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Angry parents call for Kelly
to resign from school board
By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
EL CAJON — At the Grossmont Union High
School District board meeting held last Thursday, Nov. 13, a
heartfelt salute was given to President of the Grossmont Union
School District board of trustees Larry Urdahl on his last day
of duty as a member of the board. Also, members of the Helix
High School community spoke angrily, about a letter that was
recently distributed by member of the board, Jim Kelly, who was
not present at the meeting. A presentation showed that dropout
rates in the district are at an all time low thanks to a lot of
work and diligence done by the district.
Board member Dick Hoy took the microphone to announce
that Nov. 13 was Larry Urdahl’s last day as a member of the
board. Gary Woods will be taking the vacant seat after receiving
26.7 percent of the vote.
“When I came to this board two years ago, he gave me a
lot of good advice,” Hoy said. He commended Urdahl’s hard work
for the district and added, “Larry got the bond back on track
and he was instrumental in Proposition U passing.” Hoy ended his
comments by saying, “Larry cares about kids, he puts kids, this
community and this district first, that is his focus...We really
appreciate the service he has given this district over the last
four years.
Both Robert Shield and Priscilla Schreiber echoed Hoy’s
sentiments. Schreiber adding that “it has been an honor serving
in this district over the last four years with Larry... Thank
you for your leadership.” Hoy then presented Urdahl with a
plaque in appreciation of his service on the board.
Laura Gillahan, a parent of a Helix student, a member
of the PTSA, and a member of the band association, stood up to
present her concern over the actions of board member Jim Kelly.
According to Gillahan, Kelly sent out an urgent warning,
supported by Gary Woods, and Meg Jedynak, telling parents that
their students were in grave danger.
In an open letter, Kelly warned that students were not
safe walking the halls at Helix High School. The letter
indicated that there was additional sexual misconduct at Helix
High School that had been covered up. Gillahan said that this
communication used the term “we” indicating that the GUHSD board
was also in support of these allegations.
Gillahan told the board that this letter was an insult
to herself as a parent, insinuating that she allowed her own
child to proceed into a dangerous situation everyday, as well as
Dr. Smith and the entire staff at Helix. She asked that if the
board supported this letter, they make a public apology,
indicating that additional false accusations undermined the
education process of students. She said that if an apology was
not forthcoming, she would call on her fellow parents to begin
initiating a recall campaign to restore the integrity of this
board.
In addition, she told the board that she was going to
ask the city of La Mesa to file charges against Kelly, Woods and
Jedynak for making false claims that a crime against children
was committed.
Anitra Rooney, who lives in the Helix community, is an
advocate for students and was appalled at the communication from
Kelly. She said that there is a protocol in place to report
sexual misconduct, and Kelly’s recent actions did not follow
that protocol. She said that if he had information regarding any
misconduct at Helix and did not report it, his own actions are
illegal. She said that he should resign from the board.
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Collins presented
a special report on the on-going investigations at Helix High
School. Collins reminded everyone that these investigations were
not completed yet, and that they are expecting a report in
December. He said that Helix has been cooperating with the
investigation. He said that no one should leap to conclusions or
speculate about the outcome of these investigations.
“We can promise to the community and the students a
fair analysis of facts of the situation,” Collins said.
Urdahl, Hoy and Schreiber commented on this. Urdahl
wanted to advise the community that board member Kelly was
speaking for himself when he publicly spoke about his issue. He
reminded all that unless the board was assembled, one board
member could only speak for himself, and not the whole board.
Hoy also conveyed his concern over the recent comments that were
made by Kelly.
Hoy said that Kelly assembled a press meeting, without
inviting any other members of the board. He also said that the
district’s own investigator was denied admittance to this
meeting, disallowing the district from gathering insinuated
evidence that was never presented. Hoy said that everyone should
refrain from sensationalizing the situation, and scaring
parents, as the safety of students is a priority. Schreiber said
that Kelly did not represent the board when he took the actions
that he did in late October. She concurred with her fellow board
members, agreeing that this was a very serious situation.
On a lighter note, Lucia Washburn, Director of
Alternative Education, presented the progress of the district in
the recovery efforts of students who have dropped out of school.
The California statistic of dropouts is 6.4 percent, San Diego
County’s statistic is 6.2 percent, but GUHSD’s statistic is only
3.1 percent.
This year, the district is bringing seniors back who
did not graduate, and is calling them fifth year seniors, though
the students themselves are calling themselves ‘super-seniors’.
Everyone in the district worked very hard to contact students
who did not graduate; contacting truant students by actually
calling the homes and knocking on doors, and opening up programs
to fit the educational needs of the students, to keep them
engaged in the educational process.
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