A problem that Pembroke administration failed to notify parents about – the arrest of the dean of students in possession of heroin – is being compounded by the school board’s unwillingness to admit problems.
The school board needs to take some responsibility and play a role in moving forward with positive change for the Pembroke Academy students and teachers. Sadly, the school board has not made it easy to move to a place of problem-solving because they believe there really are no problems to work on.
The school board believes that not notifying the parents on Feb. 17, or ever, was acceptable. The board is also convinced that heroin in the desk of the head disciplinarian was an isolated incident. I’m not.
Additionally, the school board’s problems were compounded on April 5, when Superintendent Sherman released a statement to the parents after news of the story broke, stating that she was prevented by state and federal law from announcing the arrest of the dean of students on Feb. 17. This was a misrepresentation to the parents.
Ignorance of the law does not make misrepresentation of the law acceptable.
Now is the time set aside personal feelings and fears about reputation and property values. Now is the time to begin meaningful dialogue about how we as a community want to move forward to address future problems of this sort in our community. Ignoring problems does not make them go away.
JEANNE LABARGE
Pembroke