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Medford needs principled approach to principals

The questions that parents are asking about our school principals have little to do with the fitness of any particular individual to be installed as an administrator. They’re more concerned about Medford School District’s fast whirling merry-go-round of principals.

Is there any principled employment ethic that informs decisions regarding which new principals are invited to move here to lead our schools and which existing ones are invited to their own early retirement party? It’s hard to say.

The district does not comment on personnel matters. That cloak of opacity obfuscates public scrutiny of suspiciously high rates of administrative turnover.

But we can count. And there is at least a public perception of a double-standard here: A forgiving performance standard for new hires and an unrelenting one for incumbent administrators.

School districts with a healthy human resources culture are characterized by consistency and constancy in administrative tenures. A chaotic and fluctuating parade of administrators is typical of an ailing culture of personnel management.

MSD 504c appears to be having a harder time attracting A-list candidates to town than are our neighboring districts to the southeast and northwest of us.

Parents are wanting to know why that is.

Steve Bismarck / Medford

Jet boats disturb peaceful time spent along the river

So many residents and visitors love their peaceful time along the Rogue River. Some just stroll, others walk barefoot by the banks, others cast a fishing line.

Let’s protect those who love the river from the harshness of rushing speed boats with their intrusive noise and potential for accidents and collisions.

Sarah Seybold / Ashland