Editor:
The loss of the $3.3 million is a disaster for everyone associated with the Jemez Mountain School District. The state auditor’s report has now been distributed to agencies at the county, state and federal level; this hopefully will insure that justice is done.
Wherever you go throughout the District people are asking how could “they” have let this happen and what are “they “ going to do to fix it. There seems to be comfort for us as individuals when we can hand the problem to “they,” even though when you ask people who “they” are everyone seems to have a different opinion.
Possibly the gravity of this event will cause each of us to have the courage to ask ourselves a more uncomfortable question. What if everyone in our school district behaved exactly the same as I do? If everyone attended the same number of school board meetings, spent the same amount of time with the school board members, superintendent and faculty, volunteered for the same number of school committees would this result in this being a better school district or a worse school district?
It is doubtful whether small rural school districts will ever have the financial expertise in their school board members and superintendents to prevent this type of disaster from taking place. The only hope for preventing this type of problem may be to have total involvement and accountably on the part of every individual in the school district.
Chuck Nielson
Lindrith