride the bus home and tell me about his day . It was the perfect structured routine for him . I had struggled for years to get him to this point and he was finally there until the bus route was shortened and they dropped my child’s bus stop completely . I went through the channels starting at the bottom until I finally reached Mr. Logan . My son could still ride the bus provided he walk the length of three football fields, nearly a quarter mile down Merritt Brooks Rd then cross Bonlee Carbonton rd and wait to be picked up . I related to Mr. Logan that I cant walk well or much less drive safely before about 10 am due to my physical health problems . I am considered fully disabled due to the nerve damage and physical injuries I received from being hit by lightning on four separate occasions not counting 5 car wrecks were I totaled all 5 vehicles . Mr. Logan stated that my son could walk it and he ( or someone he had sent ) had measured the distance from my door to the new stop that day at 2 tenths of a mile that it was perfectly safe for my son . He said he would not send the bus back to its original route . I proceeded to call him a damn liar since I had been here all day and no one , not one person had come to measure the distance or look at what Mr. Logan was requesting my child do alone to and from the bus .
Lets look at what Mr. Logan requested my 8 year old child do to get on the bus . Merritt Brooks is a paved state up kept road . My son would be in my line of sight for less than 250 feet before he is totally out of sight of anyone for the rest of the walk to the stop . He would have to walk the remaining distance to the highly traveled Bonlee Carbonton road and cross it alone to wait in a neighbors drive in all kinds of weather conditions . My neighbor is 80 and almost as far from the end of the drive as I am . My child would be totally unsupervised standing in a drive at the crest of a hill where there is a slight bend in the straight away so its blind from both directions . Not only is it a blind stop its dangerous with all the kids driving to Chatham Central in the morning burning the road up plus everyone else going to work . This is where it gets even better , we have two registered sex offenders that drive right past that stop every morning on the way to work where my child would be waiting on the bus alone . We timed the bus before the stop was cancelled . From the time the bus turned onto Merritt Brooks , picked up my son , turned around and returned back onto Bonlee Carbonton rd was a whopping one minute and 30 seconds !! Mr. Logan estimated it cost $3 to $4 a day to pick up and drop off my child . Firstly if it cost $4 a day for a one minute and 30 second bus stop someone running the bus program needs to be fired , secondly , Mr. Logan knowing my child has difficulties and that I am disabled was willing to endanger my child’s life just to save $4 a day . Now lets look at what he’s doing to the teachers that I depend on and trust with my child like family . He has made it clearly known that any teacher that speaks out against his plan to reorganize the schools will be on the top of the list of teachers he will have to let go due to budget cuts next fall . My personal opinion is that is a direct threat to the teachers and represents the same bullying tactics by children we are trying so hard to dismiss from our schools .
There are a number of parents that have had similar experiences with Mr. Logan when they asked for his help . I had to find another parent to take my child to school because the stop was eliminated . My son thought it was somehow his fault and he regressed rapidly . He grades dropped , his nightmares came back , he started wetting the bed and soiling his pants at school again . His temper tantrums came back with a vengeance and we estimate that the change in routine and structure caused by Mr. Logan being so arrogantly inflexible caused my child to regress and loose a years progress . We have worked hard to get my son back up to speed again and he’s doing ok but no where near where we thought he would be before this major disruption in his routine .
To the BOE , Your decision will send a statement to all the parents and voters of this county as to what you stand for . Are you going to stand for our teachers , parents and children and retain the integrity of our schools to work with us through this difficult time to make necessary cuts starting from the top down or are you going to back Mr. Logan and start a major revolt that will tear our schools apart and send a message to our children that democracy and majority rules doesn’t exist in Chatham County ? Are you going to tell the parents , teachers and children of this county we do not matter ?
I owe nothing to Chatham County Schools as it has done nothing for me but cause me grief under the leadership of Mr. Logan . I owe my overwhelming gratitude and support to Bonlee Elementary School and Chatham Central High School . My children came to live with me with over 80 combined days absent or tardy with failing grades but Bonlee Elementary’s dedicated teachers worked with me . My daughter Chelsie flourished with the excellent learning environment of our K-8 program and continued to flourish through high school to earn a full ride scholarship at UNCG . She made it onto the deans list and will complete her second year there soon . My oldest son Tristan has excelled in sports and academics with a mild case of bi polar disorder due to the efforts and support of these schools . He has one of the highest academic levels in the county and is currently ranked in the top 10 in the state 1 A high school wrestling conference . He is on track to earn his full ride scholarship with nomination to the Teaching Fellows Scholarship Program . I want my youngest child to have the same opportunities but I fear with a major reorganization of schools he will suffer catastrophically long term as well as many other students that will not tolerate such a drastic change in their schools .
To sum this up in my opinion , Mr. Logan isn’t really concerned with parents or the kids if he is willing to endanger a child at an unsafe bus stop for $4 a day . He is displaying the same bullying tactics to control teachers we are trying to teach our children isn’t right and wont be tolerated in school . He has the largest and most expensive central office staff we have ever had but parents and teachers still have to cut through tons of red tape to get any help from that central office . He has bullied parents and teachers alike to force us to accept his grand plan to reorganize our schools . I ask you ,, do we need someone like this running our school system ? Do we need this example for our children to look up to ?