I would like to thank the Silver Consolidated School District for the opportunity to serve as a board member for the past four years. To Mr. Streib, Mr. Pool and the board members I have had the pleasure of serving with, I say, THANK You. I have certainly learned a lot from all of you and come away with some friends that I would never have had the pleasure of meeting nor serving with, if it were not for this opportunity.

I would also like to say thank you to those who have disagreed with me. I have certainly learned a lot from all of you. I appreciate all of you who were gracious enough to tell me you have a degree. After listening to you, I would have never guessed. I realize now, many people are not shy about exposing their ignorance of our form of government in such a public manner. This experience alone has shown me our desperate need for education in history, social studies and political science.

There are many things that this school board knows that many of our detractors do not know. For example:
1. We know we have the authority to imminent domain your home but not the authority to change the school curriculum.
2. We know we have the authority to set the budget but only if it is above the line.
3. We know we have the authority to write policy but only if the state approves, for example, Paddling.
4. We know we have the authority to hire and fire the Superintendent but only when he does something that rises to the level of being fired. It must be proven, and it cannot be based on gossip. I now know with certainty what Charles Spurgeon said: "A lie can travel halfway around the world, while the truth is putting on its shoes."
5. We know it has already been established by Judge Michael Bustamante of the NM state court of appeals, that Secretary Hannah Skandera has the authority to overhaul the state teacher evaluations. Judges Sutin & Kennedy concurred. We know the school board cannot change that. Feb. 2, 2015. Albuquerque Journal
6. We are aware that things as simple as our students reading lists are established by the NM Public Education Department. After having seen the bigotry and narrow mindedness of so many in our community in the past year, I now know why the state establishes the reading list. That is why it does not surprise us that we do not have the authority to reject Common Core.
7. We know what an Open Meetings Act violation IS and what it is NOT.
8. We also know that school board members in NM do not get paid for their service to their community.

When you finally realize the true scope of NM school boards, you will be disappointed, but I hope it motivates all of you to take a course on how the state of NM actually works.

Thank you again for a truly eye-opening experience.

Trent Petty
Silver City