Trustee Batey appears to be swing vote
BY TARA MCLAUGHLIN, Californian staff writere-mail: tmclaughlin@bakersfield.com
It may all hinge on trustee Bryan Batey. He's the one Kern High School District board member who is declining to say if he's for or against posting "In God We Trust" in every classroom in the district.
"I don't think it's appropriate to be making my decision without hearing all of the information," he said when contacted Tuesday. "I'm not announcing my vote in the newspaper."
Related Photos
KHSD Trustee Bryan Batey
But the other four are talking and the count is split.
Board member and local pastor Chad Vegas, who spearheaded the action and remains a staunch supporter, has an ally in board member Ken Mettler.
"It is the nation's motto," Mettler said. "It's on equal footing of the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem. It has good education value."
But if the proposed policy language isn't changed, Vegas will likely see two "no" votes in board President Bob Hampton and board member Joel Heinrichs.
"The spiritual side of the student belongs in the home and the church, not in the public education system," Hampton said. "We're responsible for the three R's."
"My inclination, and I'm, of course, going to talk to more people ... is not to support the narrow posting of just the national motto," Heinrichs said.
But if the proposed language changes, so could Heinrichs' vote.
If the purpose is to promote the history of this country, it can't just be about the national motto, Heinrichs said.
He would support a so-called "freedom wall" displaying historical documents including the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and "In God We Trust."
"I don't think we should take the one out of context," he added.
Vegas suggested at Monday night's board meeting that the following language be added to policy:
"The nation's motto, In God We Trust, shall be posted in plain view in all Kern High School District classrooms."
Most CommentedMost Popular
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, giving "seriously ill Californians ... the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes" as recommended by a physician.
Kern County has agreed to pay a Kern River Valley family $1 million for wrongfully taking their son in 2008 when the family was in a dispute with the South Fork Union School District over how school officials were dealing with the boy's food allergies.
Is Kern County, as has widely been reported, really the expulsion capital of California? That's the question posed Friday by state Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Shafter, to 50 or so Kern County educators, elementary and high school district administrators and community leaders.
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
Kern County has agreed to pay a Kern River Valley family $1 million for wrongfully taking their son in 2008 when the family was in a dispute with the South Fork Union School District over how school officials were dealing with the boy's food allergies.
Young's Marketplace, an independent grocery store that's a Bakersfield institution, will close at the end of the week.
Bakersfield’s Faast Pharmacy is going out of business and will be acquired by the big chain CVS, it was confirmed Monday.