The WCSD finally began to explain some of what was going on in regard to three top district administrators who suddenly were administrators no more, the superintendent said to be on leave and then said to be absent from a meeting she was required to attended to discuss her misconduct. The district says now that Ms. Davis is accused by the district of violating confidentiality rules, the medical leave explanation complicated now by this revelation. As I said in the earlier posts about district conduct, particularly its tendency to find excuses for sharing with the public information the public has a right to know, for instance, why administrators are forced to leave their positions. Those excuses are, ironically, often couched in concern for confidentiality.
So again, the district is telling the public that it cannot discuss the matter of an administrator preventing a valedictorian from giving her speech at the commencement ceremony. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the district, when asked about the incident said, “The decision regarding the valedictorian speech for North Valleys High School involved school staff, a student, and a family. It would be unprofessional and unfair for the District to comment on such individual matters concerning a student.” The story is an interesting one for it appears that the administrator who objected to the speech do so for no other reason than that the valedictorian planned to say about her experience at the school that it had not been a positive one, that she felt that she had been ignored by those who are payed to care about her as a human being, as a student.
My concern is as it has been for a long time, that this entity, the Washoe County School District, far too often tries to keep things from the public, things that the public has every right to know, things the public, through its representatives and through proper media pressure to get at the truth of things, needs to know in order to act as an informed public when it comes to matters of public education in the county. District administrators should be questioned every time they use the excuse of law and confidentiality to make sure that such claims are valid ones and not misuse of public policy to hide wrong doing.
