The Speech
3 minutes before the board – “The Camacho Standard”
[0:00 - 0:45] The Callback & The Follow-Up
Good evening. I am Rasmus Praestholm, 643 Mount Pleasant Ave.
For those who don’t recognize the face, I’m the guy from last year who “half-joked” about organizing a parent-led leaf blower brigade to save the district money. I’m back! And in good company, I need to catch up with the WO parents group.
I want to start with some emphasis: I wasn’t kidding. I was providing an example of the distributed, out-of-the-box coordination we need to get through this. After that meeting, I waited. One board member told me they’d be in touch to discuss suggestions. No call. No email. We got a form link and never heard back.
I don’t doubt for a second that the people sitting here care about our kids and educators. But something seems to happen when you sit on that side of the table. The creativity gets blocked out, replaced by the weight of “the numbers” and the bureaucracy. You spend hours being talked at, and in the process, you’ve stopped talking with us. Wouldn’t you rather have shorter, happier meetings?
[0:45 - 1:45] The Community Exoskeleton
I’m not here to rant about what you’re doing wrong. I’m here to suggest how we can help. I’m an engineer and a busy dad with three young kids. One person, using modern tools, put together the documents I’m holding over a few days since our last PTA meeting.
The content isn’t the important part - not every idea in here will be valid. Some might be false leads. But I am nearly certain some will be new to this board. Which ones? I don’t know - because this district doesn’t use open processes, and we as residents have no way to know what’s already been tried or looked into. That closed process is a huge part of the problem.
If one person with limited time can produce this much, imagine what a whole community can do up front, less burdened by bureaucracy - a community full of people with skills in healthcare, finance, law, athletics, fundraising, and technology. Some of that potential is sitting in this room right now.
What I’m proposing is a community exoskeleton - a support structure for the district. The PTA and other community organizations partially take over what we can: enrichment, athletics, photography, grounds maintenance, fundraising. The district can then focus its limited resources on what only a district can do. I’m not asking you to do more. I’m asking you to let us shoulder what we can so you can protect what we can’t.
[1:45 - 2:30] The Personal Stake & The Whitepapers
Because there are things the community cannot fix. My oldest child has a paraprofessional he has known for nearly a third of his life. [slow down here] That isn’t a line item. That’s a foundation. We as a community can hire an enrichment instructor, we can organize a volunteer coach, we can run a picture day – but we cannot replace a para who knows a child’s triggers, their communication style, their progress over years. Outsourcing that to a corporate staffing agency is not a budget solution. It’s a loss that can’t be undone.
So here’s what I’m proposing tonight. I brought – [hold them up] – whitepapers! In here are proposals for how the community might absorb costs and help: Bridge Grants to fund teaching hours, revenue from community-run picture days, grant writing, sports partnerships, and yes, a leaf blower brigade. If we take on some things, the district could potentially cut even more in areas where we can step in – and redirect every dollar saved to the positions the community cannot replace.
[2:30 - 3:00] The Closer:
[Turn to face the audience]
And to everyone here tonight – not everything in this whitepaper requires us to wait on the board. We can start helping each other now. PTAs can fundraise. Sports leagues can coordinate. Parents with skills can volunteer. The proposals are online, and the door is open to anyone who wants to pitch in.
I’m not asking the board to be super-human. We don’t expect you to be. We aren’t either. But collectively we could be. The community could be your exoskeleton but you have to let us in. Thank you.
(Bring papers up front)
The Camacho Challenge
I’ll leave you with a cinematic reference. In the movie Idiocracy, there is a leader named President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. He was stuck in a decaying system, but he had a quality this board needs right now: As he faced a problem without obvious solutions he found new people who could help in creative ways, he accepted new options, and he delegated what he could. The country was saved.
I am asking this board to live up to the example set by President Camacho. You can’t do it all. We don’t expect you to. You are not super humans. We aren’t either. But collectively we could be. The community could be your exoskeleton – but you have to let us. Thank you.
Delivery Notes
- The physical hand-off: When you mention the whitepapers, physically hold them up. Walk them to the Board Secretary after you speak if protocol allows; otherwise leave them on the podium.
- The Camacho line: Deliver with a straight face. The humor works best as a serious leadership critique.
- “A third of his life”: Slow down here. This is the emotional anchor point. Let it land before pivoting back to the papers.
What to Print for the Board Meeting
You won’t print everything on the site. The printed stack should be tight, high- impact, and physically holdable. Here’s the recommended assembly:
The Core Stack (print for every board member + Board Secretary)
| Order | Document | Why it’s in the stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Executive Summary | The one-pager that frames everything; even if they read nothing else |
| 2 | Instructional Bridge Grant | The most concrete, actionable proposal – saves art & library |
| 3 | Paraprofessional Retention Audit | The emotional and legal anchor – “a third of his life” |
| 4 | Health Insurance Transparency | The biggest dollar lever; reframes the entire deficit narrative |
| 5 | Regulatory Leverage Points | The “hard” questions they can’t wave away – banked cap, Best Practices, CAA |
| 6 | RFI Templates | The “we’re serious” closer – ready-to-file, with OPRA fallback |
The Supporting Stack (print a few copies for the podium table)
| Order | Document | Why it supports |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Open Image Project | Revenue reclamation + data sovereignty – easy to understand |
| 8 | Community Maintenance Layer | The leaf blower callback from the speech – proof of concept |
| 9 | Grant Writing Corps | Shows the community has professional capacity, not just enthusiasm |
| 10 | Open Budget & Participatory Finance | The “show don’t tell” – bring a screenshot if OpenCollective is live |
| 11 | Open Governance Pilot | The vision piece – shorter meetings, better outcomes |
Leave on the website only
- Energy & Facilities (09) – strong but less urgent for this meeting
- Cooperative Purchasing (10) – technically important, not emotionally resonant
- Student-Led Projects (12) – nice supporting example, not a lead argument
- PTA Coordination Infrastructure (15) – the board doesn’t need the platform details
- Technical design documents (16-18) – these are for the community builders, not the board
Assembly Tips
- Staple each stack – don’t hand them a pile of loose pages
- Print the Executive Summary on colored paper (light blue or cream) so it stands out as the “start here” page
- Number of copies: one per board member (usually 7-9) + one for the Board Secretary + a few extras for the podium. ~15 total stacks.
- The site URL (
schools.frontstate.org) should be on the Executive Summary so people can find the full site later. Write it by hand on each copy if you don’t get to update the print layout in time.
Full site: https://schools.frontstate.org
Give feedback to the West Orange School District: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfPpBHw2F13tZXD54vfKXXNQywjaz93KaJXdMLWG0AnE51csw/viewform