This season when many of us in our personal lives reflect on
what
’s happened over the last year and speak resolutely about what
we want to establish as our goals – what we want to accomplish in
the next 12 months. This Board member and his colleagues will be
doing the same. Details of what we’ve accomplished and where we are
headed will unfold in meetings t
o come.
This season when many of us in our personal lives reflect on what’s happened over the last year and speak resolutely about what we want to establish as our goals – what we want to accomplish in the next 12 months. This Board member and his colleagues will be doing the same. Details of what we’ve accomplished and where we are headed will unfold in meetings to come.
All of us, district office personnel, teachers, parents and students have been over the mountains and through the woods with several patches of hot desert in between over the last year. Wrangling over the state budget, unfunded federal mandates and pressure to raise our achievement scores came from above while below, we juggle creative solutions to save a teacher, keep a custodian and preserve music and sports for all children. This coming year will be no different. But make no mistake – we are here to educate all children from South San Jose to San Martin.
This entire board was elected by the voters from the same geographic area – each board member seeking the best way to get through the hot spots, carrying his or her luggage and maybe that of others, guided by their own compass based on the information laid before them.
In seven months, interested candidates for three open seats can file papers to run for trustee of Morgan Hill Unified. I’d like to see candidates from South San Jose or San Martin participate. We’ve seen past candidates increase their visibility at recent meetings. They are interested and so are others who are stakeholders in public education. I met one of our newest board members at a public forum, a reminder that this was a method of public outreach initiated by some on this board today. So reaching out does work.
I believe, together with your help, whether offered as time, talent or financial resources, we can achieve a higher level of academic excellence not seen here in some time. A right hand is now extended, a handshake proposed, to you, requesting help in navigating what lies before us. Let’s not take one step forward and two steps back.
To others living within our district, who are schooling their children outside of our district: We want you back and will make every effort to make your choice an easier one. It’s time to come home.
George Panos, a Morgan Hill resident, sells electronics to companies in Silicon Valley. He is the new president of the Morgan Hill School District board of trustees. Readers interested in writing a guest column should contact editor Walt Glines at [email protected] or 779-4106.
