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The Booster Redux Pittsburg High School 1978 E. 4th Street Pittsburg, KS 66762 Vol. 98, Issue 2 www.boosterredux.com
Friday, May 19, 2017
Page 2D
staff editorial:
TROUBLE TAKING A TINKLE STUDENT REVIEWS DRUG TESTING PROCESS, EXPERIENCE
ADVOCATING FOR ACTION Staff demands accountability regarding Robertson’s hiring
W
would be our next principal.
principal’s questionable credentials
Robertson’s resignation five days later
on March 31, we were thrust into an
without acknowledging Brown’s support
international spotlight for instigating her
of her. With the exception of a press
resignation. Major news organizations,
release from the board on April 7, the
from Good Morning America to the New
mistake has not been addressed.
hen the Booster Redux
Page 3D
staff first published the story about the newly hired
York Times, kept the phones ringing for weeks. The HuffPost invited us to the White
Page 4D
this added pressure, we sit in silence
As champions of the truth, we want our leaders to know how we really feel. To merely label Robertson’s hiring as
writing — and rewriting — what we
a simple mistake would be false. What
have been too afraid to say.
happened was not an isolated error on
Superintendent Destry Brown
Brown’s part, but rather his repeated
supported hiring Amy Robertson despite
disregard for the truth and the board’s
our findings, and the USD 250 Board
lack of oversight.
of Education has failed to hold him accountable. When our research began on March 15, we invited Brown to meet with us
We trusted our district leaders to follow through, but that trust was broken. As students, we are taught to respect
later that day. We spent hours compiling
authority. When we disagree with adults,
evidence about her questionable
we choose to remain silent, assuming
educational background, evidence that
they are more knowledgeable than us.
Brown dismissed within minutes.
But if we had not questioned authority, people would not have known the truth. We did our job and need district
times he told us not to worry about her
officials to take responsibility, but the
credentials. Three times he assured us
matter has been swept under the rug.
there was nothing to see. Three times he was wrong. We hoped an adult would shoulder the responsibility of truly examining
Page 8D
what went wrong during Robertson’s Brown still will not be held accountable.
while researching Robertson. Three
freshman breaks 100 meter track record
hired a private consultant to investigate hiring process, but we are concerned
We met with Brown three times
keeping track of time
Since then, the Board of Education has
29 in the nation’s capital. published, all eyes are still on us. With
gifted education provides support
However, the board accepted
House Correspondents’ Dinner on April Nearly two months after our story was
serving the needs of all students
He kept reassuring us and stating she
We ask the board for transparency, something that should have been done from the start. Right now our administrators might
Robertson’s credentials. When the
be trying to save face, but people want
superintendent did not take charge, we
answers.
knew it was our duty as journalists to pursue the story. Our story published on March 31
As Bob Woodward, one of The Washington Post reporters of the Watergate scandal, said at the WHCA
and Brown was quick to dispute it. The
dinner, “Whatever the climate, whether
next day, The Morning Sun published
the media’s revered or reviled, we should
online a story headlined, “Brown refutes
and must persist.”
claims in school paper — Superintendent maintains new principal highly qualified, best candidate.”
This is why we continue to persist — even now.