Article ‘diverts attention' from solving school crisis

To the Editor: The Oct. 10 meeting of the Sparta board of edcucation was reported with a headline that truly misrepresented the essence of that meeting, as well as the remarkable progress the children and educators within our school district are achieving. To better understand my statement, please read the following excerpt from minutes compiled by a fellow member of our community from the Oct. 10 meeting. I have no doubt the official minutes will be consistent with these: “Sparta’s education is moving up largely due to Dr. Monks and Dr. Morton who are studying the data and addressing problems timely (sic). They are setting high goals for the staff and then measuring performance. They are holding people accountable for performance. Principals are looking at their data, being judged on their performance and striving for excellence.” Upon reading this, I believe compliments must also be directed to the teachers and their respective school administrators for responding to the vision, mission and leadership of Drs. Morton and Monks. That the reporting in the Sparta Independent focused upon a board-approved salary adjustment for Dr. Monks was disheartening, to say the least. From what I understand, the adjustment was not intended to be for test score improvements but, more importantly, for the impact Dr. Monks, with support and leadership of Dr. Morton, has had upon the school administrators and their teachers regarding their curricula. As documented above, all our educators, principals and teachers alike, are being challenged and led in a district-wide plan to benchmark and improve the education and performance of all levels of students. What can be more important than that? Secondly, the adjustment was simply to bring parity to the assistant’s position and be in line with other senior administrators within the schools and the district. The headline led many of us to think a site for the proposed new high school had been found. Like many others, I felt duped into reading an article that raised a distracting issue while the real issue of our school’s overcrowding crisis continues to challenge the board of education, school administrators and the town government. We do not need ‘divisive’ reporting. Let us regain our focus upon the key issues facing our children’s education and do all we can to become informed and committed to the best solution our school district and township leaders are working to achieve. They are now working together ...let us do the same! Jim McCormack Sparta