LETTERS: CHASTAIN IS ASSET

To the editor:

As an officer in the Air Force, my wife and I have lived in numerous communities from Guam to Heidelberg, Germany. Our children have attended public schools, Department of Defense schools and private schools, we have home schooled. Since moving into the Meadow Heights School District two years ago, we feel are children are involved in a special learning environment. What makes Meadow Heights stand out from other schools we have been involved with is Rick Chastain.

Rick ensures the students are provided a safe, secure learning environment. He maintains a high degree of visibility, visiting classrooms during the day, being in the hallway during class changes, attending all sporting events both home and away and being present at all social events. Given the controversy surrounding the previous superintendent, Meadow Heights has undergone too much turmoil during this past year. Through all of this, Rick has maintained a high degree of optimism for the school and the community.

We don't pretend to understand the political infighting on the school board, but it is a shame when the politics overshadow the primary purpose of the board: to conduct the business of running a school and to ensure the development and education of our students. It is not a venue for power politics on a rural level.

As parents of four students at Meadow Heights, we are proud of the school and the time and effort expended by both its principal and teachers to provide a quality education. Something is wrong with the system when school board members can vote to remove one of the school's greatest assets, in this case Rick Chastain. The students are not oblivious to what is happening. So I ask: What kind of example are we setting as a community if we allow this to happen? The bottom line in our opinion is that Rick Chastain is the best we've seen at what he does, providing for the education, security and development of our children.

MARK and JETTE ROWLAND

Marquand