Ax fell too quickly
Editor, Daily News:
The action taken by three Collier County School Board members certainly raises questions about the wisdom of haste.
While in the end, the need to dismiss Superintendent Ray Baker may have become necessary at some future date, it seems that allowing Baker to have a “fix-it-up and git-’er-done” period may have been more prudent.
There is no doubt that the Hinshaw & Culbertson report citing numerous problems needs to be addressed sooner than later. A better plan may have been to mandate Baker to address and correct all of the problems within a reasonable time frame. If Baker then failed to produce acceptable results, show him the exit door.
In any event, the opportunity to request performance improvement was omitted and the rush to dump Baker was on!
More disturbing than the simple taking of hasty action is the possibility of serious ethical breaches. On the surface, it seems strange that three board members were all drinking from the pitchers of Kool-Aid just prior to the out-of-left-field decision to oust the superintendent.
A thorough investigation of who called who first, and all the other behind-the-scenes antics, is clearly warranted.
Kudos to board members Kathy Curatolo and Pat Carroll for their patience, demeanor and thoughtful approach to the process. It was reassuring to see at least two members of our School Board attempt to approach the situation with a scalpel rather than a meat cleaver.
J.W./Naples
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To "J.W." in Naples:
I think you are a doo-doo head.
Signed,
Dennis Thompson
Doctorite in Ed Psych
$UPERINTENDENT
