A couple of letters to the editor in today’s N&R on the Northern High School recruiting scandal that resulted in the resignations of principal Joe Yeager, AD Derrell Force and head custodian Louis Lawson.
Northern parent Terri Hawkins asks “(GCS Superintendent) Mo Green, the school board and the local news media to provide the facts meriting such dramatic treatment and in the future consider a less heavy-handed approach, such as simply correcting the problem.”
The N&R has covered this story well, but it was after reading the Rhino’s version that I began to wonder exactly what Louis Lawson has done wrong. Is it wrong to accept a job if it’s offered, even if it means that your son can now play basketball at a certain school, as district rules allow? I don’t know about you, but forcing someone to resign because they didn’t “cooperate with an investigation” sounds a bit draconian to me, especially with the group running GCS right now.
Lawson doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong, either, and now he’s rescinded his resignation, “setting up a possible legal showdown” with GCS:
Lawson, one of three Northern employees who resigned on April 10 — the day school system officials announced they were investigating the school — said Saturday school officials “interrogated” him for several hours over three days before giving him a choice: resign or be fired. Lawson said he resigned under the stress of several lengthy interviews.
“I’ve done nothing wrong,” he said. “They can’t get me for job performance. They can’t get me for attendance. So I’ve decided to let them fire me.”
…..“I could care less if my son ever bounces a basketball again,” he said. “I came (to Northern) to advance my career (and) to make sure my kid gets a good education. I want him to go to a college where he can get a education and get a job. None of this was for basketball.”
Stay tuned, this should be interesting. Guarino weighs in, asking “instead of the system encouraging all this dishonesty by limiting options available to parents and students, why not have an open admission system, based on competition and choice, to benefit them?”
