Monday, April 21, 2008
Buist Under Fire Again for Racial Discrimation
The on-line version of the P & C is confirming rumors that have been circulating regarding Buist Academy. More to follow in Tuesday's paper. See Buist Accused of Discriminating Against Student. Another lawsuit.
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68 comments:
Thanks for the "heads up" on this one, Babbie.
While Im no supporter of the Buist admission policy, from reading the article its clear that this is a family trying to make a buck off of using the race card, these type of lawsuits only cloud the real issue of Buist.
I support Buist and think most of the people who post on here are full of sour grapes. I also think the family filing this suit is no stranger to the civil court system.
What is left out of the article is that Buist has also tried to force out children with physical disabilities. Buist is a PUBLIC school and should follow the law.
Evidently he was also allowed to be bullied at Buist just like the child from the same grade that later committed suicide. Buist is a sick place.
Wow - you people comment before knowing any facts. That child that committed suicide no longer lived in Charleston.
How do you make the relationship between bullying and grade point average? I guess you want special privileges given to those who don't make the grade?
How long should one not be held responsible? Sub par grade point average wouldn't be tolerated anywhere. What the paper failed to mention (because they probably didn't check into it) was the extensive process the school goes through with an academically struggling child. You don't just fail out after the first bad report card.
To the "sour grapes" poster:
I know this family and they are wonderful people. I hope you are never in a situation like this with your child. They displayed admirable courage by going public with this.
I wish the former Buist family with a discriminated against diabetic child had sued the school too. They had a great case but just moved on.
If Mrs. Ballard hadn't done the wrong thing then why did she not fight the ruling of the D20 board when they voted to allow him back in the school. Sounds like an admission of wrong doing to me...just like a certain 2 day vacation.........
I know this family as well and have seen the father be rather difficult on several occasions. So much so, that I had to remove my children from the area. I've also seen him pull the race card out of nowhere when things weren't to his liking.
You can't say that a year of misery at Buist didn't contribute to the little girl's mental state. No one can deny that she was treated roughly by her peer group. Why is this tolerated by Buist when the child is of color like the late little girl and the boy in the article?
There's a lot of smoke here....I think there's a fire.................
The boy came from another downtown school, right? Shouldn't Buist give a little extra help to a kid from this educational apartheid?
The transition into Buist had to have been shocking on many levels. I understand that many downtown principals discourage even their smartest students from going to Buist because they always end up returning.
Buist will survive this because it is a school made up of fathers that are lawyers.
This is worth repeating:
If "the race card" can be played to help this and a lot of non-minority students, and it's the only tool left in the tool box, then use it.
Buist is a corrupt special interest school that has turned away and turned out many kids with "disabilities". These are not "dumb" kids or they wouldn't have qualified to get into Buist in the first place. Very intellegent, capable students who are diabetic, have moderate vision imparments or who may be mildly dyslexic have been put out of Buist in recent years because Ms. Ballard doesn't want to deal with the extra work required. Why else would she have left so many seats vacant in the upper and more difficult middle school grades. She's just playing the numbers game with her school report card.
Often kids that have these types of diabilities are highly capable but need alternative and individualized help with their approach to normal study in order to compensate for the diability. With patience they frequently can become very successful.
Next time you look at your own child or family member who wears glasses, has an allergy or needs to sit at the front of the class to see or hear better...just think of them as having a "disability". Would you call them defective, dumb or stupid? Appearently Sallie Ballard does.
This is just one more example of how out of touch with reality this school's adminstration has been. Enough of this. Fix Buist now and use whatever tool is available.
PS: The D20 Board didn't just order this child to be readmitted to Buist. It found that the principal had erred by pressuring this child's parents into leaving without having followed the child's IEP or informing the parents of their appeal rights. Ms. Ballard has been too selective in how she chooses to follow the rules. It's Sallie Ballard that has given a racial pattern to her selective use of the rules. I hope these parents win this argument because ALL of us will benefit from this correction. Double standards hurt everyone and keep this school from excelling beyond its present limitations.
There were was an ugly incident against Jewish children at Buist a few years before that. A Buist teacher was involved. It was handled just as poorly.
Yes, but that teacher left the school. It was handled badly but Sallie Ballard can't control everything that her staff says.
I understand some sort of expert on these issues was brought in from the Jewish Community Center to educate Buist about this. It wasn't ideal but at least something was done. Plus, that was 3 or 4 years ago.
Sallie had a lot to deal with at that time because I remember that was around the same time as the death threats against the teachers that made headlines. She has a tough job! I wouldn't want it!
I'm sure incidents happen in all schools but you hear more about it because it is Buist. There is natural resentment by people looking at it from the outside.
Plus, Sallie had to work without an assistant principal for about a year. How could she do it all?
While the thought makes me want to vomit, I detect a few Buist parents on this blog. There's no lawsuit and there's no "buck" to be made. It's a civil rights complaint. It's called federal law, people, whether you like it or not. The OCR wouldn't even be investigating this if there wasn't some validity to this complaint. Educate yourselves and take your blinders off.
I can't help but wonder if the parents of the children who think it's okay to use racial slurs at Buist are some of the same parents on this blog.
Again, it's worth repeating:
Some people don't get it because they don't want to get it. Sallie Ballard made exceptions for some, told them they had appeal rights and didn't do it for others. The IEP issue was brought to the constituent board's attention AFTER Sallie Ballard told the parrents their child HAD to leave Buist because his math grades were ONLY a "C". But the important issue here is that she didn't tell these parents the truth (as she had to others).
And would someone tell me what the county school administration would do if a parent complained about Buist not following an IEP without appeal rights protected through the constituent board? Nothing. That's why the parents eventually appealed to the constituent board (which is their right, a fact that Sallie withheld from them) AND that's why Sallie Ballard didn't appeal the reversal of her actions. She was wrong. But what came out of the hearing was the fact that Sallie Ballard had shown a pattern of this behavior that was particularly directed against Black students at Buist.
The District 20 constituent board voted unanimously (3 Whites and 4 Blacks) to overturn Ballard. It was the constituent board that also recognized the racial issue and recommended that an OCR complaint be filed. If it walks like a duck ... you know the rest.
Where is Dot Scott on this issue? This is bigger deal that fears of "future discrimination" at a charter school. The NAACP should stand by the Godfrey family. Why is Buist off limits?
Also, why did the reporter not get a statement from Toya Hampton Green on this issue? Does the think everything is just fine at Buist? It might be working for her kid but she is the downtown seat holder and this is a downtown family.
Where is Ruth Jordan on this issue? Finally she has something to get outraged about. Ruth?
Sallie Ballard should go. First there's the admission cheating cover up. Then therre's the failure to fill the vacancies while schools like St. Andrews are forced to take Buist's referals. Now there's the princpal's attempt to force a child to leave the school without protecting their rights to appeal, the same rights she extended to others. This whole thing is hiding behind the excuse of student privacy when it's really to hide administrative incompetence. Ballard should be mercifully retired.
Of course there are some Buist parents on here - how else would you have any positive comments except from those who have first-hand experience? Those who are so negatively opposed to Sallie Ballard and Buist obviously believe what the liberal media spins vs. experience.
Not much is tolerated at Buist in terms of misbehavior. I do have a child a Buist and I have a child that didn't get in. (I don't think the latter was due to a conspiracy, either.) My child has has been reprimanded for the simplest misbehavior.
I am surprised at those that have such strong negative opinions...yet no experience with the school or its administration.
mlm - I don't believe pulling the race card is right no matter the cause. Whatever the issue, the truth should speak for itself. Yes, this child got into Buist - but perhaps it's not the right environment for him if he's not making the grade. He's not the first to fail out of a school, is he? Every parent is given a handbook that spells out the policy of maintaining a certain grade-point average and what happens if you don't. Where is the surprise here? Should he get a pass because of his race? Would that be right?
mlm - how do you know what the Godfreys were really told?
Because Ms. Ballard has done this before.
An outline and description of the complaint is also available through an FOIA request. That's how the Post and Courier reporter got it.
You don't think CCSD is volunteering any of this, do you?
One thing is certain. CCSD is full of leaks.
"Where is the surprise here?"
The surprise would be if Buist followed its own rules, but under the current administration it doesn't.
And Maria Goodloe never pulled the race card "out of nowhere"? She accused anyone of being a racist who questioned her if they were not Black. If they were, she'd humiliate them until they backed off. Then her departing words were to call CCSD and Charleston a plantation. Then there's what Ruth Jordan did last week. It seems a lot of people are inclined to play the "race card" way too much. However, when it applies, and in this case it does, play it.
Buist was founded in 1986 on rules specifically designed to keep Black kids out (or to a minimum) and that was considered to be the same thing as keeping District 20 kids out. Nothing has changed except the names, faces and fanaticism of the people who are carrying out those race base policies today.
This kid has rights that the Buist administrators ignored. Those are the rules. Buist has now been caught (again) breaking the rules.
I really wonder about the humanity of some of these people who defend Buist to the end and find so much fault with every critic. There is no sour grapes here. Only a desire to correct what is terribly wrong with our public school system in Charleston.
I completely agree with the poster above. And what frustrates me even more are the Dist. 20 Buist parents who sit quietly enjoying the "free" education their children are receiving knowing what's really going on. Shame on you, Wilborns, and all the rest of you.
I'm shocked that posters on this blog actually want to blame the students for teachers "walking out" on their jobs. Administrators need to ensure their teachers have proper classroom management plans and skills. When a teacher is properly supported by his/her principal she can withstand any teaching environment. When we use Visiting International Faculty to fill foreign language positions at our at-risk schools, CCSD officials are to blame. You're setting them up for failure.
When 8th graders are denied a certified English teacher, we're all to blame.
The underlining concern is the leadership of Sallie Ballard. She is really not a school leader and should not be working in anyone's school. She is horrible. Personally speaking, she is the reason Buist Academy cannot advance as it should and become the "hub" of the community as it deserves to be.
I am really amazed at how long she has lasted. She is just so well grounded in this community and alot of people cover her mistakes. It is just not fair.
She is inconsitent in all she does and very clueless concerning any educational policies and practices. How can a woman who is so dumb be in charge of CCSD's most gifted and brightest students? To me, it just does not add up.
I hope the Office of Civil Rights expose her for who she is. She needs to go.
The Godfreys are taxpayers just as many downtown families. They deserve to have their son at Buist Academy. Yes, he may have some learning disabilities but he should not be denied a fair and appropriate education, which Buist does provide. As the community, we should rally behind the Godfreys. We should applaud them for their efforts to conquer this beast of a woman who calls herself an educational leader.
I hope the people on this blog as well as the one sponsored by the Post & Courier who have been so quick to criticize this family and their child know what they are doing. They have been brave enough to raise this complaint which does have merit or it would have been taken up by the OCR for further investigation. The other thing to remember is this student is currently attending Buist and is trying to succeed, despite the vile comments made by some people, including some who admit they are also parents of students at Buist. They are helping to create a special kind of hell for those in an already highly competative invironment. Nice going on setting such a great example for your kids about fairness and the academic search for truth and knowledge!
Correction to the 8:59am post above.
I hope the people on this blog, as well as the one sponsored by the Post & Courier, who have been so quick to criticize this family and their child know what they are doing. This family has been brave enough to raise a complaint which does have merit, or it wouldn’t have been taken up by the OCR for further investigation. The other thing to remember is this student is still attending Buist and is trying to succeed, despite the vile comments made by some people, including some who admit they are also parents of students currently attending Buist and are probably this kid’s classmates. The comments made by these parents are helping to create a special kind of hell for those who dare to challenge the status quo while trying to hold their head up in an already highly competitive environment. What about the cause of the underdog in an American public school setting. This picture is saying the wrong thing about our educational system. Nice going on setting such a great(?) example for all the other Buist kids about fair play and the academic search for truth and knowledge!
Anonymous 4:15 p.m. - you said:
"I don't believe pulling the race card is right no matter the cause. Whatever the issue, the truth should speak for itself. Yes, this child got into Buist - but perhaps it's not the right environment for him if he's not making the grade. ..."
That's right - maybe Buist isn't the right environment for him. But if Buist is not following his IEP, *as required by federal law*, then the issue of whether he belongs at Buist shouldn't even be on the table. The school has to live up to its legal obligations before this kid's qualifications to be at Buist are even relevant.
(Disclaimer: I don't know this family, and I have no idea whether his IEP was followed. However, as I read the P&C story, the D20 consituent board's decision was based on a judgment that the school had not followed the federal law. It had nothing to do with whether this child actually should be at Buist.)
1st. I am a Buist Parent.
2nd. I find it amazing and hypocritical that there are those here that will shout down and insult or bully a poster because they may happen to be a supporter of the school or just not agree 100% with the negative posters... You attack the school for being elitist and against anyone that is different, yet you go crazy if anyone has a different opinion... seems you are guilty of what you are against..
It seems some posters on both sides of the arguement are rational and openminded but some (esp those against) are so extreme that it becomes comical...
The poster and many others who say
Buist parents are only doctors and lawyers.. Well.. I am not, and am boringly quite middle class.. I have two children in the lower grades( you know the grades that are supposed to only be filled with rich cheaters) and of the 80 families in these two grades, there are exactly 0 lawyers and 1 Doctor (a phd professor mind you) I would actually say just about everyone is middle class or lower... Sorry, thats just the truth...
Further- for example in my one childs room class of 20, there are 6 African Americans, 1 Mixed Race, 2 Asian decent, and 1 Middle Eastern decent.... That's not diverse!!!? Again, sorry just facts....
I don't know whether this family has a valid arguement or not... I would not be shocked if they did, but in any school of 400 or any business or originization of that size, you are going to have problems, slights, unfairness, etc. No place is perfect.. Buist is an evil place?? What about the top two private schools in Charleston that have had teacher sex abuse scandals?? Children that once went there committing suicide later on.... horrible, but Porter also knows what that feels like.... Are the Godfrey's overreacting or 100% correct? I don't know, and I don't know them, but my one experience with Mr. Godfrey is witnessing him reduce a parent volunteer in the carpool line to tears as he got out of his car and screamed at her because she brought out two "White" children before his kids even though his car was ahead of theirs.... As the poor lady tried to explain that she called out all 4 kids names at the same time, but one of his kids was on the playground so she took the two ready kids first and was coming back for his, he pulled out the race card for sure and was completely out of line... So I have a feeling he may be a hothead, may see perceived bias in an extreme way... doesn't mean they don't have a real complaint, but it certainly has to color how valid the complaint is....
Anyway, just a few viewpoints on my part, I'll now watch the insults towards me start flying:-)
Viewpoints for sure. What I find perplexing is that no Buist parent seems to care to address the admissions cheats, regardless of what they do for a living.
We can all list the reasons we rant or rave about a school, but what about the facts that are mounting against against the argument that its leadership is competent? Shouldn't this be a serious concern to the parents of students in this kind of educational setting?
Rather than take the comments and concerns when they were first brought up as constructive criticism, most Buist insiders just gave a blanket denial and circled the wagons. The more facts that came out the tighter the defense against all criticism. Sounds like a seige mentality to me. Viewpoints we all have, but the facts are stacking up against the status quo at Buist.
It's not the idea of the magnet school that galls so many people. It's the arrogance and attitude of entitlement that show little or no regard for those in such great need just a few blocks away. This can't be a good thing for the kids who witness this.
Fellow Buist parent:
I have only seen Mr. Godfrey behave as a perfect gentlemen at Buist. Considering what they have been through it is amazing he can remain calm. I'm sure the car pool incident was a misunderstanding but that family has been through hell.
I don't think it's fair to post something negative about Mr. Godfrey on a public blog. You might not know the whole story.
Also, you have to admit that the lower grades are almost all white and nearly all black students come from Mt Pleasant!
There's no denying that who the principal is sets the tone for the whole school. Sad but true in our case.
I know in the 2nd grade, none of the nine black students are from Mt. Pleasant.. once again facts go against extreme statements...
Perfect gentlemen, huh? Check the record.
Extreme statements come from sour grapes. I thought tantrums went out with adolesence.
How does anyone know the history of this child's academic career and what this is really about? Has anyone stopped to think about how the Post and Courier got involved with such detail??
Why does it matter where black, white, asian or other come from? It's an academic magnet school whose students come from all over the county getting in based on luck of the draw and then testing.
The fact that there is an uproar that District 20 children should have rights to the spots available is a new wave. The school was a public school that was closed down in the 60's and sat vacant for nearly 20 years. The magnet school was formed in the 80's and remains an academic magnet school.
As parents of such a sterling academic institution, it is sometimes impossible to see beyond the mistakes made by Sallie Ballard. You have all been convinced that she is a stellar administrator. However she is not. Therefore, personally speaking, I cannot refute the claims of these parents. Where there is smoke, there is a fire. I am 100% behind this family. Justice will prevail!
"The fact that there is an uproar that District 20 children should have rights to the spots available is a new wave."
Got to break it to some of these newbees, there have been a string of broken promises involing Buist and its relationship to District 20 going back to when it was started in 1986. Don't forget that the develpment of Buist Academy as a magnet school located where it was is the direct result of a civil rights case stemming from the racially segregated way in which CCSD had administered District 20's schools. Buist was supposed to "correct" the negative effects of segregation and discrimination that CCSD had placed on downtown residents and students. Now more than 20 years later, nothing has changed.
"new wave"? No, this is an old story that is just now gaining traction on a broader level.
It matters where the kids from Buist come from because Buist functions to keep downtown schools segregated. Nearly no children at Buist are black and from downtown. All of the other downtown schools are 99-100 per cent African American and ignored by CCSD.
Buist is downtown only to make it appear that some downtown children are going to school in a well funded and integrated environment. Buist should get moved to Mt Pleasant so that CCSD will have a spotlight on just how little they offer to downtown children.
After that all of the downtown schools should be closed and all of the downtown kids should be sent to the excellent rated Mt Pleasant schools and Sullivan's Island Elementary.
Maybe then downtown people will gather together and create downtown charter schools that are well integrated like the new Math and Science school. CCSD has failed downtown children so miserably that there is no hope for what is left for children in the current schools.
Why do downtown tax payers put up with this? So many of the children of our community are sent to Burke unable to read!
Also, from an environmental and traffic standpoint it makes no sense for Buist to be downtown when most of the children come from Mt Pleasant.
Rally 100% behind something that has been spun in the media by the family? At least hold out 10 or 20% I agree with an above poster, you have wonder where all this information in the paper came from- do you know the whole story?
For the poster who keeps making the ridiculous statement that there are almost no blacks in the lower grades, and any that are black are only from Mt. Pleasant...
In Grades K, 1 and 2 (the grades full of rich whites/no blacks)
10 black Charleston kids
5 black North C kids
2 black James Islanders
3 black West Ashley residents
2 from Hollywood
1 from Adams Run
1 from Awendaw and......
4 from MT. Pleas (two being twins)!!
Seems that you are wrong, and seems that these kids come from all over the county which is what a COUNTY MAGNET SCHOOL should be....
Quit trying to make false racial bias statements, please...
I appreciate you taking the time to give numbers. I have to admit I'm curious as to where you receive your information. I'm behind on reading the comments on this posting, but from what I understand, there has been an accusation of Buist keeping true District 20 residents out of its school. I believe the accusation of Buist also deliberately keeping black Dist. 20 residents out of its school has been made.
So your numbers just simply reinforce those accusations.
You state out of 120 slots, 24 are black students....that's one-fifth! Out of 120 slots, ONLY 10 of those students are black students from District 20.
Are you listening to yourself? And that's if the information you've provided is factual. We all can agree parents use false addresses. Does anyone else find it interesting that 24 is exactly one-fifth of
120? But then again, what is it they say about coincidences?
Whew!! Babbie, the mention of Buist surely brings out the comments, as it has in the past also. There are such differences in opinions being voiced. I have to agree with one blogger who said that District 20 students should be taken to the schools in the Mt. Pleasant district. ALL students deserve a good education.
The facts are there in response to the person claiming that almost all black kids in the school are from Mt. Pleasant... That is false....
Your arguement is different, but valid, but you also are forgetting the many non black minorities in the school.. In those same grades I mentioned there are several children of Asian descent some from District 20,several children of Middle Eastern descent- from Distict 20 and elsewhere, several mixed race children- District 20 and elswhere, Indian, Turkish, etc.. Point being its much more diverse than you think and that others claim.... Its wrong to simply claim diversity only comes down to black and white..
Nothing in those numbers substantiates a "Deliberate" attempt by Buist to keep out minorities... There are many factors that are reflected in the %'s-- lack of quality preschool with some minorities being one and also simply a lack of minorities applying... Now I know you can argue that minorities are not applying because of the perception they won't get in, but thats a broader arguement that won't be solved by us.. However, its ridiculous for you and others to always claim a racial bias as the reason for a lower % of blacks... and you also always seem to forget the other minorities...
My views are still valid... the crazy statements that all kids in the lower school are white- from Doctors and Lawyers is utterly false...
"I believe the accusation of Buist also deliberately keeping black Dist. 20 residents out of its school has been made.
So your numbers just simply reinforce those accusations."
Entry into Buist is based on a lottery - luck of the draw and then the child has to pass the test. There is no racial quota that has to be met and the numbers are what they are. They accept 20 District 20 children every year. The racial breakdown is random. Every child goes through the same avenue to get in.....it breaks down the way it breaks down.
Why don't those who love to hate Buist spend their time and energy on more positive issues and they might not be so angry and bitter.
Only 30 of those spots are guaranteed to Distict 20 kids and 10 went to African Americans.. That's 33%!! You are wrong to use the #120 slots and only 10 are District 20 kids.. Those 120 slots are not supposed to be all District 20 kids...
The true # is 33% went to District 20 that are supposed to. As the above blogger said- if you add in the other minorities from District 20- the percentage is even greater and blows up your arguement.
He or she also shows that the greater minority students population are from all over the county- further blowing up the arguement that only Rich/connected Minorities are "allowed" in.
By the way, what exactly is this elusive # of blacks that you feel would make it more fair?
Because in a school based on knowledge or achievment testing to get in- you are NEVER going to have it break down that those that get in are the same as popluation percentages... There are too many other factors that make this statistically impossible... So, again, what exactly would be fair? I'm going to guess whatever # is deemed more fair is going to get just as much arguement from both sides!!
The YCAT is not an aptitude test, nor is it an achievement test. As has been well-established, it was never meant to be a test for gifted and talented. Also, none of these pro-District-20 posters would be quite so incensed if they thought that the lottery had been fairly run over the last decade or so. There's plenty of evidence that it has been manipulated and plenty of evidence that parents have used false District 20 addresses to get in. If CCSD had done its job as it should have, Buist wouldn't be such a hot-button issue.
What's really going on is the black kids from Awendaw and Adams Run are using fake addresses! They're really from Mt. Pleasant!!!
Just kidding! kind of ridiculous to think that IMO, but I guess some of you do
Whatever the YCAT is SUPPOSED to measure, any type of testing is going to make it impossible for those that get in to break down exactly along race population percentages. There's no answer or no test that is going to satisfy those that are against Buist.
Buist does as good as job as anyplace. You will never satisfy everyone because there are too many agenda's and motives
at work..
And if you don't test, then Buist wouldn't be the academic institution that it is.. Whatever Buist's problems- it's providing a good edjucation for children in the county. Whether you take a spot from a County kid and give it to a Dist 20 kid or take it from a Dist 20 kid and give it to a County kid- you still end up with the same thing... a child in our community being edjucated. So many of you want to use Race as the issue because you know it gets attention.
I, for one, when I look at a Buist playground see a very diverse student body with all races/ ethnicities and all areas of the County represented.
"Does anyone else find it interesting that 24 is exactly one-fifth of
120? But then again, what is it they say about coincidences?"
The true number the blogger provided was 28 black residents. Do your math again. So this 1/5 conspiricy theory of yours is false also..
oops -
I forgot your Mt. Pleasant kids...sorry, my mistake. Now what would be their "plan B?" Oh, yeah, the excellent rated school they're zoned for.
I have to admit it's fun to know my comment riled up a few Buist parents while I was enjoying a beautiful day at the beach.
I have to admit it's fun to know my comment riled up a few Buist parents while I was enjoying a beautiful day at the beach.
That type of response just shows that your hatrid of Buist is greater than whether you are right or wrong.
Everytime a Buist supporter makes a valid and strong arguement or outright destroys the negative comments on here, the Buist haters just ignore it and throw out another issue... You want the Buist parents to admit there are problems and not be naive, yet you can't admit when you are wrong on an issue....Instead you just take potshots.. Maybe we could all come together if there was some give on both sides...
Sadly, in the end, no one is going to have their opinions changed. That's the way life is. Today though- the Buist supporters have certainly won the debate if the best you can come up with is false statements and delight in making people mad
Go Buist and here's to its diversity and education.
Buist parents are often shocked when their children get to high school these days. Buist is not preparing children as it once did. Sorry to burst your bubble. PACT scores are not the only thing to shoot for.
Mrs. Ballard should spend less time on the political game and more time focused on what the children are learning.
I'm just catching up on all of this but Buist parents have hit a new low. A CHILD is discriminated against and unfairly kicked out of school. It is so clear cut that when the D20 board votes to have him back at Buist Sally Ballard admits she has violated due process and doesn't fight the readmission. Clearly this child was treated poorly.
Yet Buist parents attack the family on a blog because they can't admit that anything can go wrong at Buist. If that child was white this would be a different story.
I also don't believe the poster that touted the Buist diversity. Just a few weeks ago the whole school was shown in a Post and Courier photo. A teacher had lost a bet and was kissing a goat or some other farm animal. I think it was some sort of fundraising celebration for a charity. Lovely, but please! Nearly every face in that picture was white!
Less than a mile from Buist is the "black" magnet school Charleston Progressive gets next to nothing from CCSD. SAIL? IB? An assistant principal and a full time nurse and a full time guidance teacher? 4 foreign language teachers? Full time music, PE, art and sailing and tennis teams?
If any other downtown school ever gets any one of those things they can rarely count on keeping it for more than a year. Buist is not paying for these luxuries with Title 1 money. Why is Buist so protected in such a tight budget year?
Actually considering all that Buist is given the test scores should be much higher!
Do you really think those who criticize Buist "hate" Buist? Hate isn't in my vocabulary. Personally, I don't comprehend what the word means.
Disgust for the inequities in District 20 schools? You bet.
Frustation in CCSD allowing parents to falsify addresses to take slots from true Dist. 20 residents? Most definitely.
Disappointment in Buist parents who can't look in the mirror and see that when they remain silent on these issues, they are as much to blame? Yes to that one, too.
Your children attend school with children of parents who feel they're "entitled" to cheat the system. You know who they are because you socialize with them and attend their birthday parties. Personally, I don't see how you do it.
Pretending a few black kids from throughout the county being allowed to attend your school makes all of this okay, just makes it worse.
In reviewing this blog and much of the distaste for Buist, I have noticed a common theme. There is a lot of false information out there that has either been spun by irritated parents or the media. Although I don't know the story on everyone, there are some children who have been "listed" as cheaters who are legitimate and either you don't know the whole story or don't want to hear it.
Some children and families are being listed as cheaters because they lived in an address during the application, lottery, testing and acceptance - and subsequently have moved to another home. There was no cheating involved yet they are being labeled as cheaters. Several of whom were accepted on a list OTHER than the district 20 list so the address is irrelavent.
Know the facts before you call families cheaters.
You've got to be kidding me. Who are you saying was listed as cheating that didn't cheat? If anything, too many cheaters went unnamed.
Sallie, is that you?
Irrelevant?
I really look forward to the above request. Who was mislabeled as a cheater? And why didn't they sue for defamation?
And who said that people who used Dist. 20 addresses but came in on different lists didn't affect the lottery?
I really can't believe we're still here. I agree with the poster above...more names need to be revealed.
I'd like to thank the poster above these last two postings. I am one of the ones who has been falsely accused. I did live downtown at my in-laws condo and my back still hurts from the nights I spent on their queen size bed...in their one bedroom condo...so my child could ride his bike to school for a few days. We really did live downtown...for a few days...
And for that matter, my sister-in-law has also been falsely accused. She did live on Ashley Ave. Dental chairs just don't make very comfortable beds and so she had to move her family. It was very stressful. Root canals during naptime just don't work.
I also have some friends from Folly who were in very stressful financial times. They had to live at the husband's ex-wife's townhouse with his grown daughter. It was quite crowded but he did pay the electric bill.
I think it's great that you're being honest about hardships with friends and yourself. I, too, faced financial hardships when we were remodeling our home on Sullivan's Island. We did, however, chose to not send our child to Buist after our home on Mary St. was pictured in the Post and Courier. While we may have not been there at the time the reporter knocked on our door, it was embarassing for our home to be pictured in the Post and Courier. (We have since had our home on Middle St. featured in a prestigious magazine).
I also know the friends referenced in the posting above. Asking the ex-wife for shelter on Addlestone Ave. was very demeaning to them. We should not cause these people any more pain than they have already endured. Those people have also since made more financial sacrifices by claiming 6% (as opposed to 4%) on their home on Folly Beach. If anyone deserves to be at Buist they do.
7:23 and the rest of you - I'm not one of those named in your little dialogue. It may surprise you, but I agree, if you cheated - you shouldn't be admitted. I just know, for a fact, some names on "your list" didn't cheat the system in any way. Your researchers are confusing their timeline and reporting misinformation.
And for the poster who wants to know who is posting - name yourself.
Kind of funny that one of the leaders against the "cheaters" at Buist happened to get into the school when her family "lived" above her husbands downtown Vet office!!
Must have been fun living where the animals were supposed to be overnight... but none of the Buist haters are hypocrites, are they?... They just get rightous when their next kid doesn't pass the test...
Actually that family has lived downtown for more than ten years. The vet clinic had an apartment above it and the family owned no other property. Check the tax records.
Funny, when I knew them they didn't- less than 10 years ago.. but I will believe you... So if that is true, doesn't that show you that some "Suspicious" admissions could really be legit.. People do live in carriage houses in downtown family homes, do live in apartments downtown while a house is being built, etc... Can be completely true... yet, you attack them and call them cheaters at the drop of the hat..
7:23 pm here. I didn't ask you to name yourself. I asked you to name who had been falsely "labeled."
I'm waiting.
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