The discrimination complaint filed by a resident against Amherst-Pelham Regional School District Superintendent Michael Morris in the search for a new middle school principal is both hurtful and damaging to our town’s school children.
The resident was a member of the search committee for the new principal and when Morris did not agree with the two finalists the search committee presented him, he opted to attempt to keep the current principal who has been doing an excellent job and extend the search.
I appreciate that Morris is trying to find the right person to protect and educate our kids. Any form of discrimination is wrong. Everyone should have a fair and equal chance to apply for any job and be seriously considered for that job.
Diversity is a good thing to have because it brings talents and life experiences from all corners of our country. But diversity should not be used as some sort of scorecard. This is not a game. It’s real life and real lives that are going to be affected by this hiring decision — our children’s lives.
As a parent of a student who will be entering the middle school in two years, I only want the best teachers and the best administrators for all the kids. I don’t care about their ethnicity or their color or religion or anything except their ability to do the job well.
If Morris had wanted to extend the search for a new principal and the finalists happened to have been two middle-aged white men, would this discrimination complaint still have been filed? I doubt it.
Morris is trying to make the right decisions and I trust that he is not racially biased or discriminates against minorities, based on his record.
We finally have a school superintendent who is focused on our children and not on politics or public relations. His focus is exactly where it ought to be — on the well-being of our kids.
Brian Scully
Amherst
