Community polarized over Manatee County school district, but unity must be found
Tuesday night's school board meeting was both disappointing and frightening.
It is clear we are a polarized community that needs to come together and move forward.
How?
Some feel we need to look at what polarized us. When did this happen and why? That would be the first step.
To ignore the cause for this disparity among citizens would only secure our ruin, especially if it can be remedied.
There are pockets of people in this district who feel (with viable proof) that rules have been broken, transparency cloaked, and agendas stacked.
Then there are pockets of approval that have yet to have anything negative happen in their neighborhoods, to their schools, or in conversations with this administration.
Manatee County was once an A school district. We had happy, respected teachers and administrators. Students were excelling.
Were we a district without flaws? Of course not. But the financial flaws being touted time and again by the naysayers are seemingly benign compared to the mess we are seeing today.
The walls are crumbling down around us in every department and only a handful of people feel compelled to speak. The others are scared of retaliation. Because they've witnessed it.
One day, the big picture will be seen by all. The truths will be exposed.
But by then, all the supportive parents will have taken their children out of the district, all the talented teachers and support staff will have left the county or worse -- left the profession. What will be left is a demographic of apathy and the war against responsible education will have been waged and won.
Who's the real loser? You and me. Because the children we are failing today will run the world of tomorrow by emulating this behavior, or worse yet, be ill-prepared.
That frightens me.
Lela Rast Hartsaw
Bradenton
This story was originally published April 19, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Community polarized over Manatee County school district, but unity must be found ."