Saturday, 12 December 2009

CJ Grisham, A Decorated Army Vet Needs Your Help Against Out of Control School Principal and Board

He fought to defend your rights principal, you should at least consider his points A decorated member of the U.S. military says he may bring a lawsuit against school officials in Huntsville, Ala., after they complained to his military commanders when he objected to plans to require students, including his children, to spend $400 on uniforms.

This case is not about me versus the school district," wrote Master Sgt. C.J. Grisham, a 15-year Army veteran and military blogger who was invited by President George W. Bush to the White House for a historic sit-down meeting with a select gathering of "mil-bloggers."

"It's about parental rights and the limits of our educators in dealing with parental concerns, especially when those parents are in the military."

The fundamental problem in this case is that a parent disagreed with a school policy. The principal of the school responded by contacting the parent’s employer and complaining that she felt threatened. The employer in this case just happens to be the US Army. When is it ever permissible for the schools to contact a parent’s employer over a policy disagreement? Never!

If the principal, Avis Williams, felt threatened as she claimed then she should have contacted police and filed charges. It bears mentioning that Williams is a former member of the Army and clearly knew who to contact in Grisham’s chain of command and how to phrase a complaint for maximum effect. She didn’t contact the Army because she felt threatened. She contacted the Army because she wanted to quash Grisham’s dissent over her policy. That’s right, she intentionally set out to damage his career – his livelihood – because he dared to question a new school policy.

Grisham confirmed, "I am pursuing a lawsuit to clear my name and force the school system to admit they overstepped their bounds by denying my right to participate in my children's education and attempt to ruin my career."

Grisham now is the the cover story for "Off Duty," an insert included in the Military Times, the magazine for the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

Let's Help Grisham stand up to this tin pot dictator school district, he had to spend $3000 to move his kids to the grandparents which wiped out his families savings, and he has a pending lawsuit against the principal and school board. You can make any size donations to help him and his family at 'a soldier's perspective'.

He says, "I am reaching out through various avenues to help raise the money. I've enlisted the help of local media, talk shows and blogs to help me raise the money. Fellow milbloggers are reaching into their pockets and tapping their readers as well. My neighbors and local Huntsville citizens are donating to a local fund at a bank where I'm stationed."
"While I have no problem asking for money to support these efforts, I've always been very bashful about asking for anything for myself. However, I feel like I must humble myself and ask for help on my own behalf in this instance."

For those of you who want to let the school district know how you feel about the terrible manner in which they treated a decorated soldier and his family you can visit the J.E. Williams Middle School website where you will find email addresses and phone numbers to contact them.