Parents and staff urge faster contract negotiations and raise grading and account-access complaints

During public participation the board heard two substantive public comments. A custodial staff member said night custodians are often working alone at elementary schools and urged the district to add part-time help and expedite contract negotiations for custodial staff. The speaker said they appreciate a newly hired substitute but asked the board for ‘‘a little more urgency’’ on contract ratification.

Later, Edward Gate returned to the public microphone to raise multiple allegations about his children’s classroom grades and to accuse the district and the superintendent’s office of blocking his communications and intimidating parents who raise complaints. He said his parent portal (ParentSquare) account had been blocked and asked the board to restore access and to designate a professional (he suggested the school counselor) to serve as a point of contact and keep him informed. "They're taking aggressive position with me, blocking my email, blocking my parent Square account," Gate said. He described numerical grading examples and said his daughter received a higher raw score but was recorded at a lower performance level; he asked the board to conduct a survey about superintendent-office performance because, he said, other parents are reluctant to come forward.

The board chair acknowledged the comments and said staff would follow up on the questions raised. No formal board action was taken during public comment beyond the pledge to follow up and to address the concerns outside the public meeting.

Because these are public complaints about individual student grading and family access to school communications, the board did not conduct any public inquiry on the record; the speaker requested (and the chair agreed to) follow-up contact from district staff.