Something wrong at LH
According to the statements in the banner at the top of the Laurel Highlands School District’s website (www.lhsd.org) the district is “Committed to Excellence,” strives for “Excellence in Education” and is in the business of “Preparing our students for the challenges of tomorrow.”
I’m afraid I have to call nonsense on these statements. While there are many excellent teachers and administrators in the district that live up to these statements on a daily basis, there are a few school board members and upper-echelon administrators that don’t give the taxpayers or, most importantly, the students the courtesy of even paying lip service to these claims.
Specifically, I’m referencing the decision at the school board meeting last Thursday to hire a biology teacher for the high school. The candidate who was passed over for the job, Mr. Zach Sipe, has been a long-term sub in this very position for the last three years, and during this time he has endeared himself to the students and faculty of Laurel Highlands High School.
In addition to carrying out his duties as a teacher in a satisfactory manner, Mr. Sipe also wrote the curriculum for the environmental science class, conducts after-school tutoring, is available to his students during his prep and lunch periods and is the school’s soccer coach.
The candidate who was chosen for this position, Miss Amanda Sisson, hasn’t worked regularly in the district since having a long-term sub position at the high school approximately two or three years ago. I have to question what made Miss Sisson a more attractive candidate to the school board members than Mr. Sipe.
I’m not questioning Miss Sisson’s character or qualifications, I’m sure she’s more than qualified to teach this subject. What I am questioning is the motivation of the administrators who recommended her and the school board members who voted for her. A person more paranoid than myself may look at the facts and come to the conclusion that the Laurel Highlands School Board engages in questionable hiring practices, but we all know that that isn’t the case, right?
After this decision I have to wonder if all of the school board members and top-tier administrators of the district truly have the best interests of the students in mind. It seems to me that they don’t, they’re more concerned with fulfilling their own political agendas and cronyism. After all, if someone with Mr. Sipe’s experience and impeccable qualifications can’t get hired, then something is very wrong.
Richard Smith is a resident of Lemont Furnace.