The details of the Office of Educational Accountability (OEA) reports surrounding the acts of Glasgow ISD administrators and board members leaves us discouraged and disillusioned.

Discouraged because smart people who ought to know better, who even in the face of sanctions, did not accept responsibility for their actions. It was at times frustrating at times damning and at times ridiculous to read about the games that were played in the hiring of a football coach for Glasgow High School. Let’s also remember we were hiring a teacher too. There were no “good guys” in this story. Not the principal, not the superintendent and not the board. But make no mistake. This entire debacle had very little to do with football or sports or even kids.

It seems every one of the district leaders was running their own game for their own agenda. This was purely and simply about where the power and influence by and for this district was and would be—a battle that has been brewing for several years and through the term of three superintendents. Selecting the football coach just happened to be where this most recent battle erupted.

Ignorance of the right thing(s) to do or the blind ambition to achieve private agendas — no matter the motive or cost is an unsustainable form of leadership. Educating our kids, securing their place in the world is not a game and there sure seem to be a lot of games being played.

And that’s where the disillusion comes home to roost.

There probably have been more difficult times to lead schools at the building level, at the district level or at the board level. The depression, the war years, integration, KERA all were challenging times for educational leaders. But what distinguished the Glasgow district leaders was how they lead their institution through the rough waters and achieved objectives of which everyone could be proud. They pushed the district to a level of statewide recognition academically and athletically. It was seen as a strong district that did well by its students. We don’t think people are saying that about the GISD today; not if they read the OEA report.

It’s plenty tough out there today. School leaders must bring their ‘A’ game everyday with everyone pulling on the same end of the rope to overcome challenges of a high drop-out rate, the plateau of test scores, a critical and lingering facility need then pile on the funding challenges that come from a stall in the economy and related tax revenues on top of the battle for the hearts and minds of students, of parents and of a community and you see where our school’s leadership should be focused.

And this is the best we could do?

Earlier this week a wise visitor to the newspaper, a huge contributor through the past 50 years to outstanding service to young people in our county, told a story of leading a youth sports organization for a time 40 years ago. He told of how then, as now, it was his dream to just have programming for the kids to learn the game. The game, the rules, the nuances, the competitiveness and most of all the fun inherent in the activity and what that meant later in life. His dream was to do that without the parents or the boosters or the hangers on. Then, as now, it was the adults that ruined something that should have been all about the kids.

At a time our leaders should have been at their best they have failed to navigate the rough water. At a time the kids should have been first gamesmanship won out. At a time our community needed more we got much less.

From where is the leadership of this district going to come and where is it going to lead? If Glasgow is to remain independent and relevant and respected the events chronicled in the OEA report must not be allowed to happen again. Glasgow voters owe it to our children to send people to the school board that understand this type of behavior is unacceptable and not serving our kids or our community.