FUHSD incumbents support what is right

After retiring from the legal corporate world, I am concerned about the upcoming election and what appears to be a staged introduction into martyrdom.

This is in response to the article in the North County Times entitled “FUHS board meeting heats up, again.” In this article, Kathleen Gillis addresses the board and says that she has seen this school spiral downward and that “the board has turned its focus to the upcoming election and away from teachers and students.” This is the same woman who openly criticized the superintendent and board when they placed the head football coach on leave to conduct an investigation into the possible misuse of student body monies. Her big buzzword at the time was the board and superintendent did not support the coaching staff. At the same time, Mary Anne Craven, the wife of one of the coaches, who months earlier had already announced his retirement from the football staff, also ripped into the superintendent and board for not supporting her husband and the other fulltime teacher/coaches who subsequently resigned, because the district and board did not support them by telling them what the charges were.

First of all, Mrs. Gillis and Craven, if you understood anything about the ed code and the privacy act, you would know that the superintendent and board did the legal and right thing by not saying anything in public. The person who should have contacted you was the coach in question. He was the one who did not give you the support you needed.

If I have observed one thing in the past six months about this board and superintendent during times of local teacher’s union cry of unfair treatment, it is that they continually look out for the welfare of the citizens’ high school district, their students and parents and respond in a legal and professional manner toward all sorts of adults.

The conclusion to all of this should occur on November 7. If you want people in these positions who first have to consult with coaches’ wives, misinformed parents and the leader of the teacher’s union, then you must vote for the SOS slate of Steffler and Schulte. If they do not have the feel good answers necessary for some of the teaching staff and non-supportive parents, then they can certainly consult their wives, who are both teachers at the high school and members of the teacher’s union.

The other option is voting for the incumbents, White and Hutcherson. I respect their attention to the law and supporting what is right. I also respect the fact that they have not become hostile toward a very mean-spirited union leader (Tim Oder). I have listened to the high school Web site link that contains the audio of the board meetings with his mean-spirited tirades. His behavior is very unprofessional. If he were working outside of a school district, he would not be working!

This community is very fortunate to have a school board that sends the right and legal message to its citizens and voters.

Mary McLaughlin