Silsbee School Officials Stick Heads In Sand
About a decade ago, a little girl disappeared off an elementary school campus in Killeen, where I was editor of the newspaper. Witnesses saw someone come up to a playground fence, pick up the girl and carry her away.
Drug-sniffing dogs picked up her scent on campus. In addition, records showed that the little girl had used her breakfast card in the cafeteria that morning.
A massive search effort ensued. A few days later, the girl's badly decomposed body was found in a rocky ditch near a river.
The school district could have served as an instrument of community calm. Instead, it circled the wagons, refusing to address the tragedy publicly. The district even denied that the girl was on campus that fateful morning.
Now, the Silsbee school district is doing the same in the aftermath of an arrest of three football players in the reported sexual assault of a cheerleader.
Other than a couple of brief statements issued via e-mail, the entire district has been tight-lipped about the incident. Media calls to district officials have been ignored. At a time when SISD could address community fears, it is burying its head in the dirt.
A wise Vietnam vet once told me that the only way to survive an ambush is to fight your way through it, and this is the approach that SISD should be taking. Instead of clamming up and hoping the issue will go away - and it won't - it should be taking a proactive stance, assuring the public that it is addressing the problem, particularly on campus, where professional counselors should be made available to help students through this difficult time.
Perhaps the district is doing a fine job of handling the crisis in-house. But that doesn't go far enough. Parents and the public have a right to know that the district is doing something more than circling the wagons.
Drug-sniffing dogs picked up her scent on campus. In addition, records showed that the little girl had used her breakfast card in the cafeteria that morning.
A massive search effort ensued. A few days later, the girl's badly decomposed body was found in a rocky ditch near a river.
The school district could have served as an instrument of community calm. Instead, it circled the wagons, refusing to address the tragedy publicly. The district even denied that the girl was on campus that fateful morning.
Now, the Silsbee school district is doing the same in the aftermath of an arrest of three football players in the reported sexual assault of a cheerleader.
Other than a couple of brief statements issued via e-mail, the entire district has been tight-lipped about the incident. Media calls to district officials have been ignored. At a time when SISD could address community fears, it is burying its head in the dirt.
A wise Vietnam vet once told me that the only way to survive an ambush is to fight your way through it, and this is the approach that SISD should be taking. Instead of clamming up and hoping the issue will go away - and it won't - it should be taking a proactive stance, assuring the public that it is addressing the problem, particularly on campus, where professional counselors should be made available to help students through this difficult time.
Perhaps the district is doing a fine job of handling the crisis in-house. But that doesn't go far enough. Parents and the public have a right to know that the district is doing something more than circling the wagons.
posted by Brian Pearson at 11:25 AM
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