Letters: Residents can get correct info. at meetings and online

In Saturday's letters to the editor column, the comments by Mr. Miles about the McCarthy fire demonstrated what happens when the public misses important school board meetings.

Mr. Miles is known for his attendance at public meetings where he often raises the questions that are dear to his heart. But he didn't attend our meeting on July 17 where I informed the board that we are awaiting the green light from our insurer to either go ahead and replace the classroom that burned or begin refurbishing it. We have all contingency plans complete for starting the school year without the room because we will probably have to do so, but there is no question that it will be repaired or—hopefully—replaced.

If Mr. Miles was unable to attend the meeting in person, he could have checked the electronic Agenda On Line on the school district Web page www.delnorte.k12.ca.us to inform himself of the board's intentions. Or he could have called any one of us as our phone numbers are listed. He chose instead to take an uninformed cheap shot at the school board. We can only wonder at his motives.

Many more important pieces of information are available at board meetings or online, such as the fact that the drop-out rate in Del Norte County is lower than the state-wide average. Unfortunately Mr. Miles failed to do his homework and must have just assumed that we had a higher drop-out rate. If Mr. Miles had done his homework, he would have known that our school board oversees the largest and most successful home-schooling program in the county, Castle Rock Charter School. Parents who are opting for home schooling opt most often for the home schooling support services this school board provides, and fewer—not more—are choosing that option.

Mr. Miles and any member of the public is welcome to become more informed about our district's efforts to maintain our facilities in increasingly more difficult fiscal circumstances brought to us courtesy of state and federal regulations and the failure of legislators to keep their promises. Consider that our facilities host over 4,000 customer contacts, day in and day out, every school year, and many use the facilities on weekends and throughout the summer, too.

I can only hope, before Mr. Miles puts pen to paper to write his next hit piece, that he does his homework first.

Jan Moorehouse

Superintendent of Del Norte Unified School District