Saturday, March 26, 2011

No apology needed from Monica Clark

The Northwest Herald reports that District 300 school board member Monica Clark has apologized for using some four-letter words during Wednesday night's "contentious" school board meeting. Apparently, her voice was picked up by sensitive microphones while referring to the meeting as a "XXXXing sham" and to some students as "these little XXXers." The Northwest Herald decided to keep itself out of hot water by using XXXX to replace whatever four-letter word Ms. Clark used.

Where was the School Board President Joe Stevens in all this? What was he doing to maintain decorum and respect during the meeting? Where was Superintendent Ken Arndt? Was the principal from Dundee-Crown High School there?

Maybe they need a copy of the Dorr Township Public Comment Rules.

When, according to the Northwest Herald, Nicholas Spindler mouthed off in a comment directly personally at Ms. Clark, should Board President Stevens have jumped right in? YES! Maybe he did. If he did, I didn't see it reported in the paper.

The impertinent comment by Spindler was, "Monica Clark, can you please look at me when I'm speaking?" Who does he think he is? She is "Ms. Clark" to him. Maybe she should have lectured him on his grammatically incorrect sentence!

And, worse, when some unnamed student claimed that Ms. Clark was "either falling asleep due to her old age or is obviously bored due to what I am saying", he should have been cut off and kicked out of the meeting. Don't they have any guts in Carpentersville?

Perhaps Ms. Clark's choice of words might have been a little better. Why do I think, though, that XXXXing and XXXXers are words one might hear every day on the Dundee-Crown campus, even in the buildings and classrooms?

I was reminded of the words of a minister in Denver who had been accused, and later cleared, of molesting his step-daughter. When asked by a reporter from The Denver Post what he thought of the charges, he said, "If I weren't a minister, I'd say it's all bullshit."

So, Ms. Clark, you might regret what you said, but you owe no one an apology!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. An impressive defense of someone elected who is unable to control her mouth. Family?

Gus said...

Johnny, thanks for your comment.

No, I've never met her.

Have you ever let a few "choice" words fly and wish you hadn't?

Unknown said...

Wow - it sure sounds like she has the best interest of children in mind. Nice language, especially considering two football coaches were fired for using profane language in the same district. Maybe she shouldn't have been looking at her cell phone and those comments would not have been made. Teenagers sometimes say rude things - if a teacher replied in that way to one of the rude comments a student made they would certainly lose their job. Shouldn't a school board member be held to the same standard as the teachers they employ? As the adult in this situation she set a terrible example. If she was offended, she should have addressed the situation in a more appropriate manner, as a teacher would be expected to do. Hopefully the voters see this and choose not to re-elect a person who obviously does not have the best interests of students in mind.

Unknown said...

Your article sounds a little off to me, I cant place my finger on whether you dislike children or those Carpentersville people. Anyway she is in a position that is considered "leader in the community" . Also she was voted into this position. So YES she owes everyone a big apology.

Gus said...

I don't dislike children of "those Carpentersville people." I dislike disrespect and rudeness. Yes, her remark was out of place. She knows that.

Who was controlling the her antagonists? No one. The president of the school board should have asserted control over the meeting. Apparently, he did not.

Unknown said...

I reject your premise that the student who asked Monica Clark to attend to what he was saying had "mouthed off" and was being "impertinent". This student is a very well-respected young man both at school and in the community. Just because someone is older does not mean they can be rude and disrespectful to someone who is younger. They should instead be a role model for all, especially when holding an elected position. Monica Clark should be ashamed of her behavior.