Newspaper editorials are frequently used to register displeasure
with people, places or things
– usually people. So it is a pleasure to be able to heap some
praise on former targets and to point out new areas of public
pride.
Newspaper editorials are frequently used to register displeasure with people, places or things – usually people. So it is a pleasure to be able to heap some praise on former targets and to point out new areas of public pride.
Heartfelt kudos to the entire staff, and we mean the entire staff, at Britton Middle School for the sensitive, responsible, proactive way in which they dealt with the recent suicide of ninth-grader Jamie. No one, aside from family and close friends, could have felt the loss more, could have felt as helpless, as distressed, as shattered as did Britton Principal Jim McDonald and his wonderful team. Team indeed, meaning everyone from teachers to office personnel to yard duties to School Resource Officers to counselors to food service personnel to custodians.
We also recognized the caring and contributions of those from other campuses, including Barrett Principal Lisa Atlas and Paradise Valley Principal James Hamilton; from the district office, notably Claudette Beatty; and from community organizations like Lisa DeSilva and the counselors at Community Solutions, and the other professionals who dedicated their time to helping the students, their parents, and teachers through this thoroughly scary ordeal.
Anyone who has a child, and even those who don’t, can imagine that this was the real definition of a nightmare come true. But the Britton staff, with the assistance of the others mentioned, pulled together in fine form, painful as it must have been for them, to pull the school through.
The teachers, we hear from parents, although certainly as much affected by the tragedy as the students, remained strong, while not afraid to show their care and concern by shedding tears and talking about Jamie.
The counselors, Karen Cyrus in particular, went into overdrive, acknowledging their pain but yet reaching out, helping students to come to terms with their own pain. Cyrus responded to the needs of Jamie’s friends, guiding but yet not leading their planning and orchestration of a lovely memorial to Jamie. She was there, in the background, to provide support and advice, but she let them take the reins and truly make the event their own. She gave them a way to grieve.
We are saddened by Jamie’s death, but we are encouraged by the spirit of caring, community and respect for student needs that came as a result of it.
BUDGET SOLUTIONS
President Mary Alice Callahan and her Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers and President Bev Walker and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) members showed determination, commitment and resolve this week as they worked painstakingly over School District budget in an attempt to save the jobs of as many of the dedicated teachers of this district as possible. The Federation and SEIU came up with a proposal, presented at Monday night’s marathon board meeting, in two parts, that would save many fledgling teachers’ livelihoods.
During the meeting’s public comment section, Callahan presented the numbers, which, as she told the board, were based on conservative estimates. “If we err,” she said, “it is on the side of solvency.”
The audience in attendance greeted the proposal with cheers and nearly a standing ovation. The premise is simple, and just what the audience of concerned parents, teachers and principals, facing losing the youngest members of their staff, wanted to hear. The Federation/SEIU team took district numbers at the most conservative level – we all have to prepare for the worst instead of assume the best – and put them under the magnifying glass. Not only did the Federation, with the able assistance of district Assistant Superintendent Denise Tate, put together an outstanding early retirement package for 82 eligible teachers, but they delved into the dark recesses of the other programs of the district.
We acknowledge that the School Board has a nearly thankless job ahead; no one wants pieces taken from their pie, be it apple or chocolate cream, but the pieces must be taken, nevertheless, to the tune of at least $3.4 million. Callahan and cohorts rolled up their sleeves and showed trustees what they could do. Their dedication to the teachers of this district, and we are fortunate in having many outstanding ones, and to keeping the cuts farthest from the classroom, is not only to be applauded, but loudly cheered.
Whether the minimum number, which is 21, of teachers takes advantage of the creative retirement plan is yet to be seen. We lament the loss of expertise, as Tate said, walking out the door, but, in return, welcome the promising teachers that may be allowed to keep their positions and keep inspiring Morgan Hill students. If we reach the maximum number eligible, 82 of Morgan Hill’s finest, and, indeed, they are very fine, we applaud their years of dedication not only to the community and the district, but most especially to their students and to teachers at the very beginning of what we hope will also be a long and rewarding career with the district. The maximum number of retirees would allow almost all those noticed to retain their jobs.
And what is standing in the way?
We hope it is not trustees, who, giving deserved respect to “the process” that created what we know as the “performanced-based budget,” fail to see that, within that structure and within the proposal, there are many similarities. There are few differences. We hope that trustees will realize that, not only did the district-sanctioned committee spend many hard-working hours coming up with their proposals, but also that the federation, made up of those closest to our students, spent many hard working hours coming up with possible solutions to this shortfall.
As the students would say, “Rock on, Mary Alice and Bev.”
AND PRAISE FOR THE CITY
We have taken the City of Morgan Hill to task recently over the delay in notifying its water customers that three municipal wells were shut down – at various times – because “action levels” of perchlorate were found in the water. We did note that the city acted well within the state guidelines. They were required only to notify the public, not to shut down the wells.
Our quibble was that residents should be able to decide for themselves what to do about drinking water as soon as the city knows there might be a problem, however small.
So, it is with relief that we can send kudos to the city for its response to the latest round of well closures – when one of the Dunne Avenue wells had to be temporarily closed. The City Council – and the public – were notified within an hour of Public Works Director Jim Ashcraft receiving the test results.
