Crisis in Unit 3 The Superintendent, Dr. Parnell Garland, always known for his ratio- - Editor: nal and inoffensive approach to his As a veteran teacher in the employ assignment, must have decided that of Unit 3 since the early seventies, the current school board, essentially T’ve come to appreciate the high his superiors, were not act in quality of education offered our accordance with the general will of youngsters. Facilities are second to the teachers and principals, for none in the world, for the most part, whom he served as professional while the dedication and taients of leader. . : the majority of its teachers aresupe- Dr. Garland, an inspirational rior to what you might find else- leader for many of the member tea- where. chers in the unit, and a highly. re- Dedication on the part of a teacher spected leader in the field of educa- comes about as a result of three va- tion for the Freatest majority of. riables; self-motivation, natural in- teachers in Unit 3, feeling that the de- clination, and teaching environment. meanor of the current school board The first two are inherent qualities of members and its alleged “Hidden those in the profession who could Agenda”, could see no alternative best be described as natural talents but to resign from his post, effective who take to their calling as naturally December 31, 1986. as fish take to water. No matter how _And soa popular figure such as Dr.

turbulent the waters, they endure.

Garland, who has_been directly re-

sponsible for maintaining a high de- gree of morale of teaching personnel, at a time when declining morale in education across North America is perilously close to impacting se- verely on the quality of education of- fered our Snel youngsters, removes himself from the gruesome Eee of a school board directorate lacing in proper direction.

How can the current school board continue to direct the fate of its em- ployees without having their sup-

rt?

All Unit 3 principals, without preju- dice, have already issued a written statement of support for Dr. Gar- land's deeneaR and the principles of which he stands.

‘The delicate issues of teacher mo- rale, and its ascribed teachers’ ded- ication to their work, is now being held in the balance.

‘The choices the school board trust- ees presently have are few. Either resign en masse, and offer others in the regional communities an oppor- tuntity to assume leadership roles in the unit that are more in tune with Dr. Garland’s principals and teach-

. Or the “innocent” school board trustees, whose silent faction has re- sulted in their perceived as support- ers of the current trends initiated by other school board trustees, take a more vocal stand, denouncing the

ressure tactics used by the board at

ree. in eying to ensure Dr. Gar- land’s swift departure from the scene.

Or, the board as a whole, reassess its unacceptable and pernicious pos- ture, vis a vis Dr. Garland, and offer him’ sufficient support and recom- pense to reconsider his decision to re- sign. ‘

Should the Unit 3 School Board not do anything constructive or dynamic at this time, their lack of goodwill, will serve as a moral indictment of a school board whose place in history, will have them become known as “Leaders without a Cause and wi- thout Reason”. 3

For todays mortals they will be known as dictatorial, operating out of touch from their ivory towers, be- reft of disciples and support at the critical grass roots levels of their be- Joved system.

The school board’s motives may be honorable, from their own perspec- tives, but vacuum directed as they are, can only result in the value of what can be found generally in vac- cuous spaces.

Sincerely,

Fak ee Teacher/Broadcaster

The other teachers ‘acquire their skills, through great effort. instruc- tion and application. Allowed te de- velop their talents in a safe, stable environment, they thrive.’ Faced with lack of direction from their su- periors, or a tentative or deteriorat- ing environment, erodes their mo- rale and renders them insecure in the performance of their duties. The end result of sagging morale in the

domain of education, is a system whose students are “‘shortchanged.””

‘The current state of affairs in Unit Three could be described as being in a “crisis” of far reaching implica~ ti

TO KILL YOU FOR WHAT WAS IN YOUR BRIEFCASE , DEBBIE.

ions. : The current crop of school board trustees, have apparently collecti- vely assumed that the direction given the system by its superinten- lent is inadequate. .

SOMEONE WAS GOING

By BRIAN LINKLETTER

I- I DON'T KNOW!

THEY WERE JUST SOME OLD MANUSCRIPTS ABOUT PIRACY AND: HIDDEN TREASURE.

of the Field and Stream’ Club

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Page 2 October 2, 1986 ==