During the February 14th school board meeting, I was accosted in the hallway by
District 623 school board member, Lisa Edstrom. My letter to the full board
and the responsive letter I received from Chair Gogins are attached.
In lieu of the full board discussing this issue and determining what action
needed to take place, including Ms. Edstrom apologizing and taking
responsibility for her actions, Chair Gogins came to her defense. She
dismissed what Ms. Edstrom did to me and shamed me for standing up for myself
in response to Ms. Edstrom’s very aggressive behavior toward me.
I had spoken at the February 14th school board meeting during public comment
time and was trying to leave the building when Ms. Edstrom left the board
meeting, tracked me down, and began angrily spewing false accusations and
threats to “come after” me. She did this from within inches of me with her
hand raised at me while blocking my access to the door.
>From what I could gather, she had somehow become convinced that I had said
something about her son. (I had, and still have, no idea what she was talking
about.) My attempts to reason with her were futile and she continued her
aggressive behavior toward me. Feeling very threatened and bullied by her, I
ultimately tried to verbally stand up for myself and defensively grabbed her
wrist because she had her hand raised up at me in a threatening manner.
Finally, she went back into the school board meeting and conducted business as
usual.
The experience shook me up so much that I could not even safely drive straight
home. After calling my husband and a friend for help, I was advised to make a
report to the police, which I did. I was very worried that she would, in fact,
come after me as she threatened to do and I wanted a record of the threats she
made. I declined to have the police take action, though it was offered.
Though my letter regarding this incident was sent to the full board, the full
board has not discussed the incident and Ms. Edstrom has not issued an apology.
Who are school board members accountable to, if not to one another? How does a
community member bring a concern to the full board acting as a body, if the
Chair takes it upon herself to make a determination on behalf the board?
I am making a public request to our school board members to please put this on
an agenda and discuss it as a full board.
What I experienced has not only been disturbing to me and my family, but it
also raises issues that are bigger concerns for the community:
The school board claims to be seeking more engagement with community members.
Do community members need to be concerned that they too will be bullied by
upset board members if they speak during public comment time?
Given what I experienced and what I’ve heard from other parents, this seems
indicative of how other bullying situations are handled in our district. It
appears that when students are bullied, the bully is supported and validated
while the bullying victim is doubted, told to get along with the bully, and put
to shame for sticking up for himself or herself.
District 623 school board member, Lisa Edstrom. My letter to the full board
and the responsive letter I received from Chair Gogins are attached.
In lieu of the full board discussing this issue and determining what action
needed to take place, including Ms. Edstrom apologizing and taking
responsibility for her actions, Chair Gogins came to her defense. She
dismissed what Ms. Edstrom did to me and shamed me for standing up for myself
in response to Ms. Edstrom’s very aggressive behavior toward me.
I had spoken at the February 14th school board meeting during public comment
time and was trying to leave the building when Ms. Edstrom left the board
meeting, tracked me down, and began angrily spewing false accusations and
threats to “come after” me. She did this from within inches of me with her
hand raised at me while blocking my access to the door.
>From what I could gather, she had somehow become convinced that I had said
something about her son. (I had, and still have, no idea what she was talking
about.) My attempts to reason with her were futile and she continued her
aggressive behavior toward me. Feeling very threatened and bullied by her, I
ultimately tried to verbally stand up for myself and defensively grabbed her
wrist because she had her hand raised up at me in a threatening manner.
Finally, she went back into the school board meeting and conducted business as
usual.
The experience shook me up so much that I could not even safely drive straight
home. After calling my husband and a friend for help, I was advised to make a
report to the police, which I did. I was very worried that she would, in fact,
come after me as she threatened to do and I wanted a record of the threats she
made. I declined to have the police take action, though it was offered.
Though my letter regarding this incident was sent to the full board, the full
board has not discussed the incident and Ms. Edstrom has not issued an apology.
Who are school board members accountable to, if not to one another? How does a
community member bring a concern to the full board acting as a body, if the
Chair takes it upon herself to make a determination on behalf the board?
I am making a public request to our school board members to please put this on
an agenda and discuss it as a full board.
What I experienced has not only been disturbing to me and my family, but it
also raises issues that are bigger concerns for the community:
The school board claims to be seeking more engagement with community members.
Do community members need to be concerned that they too will be bullied by
upset board members if they speak during public comment time?
Given what I experienced and what I’ve heard from other parents, this seems
indicative of how other bullying situations are handled in our district. It
appears that when students are bullied, the bully is supported and validated
while the bullying victim is doubted, told to get along with the bully, and put
to shame for sticking up for himself or herself.
