187 replies to this topic

[Cloud9]

You're rediculous man! You dont remember where you put all your awards? How can you be even proud of your musicianship then? Because that says something about who you are as a drummer/musician.

- PJ

Not related to music, but my awards, trophies, etc... I pretty much lost or misplaced over the years. Eventually, most people (I would hope) outgrow the need for external validation of their accomplishments.

[bordercolliefan]

Not related to music, but my awards, trophies, etc... I pretty much lost or misplaced over the years.  Eventually, most people (I would hope) outgrow the need for external validation of their accomplishments.

People are very different this way. Some people save every award they ever won as well as their junior high yearbooks, past art projects, greeting cards, etc.

I am not sentimental when it comes to objects. I throw pretty much everything away. I may have a couple of cards from people who meant a lot to me, and I try to save a few of my children's creations... that's about it. I don't like to have a lot of clutter.

[Cloud9]

I agree.

For some reason I have some H.S. certificates of achievement for badminton, paddleball and softball that I never threw out. As well as some Army training certificates that are meaningless.

And yet, other more meaningful personal sports achievement ie. racquetball, bowling, volleyball, etc. trophies, military plaques and medals, etc. I either lost or threw away - that's odd I guess.

[Young Curmudgeon]

You're rediculous man! You dont remember where you put all your awards? How can you be even proud of your musicianship then? Because that says something about who you are as a drummer/musician.

I used to think as you do. Then I learned an important lesson: There's always someone better. The awards said little about me and nothing about the people that either chose not to participate or couldn't participate. Furthermore, I learned that technique does not = musicianship. There were some incredible players that put infinite more thought into what they played that finished behind me. I just happened to focus on the techniques and showy stuff that makes it easier for judges to be less subjective in their assessment. This is like comparing Vinnie Colaiuta to Jeff Porcaro. They shouldn't be comparedt. They're both are/were amazing in their own right, even though one uses considerably more chops than the other.

One more thing to add....I played with Steve Gadd, Christian McBride and Chick Corea at the North Texas State Jazz Festival this year. I wouldn't have been given that gift, experience, and privledge if it werent for the funding that the boosters and parents do as well as the prestige of our program.

Just to reiterate, I am not indicting Folsom High School's traveling arrangements, competitions, awards or the boosters that support it all. The above experience sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I am envious, but I am thankful you had the opportunity.

Are you considering North Texas as an educational opportunity? I can help you with some of the admission hurdles if you need any. Ed Soph and his staff are outstanding educators ...

[Solartide]

There's always someone better.

Indeed. I won first place at the section finals for FBLA. at state, did not even make it into the top ten.

[FolsomJunior00]

My god, people need to stay on topic here! This is not about the relevancy of awards! Its about FCUSD being sued! Wow, this has become 10 pages of crap

[FolsomRider]

Oh, they aren't hurting. House worth a half a million just about owned outright...
(sorry, public info, stop by the recorder's office in Sac)


This is the kind of person who I'd be weary of driving next to on the road. Her ambulance chasing lawyer is probably in toe waiting for the "accident".

[OctoberLily]

Should Mrs. Kinsella sue the school district??? I would rather she didn't because we can't afford a costly litigation but only she can decide whether she wants to pursue her rights or waive them. We can't tell her what to do. I would however warn anyone who speaks badly of her and/or discloses personal information on this board about her or her family in a derogatory manner (that isn't true) because you may find yourself on the other end of your own lawsuit with Ms. Kinsella. I also think her kids should definitely be off limits with respect to comments about this issue. This is not their battle but their mother's battle. Please leave them alone.

I decided to edit my post because after putting more thought into this issue, I think that this lawsuit would only benefit Mrs. Kinsella's lawyers and hurt the kids it is/was supposed to help. If the premise of this lawsuit was due to an administrative error or misunderstanding, than that could easily be fixed through communication with the people with the power to correct the error or make amends for the misunderstanding. I believe she should try to mitigate whatever damages she feels she has incurred and try working with the school FIRST before filing a lawsuit.

The District will most likely settle with Mrs. Kinsella's lawyers than drag this into Court because it would cost more to try this case than the amount of "damages" Mrs. Kinsella could allege she has incurred, if any. Mrs. Kinsella's lawyers will take one-third of whatever settlement she gets plus attorney's fees and costs and she gets whatever is left - not much. The "Class" gets $2 - $3.00 tops (sarcasm).

As for a "class" action lawsuit, I'd like to know how many parents of students at FCUSD would volunteer their names to be in a Class action where they get nothing from it and their kids suffer the cost of the lawsuit by having the programs pulled by the school?????? I for one am part of that class and don't agree with filing a lawsuit against the school my kids attend and risk losing the extracurricular programs that it offers. I'm against the lawsuit because I know the only people that would benefit from this is the lawyers and maybe Mrs. Kinsella and the only ones that would suffer the cost of it would be my kids and the other kids at the school - even Mrs. Kinsella's kids if they attend FCUSD schools. This lawsuit would simply be lining the pockets of the lawyers and stripping the school and the students of whatever programs they are in.

Frankly, our school would not have the programs it has now if the parents did not "DONATE" a portion of the cost for these programs. Call it (donation, fees, costs) whatever you want, without the parents' INVESTMENT/PARTICIPATION in their kids' educational experience, you would have what I am about to describe below.

Looking back at my children's experience and attending some of their athletic games, I was able to see how the other schools placed the importance of extracurricular for their kids. I was frankly appalled that some of these schools had little to no effort put into their programs either through parent or faculty participation. My son played football against one school in South Sacramento where NOT ONE PARENT, NOT ONE STUDENT, NOT ONE STAFF MEMBER for the other team was present at the game. (I don't even remember seeing a coach out there for the other team.) It was pathetic and I felt so terribly bad for the kids on the other team because on our side of the field the stands were filled with Bulldog parents, coaches and a few staff members. It even rained heavily that game and the winds picked up and the parents still persevered at the game. Not one bulldog parent left. In fact, even the other teams' cheerleading squad was disorganized, did not know any cheers and just stood their chatting amongst themselves. They did not yell one cheer for their team during the whole game! Needless to say, the other team lost that day but I think they had lost before they ever stepped foot on that field.

After the game was over, I observed that some of the parents of the other team started showing up in the parking lot to pick up their kids. Most drove very nice cars, nice big rims, some spinners, large SUV's and I wondered why not one of them came out to support their kids. Not ONE. Now, as I look back on that day, I wonder why they did not INVEST as much on their kids and their extracurricular activities than they did on their cars. That game still pisses me off because I could see the dissappointment on those kids faces. They lost before they even stepped on that field.

Simply put, some parents value $$$$ and material possessions more than we do our kids and their education. Gov. Schwarznegger (whatever on his spelling - I don't care) (attitude moment) has made it clear to the State of California that even HE does not value our kids education. In fact, he places more value on making sure we have nicer, wider and more roads to drive our bigger more expensive cars all over the State. By the way, his kids are in private schools so he could care less how his constituents' kids are being educated. If you poll most politicians, you will find most of their kids are in private schools. So they don't care. It is up to US as parents to fund our children's educational experience.

So, I've come to the conclusion that if parents do not feel that they have to INVEST any money on their kids' educational experience at the school (and they have the financial means to do so), maybe they need to look at their priorities.

Maybe that Lexus or Hummer in the garage isn't such a priority or NEED. Maybe building the pool in the backyard could wait till Johnny's out of high school. Maybe that vacation to Europe could wait another year. What about going without fake nails for a year or a mocha for 6 months?

At this day and age, it is unrealistic to expect the School District to fund all of the extracurricular activities WE PARENTS WANT OUR CHILDREN TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN when the school can't even purchase updated books or are barely scraping by on what they have to keep the school functioning.

The extracurricular activities at the school are for the benefit of our kids. Investing some money for their experience is a necessity. The school is NOT required to have those activities available and could easily shut them down due to budget cuts. Which would you prefer? Suing the school and inevitably having to shut down programs because parents refuse to put any money into their children's education or DONATE and watch your kids prosper from the experience of YOUR INVESTMENT?


By the way, I just saw this news article about Oak Ridge HS Booster club raffling a Mercedez Benz. You can enter by "Donating" $100 to the Booster club so they can fix their baseball fields. Ironic isn't it?

http://www.sacbee.co...-13701634c.html

[OctoberLily]

By the way, does anyone know for a fact that a lawsuit has been filed against the school by Mrs. Kinsella?

The article states that the school was put on "notice". However, the title of the article states differently. It makes it sound like a complaint against the school was already filed.

I hope she reconsiders for the sake of the kids at FCUSD. Imagine what would happen if the parents stopped "DONATING?"

Maybe the law/code/policy about funding the extracurricular activities should be changed so that the parents are required to INVEST in their kids activities. After all, the silver spoon has been tarnished for a long time and the State simply doesn't have the money to keep it shiny anymore.

Also, do you think we could talk Folsom Lake Toyota or one of the other Folsom Auto Dealers to get us a deal on a car so we, too, could raffle off a car for $100 and help our Booster? I know we're not in El Dorado Hills and don't have a Mercedez at hand but we could probably get a good deal on a Toyota or Ford somethingorother? J/K!!

[PJ James]

Turns out at tuesday nights Spring concert...this woman filed a police report against a student for a letter that he wrote (completely innocent, I know because I read it) against her case. He brought it along to school and had 250 music students and this tipped her off. He ended up in the police office today at school, they appearantly just laughed thinking it was funny, but when I heard this I almost couldnt stop cracking up.

Look who we're dealing with people!!! AHHHHHH!!!

-PJ

[ratlab]

The District will most likely settle with Mrs. Kinsella's lawyers than drag this into Court because it would cost more to try this case than the amount of "damages" Mrs. Kinsella could allege she has incurred, if any.  Mrs. Kinsella's lawyers will take one-third of whatever settlement she gets plus attorney's fees and costs and she gets whatever is left - not much.  The "Class" gets $2 - $3.00 tops (sarcasm).

As for a "class" action lawsuit, I'd like to know how many parents of students at FCUSD would volunteer their names to be in a Class action where they get nothing from it and their kids suffer the cost of the lawsuit by having the programs pulled by the school??????  I for one am part of that class and don't agree with filing a lawsuit against the school my kids attend and risk losing the extracurricular programs that it offers.  I'm against the lawsuit because I know the only people that would benefit from this is the lawyers and maybe Mrs. Kinsella and the only ones that would suffer the cost of it would be my kids and the other kids at the school - even Mrs. Kinsella's kids if they attend FCUSD schools.  This lawsuit would simply be lining the pockets of the lawyers and stripping the school and the students of whatever programs they are in.

The lawsuit is simply selfish. The point of a class action is to drum up more plaintiffs for the cause, but guess what, in nearly all instances only the original plaintiff and the lawyers are rewarded with any significant amount of "damages". People join the class action with the thought they will be awarded as equally as the main plaintiff, but they are merely being used.

Heck, let's start a fund drive to collect money for this woman for all she has contributed to her children's music experience. It would be worth it just so the school distrct doesn't have to pony up to defend this nonsense. I don't even have kids, but this is an instance of robbing the other kids to line your own pockets.

[Terry]

By the way, does anyone know for a fact that a lawsuit has been filed against the school by Mrs. Kinsella?

The article states that the school was put on "notice".  However, the title of the article states differently.  It makes it sound like a complaint against the school was already filed.

I believe that the process for suing the school district (and other municipal/government entities) is that one has to file a "claim" against them as part of the administrative procedure. Once the claim is administratively adjudicated by the school district (denied as may be in this case), this allows the "claimant" to proceed as a "plaintiff" and file a lawsuit against the district/booster club. Even though there is a question as to the district's standing in this since they technically aren't the entity assessing the "donations", for the purposes of the plaintiff covering all bases (and going for deep pockets), the administrative claim against the school district has to be adjudicated first.

Tessica may have more detail on this.

[CZTT]

The other night at a high school band concert Ed Shapley, President of the Boosters, gave Mr. Gasesser a new golf cart as a gift (for his convenience in getting around the football stadiums and parade routes). Does anybody KNOW (no spectualtion, please) who exactly paid for this gift? How is it going to be transported to away competitions - on a trailer? And, who will pay for that? Considering all the controvery surrounding the music program right now, the timing of this gift wasn't very good.

[ducky]

I partly paid for that with a donation and was happy to do so and I no longer have children in the music program. Heck, I might even volunteer to work in the fireworks booth. I met the nicest people doing that before. You can never have too many friends; right?

I find it appalling with all the real problems in the world how much energy is wasted on petty things like this.

[tessieca]

I believe that the process for suing the school district (and other municipal/government entities) is that one has to file a "claim" against them as part of the administrative procedure.  Once the claim is administratively adjudicated by the school district (denied as may be in this case), this allows the "claimant" to proceed as a "plaintiff" and file a lawsuit against the district/booster club.  Even though there is a question as to the district's standing in this since they technically aren't the entity assessing the "donations", for the purposes of the plaintiff covering all bases (and going for deep pockets), the administrative claim against the school district has to be adjudicated first.

Tessica may have more detail on this.

What Terry said . . .

Not sure, but I think the "notice" given to the district so far has been in the form of an attorney letter ("cease and desist because I file class action suits and win" letter). I don't think they've even taken the formal administrative complaint step. It's just hard to believe that the complaining party would hire a class action lawyer if her intent was to just get back her own money she donated.