Thursday, May 20, 2010

Is crazy in the air back in Texas?

JessieHaynesweb[Right: BISD Spokeswoman Jessie Haynes. Photo from BISD website]

Yes, that’s right, I’m blogging about news back in my hometown. Try not to be shocked.

Thursday night, a sign outside the Beaumont school district’s administration building that reads “Recognized” (In regards to the state’s rating for the district) was changed to say a six-letter racial slur that starts with the letter N. I’ll let you figure out what that slur is…

Anyway, they had a press conference about it yesterday afternoon, and these gems came out of it:

[District spokeswoman Jessie] Haynes placed much of the blame for the vandalism on the media for allowing readers to leave comments on websites and blogs, then encouraged media outlets to remove critical comments directed at BISD, [district superintendent] Dr. Thomas and herself in order to prevent further escalation. She went on to say, “Little seeds like this grow into the Oklahoma bombing.”

Really? You think the ability to leave comments is what caused some idiot to do this. Ever think about the precedent you may be setting by asking media outlets to censor comments that are critical of you? That might be pretty ugly too.

You’d think that would be the extent of the crazy from the press conference. You’d be wrong:

When asked to elaborate on threats she said have been made against Dr. Thomas himself, Haynes stated, “We do not have police protection or a police patrol for him. His attitude is that he’s in God’s hands, and if God sees fit for it to be his time, then that’s his time. But he’s going to continue to do what he needs to do.”

Earlier in the press conference, Haynes remarked that Dr. Thomas “has it in his head” that he might “not have a good ending” by referencing the deaths of both Jesus and Dr. Martin Luther King. She said, “The bottom line (is) he’s going to still continue to do what he needs to do to make sure our kids are getting the best education possible.”

I… I got nothin’… I can’t follow that up…

And you’d think that would be all we’d get about Mrs. Haynes, but no! She’s the gift that keeps on giving! Tuesday a controversy erupted because of a book she wrote that was distributed to graduating seniors. I won’t go on about that, though.

Seriously, it looks like I might have gotten out of Beaumont at just the right time.

What do you think? Leave your “critical comments directed at BISD” in my comments section. As long as you keep it within good taste, I won’t delete them. Promise.

1 comment:

Jen said...

I want to know what that dude is doing that would make him a target for execution. I know his position can get controversial, but where is the precedent for superintendents getting knocked off? Sounds hinky to me.