DEAR EDITOR:
I’m pretty disappointed reading the GATE article in The Dispatch
today. Susan Bassi organizes a
”
secret
”
meeting on Dec. 4 with
”
50 parents.
”
DEAR EDITOR:
I’m pretty disappointed reading the GATE article in The Dispatch today. Susan Bassi organizes a “secret” meeting on Dec. 4 with “50 parents.” We have two children in the GATE program and neither my wife nor I have received an invitation for that meeting. Maybe the invitations are on their way, though.
Having been close to the district over the last few months getting the Web site in shape, I’ve seen my share of areas that can be improved. Information, communication, technology are all areas where a lot of work needs to be done. One of the other areas is the GATE program. I was pretty clear with my criticism during this week’s meeting.
In the article Joe Guzicki mentions some activities where he and I will work together to speed up some of the things that are not working. They also highlight my commitment to be part of the solution by using technology to improve communication.
Now for the late notice: all the parents who attended the meeting in October and wrote down their email, (including Susan Bassi) received a very timely invitation with the location and a second message with the agenda. There is NO excuse for not sending invitations in time, but many people were aware and the Web site did have the announcement posted at least 12 days before the meeting.
Susan did not show up for our GATE meeting and did not indicate that she would be unable to attend.
Creating an atmosphere of opposition is counter productive. I would rather work with the school district in order to make things that are broken better and improve things for all 9,000 students. Taking my children “out” and focusing on their education only is too easy and won’t help our community.
I am sure that Susan has the best in mind (as have Joe Guzicki, Jacqueline Horejs, Edwin Diaz and other district office employees) for our children. I would urge her to find solutions, focused on inclusion and not take a show on the road and come back with solutions that can NEVER help all 600 GATE children or the 8,500 other students. Susan, let’s sit down, speed up the improvements and create a great situation for ALL our students.
Rob van Herk, Gilroy
Submitted Thursday, Nov. 21 to ed****@ga****.com
