Opinion

This is the time of the year when most of us are looking forward to spending time with family and friends, putting on our holiday cheer and generally letting the past year wind down.I am looking forward to all of the above too but this year seems to be including un-holiday-like conflicting sentiments and torn emotions. The season is delivering the satisfaction that one of our community’s most unfair episodes seems to be coming to a close, yet also with the concern that all of this might be giving our community a black eye.I am referring to the recent attempt to recall MHUSD Board President Bob Benevento which has deservedly fizzled while emotions in the community are reaching the boiling point towards another trustee—David Gerard, whose district emails are now in the public realm for all to see.The trustee’s public emails recently released by the district offices in response to a Public Records Act request by the Morgan Hill Times have opened a Pandora’s box for Trustee Gerard in particular but seems to implicate trustees Borgioli and Badillo in recent goings on too. Do we have a trinity here?From alleged harassment that ultimately led to trustee Porter-Jensen’s retirement to the recall effort against Benevento, there seems to be a thread that connects Gerard and the other two trustees. This leads a small group of the like-minded to do things that remind me of one of those movies where someone is unjustly accused of something heinous until a hero steps up and metes out justice with the support of the local townsfolk.Most of those movies come to a fitting end, which includes all of the bad guys getting theirs while the wrongly accused is exonerated and life can finally move on.So far the ending of our story is shaping up nicely with the exoneration of one of the good guys and the realization that the “large numbers of disgruntled parents” supporting the unjust recall is actually a small number of very vocal parents.Just how completely involved were the trinity in the alleged harassment of Trustee Porter-Jensen? I hope we can get a clearer understanding of this soon so we can gain some certainty that we will no longer have silly behavior on the board again.I see the local media and even a columnist out of San Jose and the Metro as being the heros here. They shined a light on a dark place where the unsavory behavior took place. Now we can make up our own minds about how we feel toward these events.During all of this, the fact that the school district is in a much better place than it was just five years ago has been missed. Let’s pay some attention to how well things are going for our students. Some insist on comparing our schools to others and can dig up statistics that say we are not at the top. How about we take a look at how much we have improved and start looking forward to the day when we will be at the top? We are headed that way.So this holiday I’ll be spending time with family and friends, being cheerful, and putting this whole school board mess in the rear view mirror.John McKay is a Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

Summer break just ended for youth across California. Some children savored the opportunity to participate in sports leagues, attend camps with friends or travel to new places. But for many other children, staying physically fit and academically motivated this summer was a real challenge.During the months of summer vacation, research indicates that, on average, children fall one month behind where they left off academically in the spring. This loss in learning during the summer impacts disadvantaged children the most, accounting for as much as two-thirds of the total gap in their academic achievement compared with their more advantaged peers.While falling behind academically during the summer, children also put on additional weight—equal to half the total weight gain acquired during the entire year.Currently, more than 70 percent of Americans age 17 to 24 cannot serve in the military, primarily because they are too poorly educated, are overweight or have a criminal record. As a retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General and a member of the nonprofit organization Mission: Readiness, I consider this a matter of national security.The good news is high-quality summer learning programs in our neighborhoods successfully blend academic instruction and other enrichment opportunities for youth. Programs like Building Futures Now (BFN) offer a five-week session to help narrow the achievement gap and prepare students for school in the fall. BFN focuses on students’ potential and offers intensive methods that improve students’ math, reading and writing skills, while balancing activities that are enriching and fun.Healthy meals and proper hydration are also key components to the program, and students are provided a selection of fresh fruits and nutritious meals to pick from daily.There are key challenges to programs like BFN. Many lack physical space required for students to engage in the 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity that’s recommended on a daily basis. Further, the costs of running quality programs continue to outpace funding.The state’s After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program supports quality after-school and summer learning across the state, serving hundreds of thousands of students each year. Hundreds of students remain on their waiting lists. Yet, since 2007 the California consumer performance index (CPI) has increased by 19 percent and the state minimum wage has increased 33 percent, while the ASES daily funding has remained at $7.50 per student per day.Due to funding issues, a majority of programs have cut staff hours and reduced services. Each of us can do our part by urging community leaders and public officials to advocate for additional resources for quality summer learning programs.Many school districts are already planning for next year’s programming and we must ensure that the summer of 2017 is not a season of brain drain and weight gain. Providing youth with effective ways to improve their academic skills and stay physically active during summer is just common sense, and will ensure they lead healthier, more productive lives.Jeffrey Lawson is a retired Brigadier General, U.S. Air Force and a Morgan Hill resident.