Despite Hill--and despite the effort to remove him--the district is making progress.
Last year--in line with nationwide efforts toward decentralization--the district began a site-based management system allowing individual schools to take more control of local operations. In March of this year, voters passed a $38 million bond that will provide, among other things, air conditioning for several schools that don't have it. On district tests of basic skills, student scores increased almost across the board. Such progress puts the district in a bind: While officials want Hill out, they don't want to talk negatively about the district. It is almost accepted as gospel that Hill is the obstacle to the district's advancement. "The potential here is for real greatness," Kleinz says, grandiloquently.
The board's meeting room isn't unlike a student classroom. The carpet is an ugly, utilitarian orange. The plastic seats are also orange--but a different shade than the carpet--and uncomfortable. At the board's first December meeting, the pictures of Thanksgiving turkeys have been replaced by a chart of students' favorite "vegies." The fact that "vegies" is spelled with one g and not the usual two is an example to one Hill supporter of how bad things are in the district.
Faithful from both sides are some of the first to arrive. There are a few anti-Donaldson signs--Jean Donaldson, Guilty of Fraud," "Yesterday AzScam, Today Jeanscam--left over from a meeting at which Hill supporters criticized Donaldson's decision to keep her seat.
More than 100 parents show up tonight--some are forced to sit on the edges of tables stacked along the walls. Others crowd outside and peer in through a doorway.
Meetings can last as long as four hours. Notes and even recall petitions are passed back and forth. People whisper during the moment of silence. Perhaps the only time the audience is united is during the Pledge of Allegiance. When the public comments begin, the meeting turns vicious. The air feels hotter in the room. A line of Hill's supporters sarcastically questions Donaldson's integrity, calls her a liar and a cheat. Donaldson stares directly at each speaker, then thanks each one. She shows no emotion--one speaker even wonders if she's listening. Under board rules, she can't respond to the public comments. Nancy Hill--who sits next to Donaldson and is her good friend--gives the pro-Bob Hill speakers no such courtesy. She appears bored throughout their speeches.
The main issue tonight is a vote on whether to eliminate the Citizens Advisory Committee, a group of volunteer parents that researches issues for the board. The committee, Donaldson says, is no longer necessary; each school has its own local committees.
But something else is going on here. In recent years, Hill's supporters have dominated the committee. When the voting is over, Hill is the only one who votes against killing the committee. The vote is a direct blow at him.
Now that the Bob Hill recallers have finished gathering their signatures, and the controversial school-board member will face a recall election, his supporters have decided on a counterattack. Linda Gray, the Hill fan doing the filming in Cortez Park, explained the thinking: "All they had on their recall petitions was Hill was rude at board meetings. We have an ethical problem on ours."
Their target, Gray wrote in a press release, is the board president who took her seat after saying she would not run and promising she would not serve. "Jean Donaldson says the voters want her back. Wrong. I think that if Millie Bush had been on the ballot, she would have gotten votes, too."
Originally, the Hill supporters tried to gather signatures for a letter demanding Donaldson's resignation. The group was trying to get 1,000 signatures. Then one supporter had an inspiration: "Forget this--let's go for a recall!"
Last week, Hill's supporters began gathering signatures for what will be the Washington district's 12th recall action since 1979.
