Caldwell Schools Want Input on New Superintendent

January 13, 2006

The Caldwell County Schools recently announced that they are seeking input from "the community" on the qualifications of the person needed to replace

retiring school superintendent Dr. Tom McNeel. Here's mine.

I remember very well the fiasco Dr. McNeel manufactured two years ago, banning tee-shirts containing the old St. Andrew's cross Confederate

battle flag at South Caldwell High School. His "leadership" resulted in some 25 students being sent home for wearing the flag, and they stayed home in protest until, a week later, Dr. McNeel rescinded the ban saying "there was a question of legality." He created a week of hate and discontent at the school,without legal foundation.

The next Caldwell County school superintendent, in the interview process, should be questioned vigorously about his or her understanding of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He or she should know and

respect civil liberties, at least as much as students in a high school civics class!

Dr. McNeel, obviously, did not connect with many of the citizens he purported to serve. If that flag "offended" anyone, so be it. Liberals in America say this country is "about" celebrating all kinds of diverse ethnicity, culture and heritage. To me, you can't celebrate diversity without also recognizing the Southern American heritage that some choose to

represent with a 145-year-old flag. I have two sons--natives of Caldwell County--who serve in the U.S. military protecting the constitutional rights of all kinds of weirdos who do and say things to offend me! Still, I "celebrate" their right to do what they do.

The students who went home in protest understood, for sure, that "there was a question of legality." By contrast, the leader of our school system, with his doctorate degree, was shamefully out-of-touch with the

fundamental American value of freedom of expression. After that, what did he really have the credibility to teach? Were our high school students supposed to learn about the Bill of Rights from Tom McNeel?

Please, ladies and gentlemen of the Board of Education, don't make this mistake again. I believe Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday we celebrate this week, would agree with me!