Well, we can’t be blamed for not trying hard, but last Thursday (as you may have read in the papers), the school board unanimously decided to side with the military recruiters.

We had gone before the board in January asking them to implement a policy limiting recruiters to 3 times per year per service, which we thought was plenty. Then, they went ahead and reintroduced the policy to the board, upping it to 1 time per month, which actually increases military presence in three of the seven high schools (the lower socioeconomic schools, most of them). Trustees Griffin, Dwyer, and Cohn-Lyle voted in favor of the policy after making comments favorable to the recruiter’s point of view, Trustee Vranes was not present, and Trustee Hanley actually voted against the policy after making comments that he thinks the recruiters should have more access on campuses and not have any limits. It really is disappointing that these folks don’t understand that when recruiters are on campus for 1/4 of the school year (45 out of 180 days), that’s not recruiting, that’s intimidation, and it’s school ownership. But we’ve already tried, so we’re just going to have to accept it for now.

One thing that I will do is that I intend to send a letter to the board asking them to ensure that the “designated day” that recruiters come on campus is readily available to any student or parent interested in knowing when they come, so that concerned parents and students can know when these guys come on campus and be able to speak with their kids about it.