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Show TTBn wsay S g(go nit Park City Sens Thursday, M arch 17, 1983 Page A3 The principal issue the principle issue we'renot by Terri Gomes If you are new to the Park City School District you may wonder why all the fuss over one terminated principal. I'd like to respond as a parent and I think I can speak for a lot of parents. It is, at once, quite simple and quite complex. We're mad as hell and going to take it anymore. wnen i came to Park city lour years ago it was as a single parent ith two school-age children. I placid them immediately in the elementary school, Marsac, the now-city building in Old Town. It was a run-down building, not safe at any speed. But the teachers were friendly and caring beyond a level of professional courtesy. It was one of the things I liked about the small town. They invited me to their parties and made me feel right away a part of the community. But they were healing. Their principal (John Elwell) had been terminated recently and it had caused dissention and stress among the staff. Otis Falls, new to the district, took over as principal. At the same time there was a great deal of unrest at the middle school (the old brick high school building on lower Park Ave.) where Mark Simmons was principal. There was dissention among the staff and a large number of parent complaints. Then, before you could say administrative fast deal, Simmons was hired by the district as director of Transportation and Maintenance, a new position. Otis Falls was then named to the middle school and another new principal to the district, Rob Freeman was hired at the elementary school. Three years ago, with a great deal more unrest at the middle school, two popular, nontenured teachers were terminated. I am trying to condense all this, readers, but please understand that each transition involved petitions, parent meetings, student statements and a lot of negative press coverage, locally, statewide and even nationally for this district. And, we were losing good educators. Two years ago, with even more unrest, petitions, secret meetings and lots of lawyers' fees, Otis Falls resigned as principal of the middle school. The staff was exhausted. So were the parents. And the students. Education had taken a back seat to politics. Then the district hired Brian Schiller as principal for the middle school. He was progressive from the start. He proposed an outdoor education program pro-gram for our children who lived in a recreational Disneyland but didn't understand it. He helped organize trips to New York and Washington, D.C. for older students at Easter time, so they could travel and learn. And he arranged for the local service club (Rotary) to help give financial support to those traveling students who needed the help. He talked to and with the students. Often. He welcomed a drug abuse program and enrichment classes. He invited parent involvement. involve-ment. And he spent a great deal of time building the trust and friendship of the staff. He didn't play by the book. He thought people came first and policies second. Throw in here two moves during this time from old schools to new schools, a nearly complete turnover of the school board and a few questionable teacher resignations. Are you getting the picture? Oh, let me add, Rob Freeman, the principal at the elementary school left the district in January and they are now advertising for a new principal. It seems they plan to advertise for two. Friday, my son came home from school to say he signed a petition in support of Dr. Schiller. I was both delighted and angry. We talked about how signing one's name to something carried a great responsibility and how it was never to be taken lightly. And since we are both fans of Dr. Schiller, I was pleased he was willing to take a stand in his feeling of support. But damn it! That kid should have been studying or recreating or oggling at the girls in the lunch room or signing a petition to have more dances. He should not be dragged in, once again, to adult petitions involving a myopic school district. On Saturday night at St. Mary's St. Patrick's Day party, the talk was of Dr. Schiller and what to do. On Sunday night a group of parents got together to talk about their concerns. It is all too familiar. The people in the room I sat with at school board meetings for years. And one father summed it up well when he told me. "Either there's an end to all this or we'll simply pull our kids out of the district and move elsewhere. I'm concerned about their getting an education." This is a well-respected man in the community who has done a great deal of volunteer service and added a lot to the quality of life here. And he's not alone. Already a good many parents choose to send one or more of their children to Salt Lake schools and even out of state schools. There are, too, large numbers of parents who have, up until now, volunteered countless hours to help in the schools to improve upon the educational possibilities for their children. They are sick and tired of the unrest. ' Change is good. I believe that. But constant change is unsettling, un-stabilizing un-stabilizing and unhealthy. If Brian Schiller is forced out of this district, a great many parents, and teachers and students will leave as well. We're mad as hell and we just won't take it any more. It's that simple. Letters Policy The Newspaper welcomes letters let-ters to the editor on any subject. However, we ask that those letters let-ters adhere to the following ; guidelines: --They should be submitted to The Newspaper office at 419 Main Street, or received in the mail (P.O. Box 3688) no later than noon Tuesday. - -They must be signed. --They must not contain libelous libel-ous material. We reserve the right to edit letters let-ters if they are too long for the space available, or if they contain statements which we consider unnecessarily offensive or obscene. Support for Schiller Editor: The following is a letter which was submitted to the Park City School Board in January by the Treasure Mountain Middle School PTO expressing ex-pressing our appreciation of Dr. Schiller and his staff and program at the school. In view of present circumstances, we felt it appropriate to share this letter let-ter with the public and to again affirm our support of Dr. Schiller and to express ex-press our utmost confidence in his abilities as an educator and administrator. ad-ministrator. Sincerely, The Treasure Mountain Middle School Parent-Teacher Organization Marie Nelson, President Kathy Mears, Vice-President Linda Barnes, Secretary Diane Harding, Treasurer Gary Avise, President Park City School Board Park City, Utah 84060 Dear Gary and School Board Members Often when a negative situation is present, individuals and groups do not hesitate to voice loud complaints. However, we feel that when something is positive, affirmation should be given to that as well. We of the Treasure Mountain Middle School PTO are pleased to be able to write to the members of the school board our positive regard and support of Dr. Schiller. The creative programming, innovative teaching, the staff's respect for each other and their students all give testimony to an effective administrator. Treasure Mountain Middle School offers an educational experience whose quality compares favorably to schools in much larger and better financed school districts. We are impressed with the commitment of the teachers towards providing the best possible program for the students. As pn individual, Dr. Schiller expresses ex-presses an openness to persons that is not always found in school administrators. ad-ministrators. While discussion may not always result in agreement, there is always a willingness for dialogue. In a recent survey conducted by the PTO, an opportunity was given for persons to list both positive and negative aspects of the school. Frequently, no negative remarks were made at all, and wheq present, dealt .with such minor items as the need for a map' of the building in the lobby of the school. In the space provided for positive remarks, 90 percent of the respondents listed Dr. Schiller and his concern for children and quality education. Both these written remarks and the verbal feedback we receive from parents and students indicate a high level of support sup-port for the program at TMMS in general and for Dr. Schiller in particular. par-ticular. Again, it is our pleasure to communicate com-municate with the school board in such a positive manner. Sincerely, The Treasure Mountain Middle School Parent-Teacher Organization Our children deserve better Editor: Once again the superintendent of schools and his school board have broken faith with the parents, students and teachers of the Park City School District. Because of the recent actions of the board in reference to Dr. Schiller we feel that the entire board and the superintendent should resign their positions. Three of our five board members do not have any children who attend Treasure Mountain Middle School. Two of the five have no children in any of the Park City schools. We need board members who have knowledge of and participate in our schools on a daily basis. The superintendent has provided us with a constant source of dissension, outrage and litigation. We need a superintendent superinten-dent and a board that are responsive to the educational needs of our community. com-munity. The children of Park City deserve this. Kenneth 0. Mears Kathy Lander Mears Grounds for dismissal? Hardly Editor: An open letter to our Board members: mem-bers: I would like to respond to some of the specific criticism levied against Dr. Brian Schiller by Superintendent Goodworth. I have witnessed the relationship Dr. Goodworth referred to in his K.S.L. t.v. interview between Dr. Schiller and a board member. I have even participated par-ticipated in this relationship myself on two occasions, by playing golf with the two aforementioned individuals. I assure you the only impropriety I witnessed wit-nessed was the caliber of golf played that day. Has this relationship effected the quality of Dr. Schiller's job performance? per-formance? Is the superintendent now in a position to dictate Dr. Schiller's social activities for him? Is this t::l'cv'"icini:::l aspLr relationship grounds for dismissal? I think not. Superintendent Goodworth has criticized Dr. Schiller for taking an extended ex-tended vacation this past summer while our new middle school was being built. Dr. Schiller was involved in a foreign exchange program in London, England observing how other school systems operate. Upon his return from England he choose to spend a few days canoeing in the backwaters of Minnesota. Min-nesota. After all this vacationing Dr. Schiller had the audacity to show up for work two days prior to the date he was instructed to. Are these dismissable offenses? 1 think not. As Dr. Schiller readily admits he did not turn all of his staff evaluations in on the date the district policy instructs. He was approximately 8 days late. Based on my observations Dr. Schiller was spending an inordinate amount of time coordinating the completion of a multi-million dollar school. As anyone knows who has ever been involved in the opening of a building approaching this magnitude there are a myriad of problems that occur which need immediate im-mediate attention. It appears based on Dr. Goodworth's evaluation that Dr. Schiller would have fulfilled his job description more properly by abandoning aban-doning the new school and spent his time making sure the evaluations were in on time. Is this a dismissable offense? of-fense? I think not. Furthermore, Superintendent Goodworth refers to the fact that Dr. Schiller "was hired to pull an unruly and devided staff together; and to this date has chosen to join ihem." I ask you does an unruly staff take it upon themselves to commit the additional time and energy necessary to successfully suc-cessfully complete an outdoor education program of the complexity of the Arches trip? Does a divided staff throw 100 percent of their support behind a principal when he is dismissed because they deeply care and appreciate what he has done for them and the community? I think not. Finally, is the current disruptive atmosphere promulgated by the superintendent the type of environment environ-ment we want our children growing up in? I think not. Sincerely, Kim D. McClelland A tremendous mistake Editor: Dear School Board Member: It is unfortunate that I should have to write you this letter, but I am afraid you have made a tremendous mistake. The non-renewal of Dr. Brian Schiller's contract is a disgrace to the Park City School District and to you personally. My heart was filled with shock and sadness upon hearing this announcement. Dr. Schiller is the Letters to A5 El CLARK AND FIFE TAX CONSULTANTS INC. OF SALT LAKE CITY Would like to announce the opening of their Park City office 614 Main Street, Suite 405 The principals of the company are John Clark and Bob Fife, who have 28 years of combined tax and accounting experience, 24 of which were with the Internal Revenue Service. The company will provide accounting, auditing and tax services over a wide range of the business community. CALL 649-2748 J 1 KM . ,. Vv . . V " is ,1741 r u.t If im" I II ! i si!' 1,1 NMmwttWNMQgginiiimiiniiiM Mil ' fj4-fr CENTER STAGE IN PARK CITY Distinctive Victorian styling in 2 to 4 bedroom condominiums. Starring location in historic old town between Deer Valley and Park City resorts. Located at 620 Tai k Ave. Across from Kimball Art Center MOTHERLODE CONDOMINIUMS A I i(;u-t''nit'nt ot the MdiQijiiiil winp-'n ("OLEMAN I AM) K lWKSTMKSl i'l I Ainu S; I'mk Ciiu |
