News-Record.com

Donna Brown,
Good letter, and great points to ponder.

Ms. Brown, see the first LTTE online today (above). Also note the comments.

I am in complete agreement with the points noted in your LTTE Ms. Brown. I can only wonder why/how this was allowed to happen/continue. Has anyone approached the school administration? Central Office administration? If so, what was the response? If not, WHY NOT?

Shalom

Good luck getting in touch with the administration of a school. Especially by phone.

"proactive Governor"

Yep, he's proactive alright. Spends money before he even has it and before the expense is needed.

Let's be thankful Tax Hike Mike saw a clean school. If it was dirty he probably would have raised taxes another 700 million clams to clean up schools.

Wait a minute..., if you hadn't been to Hampton she'd make sense. But she is just trifflin' and try to hate on the school. That school looks a WHOLE lot better since the new "principal" was put there. I know her and I didn't see her painting the halls, get the Eagle on the floor, and doing anything other than complain about the school. Dog out the administration, that's ok. But that letter is just a cheap shot from a cheap source.

Wait a minute..., if you hadn't been to Hampton she'd make sense. But she is just trifflin' and try to hate on the school. That school looks a WHOLE lot better since the new "principal" was put there. I know her and I didn't see her painting the halls, get the Eagle on the floor, and doing anything other than complain about the school. Dog out the administration, that's ok. But that letter is just a cheap shot from a cheap source.

Cheap source, "trifflin" whatever you say about the writer, the truth is the truth. Just ask other parents(current/former), visit the school, talk to former teachers, better yet keep it about the CHILDREN!

Cut to the quick. As a "Current" parent of a hampton kid, it is about "the kids". I'm ok talking with anyone. still a cheap shot.

While I agree with what Ms. Brown has said, I feel that there is a time and place for everything! I do not feel that this was the time nor the place for such comments. I would also like to add that everything that Ms. Brown said is very true, the stage has been filthy at the school, filled with old clothes, broken furniture, and a fire hazard for the past two years.

But, Ms. Brown was also the PTA president last year at the school and she nor her committee did anything to be proactive to help to ensure that the stage was cleaned. The only time that she came into the school to comment on anything was when she was there to harass the principal. She did nothing to provide proactivie activities for the students, to help to raise funds for the school or to assist the principal in any meaningful way.

And unlike some schools,where Ms. Brown would not be allowed to patrol the halls of the school and to use the schools computers, fax machine, telephone system for her own personal use this year when she is not the PTA president. She should be thankful that Mrs. Thigpen has allowed her and her children to roam the halls of Hampton at their leisure this school year when none of her children are students at Hampton. Where was the infamous Amos Quick when all of this was taking place? You could not get him to come to the school until he found out that the governor was coming. Amos Quick knew that the school was in this condition, when he visited the school last year when Ms. Brown was trying to get the principal removed because she would not bow down to Ms. Brown's intimidation.

If you want to make a complaint against the school fine, it's called freedom of speech! But, please make sure that you as a citizen and a former parent of the school has done everything that you need to do to help to ensure the cleanliness of the school and the safety of the students.

lets_be_in_touch,

You make some good points but let's be fair.

It isn't Ms. Brown's job to clean the school or make it safe for student's to be there.

Now, I agree with you that volunteering to do so would be more productive than writing a letter in the newspaper. But I disagree with you that this isn't the time or place. It's the exact time and place. That kind of information is what the community needs to know about. Perhaps, now the principal will pay attention and do his job making sure the school is safe and clean. He's not a volunteer. He's getting paid to make sure that school is in good running order.

Now, what the heck someone is doing walking around the school at all hours is another topic altogether. Why are they there? I imagine it is because they are doing something to help but I could be wrong.

Oh, I'm sorry. Ms. Thigpen is a woman (or so they say). Replace he with she. Same job responsibilities apply.

First, let me start be saying what a wonderful job Mrs. Thigpen has done at Hampton. Let us remember to 2 years ago when there was a vacant crackhouse on the side of the school, countless wonderers in and out of the building (which now seems to be just the Browns!!), wretched smells and oh yes, LACK OF FOCUS!! If the stage area was such a major concern then why didn't this past PTA president take it upon herself to make that a service project instead of acting like being from the projects and fix it! This is another classic case of someone who must have NOTHING else to so but complain and find fault then pitch in and help! Whether Gov. Easley was coming or Jesus Christ Superstar the fact still remains that the stage was one of may improvements for the dignitary's visit and thus it was cleaned! Why is this an issue now I can't understand. Here's a suggestion for Mrs. Thigpen...In the future when an elected official no longer has children that attend your school, stop making it easy access for them and treat them like another visitor! Brown never did anything outstanding here at Hampton to me besides changing up the hair colors!!

It is great that everyone wants to the adults, but when is someone going to support the children?

It is great that everyone wants to support the adults, but when is someone going to support the CHILDREN?

I'm sorry, the CHILDREN do need help and they are getting more help now than they ever have in the past four years. Ms. Jones was a great one. The work isn't easy and they care for my child. But don't just throw up a stage comment and a dirty bathroom, and say everything is going to pot for the children. Its an insult to every child, parent, teacher, and community supporter at Hampton. Like i said, cheap shot.

I hope that the parents of Colfax Elem are paying attention. Good Luck to all.

Stay strong Mrs. Brown. I can't believe the attempt to defame your character when pointing out some of the ills of our school system. Just for the record, Mrs. Brown attempted to rally Hampton parents around the issue of the cleanliness of the school about a year ago. Meetings took place with Amos Quick, Terry Grier, and other Guilford County School Administrators. Results equated to band-aid fixes. So, I understand the anger one must feel when the school is thoroughly cleaned for a one-time visit and not for the hundreds of visits our children make daily.

As for the so-called roaming the halls, how many school are begging for community participation? Mrs. Brown dedicates her life to Hampton. She has administered plays, mentoring programs for girls, softball teams, praises/disciplines children, and help maintain a level of love our children so desperately need. Her presence only helps administrators and teachers carry out the tremendous burden of providing a quality education for our children with lagging resources. I wonder if the person who logged this complaint dedicated even 1/10 of their time to the children of Hampton. If you did, you cannot question the sincerity and work of Mrs. Brown or is it just another attempt to steer people away from the truth at hand. Parents and community please stay on focus. The cleanliness of the school, the test scores, safety of the school, and parent participation are issues not Mrs. Brown. If you have a problem, stop talking, come to the school, and pitch in, Mrs. Thigpen would love your help.

Yeah, stay strong Mrs. Brown! Sounds like you need a day job too.