Jonathan,
THANK YOU for the excellent report and for representing the BB at the meeting!
Indeed, Matt delivered a powerful presentation. Very impressive for an eighth grader!! And, the parents (~40) seemed all for it. The principal and vice principal seemed to be the only detractors. The parents however, definitely backed up Matt by passing the resolution to spend PTO money for the bike rack shelter and then by getting Matt's dad on the LSIC. Definite forward movement!
The principal, Mr. Napolillo also opened two huge opportunities: Bicycling Safety Education in the school and a School Bike Club.
How will the BB act to realize these opportunities?
*Also last night, Matt's dad, Jack became the parent representative on the school safety board so he would be wonderful to work with to get bicycling education into the school. (BTW, Jack is Chairman of WVU Department of Sports Sciences.) Who will do this?
*South Middle School has a bike club and Mark Thorne is the teacher sponsor. Perhaps a BB member could learn from Mark how to establish a club at Suncrest Middle. Who will do this?
Perhaps Damien can advise us on how to get Bike Route and School Zone signs erected around Suncrest Middle School. Jack Watson is preparing to make this request to City Council. Will we help him?
Frank
On Sep 4, 2012, at 10:26 PM, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote:
Thanks to Frank for attending!
Matt Watson spoke eloquently in front of a large audience of parents and administrators requesting that a bicycle rack (Positive Spins) be allowed on school campus, and asked for $300 from the PTO.
Principal Napolillo took the floor and immediately said things similar to what Frank reported to us when he previously visited the school. Then he said, "and besides, you should have brought this to the LSIC, because they are the one who have the decision making power in this matter, not the PTO." His greatest concern was that the road in front of the school lacks good sidewalks and signage, and that the City needs to fix this first, and made it clear that Suncrest Middle wants to be on the City Council agenda. He felt there needed to be bicycle routes, too.
The parents spoke up, one questioned why students are allowed to walk to school if they can't bring their bicycles, too. Another parent pointed out that Suncrest Middle School is one of the few remaining schools accessible from its own neighborhood.
The PTO voted on the $300 motion. It passed! Although it is still contingent on the LSIC. Frank asked if he could speak, and did an excellent job contrasting bicycle routes, trails, and lanes.
I had to wait until the end of the meeting to find out what LSIC stands for. It's the Local School Improvement Committee. I think it has this format, 3 parents, 3 teachers, 2 service personnel, and 2 people hand picked by Napolillo. Napolillo made it clear that he is an administrator-type (and he certainly is) with 35 years of administrative experience, and to avoid conflict this committee was designed as a way to facilitate communication between the school board, administration, community, school and parents. The LSIC was on the agenda because they needed two new parents to become members.
Jack Watson was nominated and another parent. They both won unanimously, the other winner told the Watson family they he would support Matt's initiative!
Afterwards, the principal came over to talk to us, Matt, Jack and (but not really) me. I think he was impressed with Matt, and that Jack was going to be on the LSIC. His tone had changed significantly, and he was already discussing possible locations for bicycle parking.
Jack confided with me that he feels confident that bicycle parking is going to materialize at Suncrest Middle School.
-Jonathan
On 9/4/2012 12:37 PM, Frank Gmeindl wrote:
Thank you, Jonathan!
Recall that Nick offered to donate a rack. I don't know if Watson got it. If he did, the conversation should shift from "where will you get the money for a rack" to "where will we put the rack".
Frank
On Sep 4, 2012, at 12:28 PM, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote:
I am definitely there!
-Jonathan
On 9/4/2012 12:13 PM, Frank Gmeindl wrote:
Bicycle Board Members,
This is a reminder that Matthew Watson will be presenting tonight at 6:30 pm to the Suncrest Middle School Parent Teacher Group his petition to have a bicycle rack installed at the school. It would be good if some BB members were there... and very cool if they showed up on bikes and locked them to appropriate facilities:)
Frank _______________________________________________ Bikeboard mailing list Bikeboard@bikemorgantown.com http://wvcompletestreets.org/mailman/listinfo/bikeboard