Dear Editor:
This letter is in response to Lin Wotton’s needless and unfounded attack on a valued member of our community and educational leader of School District 58. Mr. Wotton ends his letter with, “Get involved”; I hope that my six years as a school trustee will satisfy that requirement for him. On the other hand, he slams school board members for “being around far too long,” so maybe six years was too long? He also throws in the comment “Some are even former administrators in the system.” I am not sure what we are to infer from that, but I can tell you that anyone would be lucky to have them as friends or team members, and the district is lucky to have them serve us.

Mr. Wotton says, “An individual who can command respect based on educational competence.” Our superintendent gets to put Dr. in front of his name. Does Mr. Wotton? I think it would be interesting for Mr. Wotton to outline his “educational competence” and see who commands more respect in that area.

Mr. Wotton questions the superintendent's ability to “allocate resources at hand." I guarantee that, together with our secretary treasurer, this district spends every single dollar as wisely as they can. I remember that, under their direction, we spent countless board meetings discussing how best to spend money. They did not bother wasting our time and energy whining about not having enough, but rather how to be good stewards of what we were given.

The fact that the worst thing he can mention about the superintendent's “first tenure” was shutting down Tulameen School is a huge compliment. First of all, it was the school board that made that decision (I voted in favour, for the record), not the superintendent. Secondly, it would have qualified under Mr. Wotton’s requirement of “allocate the resources at hand," that decision met this requirement.

The comment from Mr. Wotton that actually made me mad enough to respond was when he questioned our superintendent’s ability to “put the student first!” He says that he is “very good at denying educational opportunity for students while concentrating on building his own little empire at student expenses." I am not sure why Mr. Wotton chooses to slander our superintendent, but I can assure you that our students are always put first!

Brian Jepsen