DEAR EDITOR:
We are encouraged by The Dispatch’s reporting and editorial on
the firing of Kristen Porter, and by their inclusion of letters
from Superintendent Edwin Diaz and School Board Member Jaime
Rosso
– it takes a free exchange of credible information and opinion
to solve problems, and we are off to a good start.
DEAR EDITOR:
We are encouraged by The Dispatch’s reporting and editorial on the firing of Kristen Porter, and by their inclusion of letters from Superintendent Edwin Diaz and School Board Member Jaime Rosso – it takes a free exchange of credible information and opinion to solve problems, and we are off to a good start.
Another encouraging note is that board member Tom Bundros declined to vote for Porter’s dismissal because he was not given a copy of her evaluation. It takes courage for a board member to risk the appearance of disunity. The importance of this issue for Porter’s personal and professional life – as well for district morale and the integrity of personnel practices, and their consequent effects on the quality of education – demands that type of courage. We also commend Rosso’s candid admission, in his March 25 letter to the editor, that the release “could have been handled in a more sensitive and supportive manner.”
A major barrier to full understanding is the secrecy GUSD must keep regarding personnel matters. Such secrecy is a two-edged sword: On the good side, it protects employees’ privacy and inhibits administrators from spreading false stories – on the bad side, it inhibits administrators from warning other school districts about unfit employees that have been fired and, in this case, it prevents the public from forming a solid opinion. Therefore, we ask the teacher organizations and Edwin Diaz to report to The Dispatch what circumstances would allow Porter to waive the privacy restrictions.
Because credibility is essential, we ask Diaz to clarify two points in his March 25 letter to the editor: You mention the March 4 closed session in which the Board heard your recommendations about releasing probationary and temporary teachers, then say the Board acted on the recommendations March 18. Did your March 4 recommendations include the Friday morning dismissal of Kristin Porter ? If they did not, then you can understand why people would assume the unprecedented step of ordering her to leave immediately was taken because of the questions she raised at the previous night’s Board meeting. You also stated that a fellow teacher’s request for released time to support Kristin Porter “was readily approved.”
Please check into that aspect and report back to the community because there is a rumor that the teacher had to beg to be released.
We offer our participation in a task force to help resolve this problem.
Phill and Kathy Laursen, Gilroy
Submitted Thursday, March 25 to ed****@****ic.com
