Slats Murphy, Senior SCW columnist

The Seminole County School Board finally got one right this week, and they were shocked to realize that no one seemed to mind.

The School Board held its final public hearing on Tuesday, March 8, for the middle school rezoning that will take place in Oviedo this coming school year. 

The rezoning will move students between Jackson and Chiles middle schools, with ties to future advancement to Oviedo and Hagerty high schools.  The former is the long-existing high school in Oviedo, the latter the soon-to-be open one whose naming has been a contentious issue between the School Board and some parents.

In its handling of the middle school rezoning, the School Board gave the involved parents something they have been denying to the others:  a fair shake.

In determining the boundaries that would direct students to either Jackson or Chiles, the School Board followed its own policies, and the result was acceptable to all involved.

There was a simple reason for this:  the School Board did as it had led the parents to believe they would, with no surprises or transgressions of faith that would be interpreted as stunning slaps in the face.

That the School Board still does not get "it" was evident in their reaction when no one stepped to the mike to oppose their decision on the middle school rezoning.

The School Board had come to base its expectations on parental and community reaction to their prior decisions on high school rezoning and the naming of Hagerty High.  The expectation they had formulated was that there would be opposition to their decisions themselves, continuing to totally miss the reasons behind the occurrence of the previous opposition.

Parents opposed the decisions on high school rezoning and the naming of Hagerty High because they felt duped and hoodwinked by the School Board, which deceived them with a procedural sleight-of-hand.

The outrage subsequently expressed came as much, if not more, from the way the decisions were reached rather than the specific decisions themselves. 

On Tuesday night, the School Board culminated the middle school rezoning process in the exact manner they had told the parents they would.  They reviewed the three plans put forth by the Core Committee, largely comprised of affected parents, and chose one of those plans as the one to enact.

Their doing so pleased the parents, who were happy to see their efforts culminate in a plan to be adopted on which they had worked and had input.

Had the School Board acted as responsibly in their prior high school rezoning decision, the result could have been the same. 

Instead, at the point where the three plans were presented, with the parents expecting one to be approved, Superintendent Bill Vogel shocked everyone as he announced, "Look, nothing up my sleeves" and pulled a rabbit from his hat.

That "rabbit" was a fourth plan, the existence of which the parents had never been informed and had suddenly been sprung on them.  The parents reacted as might be expected:  they were shocked, confused, and, as time allowed events to sink in, they became angry.

It can be reasonably expected that had the School Board again reached into its bag of tricks this past week and unleashed a surprise on the parents from Oviedo, similar outrage, shock and anger would have been expressed.

But the School Board members obviously surprised themselves more than others by adhering to their own policies and keeping faith with their constituents.  This was clearly evident as they looked with surprise at the audience that voiced no objections.

Several School Board members voiced amazement that the plan was so readily accepted.  Evidently, it was surprising to them that people simply want to be treated fairly and honestly, and for others to keep their word.

Hopefully the School Board has learned a lesson in the value of giving someone a fair shake.  Only time will tell if they have, or if this was simply an aberration rather than the breaking of the disturbing pattern they previously established.

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