A BIG CROWD turned out at Tuesday’s meeting of the GGUSD board (OC Tribune photos).

Since educators grade students, it’s only fair that we grade the educators from time to time.

I mean, I am still upset about the“C” I got in  my college co-ed volleyball class. I think the teacher thought I was more interested in the “co-ed” part than the “volleyball,” but we did place second in the standings, you know?

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Garden Grove Unified School District’s Board of Education, a large and agitated crowd filled the room to overflowing with angry folks upset about the alleged firing of a GGUSD teacher over gender issues.

Won’t get into the details of the dispute here, but I was impressed by the way the whole thing was handled. Angry crowds have been showing up at school board meetings for months now over gender stuff, and even before that during the mask mandates during the coronavirus pandemic.

So this wasn’t the local school board’s first rodeo, and the district deserved an “A.”  Board President Walter Muneton laid down the law at the beginning of the meeting about disruptions, and used the gavel appropriately. Some audience members were polite, but others had left their manners at home, shouting insults that were sometimes contradictory – can you be a “fascist” and a “communist” at the same time? Is that, like, “bipolitical”?

THE SCHOOL BOARD stayed frosty ….which means cool.

When the time came to clear the room, Muneton didn’t make the threat three or four times, but just went to it.

The GGPD was there, three officers with their sweet therapy dogs. The friendly canines – and their partners – were polite and affable and took a lot of the tension out of the room as people slowly … and I do mean slooowwwly … filed out.

Tuesday’s meeting was a master class in how to handle a protest. Despite being subjected to many insults – and not a few untruths – everybody on the dais stayed frosty and a non-violent time was had by all.

Public education at its best. Now, if only something could be done about that grade I got …