Isn't this like a divorce?

In an effort to portray it in the negative connotation of a “no win” situation like the breakup of a marriage, some incumbent school board members have described the process of creating two new districts as a “divorce.” But there is virtually no interaction or relationship between the schools in the proposed East district and those in the proposed West district. If there is no “marriage” between the two, then there can't be a “divorce” between East and West.

However, these board members are right in a way. The real split, though, is not between families of the East and West districts. The real split is the children, parents and teachers of both districts “divorcing” themselves from an unresponsive and out-of-touch school board, central administration staff, and Superintendent.

Not all divorces end up being bad. Many are the result of coming to the realization that things just are not working out as well as they should and that separating is the best thing to do. This divorce will have no impact on our children, as separating the two sets of schools will not change the relationships between our children, their teachers and their school environments. Our children’s daily school routine will not be impacted by the creation of two districts. But, over time, they will benefit from the positive outcomes associated with smaller districts.

It is time to move on and mend the problems within the district. Taking action to end an abusive, insensitive, unproductive relationship is not destructive, but an empowering and proactive move to “right size” the district.

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