Re: Marsha Sutton’s column of Sept. 11, 2008
As PTA president of Del Mar Hills Academy, and a former parent at both the Hills and the Heights, I found Marsha Sutton’s most recent editorial disturbing. Instead of offering a sincere welcome to our incoming superintendent, Dr. Sharon McClain, she seems intent on berating some undisclosed, apparently small group of parents for a lack of “open, civil discourse” in this school district. In fact, she says, “sneaky is the operative word...”
So I want to address hidden agendas and a lack of full disclosure regarding Sutton’s reporting on DMUSD politics. Specifically, has Sutton ever clarified in print the fact that two of her children attended Del Mar Heights and that, as a result, she is understandably biased in favor of the Del Mar Heights point of view? As Marsha has pointed out to me herself, she writes an editorial, so she has every right to air her own personal opinions. And I’m sure we can all agree that editorials have their place in news organizations. However, Marsha is listed in the Carmel Valley News and Del Mar Village Voice’s “masthead” as its “Senior Education Writer,” which would seem to contradict the very fact that she writes opinion pieces. I would thus suggest that Sutton’s editorial board take the steps necessary to clarify exactly what her official role is at the paper.
Another example of Sutton’s bias was her discussion of Del Mar Heights as “coincidental home to three school board members.” Two of these three school board members just COINCIDENTALLY ran together… with the express purpose of firing Tom Bishop, whom they felt had spent too much time attacking and undermining the efforts of their Del Mar Heights principal. Whether their concerns were justified or not could be debated endlessly, I’m sure, but the school board members’ efforts to get elected are hardly “coincidental.” Then this past spring, the board appointed a THIRD Del Mar Heights parent to replace former school board member Linda Crawford…another fairly well-orchestrated political maneuver, it would seem to me (although I believe that, at first blush, Mr. Doug Perkins is doing an admirable job of remaining fair and even-handed in his approach).
But as I’ve noted before in this paper, “seeming” is everything; what continues to be a source of discontent in this district is the PERCEPTION that the school board represents the views of only one school, because the majority of its members come from that school, and that the main journalistic voice on education in this community is also a Del Mar Heights parent. Surely Sutton can understand that.
And let me clarify a point that I think Marsha Sutton also manages to muddy in her article. Just because many of us in this community object to perceived biases among the school board and the local newspaper does NOT mean that we, ipso facto, despise or in any way wish the parents, administrators, or especially the children of Del Mar Heights ill. In fact, I believe I can speak for my own parent constituency at the Hills in saying that many of us know, like, and respect our counterparts at the Heights.
That is another reason that I find Sutton’s article so disturbing…and potentially damaging…to the community, particularly her comment about “the defamation of Del Mar Heights School, where parents and staff have been deliberately ostracized by principals, teachers, and parents from other schools in the district.” I know that parents at Del Mar Hills found Sutton’s above statement ludicrous. And I think it is an insult to the faculty members of every school in this district to suggest that teachers would let district politics get in the way of their professional dedication and their interactions with their colleagues at other schools.
And that goes for parent leaders as well; just yesterday, I had a great time sitting right next to the PTA president for Del Mar Heights, with whom I share a real friendship and an easy rapport, at a district strategic planning meeting. So I’m wondering where Marsha obtained her information and for what purpose her accusations are intended?
Now, with regard to Tom Bishop, I’ll tell you where “grudges die hard in Del Mar” – right here in Sutton’s columns. I’m pleased to report that most of Tom’s tenure was either before my time in the schools or during that blissful period when I was unaware of rancorous district politics.
So by watching his record denigrated again by Sutton and watching her complain again about his ex-supporters, I must note with bewilderment that the person who can’t seem to get over Tom Bishop is….Marsha Sutton. So here’s a Hot News Flash: the Tom Bishop era is over, a fact Sutton can celebrate (privately, please!) and MOVE ON! This pot doesn’t need to be stirred anymore, and I, for one, am tired of reading about it.
And as for Sutton’s new DMUSD school board —one that includes the candidates she championed personally — the jury remains out on whether they can or will tackle the litany of difficult issues Sutton rightly noted that they face. To date, the only policies of note they’ve managed to promulgate are the firing of one superintendent and the hiring of another…plus the sale of the Shores property at a price far beneath what they could have realized. Meaningful, multi-year decisions on enrichment funding? Support for the Del Mar Schools Education Foundation? The mounting budget deficit? Finding a new district office? On theseissues, we’ve come up empty-handed so far. In fact, as parent leader of Del Mar Hills, I can tell you that they have even stymied DMUSD management attempts to draw up a timeline for hiring a new principal at the Hills this fall. They apparently can’t decide…six weeks into the school year…if they’re going to let us hire a new permanent principal…or a second interim at the Hills.
But enough already…from all of us nay-sayers. What this cranky old parent is looking for is some real journalistic integrity about Sutton’s biases and some serious reporting about the BRIGHTER, more positive side of our school district. I challenge Sutton to write an article about the cooperative and united efforts to improve the education of our children that are going on by the dozens among schools in our district right now! Let’s put the past behind us and REALLY help Sharon McClain be successful, starting with a clean-up of the journalistic atmosphere in which she has to work! Sutton’s biases and divisiveness should simply no longer be tolerated.
Kerry Traylor
PTA President, Del Mar Hills Academy
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