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Letters to the Editor

No time to be timid

Mariettans, the time has come to confront the stark choices for the school board election. Our school system is in tatters. Teacher morale is at an all-time low. State test scores have been sliding for years. Of 863 measured districts in Ohio, our school system ranks 548th—and last in Washington County. Over half of our eighth graders are not proficient in math or English. Parents are pulling their children from our district at an increasing pace. Parents moving to Southeast Ohio avoid Marietta because of the schools. It gets worse. Just this Monday, a distraught mom spoke ...

Commitment to excellence

Marietta City School District has a very important new board member election coming up for vote. This election will pave the way on what we can expect from our new school board and the impact that their decisions will make for the future of Marietta City Schools and our community. During this campaign season we’ve heard the statement “commitment to excellence” by some candidates when expressing how our district can return to providing a high quality education for Marietta’s youth. Marietta City Schools is starved for board leadership when it comes to addressing ongoing problems ...

MCS BOE needs systematic change

I recently retired after teaching 31 years in the Marietta City Schools system. I’m not a bitter ex-employee; I loved my job, the students, and the incredible colleagues I worked with. Why does our current superintendent need a personal PR person to improve the schools’ image? Isn’t that his job: to represent the schools and help the district reach its goals? Our district is failing academically, but the BOE hired this Communication Director at the cost of an actual teacher who could have been working with our students — shows you the BOE mindset. Our district is stagnant, it ...

Supporting Reed

First of all I would like commend all the candidates who are vying to fill the three vacancies soon to occur on the Marietta City School District Board of Education. These individuals all deserve our thanks for caring enough to volunteer their time and efforts to play a major roll in making our school system the best it can be. That being said, I am writing this letter first and foremost to support Eric Reed as one of the very best candidates for the school board openings. From never receiving anything but an “A” in every class in every grade period in every year from the first ...

The O’Neill Center thanks college students

The O’Neill Center would like to thank students from the leadership program at Marietta College who worked with us on Make a Difference Day, Oct. 16. The students received a grant through The Enterprise Holdings Foundation and Evans Civic Engagement, who agreed to help support Marietta College’s student service efforts this year. Because of the efforts of the students, we were able to place solar lights in our landscaping at our activity and service centers. The students also helped to decorate for fall with mums, pumpkins and cornstalks, bringing smiles to the faces of the ...

MCS need Parman, Reed and Tuten

Marietta City Schools need Cody Parman, Eric Reed and Sam Tuten on the Board of Education. These candidates are serious about the future of Marietta and all have the demeanor needed to connect both inside and outside of the schools. I have eight years of experience on MCS Board and understand the key characteristics of Board service. A commitment to the community is essential as well as a willingness to list to the views of stakeholders. Further, the Board must represent all facets of the educational experience and always do what is best for our students, our schools and our ...