Dear Editor:
This letter is to apologize to the NCPS School Board members, superintendent, administrators, and community members who were in attendance at the Aug. 8 School Board meeting for my outburst as stated in the Aug. 9 edition of the Eastern Shore Post. This statement was made following a series of issues I brought up for discussion that were met with either ill-founded or poorly informed opposition and discussion – my opinion.
Yes, I was outraged that Dr. Carter and I were both shut out of the district’s Restorative Practices/Restorative Justice Committee. Dr. Carter is the one who has been bringing the need for Restorative Practices to the attention of the Northampton County School Board for years. I independently attended a training in January, made a presentation to the School Board and made the motion to establish a community/school committee. The offensive reasoning that we would not be “open minded” was the proverbial last straw. Nonetheless, my remarks were unprofessional and for that I apologize.
Also, I want to state that I have no problem with Ms. Rasmussen, Ms. Molera, or any of the other proposed members being on the committee. I only have a problem with Dr. Carter and me not being on it.
While I apologize for the remark, I do not apologize for my level of frustration. I would also like to clarify that while I presented ideas at the meeting, the ideas were not mine. I was advocating for us to simply follow Virginia Department of Education Guidelines which were created because of the “lack of objectivity used to evaluate superintendents” and suggesting that we, in accordance with the guidelines, solicit “input from peers, subordinates…” I was also advocating for the superintendent to provide the school board with his goals as required by the terms of his contract and to utilize the documents adopted by the school board for purposes of goal setting and evaluation.
NCPS has many wonderful people who work very hard for our district. We as School Board have a responsibility to exercise due diligence in all matters of school governance. There are areas in which we need to improve – my opinion.
Nancy Proto, MS, NCSP
NCPS At-Large School Board Member
