Subject:
New High School Boundary Map
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2008 13:27:33 -0500
From: mike.ravain@shell.com
To: Neal.hennegan@stpsb.org; Beth.heintz@stpsb.org; Michael.dirmann@stpsb.org;
Jack.loup@stpsb.org; Charles.harrell@stpsb.org; Donald.villere@stpsb.org; Jody.palmer@stpsb.org;
Dan.zechenelly@stpsb.org; Carmen.johnson@stpsb.org; Ron.bettencourt@stpsb.org;
Bob.womack@stpsb.org; Ronnie.panks@stpsb.org; John.lamarque@stpsb.org;
Ray.alfred@stpsb.org; Mary.bellisario@stpsb.org; Gayle.sloan@stpsb.org;
Mary.belliserio@stpsb.org
CC: ljkblitch@msn.com; ravfam1@bellsouth.net; mindywhitfield@yahoo.com
St. Tammany Parish
School Board,
It is with respect that
I send this email, as I recognize the difficult decision that you have to make
on October 16th regarding the final boundary map for the new high school.
I appreciate the fact that it will likely yield contentious feelings no matter
what is your final decision. As such, I do not envy your task at
hand.
The passion for our
children, their education, and support to help them reach their maximum
potential is what separates St. Tammany Parish from many other communities
across
Further, we made the
choice to send our children to public school for the quality of education and
the public diversity that private school typically does not offer. We
value not only the reading, language and mathematics concepts that you impart
to our children but also the social and life experiences that can only occur
through diversity. St. Tammany Parish is rich in diversity but not ideal
(eg,.race skew); therefore,
it is paramount that other diversity factors are optimally balanced across the
schools to ensure that all benefit from the value. Anything less than
diversity balance is a weakening of the whole.
Socio-economic
diversity is one that gets keen attention in this debate. While it is as
important as all diversity factors, there are some ancillary effects that come
with it. Our experience has been that those among the higher
socio-economic bands ("generally" and certainly not the rule) take on
leadership roles in driving programs and improvement initiatives within the
school. We have worked with and observed a significant number of these
residents do some remarkable things that resulted in an enhanced school
experience for our daughter. A real difference is made for the students
and the reputation of St. Tammany Parish schools. To us, the residual
effect of this diversity factor matters. As a Board, it is our hope that
you do, too. We strongly support the proposed map that includes
St. Tammany Parish's
edge is its passion for its children and their education. And, anything
less than diversity balance across its fabric--the
school system--will dull its edge. Please consider this very important
edge in maintaining St. Tammany Parish's status as a beacon of public
education.
Best
of luck with your tough decision.
Regards,
Mike Ravain
Shell Exploration & Production Company
701 Poydras St.
Tel: +1
504 728 4866
Fax: +1
504 728 7764
Email: mike.ravain@shell.com