The Independent-News, Volume 104, Number 30, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 28 December 1978 — Page 12

DECEMBER 28, 19’8 THE INDEPENDENT-NEWS

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE (Editor s Note The following "Voice of the People article was submitted to our office late Friday, December 22. and due to the holidav situation, we have been unable to verify or check on anv of the implications in this article. It was submitted to us bv a mother who stated she represented several mothers of this group and asked to have her name withheld The accusations are stncklv their own and be it not for the time involved, this would not appear without some further checking of meetings, dates and facts stated in this letter.) as Head Start parents of the North liberty Center were given untrained teachers — due to this fact our children were psychology calls abused from October to December 1.19'8. Matters got worse when a substitute teacher took over for 2' i weeks, while the regular teacher had a leave of absence. This matter was brought to the attention of our social worker, teachers, and Director of Head Start.

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A petition was given to the Di rector, telling of our observations of two weeks by parents. ()ur observations: 1 Substitute teacher admitted to a parent that she tied down a <hild to a chair for disciplinarv reason 2 Teachers, teachers aide and bus aide terrorized the children a Io the point of vomiting, v isablc shaking; b Where thev won't wear belts or lumpsuits. c fhev were isolated from the rest of the class and class room itself; d. Food was taken awav from child or forced down them as a disciplinarv action; e. Certain children were constantly picked on and harrassed: I Ihev were humiliated, degrated, and embarrased; and 2 Thev were forced to feel inadequate about their conditions at home, because of their financial situation, example torn dress and unmatched socks. Wc went through all the proper channels. We received a negative response from the Director of Head Start. We got no response at all from the Social Service Component Director.

So wc were forced to remove our children from this hostile environment. Because of the action we took we were pcrsonallv slandered, harassed from obscene telephone calls and public display of or social worker's hostility to us in public places She 1 tried to influence us through our children. A meeting was set for December bto discuss the matter. Ihe discussion was brought to a halt when wc were viciously attacked bv the teachers and prcviouslv uncom muted and uninvolved parents. Whenever wc brought up an ur gent subject the Director would sav "wc can’t talk about it." in other words, "political closed mouth policy ." A December 12 meeting was set. like the previous meeting with the same people, and even though we informed them wc wouldn’t be there, thev went ahead with it. But the follow mg week sent a nasty letter reprimanding us. The social worker had talked to us on the 12th saying we could discuss this matter before the Policy Board on the 20th of December It was after we had agreed to the suggestion that she informed us she wouldn’t be there because of her leave of absence. In a conversation with the Di-

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rector on the 15th. wc were informed we could onlv petition the Board to set up a committee to listen to the problem. He said the (hairperson would appoint the committee or get volunteers for it. He was informed wc wouldn’t show up at a third meeting, if the same people on the staff would be the onlv Head Start people there. Ihe Policy Board meeting on December 20th was just a farce. Ihe c hairperson talked to us in private, not before the board, saying she would appoint the committee. She said she would let us know who would be on the committee and when the meeting would be- held, somewhere between now and January I. She said "I will be there and in charge. I hr board was the last resort and it was our last resort because wc had gone through all the channels. I he director approached us after the meeting saving "the chairperson told him that He was in charge and that it is his problem . ” This whole thing has been nothing but a stall tactic because if our children don’t return to school January 3 thev will be automatically out And we can't send them hack before this is resolved because thev will be picked on even more than before. I hev arc all trving to cither pass the buck or ignore the issue. Anything so as not to jeopardize their |ob. in other words "thev don't —— <*■

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give a darn." Concerned Parents NOTICE Federal Revenue Sharing Report RS-91 has been filed with the Bureau of the Census as is required and is available for public examination. This report may be seen at the home of the Trustee, Dean Anderson. Walkerton. Indiana, until December 31. 19'8. Anv citizen, including senior citizens. minority citizens, and bilingual citizens are invited to examine this report. Dean F Anderson, Johnson Iw p Trustec NOTICE I will not be responsible for any debts occured bv anyone other than myself. Melvin Dipcrt Rt. 3. Box 239 Walkerton, Indiana 3td2Bp DENTURE WEARERS A major advancement CUSHION GRIP DENTURE ADHESIVE one application holds comfortably up tp 4 ^ays