As a longtime resident, voter and taxpayer in Bremerton who is also the parent of a Bremerton High School student, I continue to fully support the Bremerton School District superintendent and locally elected members of the Bremerton School Board in how they are handling the issue of performance regarding a public employee of the district.

I find a considerable amount of conflict with the participation by state legislators and national candidates, who profess to support the platform of less government and more local control, yet are directly interfering with established and lawful local control that has been put in place by the voters and residents of the Bremerton School District.

The school board is elected by local district voters. In an open and public process, the school board then selects and offers a contract to the Superintendent. The Superintendent is then the administrator of the district policy that has then been legislated into place by the school board(s). Local control does not get any more basic or direct than at this level.

Personally I have been present at many school board meetings where policy discussions were announced publicly via the scheduled meeting agendas. Meetings that were and are always open to the public for comment, questions and suggestions, either verbally from the podium or in writing submitted to the school board secretary. Many of my own comments over the past decade of my participation, as part of the official record, went into shaping the policy the district has in place today. This is an opportunity that any member of the community, parent or voter could have and should have participated in when it comes to school district policy.

The superintendent and the school board of the Bremerton School District are doing exactly what they have been put in place by the legal and established public process to do which is uphold Federal and State laws as well as their own established and fully documented policy.

When it comes to the education of Bremerton students, which is the primary duty of the district, I continue to be impressed with the fact that the quality of professionalism and commitment of district educators and employees are keeping that education process as uninterrupted and as normal as possible under such conditions. All while they themselves are facing considerable pressure and threats for just simply doing their jobs and adhering to the stipulations of their own employment contracts.

I thank them for that. I thank all of them for working so diligently to protect and educate all district students including my own child who is caught up in a storm that has nothing to do with their state constitutionally mandated basic education process. This parent is grateful and supportive of the administration, elected school board members and all contract compliant employees of the district.