Contributors: Rachel Jamison and Aaron Yeager.
With only two weeks until the November 2nd election, we thought now would be an apt time to revisit some of Geraldine Bettio’s most callous and oblivious moments from her time on the Stow Munroe-Falls Board of Education. We urge you to read the following quotes and consider if this is someone who is fit to sit on the Board of Education (BoE) and make decisions on behalf of your children.
On Paying Employees During the Pandemic…
Geraldine Bettio:
Okay, you said the employees got paid whether they worked or not, in the food service department. Did they also accumulate their sick time and everything according to the contract?
Trevor Gummere:
Yes, yes they do. So do the bus drivers, so do the custodians, yeah.
Geraldine Bettio:
I know it’s the law but it just doesn’t seem right that they get paid for not working. That’s my opinion.*
*Bettio is a former food service worker.
Source:
On Mental Health…
The Board discussed the Panorama Student Survey, which was given to help assess and improve socio-emotional learning for students, as required by state standards.
Geraldine Bettio:
To me, I was looking at [the survey’s] questions, and it was like we were trying to be a psychologist for these kids.
Nancy Brown:
Well, I would assume experts wrote these, and they’re looking at the children. They want the answers from the children’s point of view.
Source:
Geraldine Bettio:
You know, I’m just coming from my generation, I guess — it’s a wonder we got through school without all these surveys and all these mental health things, and we survived.
Jessica Wright:
Well, I think that’s the point — you “survived.” I think we want more from our students than just surviving […]
Geraldine Bettio:
Well, that isn’t what I mean.
Jessica Wright:
Well, I know, but I think if we have the ability to look at this data and address where we may have some shortcomings…
Source:
At another meeting, the Board talked about student suicides and suicide attempts.
Geraldine Bettio:
To say that we’ve had too many — one is too many — but to bring up an issue, bring me the facts. Show me that we have — we have a problem, but how major is it? I’d like to see exactly how many kids have attempted it, and I don’t need names, I need statistics.
Source:
On Free All-day Kindergarten, Which Bettio Voted Against…
From MyTownNEO:
However, Bettio said while she supports an all-day educational program, she is concerned about the expenditure to the district. “It’s up to parents in how they send their kids to school, be it half day or full day,” she said April 24. “I’m concerned with the fiscal responsibility of paying for it. Do we have the money to hire more teachers?”*
Source:
*This program would have accounted for 0.6% of total expenses for the 2014 – 2015 school year. This was also a year where the school district reported more than $4 million in profit.
Source:
Stow-Munroe Falls City School District, Summit County, Ohio, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2015
On Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)…
From the Akron Beacon Journal:
During [the June 7, 2021 Work Session], fellow board member Gerry Bettio said she did not feel it was the district’s job to address racism and that “of the American people, I would say 99.9% are good people.”
“I really feel [DEI] is not our job. Our teachers are here to educate our children,” she said. “They are not here to get into the political arena such as this DEI committee. This is my feeling. I’m not a racist person, but I believe that the teachers have more important things to do than to sit down with kids from kindergarten or sixth grade and tell them about what they should do and how they should behave.”
Bettio clarified that while she understands that teachers have disciplinary powers in general, “I don’t think they should be into the thing of Black and white and diversity. Their job is to teach kids. It’s not their job to go into what I call propaganda or the outside world.”
[…]
She added, “I feel it’s not our job entirely to take care of this situation. It belongs first at home.”
Source:
“Stow-Munroe Falls provides update on district’s DEI committee” — Akron Beacon Journal, May 27, 2021
During the Board meeting held on June 22, 2020, Jason Whitacre suggested that the Board not read letters sent to them about the problem of racism and discrimination in Stow-Munroe Falls, and the importance of acknowledging the Black Lives Matter Movement — instead, he proposed that they should attach the letters to the minutes for Board Members to read on their own.
Geraldine Bettio:
I, for one, agree with you wholeheartedly, Jason. And I think that since they’re repetitious, and so long, we would be here for quite some time, and they repeat the same sentiment, and as long as we put them in our minutes, and if people want to see them, they can request to see them.
Source:
Later in the same meeting, the Board discussed whether they should disqualify letters written by non-residents.
Geraldine Bettio:
We have gotten emails, and we don’t know if they’re from legitimate people.
Source:
Geraldine Bettio:
Well, I’d like to make a motion at this time that we take these letters as a matter of fact, and place them in the minutes, and that they could be discussed perhaps at a later meeting.
Source:
Geraldine Bettio:
I totally agree with what [Nancy] said [in her Statement on Racism and Equality], but I believe that we have to have a concern of ALL the students, no matter what their nationality, race, color, or anything else in this school district, and not just to concentrate on one specific group.
Source:
Geraldine Bettio:
Well, I’m going to say my piece, because I have lived in Stow for 51 years, and when students of color have had a problem, where they, uh, and then those of, uh — where were, where were people like you, or the people that are writing these letters — where were they when the kid drowned himself in Silver Lake? Where were they when my neighbor came home from school, and shot himself and killed himself at 14 years old? Where was the outcry then? Why are we doing it now, and not taking care of all those people that have suffered and died because of what was going on? Or are we just being politically correct and show everybody, oh yeah, here we are.
Source:
Geraldine Bettio:
Where were you when this 13-year-old — 3-year-old just got shot in Akron? Where were you when this 18-year-old that just got shot, just graduated, got shot in Akron, and they got shot by their own peers?
Source:
Later, Nancy Brown says, “I don’t know if you read all the letters [from current and former community members, expressing concern that the Board had not acknowledged that Black Lives Matter].”
Geraldine Bettio:
I READ THE LETTERS. I READ EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
Source:
Geraldine Bettio:
But it seems to me by what we’re doing [reading letters sent in to the board, and taking the actions outlined in Nancy Brown’s Statement on Racism and Equality], that we’re singling out a specific group. We’re not taking care of the whole problem as a whole.
Source:
In another meeting, after a DEI Presentation, Nancy Brown says she thinks discussing DEI should be a part of every board meeting.
Geraldine Bettio:
I have a little bit different outlook on this. I don’t think that it should be the total school’s responsibility unless there’s a problem which arises with bullying, or any act of violence with one student against another. Unfortunately, it’s society’s problem today. Look at the world around you. Look at what’s happening. And look at what people are getting away with. I feel that it’s not our job entirely to take care of this situation — it belongs at first at home. The way students are taught to respect other people, to respect other issues, and give them their own opinion, but not take it out on somebody else.
Source:
Geraldine Bettio:
I believe in the American people. I would say 99.9% of them are good people, that respect the other person. So, I guess I could go on but I think I’ve said enough. Please, if you’re a parent, teach your kids respect, teach them to be proud that they’re Americans, and that get an education to make something of themselves.
Source:
During the next meeting, Bettio references comments she made previously.
Geraldine Bettio:
I think the comments I made at the last board meeting were misunderstood. And I have a question to Mrs. Brown, since she’s on the [DEI] committee. I would like you to give us some information on how this committee was started. Did the board approve it? And when did they approve it?
I’d also like to know how we approved a $10,000 stipend for each of the chair and co-chair of this committee? And I’d like to know the dates that we approved it, because I have no recollection of doing that. Secondly, the only time that Iisha and the co-chair, we were at a meeting at Lakeview, I believe it was at Lakeview school, where they presented that they were going to start this committee.
So, I have no recollection, and if I’m wrong, I stand corrected. The other thing is, I’d like to make a public announcement that I did not ignore the invitation to come to meet with this committee. I had set a date, and unfortunately something came up, and I was not contacted by anyone to a future date to come to any meeting. So you can’t accuse any of us, because we do have things in our life that sometimes come up, that we cannot meet all our obligations. And to say that we’re not interested, is a misstatement on their part.
Source:
Assistant Superintendent Kristen Prough then explains that the DEI Committee is not a Board Committee, but a Superintendent’s Committee, and therefore would not have been approved by the BoE.
Geraldine Bettio:
Well, I wish someone would come and meet with the board as a whole, so we can ask questions of how they’re going to implement this, when they’re gonna implement it, how the teachers are gonna implement it…and I really feel this is not a job — our teachers are here to educate our children, they are not here to get into the political arena, such as this DEI Committee. This is my feeling. I’m not a racist person, but I believe that the teachers have more important things to do than to sit down with kids from probably kindergarten, or even at 6th grade level, and tell them about what they should do, and how they should behave. Their job is to educate the children in this district, of any color, any race, any nationality, anything. And that’s what we should, as a board, go ahead and make sure that they do.
Source:
Geraldine Bettio:
Well, this type of [DEI] curriculum that they have on their agenda is not even approved as a curriculum item from the Ohio Board of Education. So why are we implementing it in the school district, so that our teachers have to teach the children about diversity, and inclusion, and that sort of thing? I wish somebody would explain that to me.
Source:
Nancy Brown then says that the DEI Committee is following Ohio Department of Education curriculum guidelines, as stated in their presentation.
Geraldine Bettio:
Well I would like her to show me where this type of curriculum is in the [guidelines].
Source:
In the next Board meeting, the topic turns to the DEI Committee again.
Geraldine Bettio:
The [DEI] committee itself has a meaningful purpose, but how is it going to be implemented? And it’s not anything that’s cut in stone. But, when I hear people talking about Black Lives Matter, I think of the Marxist content of it, and I don’t like that saying. For all of you that say “Black Lives Matter,” you’re entitled to your opinion, but I’m gonna tell you as a board member, as a citizen of this country, All Lives Matter. I don’t care if they’re green, purple, pink, or yellow. ALL LIVES MATTER. You could put anything in writing, but to implement it is a different story.
We have rules and regulations about discrimination, bullying, fighting, that sort of thing, and it’s up to the administration, the teachers, and the students, to say, “Hey, this is what’s happening.” And then take it — if there’s no justification, take it home to the parents and let the parents deal with it on their level, with the administration. But believe me, Black lives are not the only ones that matter. Every person in this United States, they matter. I think I’ve said enough, everybody knows where I stand, I’ve taken a lot of criticism, I’ve taken a lot of hate mail, and people are entitled to their opinion, but you know what, if you can call me names, I can respond, but I’m more professional than that.
Source:
Later in the meeting, Jason Whitacre mentions that he has had clients dealing with discrimination based on socioeconomic status, and clients who are Black, who’ve dealt with discrimination from redlining, and other issues.
Geraldine Bettio:
Well, like I said, you could put everything in writing, and it looks perfect on paper, but what do you do with it? What do you do with it?
Source:
In the next general Board meeting, Nancy Brown asks what the Board would like to hear from the DEI Committee, during the next work session.
Geraldine Bettio:
I have a little bit different outlook on this. I’m not against, totally, what they’re doing. The thing of it is, I think, as a Board, we should be updated periodically as to what’s going on and what they’re doing with the kids. We’re here for the kids. We’re not here for the grown-ups, we’re here for the kids. And we wanna make sure what they’re doing affects the kids in what way.
Source:
Nancy Brown then says that the Board should be proactive in regards to DEI, and that they need to start looking at policies in the Policy Subcommittee.
Geraldine Bettio:
Nancy, what policies are you talking about? We have all kinds of policies for bullying, and harassment, and everything else, so why — what is it you want to include in a policy?