School Board Wasn’t Listening

* The transfer of [Assistant Principal] Anna Merriman from Thousand Oaks High School shows the lack of compassion that we have come to see is the standard set by our district supervisors, school board and administrators in the Conejo Valley. There are far too few exceptions to the fact that they sit over there in their offices like dictators, totally out of touch with the needs of students, faculty and community.

In the days of broken families and increasing violence in our communities, our children desperately need someone at their schools to talk to. The camaraderie and respect that Anna Merriman commands from all who meet her makes her that type of person. She has established a relationship with our children that is rare in our schools’ environments. She is visible, accessible and trusted by the students on campus.

The apparent lack of respect and the inattentiveness by Dr. Jerry Gross and the school board at the Conejo Valley School Board meeting on June 8 to the eloquent testimonials of parents, students and faculty from Thousand Oaks High and Westlake High, does nothing to encourage our children to participate in the democratic process. We would encourage our administrators to reflect on their lives and see if there wasn’t one person that had an impact on them. It is a rare person like Anna Merriman who can touch so many lives.

THE CIUFO FAMILY

(Lennie, Susie, Angela, Nick and John)

Thousand Oaks