Rikki Risatti is running for a one year seat on the school board.
….
Introduce yourself – who are you and why are you running for the school board?
I hope time with school administration may enable more respect of students, guardians, and residents practicing self-governance and nourishing quality food access together.
Why not secure alternative funding for learning (like food, tutoring, college exams, internet) so we don’t ask for invasive income verification?
Why not pay and accredit students to host the candidate election debate forums and post the timer on the screen for all to see?
Read the rest at:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=702017478592297&set=a.284680660325983
(Rikki asked that we link to the interview to enabling editing of links and informationon the other end.)
for people who dont have facebook
Q>Introduce yourself – who are you and why are you running for the school board?
A>I hope time with school administration may enable more respect of students, guardians, and residents practicing self-governance and nourishing quality food access together.
I remember how sometimes in and outside of school; how intense, merciless, and uncompassionate our fights can be. One time, a teacher asked students to volunteer to hold hands with students who were making too much noise, which is not automatically a punishment but may encourage more self-regulated discipline. I ecstatically volunteered at the chance to offer what I perceived as consolation, but my paired classmate was not as enthused, and I feared both reprimanding if I abandoned my clearly unwelcome companionship and retaliation of my unappreciated escort. So I also couldn’t enjoy that moment of sanctioned but nonconsensual “affection” either while he felt so sad, angry, scared, uncomfortable, and ashamed. I pitied our mutual embarrassment. Although some people may admit why they think they bully, from my understanding of my experiences, I assume sometimes people hate something about their own life and try to irresponsibly project their insecurity onto scapegoats they try to martyr.
I got my ny worker’s certificate when i was 14 so i could legally be hired at both a local farm and a floral store.
Post high school, I volunteered with the Upper Valley Food Shelf, Libraries, Museums, Art centers, and the WISE domestic violence crisis line. I published and exhibited both independent and collective multi-media presentations and by 2013, I started receiving scholarships to go to college, the Center of Health Learning for Suicide Awareness, and North East Organic Farming Conferences.
After a custodial career and brief service as a substitute teacher, I made many municipal motions for expanding democracy, economic decentralization, and decolonization. I was featured as the Vermont Community Leadership Network Member of the Month, in June 2021.
Why not secure alternative funding for learning (like food, tutoring, college exams, internet) so we don’t ask for invasive income verification?
Why not pay and accredit students to host the candidate election debate forums and post the timer on the screen for all to see?
Q> There was a time when Brattleboro held teacher exams and the public could attend. Do you think the community knows enough about teacher qualifications in 2023?
A>No. I am still researching answers to these questions I asked school admins:
1. What is the name of the auditing programs used in schools’ classes and schools’ libraries collections? https://classroom.booksource.com/sign-in.aspx to catalog classroom libraries and teachers are using their Library Lens Diversity tool to guide their decisions about what new books to purchase
2. Who approves (question) how much was paid (question) for which curriculum auditing program (question) and when (question)? (4 questions total expressed in this statement) Booksource is a free program for elementary school classroom libraries only. School libraries have their own databases.
3. What was the process of acquiring the curriculum auditing program, was a request for proposal publicly warned? Were bid applications publicly interviewed?
2 CFR § 200.318 – General procurement standards. | Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/2/200.318
2 CFR § 200.319 – Competition. | Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/2/200.319
2 CFR § 200.320 – Methods of procurement to be followed. | Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/2/200.320#c
4. What is the investment ratio recommendation or requirement of schools purchased curriculum authors /authors/publishing companies by demographic identity and costs?
2 CFR § 200.321 – Contracting with small and minority businesses, women’s business enterprises, and labor surplus area firms. | Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu) https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/2/200.321
5. What is the criteria for “qualified” academic materials?
State Board Rules Series 2000 (vermont.gov)
“2123.2. Development and Implementation of Local Comprehensive Assessment System: ” Each supervisory union shall develop, and each school shall implement, a local comprehensive assessment system that a. assesses the standards approved by the State Board of Education; b. employs a balance of assessment types, including but not limited to, teacher-or student-designed assessments, portfolios, performances, exhibitions, and projects; c. includes both formative and summative assessments; d. enables decisions to be made about student progression and graduation, including measuring proficiency-based learning; e. informs the development of Personalized Learning Plans and student support; f. provides data that informs decisions regarding instruction, professional learning, and educational resources and curriculum”
https://education.vermont.gov/…/edu-state-board-rules…
6. What are schools’ current accumulated values and proposed budgets for future purchases into comparatively diverse authors/publishers?
7. What are the accreditations, requirements, and copyright terms and conditions of how teachers spend funds from the Windham County Principals Association of $200-350 per class?
Vermont Association of School Business Officials (VASBO):
Procurement Procedure.docx – Google Docs
https://docs.google.com/…/13dPXDtlFfSfbHxeyJAJBRXQ…/edit
Procurement Conflict of Interest Policy
https://docs.google.com/…/1ek8…/edit…
Procurement Documentation Form.xls – Google Sheets
https://docs.google.com/…/1S0cP8vgHb_w…/edit…
Allowability of Cost Procedure.docx – Google Docs
https://docs.google.com/…/1lMWgYqS3EXfzqz10AWU3TRb…/edit
8. Do these negotiations only happen in private executive sessions? If yes, who are the administrators responsible and what do they think and feel about the negotiations becoming publicly transparent and participable?
9. Is this information published on schools’ websites?
10. If this info is not yet available, when will we propose policies and a request for bid contracting this research so quantitative info may create a statistical foundation for discerning how to address equitable education?
AOE Research Request Application (vermont.gov)
https://education.vermont.gov/…/edu-research-request…
Data Request Form (cognitoforms.com)
https://www.cognitoforms.com/VermontAg…/DataRequestForm…
Q> Do you think Brattleboro students are getting a high-quality education? Why or why not?
A>No. https://www.facebook.com/…/pfbid022bwU2wT422TkRsXBW5sBU…
This report preserved and presented by members of the Brattleboro Historical Society, published in 1991 from the 15th reunion of the Brattleboro high school class of 1941, on themes of colonial history of Brattleboro reflects exemplary reinforced hyper normalization of colonial fragility, ethnic erasure, class entitlement, villainization, and genocide indoctrinated into locals’ educational foundation, interpersonal skills, and core identities.
Identifying individual colonialists (a majority being British loyalists in the northeast coast of the northwestern continent) as businesses and land namesakes misrepresents the imperialist war acts occurring. “Negotiations” of “property boundaries” did not occur between inanimate land masses. Specific people were responsible for the war crimes of misclaiming territory.
Study the etymology of multiple languages, how do you translate and connect interdependent patterns? Labeling Indigenous People as “Indians” perpetuates how when the lost Italian explorer Christopher Columbus thought he landed in the Indes and misrecognized the natives as “Indios”. Deutche geographer and cartographer Martin Waldseemüller published maps of this landmass he effeminately named after the Italian Amerigo Vespucci.
The colonial business and government war acts are described as “indian hostilities”, which villainizes and blames all the guilt of violence onto the Indigenous People for their self-defense and resistance to assimilation.
The people who wrote this document dismiss acknowledging Tribal names or how they addressed all of the pre-colonized lands mentioned.
There are endless ways we can confront, investigate, challenge, and explore what is reality and how we may recognize and verify “info” to discern who is exploiting ignorance and why. We may strive to always expand and deepen international relationships with people with different perspectives to contribute. I entrust in a personal obligation to subjectively filter schemas with critical analysis more than unquestioningly accepting any authority figures’ stated promotions or penalizations as valid. Dive deep into the Nuremberg Trials, the Geneva Convention, the Mahabharata, religions, politics, and people who share nothing in common with you except our humanity, other animals, plants, and galaxies.
Decolonizing Brattleboro by Recognizing Wantastegok & the W8banaki Confederacy’s First Nations’ Peoples of Odanak & W8linak, Reconciliation, & Reparations Post Cards https://medium.com/…/public-liberation-union-movement…
Q> Should there be any limits on what books or materials students may have access to? Why or why not?
A> Will people at BML and WSESD label all books from any of these authors Alphabetical Listing – Raceshifting with a disclaimer stamp referring to this CPAIN directory citation? https://www.raceshifting.com/easter…/alphabetical-listing/
Q> Per pupil spending near $20k a year, and it won’t be long before four years of high school is $100k. Thoughts?
A>Municipal Currencies Referendum
https://www.gofundme.com/…/Municipal-Currencies…
Q> Can you recommend any good books or movies?
A> Laibach
https://www.laibach.org/opus/
Everything produced by Spike Lee/ 40 acres and a Mule Productions
“Who is America” by Sacha Baron Cohen
“Trigger Warning” by Killer Mike
“Superman’s Not Coming” by Erin Brockovich
“Transplants” by Eli Brown
“Essays in Human Rights: a Vodou Priestess’s Perspective” by Manbo Dòwòti Désir
“Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Central Prison” by Tim Jenkins
“War is a Racket” by General Smedley Butler
“Distorted Descent: white claims to indigenous identity” by Darryl Leroux
“Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance” by Leonard Peltier
“Lasting Valor” by First Lieutenant Vernon Baker
Q>Two questions were omitted from the only candidate forum held this year:
Q1>There has been a perception that the Board has lacked transparency in dealing with sensitive issues such as the firing of Steven Perrin, and information regarding the Sexual Abuse investigation. How do you think the Board can best address the Public’s right to know, and the need for transparency and accountability when the results of the Sexual Abuse investigation are released?
A1>I did not supervise this closely. From the minimal monitoring I was exposed to, I heard people wanting updates and school board directors said they were following orders from lawyers. I think we could have linked the online judiciary listing of the court case onto the main WSESD website so people could find the judicial hearing status for their convenience to public records that are not intuitive to find.
Q2>Over the past 5 or so years our district has gone from being a K-12 system to a Pre-K – 12 system. How will you make sure the educational needs of all?
A2>Investing into implementing and enforcing affirmative action
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7038519768072495104/
I also submitted service animal signage submitted to admins at WSESD and BMH for waste stations because designs should not include depictions of people or leashed animals to prevent miseducation and harassment from stereotypical tropes, but since photos cant be uploaded as comments, i can redirect to linkedin which should be viewable even for people without an account