Editor, The Smithfield Times:

My wife and I don’t have children in the Isle of Wight school system, but we have many friends who do and know many teachers in the system. The teachers we know are wonderful people, and we are confident that they are superb educators.

Recently, the IW school system decided to give teachers three extra days off before Veterans Day due to “burnout.” This, of course, was extremely difficult for working parents who had to scramble to find child care, but the real question is why would this be supported by the School Board and the superintendent?

School has only been in session for a bit over two months. If you want to discuss burnout, what about the folks who work in health care, or first responders, or our retail shops who have worked continuously through COVID, under tough circumstances? What about the folks who had their businesses closed, some to never reopen?

We don’t know if this was solely the decision of the superintendent, but he certainly had the authority to not support it and put a fork in it. This was a bad idea and the time may be approaching to look for new leadership in the IW school system and the board.

 

Bruce Gearey

Smithfield