DON'T MESS WITH JISD

Since the Administrator and Board of Trustees of JISD began recent talks of a possible Bond Election to build new schools, their have been letters of intent to take civil action against Mr. Don Gateley of Jacksonville by Attorney’s representing WRL Contractors of Bullard and now Superintendent Stuart Bird of JISD concerning a letter to the editor on Sept. 01, 2005. Both were seeking a letter of apology to be printed in both the Jacksonville Daily Progress and the Tyler Morning Telegraph. Attorney’s for WRL Contractors were contacted and Mr. Levine has spoken with Mr. Gateley and has decided to drop pursuit of legal action. After attending his first JISD meeting in almost a year, Mr. Gateley was served a letter from the Richard’s law firm, representing Mr. Bird, seeking the same remedy on the same issue. The issue at question was the elk hunting trip which Mr. Bird has admitted publicly and privately that took place.
The citizens of this community may not be politically active, but they are far from stupid. This is nothing more than a move by these parties to silence the people who watch over the actions of the Administration and Board of Trustees of JISD. How many of you would know how much JISD paid for the 33 acres of land in 2000 had it not been for these watchdogs. How many of you would have known about the elk hunting trip had it not of been for these watchdogs. Many other actions have been spoken of publicly and because of this the general public has been given the opportunity to know what is going on within our public schools.
If this action by Mr. Bird and his Attorney’s is allowed to proceed, who of you will attend these board meetings or question their actions? We must not allow this action to silence public opinion and participation of any governmental agency. Taxation Without Representation??? This is not the American way!
Please call Mr. Bird at JISD and tell him to put an end to this today, and show your support for open meetings and public participation.