Sylmar School Principal

The Los Angeles Board of Education should reconsider its stand and reinstate Mrs. Jean Lau as principal of Sylmar Elementary School.

Mrs. Lau has been an inspiration to us all at Sylmar. She sparked new enthusiasm with the initiation of such programs as the drill team, the band, the chorale, the student council, the computer program, to mention a few.

Most importantly, Mrs. Lau prompted a unity among the teachers. It stands to reason that if our teachers are happy then they will take this positive attitude directly into the classroom.

Both my daughter, Stacy (age 10), and my son, Jacob (age 8), had their very best and indeed most productive semester this last year.

How in the world can the board justify Mrs. Lau’s dismissal as principal on the basis that she didn’t pass the oral examination on her test? Did someone have it in for Mrs. Lau? Why are 10 other principals who also “failed” the test being allowed to remain in their posts? By that decision alone the board has invalidated its own test.

I think we, the parents, are being given the runaround here. Mrs. Lau is being replaced by a woman who has yet to take her exam. If she in turn fails, will there be another, then another, interim principal, turning Sylmar into a training ground? We all know that an elementary school is a home away from home for our children. How can the board justify uprooting the parent of the “family” in such a cavalier manner based on some inane oral examination?

We voted this board into office and can just as easily vote them out again. It’s a slap in the faces of all Sylmar parents and taxpayers that the board refuses to listen to us! These are our children, and this is our school, and it is being manipulated away from us.

LINDA CHAMBERS

Sylmar