Monday’s meeting of the Perry Community School District Board of Education may have lasted only three-quarters of an hour, but a request made late in the proceedings could have a lasting impact on one child in particular.
Jesse and Beth James appealed to the full board to reconsider the denial of their request to open enroll their son out of the district.
Superintendent Lynn Ubben noted the deadline for open enrollment cases for the 2015-2016 school year was March 1 and that March 1, 2016 would be the deadline for cases involving the 2016-2017 school year.
Ubben stressed the importance of each child’s safety but thought the situation might be resolved when the students involved were sent to the sixth grade next year, where it would be easier to separate them. The superintendent noted she had been in contact with the James’ and had reviewed the initial request, which was originally denied largely because it had been filed months after the stated deadline.
Beth James readily admitted their request had been late, but the circumstances that initiated the action in the first place had worsened and not been completely known until after the deadline.
To support her case, James produced for the board printed copies of many of the internet attacks, including evidence purporting such actions as recent as July 23.
Board members looked carefully at the material James provided but were reluctant to make an on-the-spot decision.
The board opted to study the situation further before deciding whether to reverse the original denial.
Beth James told ThePerryNews.com that it was the desire of the family to have their son open-enrolled to Woodward-Granger.
“Obviously they (W-G) cannot say anything officially and did not come out and tell us yes,” she said. “All they told us was that they would be happy to hear our case, but only if Perry approved the request. They made it very clear that they did not want to interfere in any way, which we understand.”
It was not immediately known when a final decision on the matter will be reached.
Video courtesy of PEGASUS TV 12 volunteer Doug Wood. To see air times of this meeting of the Perry School Board, click www.pegasustv12.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUA-I-DKMxc
