It’s Time for Our Community to Come Together
The school board races are over, and our community has spoken. The voters have decided the direction they want our school district to take, and now it is time for all of us to come together and move forward.
Regardless of who we supported during the election, we all have more in common than we sometimes realize. We all want good schools. We all want accountability. We all want our teachers, administrators, and school board members to be held to high standards.
Most importantly, we all want our children to be safe, receive an excellent education, and have every opportunity to succeed. Now is the time to put the election behind us and focus on making our school district one of the best in the state.
This past school board election was difficult. I have never seen a local race become as vicious and personal as this one did. Political disagreements are part of the process, and asking tough questions is necessary when we are talking about the education of our children. But there is a line that should never be crossed. Attacking the superintendent of schools based on rumors, innuendo, and unsubstantiated claims does not move our community forward. And yes, I’m talking to you, Mid Bay News.
The political environment has become so vicious that good people, people who could bring tremendous talent, experience, and leadership to our school board, may look at what happened in this election and decide they simply do not want to subject themselves or their families to that kind of race. That should concern every one of us, regardless of which side of the political aisle we are on.
We should be able to share a meal with someone we disagree with politically, have an open and honest debate about our ideas, and still walk away with respect for one another. We don’t have to agree, but we should be able to disagree without calling each other names or attacking one another personally. We can disagree with a school board member without turning their home into a political battleground. We should not be sending people to school board leaders’ homes with cameras, particularly when their children are present. Public officials deserve accountability, but their families deserve privacy and respect. There is a major difference between asking legitimate questions in a public setting and making someone’s home and children part of a political fight.
Now that this election is over, it is time to move forward. Whether you supported one candidate or another, we are all part of the same community, and our children will attend the same schools.
Instead of putting our time, energy, and effort into attacking one another, imagine what we could accomplish if we invested that same time, energy and effort in our children, serving as a mentor, volunteering in a classroom, coaching a team, reading to our students, or simply finding a way to make a difference in a child’s life.
The most important thing our school district is doing is raising up the next generation. Let’s put the personal attacks behind us and focus on what matters: safe schools, excellent teachers, responsible leadership, transparency, accountability, and giving our students every opportunity to succeed. We may not agree on every issue, but surely, we can agree that our community is stronger when we work together. The goal should not be defeating one another. It should be building a school district that makes all of us proud.
