Cynthia Brakeman 4 KHSD Board Trustee

Something to make you laugh today. Everyone remain safe.

To all my teacher friends who are finding themselves saying goodbye to students for the next three weeks (possibly longer), wondering what this is going to look like tomorrow, know that everything you’re thinking is okay. Hang in there, we are all in this together. I’m laughing at all of the posts from parents who are now, after only a few days of homeschooling, so much more appreciative of you and the job you do as teachers. Now we all know our collective memories are short ...and when school starts they will forget all of these feelings, relish in this moment that parents everywhere appreciate you right now. To my KHSD friends and teachers, you rock!!! Thanks for hanging in there until there was a plan in place for the immediate future. Please though take this time to self-quarantine and participate in social distancing, keep yourselves and your families safe and healthy, we will need you back in the classroom when this is over doing what you do best taking care of our students. As a profession, educators are the best!!!! See more

They are devastated right now, they have waited 13 years to get here. To be at the top, their last year, and all of things/events that come with this year. They need our comfort, our empathy, our solace, and our encouragement. Remind them they are going to have a great story to tell grandkids, which will get better, grander, and worse with each telling. But they will deserve to tell it. Make sure you let your seniors know you care and understand their sadness before they leave your classrooms tomorrow!!!

I want to thank the Liberty and Bakersfield High School students who came to the KHSD Board meeting last night. They were articulate, passionate, and concerned students and citizens about the harassment and bullying that is occurring not just at Frontier High School but at all of our KHSD schools and schools in our feeder districts. It is sad that our schools seem to be a reflection of our society at large. All schools and especially those in the Kern High School District sho...uld be safe places where our students are successful academically and in our CTE programs and free from harassment of any kind. Please do not misinterpret my comments to mean that if you have a differing opinion that you cannot constructively share that opinion. But no one should be shamed because of skin color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, body image, academic ability, family situation, or any of the myriad of things we seem to feel are okay to bully someone about. And rarely are these interactions one on one, we talk behind people’s backs, we use social media, or hide amidst a crowd. We should as the students last night did, have a reasonable, well thought out conversation with each other. As a Christian, I have strong beliefs, but I doubt that Jesus would have used the language that was expressed at Frontier High School last week. In my life I’ve learned many lessons two stick out, one is from a Disney character, Thumper’s mother, If you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all. And most importantly from Jesus you without sin cast the first stone (I paraphrased). Violence, ill spoken words, intolerance, is simply not acceptable from our students or our staff. As a final note, the students last night thanked the board for handling the situation expediently and judiciously, I think we need to give the credit to the incredible administrative staffs we have on each of our campuses and our District Office personnel. They (specifically the Frontier administration and our DO) handled the situation professionally and with grace. We have an exceptional District, it is not without problems, but we are addressing them and hope that the community will help us as we continue to provide a safe environment for our students!!! See more