Dear people of Salt Lake City School District:
I have known Melissa Ford for four or five years now, since I had her son in my class. She was a friendly, informed, involved parent and I liked and respected her right away.
I’ve watched and read with disappointment the negative attention our school board has received since the meeting a few months ago where some members exhibited unprofessional conduct, and more recently their vulgar and disrespectful emails and texts among themselves. I’ve also witnessed a great deal of ignorant, negative remarks in the chat during board meetings, and not just the hecklers, but people who are supposed to be adults in this community.
Melissa is doing an amazing job trying to lead our district through an extremely difficult, highly divisive situation, and has never stopped fighting for what’s right and safe for our students, families, teachers and staff.
She and the other unsullied school board members are scrambling to manage all of the peripherals from the pandemic, while fighting the recent school board behavior dumpster fires, plus fending off a continuous barrage of often classless negativity from dissenting constituents.
These times aren’t easy for any of us, and I wanted to express my support for Melissa and the other overlooked, hard-working board members through this unimaginably difficult situation. I’d also like to encourage anyone else who agrees with what I’m saying to speak up, instead of just standing by while others condemn our school board in general.
Jennifer McCoy, East High School teacher, Salt Lake City
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