Tornillo ISD Finally Gets a Nurse

Dr. Jeannie Meza-Chavez will try to spin it otherwise, but the reality is that the community won major victory last night at the Tornillo ISD meeting.

She was forced to recommend a school nurse.

Dr. Chavez is trying to frame it as though she proactively dealt with the issue and came forward with a plan to secure a school nurse on her own.

But that isn't the truth. The truth is she made no real effort to attract a school nurse until after the district received negative press about the lack of a school nurse. Even after the first stories came out, Dr. Chavez made no effort to put an item on the agenda to entice candidates for the nursing position or to even discuss the issue. Instead her plan was to teach the teachers first aid.

And then a student with special needs was seriously injured after her hand-picked administrator observed the student and sent him back to class.

Once that became a story, it was then and only then, that Dr. Chavez took any meaningful act towards securing a nurse.

Those are the facts. And if anyone tells you otherwise, they are lying.

If there is anyone that deserves credit for getting a school nurse, its the community members that pushed so hard for it. The ones that had the courage to stand up and speak with the media. That might sound like an easy thing to do but its not when you live in a small community.

Particularly the parents of the student that was injured. Those two more than anyone else should be credited with the district finally getting a nurse.

Before I go on, I have to credit the school board for unanimously voting to offer the school nurse position to their candidate. That was the right vote and that was a vote in support of the community. Job well done.

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Now lets talk about the crazy.

There has been a narrative going around, and its typical when you deal with small towns that don't like outsiders, that everything was just fine in Tornillo. No problems, no division.

One lady, who is actually the spouse of a board member, was passing around the little note a posted a while back to parents after school that had that narrative. Interestingly if there was no division there would be no need for the note, but I'm sure she didn't think that one through.

She spoke at the meeting last night. She had all the drama of a protestant minister and a telenovela star wrapped in one. Frankly, it was the most interesting part of the night for me. She used the children, she walked around with the microphone, she mentioned the baby Jesus, and she dramatically walked up to a board member and leveled an allegation against the board member of divulging information about what is discussed in executive session.

She didn't offer any proof, just made the allegation for dramatic impact I guess. It also left me wondering how the wife of a school board member would even know about what is discussed in executive session if no one was divulging that information to her...

But the craziest thing I saw was people defending Dr. Chavez, which truth be told, wasn't many. But the point is, I don't get how people didn't understand what a major failure in leadership on the part of a superintendent it is to go well over half the school year without a nurse.

The fact that the district went a long time without a nurse before her isn't a defense. In fact, that just makes the board look even more inept. The single most important job of the school district is to ensure the safety of the students. There is nothing happening in that school district that is more important than that basic responsibility.

There is a palpable culture of fear in the Tornillo ISD. Parents and faculty are in fear of speaking up because they fear retribution from Dr. Chavez. But Dr. Chavez doesn't realize that there are more leaks in Tornillo ISD than the Titanic. Slowly but surely the faculty and staff are developing the courage to step forward.

Don't believe me? You'd be surprised at how many grievances are filed in Tornillo ISD.

At this point, Dr. Chavez might want to try to work things out with her staff. The last thing she wants to do, especially now that the state teachers union has Tornillo on their radar, is to go to war with the teachers. The teachers are far more popular with the community than the superintendent or the school board.

Dr. Chavez can't afford any more negative press and neither can the school board. Last night a community member raised the issue of ISS students (the kids in trouble) being put in the same classroom as the special needs students. That is a MAJOR no-no. That is a career-ender no-no.

That one falls on the administration, not the teachers. And the board is only gonna tolerate so much heat because of Dr. Chavez before they decide its not worth the effort anymore. Or...the teachers union could decide to put some money into the elections and just change up the board.

So Chavez is in a weakened position at this point.

Chavez was questioned during the meeting about the allegation of the ISS students with the special needs students. She said it was the first she'd heard of the situation. That drew a very negative reaction from the crowd and several people shouting "mentirosa". She then rephrased the comment to say something to the effect that it was the first time she's heard of it in that forum.

Whatever that means.

At any rate, the school district now has a nurse and parents were happy that was done.