Promotiongate Update: Is the tide turning?

A couple of developments on Promotiongate gleaned from the Facebook blogs and conversations with confidential sources.

Based on press reports today the District has stiffened its spine and will NOT reverse the decision to cancel the formal promotion or culmination ceremonies.  Michele Krantz, the principal of Pico Ranch Junior High and my new hero, articulates the position for cancellation detailing the logistics of having three ceremonies and the disruption to school schedules.  She does not relate the extra viglilance required by her to damp down prank behavior at the ceremonies, which also weighs on administrators’ minds.

On to the blogosphere where one sees a divergence beginning to arise between the two main Facebook pages.  The sponsor (?) associated with the Rio Norte Junior High School page is clearly deleting posts that are not favorable to a promotion ceremony, and parents claim to have communicated directly with Board member Gloria Mercado-Fortine who states the District cannot forbid site celebrations paid for with private money.  (The District discourages this stating that if parents can raise money they should put it to the more substantive use of supporting academics.)  Having been involved with the Rio Norte community over the course of three students (and three horrifically boring promotion ceremonies) I don’t recognize any of the names in the small sliver of volunteer parents that perennielly do all the heavy lifting for school fundraising, so I think this effort probably dies when someone actually needs to collect checks.  Further, if Michele Krantz is any indication, the adminstrators will not actively support any private efforts.

The other Facebook page is more free-wheeling, and in the last 24 hours has taken a decided turn toward the “anti” camp.  I nearly busted a gut reading the extremely articulate, pithy and sarcastic wall posts written by a person identifying himself as Zak Thompson, a student at Academy of the Canyons, who is a John Stewart in waiting.  Obviously, someone somewhere is being taught grammar and sentence construction!

With the next Board meeting under a week away, the next big test of the “pro” crowd will be the planned protest at Rio Norte on Friday, March 26.  Stay tuned!