Letters to the Editor: April 25, 2025

Communication breakdown

After being gone for several weeks, I was stunned and upset when I returned home to discover Superintendent Debbie Brockett was being terminated.

It was my impression that she was respected and valued as a leader. What did I miss? Asking questions and seeking information, especially after viewing video of the last school board meeting, I learned several disturbing facts.

The most important was, by admission of board members themselves, that there had been a “breakdown in communication” with the superintendent. They agreed that new policies should be drawn up to address this.

Listening to board member Abbie Warmbier’s comments regarding the dismissal, I was pleased with her assessment that the board should have had goals in place to provide support and offer feedback and coaching to the superintendent, which was not done consistently. So I must question the board’s haste in the decision.

It became clear to me during the reading of Superintendent Brockett’s final words to the board that the lack of support she received from members other than Abbie Warmbier and Jason Bizon was not enough to warrant her being dismissed.

After Debbie Brockett was hired, I was pleased with her leadership as a collaborator and less as a top-down manager. I have always believed that everyone involved in the education of our children should act as a team, with no one more important than another.

My greatest hope, as board members search for a new superintendent, is that they consider applicants who will lead as part of a team. As Ms. Brockett said in her final statement, the board should provide the next superintendent with “unified support and the professional courtesy every leader deserves.”

Liz Marlia-Stein

McMinnville

Staff upheaval

The turnover in leadership the past four years in the McMinnville School District is concerning.

At least 17 administrators have left during that time. This represents an almost 50% change in leadership among principals, directors, managers and so forth.
This drastic change causes disruption to culture, onboarding, institutional wisdom and continuity of budgets and programs. In addition to leaders, the district has lost numerous support staffers, who are the backbone of our district.

This is not about employees becoming disgruntled or disliking executive leadership. This is about students.

The loss of so many employees impacts students and their outcomes. It impacts parents and our community at large as well.

Mary Dressel

McMinnville

Unfair labeling

I would like to address Mr. Van Hoef’s letter of April 11, attributing recent protests at the McMinnville Public Library to the “Selfish Generation.” Here’s a little back story:

My father, Lester, was a 100% disabled American veteran of World War II’s European Theater. An only child, he was wounded near Aachen, Germany, on Oct. 8, 1944, at the age of 20.

My mother, Rebecca, immigrated from Romania to Germany at the age of 6 with her parents and two brothers, John, 8, and Albert, 4. An older sister died in Romania before they left.

Like many others, she and her family were just trying to escape Hitler’s Europe with their lives. They finally got to the U.S. in 1952, and she became a proud American citizen in 1961.

She became a widow on July 18, 2002, and widows of American veterans often receive less than $30,000 a year. But my brothers and I were brought up to give back when we could.

I have written letters for the last 20 years to the state and federal government, advocating for members of the lower and middle classes, senior citizens, members of the U.S. military, and our veterans and their families. Please don’t place everyone in the same class just because you are upset with the protests at the McMinnville Public Library.

Kathleen Harris

McMinnville

Closure hurting

I must admit, as co-owner of a Third Street’s Currents Gallery, I’m getting a little jittery anticipating a “Mac-Fresco” summer. Having the street closed to traffic each weekend so restaurants can put tables out for diners, rain or shine, really makes a dent in our business.

The restaurants may be benefiting, but I can tell you first hand that several retail shops, which rely on summer foot traffic, do not! Blocking off the street to traffic flow and parking discourages folks who would like to shop downtown.

The street is often all but deserted. Where’s the normal bustle that makes Third Street appealing?.

Before the pandemic forced eateries to serve people outside in order to survive, the McMinnville Downtown Association sponsored a monthly Art and Wine Walk, which brought in money that was donated to worthy programs.

That kind of activity would be of benefit to all the downtown businesses. A one-day-a-month special community event would be far more appealing than the current plan of closing the street every single weekend of the summer.

Phyllice Bradner

McMinnville