From the
Farmington Daily Times - FARMINGTON — The Central Consolidated School District still is waiting for resolution from the state Public Education Department regarding the possible discipline of its acting superintendent and a proposed split that would divide the 3,000-square-mile district along the reservation line. But to many, the division already has occurred. The district, part of the public school system since 1931, already is severed along lines of race and religion, not to mention opinions about political control, curriculum, personnel, money and the teachers union. To some, actions within the district since May have permanently fractured an already vulnerable community. To others, the radical changes signal a sign of better times ahead. Regardless of the outcome, the district's players, along with state and legal representatives, have a long road ahead. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, settled in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Shortly afterward, they started moving south, colonizing locations in Arizona, California, Nevada and northern Mexico. Along the way — and continuing into the present — the Mormons interacted with American Indians, converting them to the religion, operating trading posts and transporting roughly 20,000 of their children to foster homes or student placement programs largely in Utah. And so began a relationship between two cultures that are at once similar and disparate. At best, they co-exist; at worst, they lead to an impasse so complete outside entities must intervene. The Mormons also founded Kirtland, home of six of the Central Consolidated School District's 17 schools, in the 1880s, and named the community after Kirtland, Ohio, one of the early headquarters of the Mormon church. The Kirtland Business Office, the topic of recent and emotional debate, is the site of the district's first school. Built after the district formed in 1917, the school represented the consolidation of community schools in Kirtland and neighboring Fruitland. The district expanded to encompass reservation communities in Shiprock, Newcomb, Naschitti and Ojo Amarillo — a 3,000-acre chunk of land that stretches west to the Arizona state border, north to Colorado and south to the McKinley County line. But the Kirtland area, in a move unprecedented in the state, is trying to split from the reservation portion as a reactive measure after the board voted May 17 to close the KBO and move administration to Shiprock.
Read more
A district divided: Racial, religious tensions stir up turmoil
From the Farmington Daily Times - FARMINGTON — The Central Consolidated School District still is waiting for resolution from the state Public Education Department regarding the possible discipline of its acting superintendent and a proposed split that would divide the 3,000-square-mile district along the reservation line. But to many, the division already has occurred. The district, part of the public school system since 1931, already is severed along lines of race and religion, not to mention opinions about political control, curriculum, personnel, money and the teachers union. To some, actions within the district since May have permanently fractured an already vulnerable community. To others, the radical changes signal a sign of better times ahead. Regardless of the outcome, the district's players, along with state and legal representatives, have a long road ahead. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, settled in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Shortly afterward, they started moving south, colonizing locations in Arizona, California, Nevada and northern Mexico. Along the way — and continuing into the present — the Mormons interacted with American Indians, converting them to the religion, operating trading posts and transporting roughly 20,000 of their children to foster homes or student placement programs largely in Utah. And so began a relationship between two cultures that are at once similar and disparate. At best, they co-exist; at worst, they lead to an impasse so complete outside entities must intervene. The Mormons also founded Kirtland, home of six of the Central Consolidated School District's 17 schools, in the 1880s, and named the community after Kirtland, Ohio, one of the early headquarters of the Mormon church. The Kirtland Business Office, the topic of recent and emotional debate, is the site of the district's first school. Built after the district formed in 1917, the school represented the consolidation of community schools in Kirtland and neighboring Fruitland. The district expanded to encompass reservation communities in Shiprock, Newcomb, Naschitti and Ojo Amarillo — a 3,000-acre chunk of land that stretches west to the Arizona state border, north to Colorado and south to the McKinley County line. But the Kirtland area, in a move unprecedented in the state, is trying to split from the reservation portion as a reactive measure after the board voted May 17 to close the KBO and move administration to Shiprock. Read more
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment