Eye contact?

[On March 2] I attended the Lake Washington School District board meeting to support members of my community recently impacted by the board’s decision to relocate a group of special education students because of capacity issues.

My friend and other parents affected by this decision were eloquent and clear as they directed their frustration and heart break to Dr. Tracy Pierce, our superintendent. The fact that this group of families in our community was discriminated against is a big enough issue, but the fact that Dr. Pierce, who is supposed to be an advocate for our children, was unable to make eye contact even once with this group of courageous parents was offensive.

When community members were outraged about a baseball field she looked right at them and said she would look into it.

When these parents spoke she looked away and then proceeded to speak around the issue for five minutes, looking left and right, but never up. A simple acknowledgement of these families was the least she could do.

We teach our children to be respectful, play nice with others, and own our mistakes. Let’s see the adults leading our community actually lead by example.

Stacy Mehlberg, Kirkland