One reads this morning that the Whitewater Unified School District’s administrator, Dr. Mark Elworthy, has taken a position with the St. Francis School District, and will be leaving shortly. One wishes him, and his family, truly the best in his new role.
It would be tragic for this district – and a call to action – if the more humane and tolerant educational approach of recent years in the district were to be lost.
Even in these years that I have been writing, since 2007, Whitewater has had four district administrators, four university chancellors, two city managers, three chiefs of police, with dozens of other officials having come and gone.
There’s no single reason for all of these departures, although almost all of them have taken place after the Great Recession made plain – to the reasonable and clear-eyed – that Old Whitewater’s way of doing things was narrow-minded, counter-productive, and directed toward the self-aggrandizement of a few entitled (but sadly mediocre) long-time town notables.
This argument is that the Whitewater area hasn’t met the challenge of these times. That’s evident. Anyone who looks around can see undeniable poverty. There are quite a few here without adequate medical care, clothing, or housing. On campus and off campus there has been too much “aspirational” thinking.
Maybe the board member who thinks he’s the superintendent will apply for the job.
[…] On Changes at the Whitewater Unified School District […]