by Bobby Petty
Kingwood resident
In perhaps one of the more cowardly acts committed by Humble ISD’s school board since cancelling their own 2012 election in November, they were “no-shows” after repeatedly being invited to a special public forum on Wednesday regarding the civil rights of minors in schools.
The trustees and superintendent set local policy on complex issues such as search and seizure, freedom of speech, self-incrimination, bullying and zero tolerance for the 35,000 students of Humble ISD. It’s important to note that the 14th Amendment grants ALL persons – even our children – equal protection under the law. But instead of having the guts to be present, the school board dodged the event sponsored by the Kingwood Area Democrats and instead sent two Humble ISD police officers to represent the district on behalf of the school board.
In a time when voters demand accountability from their elected public officials, Humble ISD school board members are – once again – no where to be found. Undoubted, if the school board needed to push yet one more Bond election to garner taxpayer-funded favors and campaign contributions from school construction contractors, the room would have been thick with trustees and senior-level school administrators tripping over the other for speaking time.
Kudos to Chief Solomon Cook and Sgt James Hall of the Humble ISD Police Department for bravely answering civil rights questions from concerned parents and taxpayers present at the public forum. Although their jobs may be thankless at times, the officers professionally responded to all questions the audience had of the district. However, their bosses – Superintendent Dr. Guy Sconzo and the seven school board trustees – deserve time in Detention to think about how they continue to play hooky and cheat the taxpayers and voters of Atascocita, Humble and Kingwood.
