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Show Viewpoints The A-19 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, April 27-30, 2019 Park Record. editorial Opportunity gap has narrowed, but effort is far from finished T Jean Tabin Park City he Park City School District is widely regarded as one of the best school systems in the state, and we’re reminded why this time each year as graduating students don their caps and gowns and head off for prestigious colleges across the country. There’s one group of students, however, that doesn’t reap the full benefit of our first-class educational system. Data has long shown that Park City’s Hispanic students, who are often underserved, are behind their classmates in core subjects, graduate at lower rates and are less likely to earn a four-year college degree. The imbalance has nothing to with smarts or ability. Rather, Hispanic students are subject to systemic disadvantages that put them behind their peers at an early age and make it difficult for them to catch up. Addressing the opportunity gap, as most Parkites familiar with the problem acknowledge, is paramount. Park City prides itself on being a place where all are welcome, but as long as a large chunk of our youth do not have the same chance at success afforded others, that sentiment remains unfulfilled. Fortunately, school officials have strived over the last decade to rise to the challenge, implementing a range of programs and changes designed to boost equity. The efforts have been successful. The high school graduation rate for Latino Clean up the community guest editorial letters to the editor Get informed about port Editor: I believe that as a member of Park City, that I live in a community that is well informed and that cares about what is happening in our world. I am particularly proud of our community’s sustainability goals. However, I want to make sure that, in having these goals, we continue to realize the importance of getting and staying involved in what’s going on in Salt Lake and surrounding communities. Last week I went to a “Stop the Polluting Port” community organizing meeting. I am particularly concerned about the future Inland Port’s effects on our migratory birds, which depend on the Great Salt Lake. Thousands of acres of this land is undeveloped. From what I understand, there are about 16,000 acres in the area of the planned jail that are particularly important. This land is adjacent to the Great Salt Lake, on which huge numbers of birds depend, including 5 million eared grebes, which call it home for several months a year, and the American white pelican, which nests there. I am not a birder but am trying to become informed and am astounded on how important our lake is. This year’s snowpack should be good for the shrinking lake but if patterns continue, we will get more particulate matter from the drying lake dispersed into our air, which in the end will cause more air pollution and will even affect our snowpack. Adding a huge freight storage and transfer center to this fragile landscape could be devastating. We must all try to get informed. I am very troubled on why we would take the The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER ....................... Andy Bernhard Editor ................................... Bubba Brown Staff Writers ......................Jay Hamburger Scott Iwasaki Angelique McNaughton Ben Ramsey Carolyn Webber Alder Contributing ............................. Tom Clyde Writers Jay Meehan Teri Orr Amy Roberts Tom Kelly Joe Lair Copy Editor ............................ James Hoyt Engagement Editor..Christopher Samuels Photographer .........................Tanzi Propst Circulation Manager ............. Lacy Brundy Accounting Manager ......... Jennifer Snow ADVERTISING Advertising Director ........... Valerie Spung Advertising Sales ................... Jodi Hecker Erin Donnelly Lindsay Lane Sharon Bush Events Manager ................. Julie Bernhard Production Director ..................Ben Olson Production ........................Chelsea Babbitt chance of causing irreversible harm to this ecosystem, which in turn could harm our migratory birds and worsen our air quality. Please let’s all learn more and speak up to protect our greater community as a whole. You can learn more from Salt Lake Tribune articles, StopthePollutingPort.org, and UtahInlandPort.org. Editor: Preserving the earth and healing it are ongoing concerns. Thanks to the Park City community for a recent cleanup ... but there is much more work to do. In fact the work is never done. Next time you drive west on I-80, look at the trash on the north side caught by the fence. So you are invited to join Recycle Utah for the annual “Pride in Your Park” community cleanup event on Saturday, May 4. Volunteers should meet at various locations around town (visit recycleutah.org for details) at 9 a.m. to join a crew to pick up trash and recyclables in Park City’s parks, waterways, roadsides and fields. The cleanup will last until noon. Both trash bags and recycling bags will be provided. Volunteers are asked to bring their own gloves and reusable water bottles. Recycle Utah is happy to partner with Comcast Cares for this event. For every volunteer that helps us this day, Recycle Utah will receive money toward a grant. Thank you to Comcast for your support of Recycle Utah and keeping Park City clean! To sign up in advance, email Haley at outreach@recycleutah.org. Jeffrey Louden Park City Article’s implications were incorrect Editor: I’m writing this letter to correct misimpressions that I believe were implied unintentionally by Angelique McNaughton’s description last week of my plea in abeyance in Summit County Justice Court. I am not disputing the accuracy of the reporter, but the implications that could be drawn have been misshaped by some. The title of the article had “hit and run” in it. The plea in abeyance was not to my car or me hitting anyone. No one was hit and no one was in danger at any time. The plea was based on my acknowledging that I disobeyed a worker directing me to back up from a closed 200-foot road. I drove down a gully along the side of the closed road and at the end of the gully I drove back up onto the open portion of the road. No one was hit or injured. Van Greenfield Park City For the record students in recent years has bordered on 90 percent, a figure that would have seemed astonishing even a decade ago, when only approximately 50 percent of Hispanic seniors earned diplomas. It begins in the classroom, where teachers play a critical role by understanding, and adapting to, the challenges underserved students face both in school and out. Latino outreach coordinators help Spanish-speaking parents with things other parents in the community take for granted, such as communicating with their children’s teachers. Programs at the secondary schools like Latinos in Action and Bright Futures give students a network of like-minded peers and teach them leadership skills critical in their pursuit of high school diplomas — and collegiate degrees. Still, the progress thus far has merely narrowed the opportunity gap rather than eliminated it. In the 2016-2017 year, for instance, proficiency levels in language arts, math and science for minority students in Park City lagged well behind schoolwide averages. And advocates say many obstacles must still be cleared before the district can claim to be an equitable educational system. The challenge of closing the opportunity gap is immense. But with leaders committed to taking on the problem, buoyed by a decade’s worth of progress, it’s clear that the task is far from insurmountable. Children who’ve suffered abuse need the assistance of the Park City community HARRY KIRSCHNER Friends of the Summit County Children’s Justice Center vice president Child abuse happens in our town. Unfortunately, it happens a lot more than you’d think. April is Child Abuse Awareness month and every year I am reminded of the grim statistic that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys in Utah will be sexually abused before the age of 18. In fact, Utah has the eighth highest child abuse rate in this country, and Park City and Summit County are no exception to the statistics. Fortunately there is a team of heroes at the Summit County Children’s Justice Center (CJC) that quietly dedicates their lives to helping victims of abuse seek justice and begin the path to recovery. Rather than having to re-live the trauma by repeating the stories to police, child protective services, prosecutors, therapists, medical professionals and so on ... a child and family can come to the CJC to share their story one time with trained forensic investigators who can gather all of the evidence they need to prosecute. Perhaps more importantly, this multi-disciplinary team can work together in concert to help put the pieces back together and build a path to recovery. Our program here in Summit County is built off a similar model that’s deployed throughout Utah with one very stark difference — we don’t have an adequate or dedicated facility for our CJC. The Summit County CJC is the only one of such advocacy centers in the state that does not have its own free-standing building. Our CJC operates in a small, temporary, shared space located in the basement of the Summit County Library Clean up after your dogs Editor: Some of our favorite community amenities are those spaces that allow us to recreate with our four-legged friends. Dog parks, trails, off-leash areas — these spots allow us all to stretch our legs and enjoy time with our animals. Unfortunately, the stinky actions of a minority currently threaten the enjoyment of these amenities for the majority. At the outset, Basin Recreation would like to thank the community for coming out to Run-A-Muk for the annual spring cleanup, featured on the front page of last Saturday’s paper. For- Kimball Junction branch, next to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Not only does this current location lack important privacy for victims and families, but the CJC’s follow-up and wrap-around services are limited due to space constraints. We have to do better if we want to stop the cycle of abuse here in our communities. A few years ago, myself and a group of concerned citizens started a friends board with the sole mission to build a dedicated facility for the CJC to operate. After years of planning and early fundraising, we had a breakthrough last October when we identified and closed on the perfect property that mixes privacy and accessibility and requires little in the way of renovations to serve the needs of the CJC. Rather than find land and build anew, this created the opportunity for us to meet our community’s need at a much lower expense. But we’re not done yet. We are grateful for the individual donations, private, public, and foundation grants we have received thus far, and could not have procured this ideal property without the support of this community. Now we must begin renovations, which can’t start until we have paid off the mortgage of approximately $1 million, which is due in full this October. Making matters even more urgent, we are seeing case volumes grow rapidly as our community grows and awareness of the CJC’s services increases. Our total capital campaign is $2.8 million and we are $1 million of the way there. It is important to note the CJC’s ongoing operations costs will be publicly funded, so this is uniquely a fundraising campaign that is truly a onetime ask. We can do better. And with your support, we will do better for our kids. They deserve it. ty volunteers picked up upwards of 600 pounds of poop that had been left behind by dog owners. While incredibly helpful, the sheer volume of the cleanup highlights the overwhelming problem. Similar quantities have forced dog park shutdowns around the country based on health concerns such as E. coli, salmonella and giardia. We want you and your pets to stay safe and, to do so, we need your help. We have ongoing problems with (1) owners not cleaning up after their pets, and (2) poop bags failing to make it to trash receptacles. Basin Recreation employees are working hard to maintain trails, organize events and facilitate programming for our patrons. We rely on pet owners to ensure that the pet-friendly amenities are kept clean. We know that you all don’t want to trek through poop. We also know that you don’t want your pets to track other dogs’ poop through your houses and/ or cars. You are probably getting sick of hearing us talk about poop. We are appealing to your sense of community. Please remember to leave the area cleaner than you found it and encourage your friends to do the same. Doing so will ensure the continued enjoyment of these amenities for years to come. We have another opportunity to help! Join us on May 3 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. again at Run-A-Muk to help get this area ready for summer. Jessica Kirby Basin Rec open space management supervisor Photos by Christopher Samuels Asked at Park City Library What should be the No. 1 goal of PCMR parking lot redevelopment? Alex Chamberland Park City “Keeping the parking free. Keeping it free and keeping locals in mind and not just trying to make money off of (development).” David Clark Newpark “I don’t care because I don’t have a say anyway. I would have them do it the way they’ve done it in Europe. They have high rises and (developed) it in a beautiful way. I’d rather have as much open space as possible by building up.” Michelangelo Nicholas Prospector “Transportation. I don’t know if there should be more parking but an easier way to get to the mountain would be my priority.” Owen Weinman Prospector “To remain as untouched as they can possibly manage that, which I know is an impossible task for developers. If they put another hotel there it means more people are going to come.” See these photos and more by following The Park Record on Facebook.com/parkrecord and Instagram.com/parkrecord |