An interesting comment from the BOE

At the Montgomery County Board of Education meeting on February 8, 2005, there were nine Public Comments offered. Speakers are called to give Public Comments four at a time. Right after speaker number 8 finished her comments, Patricia O'Neill, BOE President, addressed Steven Fisher, who had been speaker number 6.

"Before you all get up I just wanted to thank Mr. Fisher. I'm happy to be able to connect a name with a face because I had seen many of your writings on various websites and recently you wrote to me as the PR Chair of the CRC. And in that letter you said to me that you were a Whitman cluster parent and I went to my Pyle and Whitman directories and I didn't find you so I was happy to find on your website (she waves a single page she's been holding) that um your children now attend...have attended Catholic middle and high schools -- Mater Dei, Gonzaga, and Holy Child, because I was surprised I didn't know you through the Whitman community. And I found your bio (waves the page again) very fascinating. You know, you talk about having over 50 years in your family as tax payers and my family, my in-laws lived in the county since 1952, my mother since '65, and I since '75. My sister is a tax payer as well so I think collectively, we have about 100 years of tax paying experience. And also, I too have a military family background. My father was an active Naval Officer and is in fact, buried in Arlington National Cemetery. So I do thank you for your consideration but I was surprised that...and today you did clarify that you are a former MCPS parent so thank you very much. OK, our next speaker is....."