“Boobies?” Really?
“Chonies?” Seriously?
Can you say, “Much ado about nothing?”
The hub-bub involving the Firebaugh/Las Deltas Unified School District and more specifically, superintendent Roy Mendiola, has been going on for weeks with rumors, accusations, and innuendos spreading faster than a liberal bailing on Joe Biden.
But it all came to light last week when Mike Dunbar of The Express laid it all out thanks to a Freedom of Information request to see all documents pertaining to the issue.
According to the report, Mendiola was discussing the proper way of restraining an unruly female student. When it was pointed out that the ‘chest area’ of a female should not be touched, he used the term “boobies.”
The other ‘incident’ took place at a conference when a discussion among Mendiola and other employees was to be moved to the room of a female employee. When the employee asked for a few minutes to apparently straighten up her room, Mendiola later supposedly said, “She’s hiding her dirty chones.”
That’s it.
It reminds me of about 15 years ago when my then office manager brought her two daughters (ages 12 and 8) to work. I got into a discussion with the 12-year-old when I claimed, “That’s why boys rule and girls drool.” She did counter with, “No, girls rule and boys drool.”
If I said something like that now, I would probably get fired.
Another item in the Dunbar article stated that someone complained that Mendiola was “drumming” his fingers on a desk in an apparent display of frustration with an employee during a meeting. Fortunately, this does not conflict with district policy.
That’s a good thing.
At the last school board meeting that I attended, I was drumming my fingers, getting the shakes, and almost pulling my hair out since the meeting was running insufferably long.
So Mendiola showed “poor judgement,” but certainly not on the level of serious reprimand or termination. This whole episode is tantamount to picking pepper out of gnat dung.
Now it’s time to move on and focus on the job of educating Firebaugh students, especially with the new school year soon starting. And of course, it is getting tougher to educate the children with Gavin Newsom, Tony Thurmond, and their cronies continually coming up with more outrageous programs and agendas to further weigh down educators.
As we move forward in Firebaugh, there are items that need to be addressed:
The ‘public comments’ portion of the Open Session at board meetings need to be moved to the beginning of the meeting, especially since the board is not allowed to comment.
The board packet needs to be available to everyone since it contains important information (I could not find it online). Other school districts make this available online so it can be perused before the meeting starts.
Finally, when the newspaper calls or emails administrative staff for information for important stories, the response needs to happen in a timely manner, not completely ignored. I was criticized for not doing a ‘positive’ article about the recent “Golden Apple” award winners, but I was not able to receive the pertinent information. Same with a possible bond measure—no return calls or emails from the superintendent or assistant superintendent.
Firebaugh has not had a real newspaper since 1994, so this is new ground for the Firebaugh school district, the city council, and the community as a whole.
Just remember, The Express will continue to cover the good and the bad—that’s our job.
