By Patric Hedlund, Editor
Each week we strive to bring you ‘ultra-local’ hometown news. Celebrating who we are and what makes us proud as a community is a big part of that news. There is plenty to be proud of.
We shine the spotlight on the many fine accomplishments of those who live here—no matter what their ages.
Growing up in a small town means that everyone gets to be a star. I thought about this as I heard Trustee Ken Hurst make a statement at the the El Tejon Unified School District (ETUSD) board meeting December 14: “We ought not to be living as if we are afraid of the world,” Hurst said.
He was responding to fellow trustee John Fleming who proposed, essentially, that photos of children in our community should not be published and their names should not be printed. Fleming drew a scary scenario of pedophile predators. The irony is that pedophiles most often prey upon children they already know.
James Schaffer of Lebec was sentenced two years ago, to eight years in prison for child molestation. He didn’t need to read a story about a victorious soccer team or see a picture of students excelling in a spelling bee to pick his targets. They were his neighbors’ children.
Schaffer’s role as a cowboy guitarist in a Christian rock band, his image as a political conservative devoted to his invalid wife, his talent for schmoozing parents into trusting him and his offer of free horseback riding lessons in the hills to little girls were the tricks he used to snare his victims.
Three years ago a former Frazier Mountain High School (FMHS) principal hired a third grade teacher to teach Freshman science at FMHS.
The man had a history of disputes in at least four past schools focused on allegations of inappropriate conduct with children. He had last been employed in New Mexico where charges were filed against him. The principal didn’t bother to look into any of that. It was parents who did the due diligence and The Mountain Enterprise that did the intensive research with several school districts in two states to alert the public that ETUSD might want to exert oversight over the principal’s questionable hiring decision.
Similarly, five years ago, The Mountain Enterprise published findings about former ETUSD Superintendent John Wight. He was the one who was videotaped allegedly stealing gasoline from the district and who allegedly had business interests to benefit from $7.2 million in school bond funds through no-bid contracts rubber-stamped by trustees (including current board president Paula Regan and former president Steve Newman).
The Mountain Enterprise discovered a trail of problems in Wight’s past, including allegedly fraudulent behaviors and questionable practices at other school districts.
If Mr. Fleming (who works with the Los Angeles Police Department) really wants to protect children—and the public—perhaps he should turn his policing skills to helping his district refine its vetting process for hiring qualified teachers and administrators who don’t have a trail of criminal problems behind them.
He might want to find ways to help parents stay vigilant about their kids’ roaming on the internet, and to help advise parents to monitor whether teenagers are posting provocative photos of themselves on their own Facebook pages.
When the local newspaper celebrates science fair winners and student athletes, it gives our kids pride in themselves. That pride gives children the self-esteem and courage to take on the world in whatever field they choose to enter.
As Hurst said, ‘we ought not to be living as if we are afraid of the world.’
Our kids like to see themselves in the newspaper and to feel that they are being recognized by the community for their accomplishments, Hurst said: “It’s an ‘Atta-Boy!’ for good work.”
We’d like to say ‘Atta-Boy’ to trustees who think through the details and stand up for the right of families to live in this world with enthusiasm, with confidence and with pride in their accomplishments.
Your local newspaper will continue to tell the good news. Everyone is famous in a small town.
This is part of the December 23, 2011 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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