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Ruralite Cafe: Published 2/17/00

By Lynn Hotaling



Latest decision won't improve public's trust

 By Lynn Hotaling-Associate Editor
This has been some week down at the Cafe. Just about the time we jaded journalists think we've seen and heard it all, we're floored by our elected school board's latest decision - the one that eliminates the honorary titles of valedictorian and salutatorian from this year's Smoky Mountain High graduation. (See related story, Archives 2/10/00).

Our phones have been ringing often since last week's paper hit the streets. Score so far: Herald, at least 50; School board 1. And that's not even counting the 10 letters expressing displeasure with school officials' ruling that we received.

It would be easy to hide behind humor and write about this in the context of a series of questionable decisions by Jackson County school boards through the years.

I mean, this is the public body that fired the winningest coach in North Carolina prep history after a 10-0 season.

And the group that named a high school (Smoky Mountain) after an elementary school (Smokey Mountain) but spelled them differently. Rumor has it that the K-8 school's name was spelled incorrectly on the water tower and officials stuck with the mistake to save the expense of repainting. (We've also heard it's Smokey-with-an-e for elementary.) Maybe the truth is the high school's name was chosen to give a subsequent board the opportunity to prove once and for all that they knew how to spell the name of our region's signature mountain range.

And the board that bought out a superintendent's contract only a year after signing him to a second four-year deal. As a result, they paid two lead administrators' salaries until the matter was finally settled.

Turning to current school officials, the ones who called an emergency meeting on a Friday morning, met for hours in closed session, created a new administrative position and then said the newspaper lied when the action was reported, the humor is much harder to find.

These are the ones who were miffed last summer when county commissioners, poised to borrow some $8 million for major school renovations and additions, demanded a voice in the projects. The ones who waged a verbal warfare for a month before signing the papers that would provide funding for much needed improvements for county students.

There's nothing funny about this latest decision that strips traditional academic recognitions from this year's SMHS commencement exercises. And there's nothing amusing about the fact that a vote that affects the entire SMHS graduating class was taken in secret.

Did they think the community would be any less outraged if the deal came to light in May? Actually, the ramifications of all these negotiations are not limited to seniors at the high school. School officials have already received bills totaling in excess of $10,000 from their Raleigh lawyer. While that's just pocket change in the school system's almost $30 million budget, it's money that could be better spent.

Even the normally loquacious Lou appears stymied, saying only that it might be best if board members "just send that lawyer back to Raleigh."

What happens behind the doors of school board closed sessions that makes intelligent people act so heedlessly?

North Carolina legislators passed the state's Open Meetings Law with the intent of protecting the interests of the public. Our senators and representatives wanted to ensure that citizens were privy to the workings of local government and could observe firsthand those elected to make decisions that affect us all.

In the case of our school board, adopting the broadest possible interpretation of the law would perhaps be in their best interest. Maybe they would think matters through more carefully if people were watching.

Back to School officials upset . . .

Back to Archive: 02/17/00.