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By the end of today, a popular Web site that Churchill County School Board member Dave Ash started a few years ago will be shut down.
He said the site is being discontinued to save taxpayer money and for no other reason.
“I did not do it to satisfy the union,” he said. “I did it to save the district money.”
The local teachers union had said if its demands were not met or did not win its grievance, it was going to take the district to arbitration.
If this would have happened, he said, it would have cost the district thousands of dollars. Ash said while he believes he was elected to the board of trustees to represent the will of parents, students, school district employees and the taxpayers of Churchill County, he also believes he was elected to do his best to be a good steward of the district’s finances.
Ash started the Web site, daveash.net, as a way to better communicate with people in the community about school-related issues. Some members of the public, he added, are not comfortable with going to school board meetings or speaking out.
Music teacher Lucas Koenig and Athletic Director Brad Daum filed grievances earlier this year against the district because accusations of poor teaching performances that allegedly appeared on Ash’s Web site.
According to the grievance form, accusations of poor teaching performance and negative comments regarding the teachers’ characters had been allowed on a trustee’s blog site as well as comments from Ash on the site referring to a public right to make allegations without interference from the union.
The union first filed a grievance against Ash, and the board instructed him to put a disclaimer on the site stating it was his site, not the district’s or representative of its beliefs.
The union then filed a grievance against the district after Ash did not remove the postings in question. The union had asked the district to post comments on the site, refuting some of the claims.
Ash said since the site had no affiliation with the district, school officials could not post anything on it.
The main concern the district had with the site is Ash controlled it.
The school board member said he was amazed at the number of people who visited the site. On one day in June, 22 users were logged on at the same time.
He said the grievances were the first time anyone had lodged complaints against his site, and added the complimentary comments about teachers number more than negative remarks.
“I read posts from Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
However, Ash is not ending his use of technology to communicate with his constituents and is only disabling the Web site he controlled.
Ash said he will continue to monitor and respond to issues raised in the story comments section of the Lahontan Valley News Web site and on fallontownhall.blogspot.com.
“I will still answer questions that I see,” he said, adding he has no control over either site.
Messages can also be sent to Dave Ash@myspace.com, Dave Ash@flickr.com, Dave Ash@facebook.com, but posts to these social networks will not be available to the public.
In addition, he said, people can still e-mail him at daveash@charter.net, speak directly to him on Microsoft Instant Messenger or call 867-DAVE.
Ash hopes the public will use the alternate Web sites or e-mail him with any district-related questions they may have.
“It was a popular Web site. It really was,” Ash said.
He said the site is being discontinued to save taxpayer money and for no other reason.
“I did not do it to satisfy the union,” he said. “I did it to save the district money.”
The local teachers union had said if its demands were not met or did not win its grievance, it was going to take the district to arbitration.
If this would have happened, he said, it would have cost the district thousands of dollars. Ash said while he believes he was elected to the board of trustees to represent the will of parents, students, school district employees and the taxpayers of Churchill County, he also believes he was elected to do his best to be a good steward of the district’s finances.
Ash started the Web site, daveash.net, as a way to better communicate with people in the community about school-related issues. Some members of the public, he added, are not comfortable with going to school board meetings or speaking out.
Music teacher Lucas Koenig and Athletic Director Brad Daum filed grievances earlier this year against the district because accusations of poor teaching performances that allegedly appeared on Ash’s Web site.
According to the grievance form, accusations of poor teaching performance and negative comments regarding the teachers’ characters had been allowed on a trustee’s blog site as well as comments from Ash on the site referring to a public right to make allegations without interference from the union.
The union first filed a grievance against Ash, and the board instructed him to put a disclaimer on the site stating it was his site, not the district’s or representative of its beliefs.
The union then filed a grievance against the district after Ash did not remove the postings in question. The union had asked the district to post comments on the site, refuting some of the claims.
Ash said since the site had no affiliation with the district, school officials could not post anything on it.
The main concern the district had with the site is Ash controlled it.
The school board member said he was amazed at the number of people who visited the site. On one day in June, 22 users were logged on at the same time.
He said the grievances were the first time anyone had lodged complaints against his site, and added the complimentary comments about teachers number more than negative remarks.
“I read posts from Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
However, Ash is not ending his use of technology to communicate with his constituents and is only disabling the Web site he controlled.
Ash said he will continue to monitor and respond to issues raised in the story comments section of the Lahontan Valley News Web site and on fallontownhall.blogspot.com.
“I will still answer questions that I see,” he said, adding he has no control over either site.
Messages can also be sent to Dave Ash@myspace.com, Dave Ash@flickr.com, Dave Ash@facebook.com, but posts to these social networks will not be available to the public.
In addition, he said, people can still e-mail him at daveash@charter.net, speak directly to him on Microsoft Instant Messenger or call 867-DAVE.
Ash hopes the public will use the alternate Web sites or e-mail him with any district-related questions they may have.
“It was a popular Web site. It really was,” Ash said.
