Here are several individuals whose remarks on the Broughal School situation deserve further attention:
1. Dr. Joseph Lewis,Superintendent of Schools, who at the recent meeting at the Forte building suggested he was not really responsible for the decision to demolish Broughal. That could be laid at the feet of his employers, the nine-member school board.
Come on, Dr. Lewis, who will believe THAT? Superintendents of schools are supposed to be experts hired by boards to advise them in running school systems, their facilities and programs. It's not that board members are unconcerned; school management and school law are simply not their specialty.
Doesn't it follow that most of the actions taken by a board will represent the views and recommendations of the superintendent? And wouldn't this be especially true in large questions, like the fate of a school building? So, one really has to wonder why the superintendent wants this building destroyed so much--since that seems to be what is really going on here.
2.Then there are the comments of Jose Rosado, an administrator in the employ of the Bethlehem Area School District. Mr. Rosado wants the building razed to the ground. Should he be so publicly declaring his views, or is that conflict of interest? What's more, Mr. Rosado seems to be implying that the students of Broughal are being treated as inferior beings because they go to an old school building.
That is nonsense; dangerous nonsense, at that. It seems like an effort to play the "social class" card, and create feelings of rejection and alienation in students and parents alike. It does a grave disservice both to the children and to their families, because it encourages them to believe others are convinced of their inferiority. The results for their self-respect can be devastating.
3.Finally, there is the inevitable Richard Guarino, advocate of Broughal's destruction. Mr. Guarino was last heard from advocating the destruction of our great blast furnaces.
What is there to say?