OPINION: Aligning with “Christmas Story” Values Would Improve Washoe County’s Defective Schools

The story of Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem and Jesus’ birth, contain a timeless message for everyone, including the Washoe County School District.

The underlying values in the Nativity story have an application that far exceeds their traditional one-day commemoration on December 25.

All WCSD employees need to consider the incredible positive impact on our schools, if they accepted-as- their-own the moral/spiritual values embedded in the story of the Savior’s advent. Doing this could lead our schools out of dysfunctional darkness and into the light of education excellence, just as reliably as the Christmas Star led the Maji to the Bethlehem manger.

Every Good School Practices “Christmas Story” Values.

PURITY: The Christmas Story says that Virgin Mary was qualified for her role as Jesus’ mother because of her purity.  

WCSD could prepare their schools for higher academic attainment by purifying their learning environments. The logical starting point would be ridding school libraries of the thousands of pornographic children’s books, and replacing lurid sex education curriculum with a values-strong, wholesome approach to teaching human growth and development.

Additionally, for the sake of the children they serve, School Board members who cannot remain morally beyond reproach in public, owe it to their community to resign immediately. The School Board’s immoral silence on this issue last year was inexcusable and should have resulted in resignations by the entire Board.

https://thisisreno.com/2024/11/wcsd-trustee-alex-woodley-board-members-ignore-recent-sexting-scandal/

TRUST – In the Christmas Story, Mary trustingly gave Joseph an explanation for her unexpected pregnancy. Joseph trusted Mary and God, and married her anyhow.  He did not allow his fear of what people might say about the couple, to prevent him from doing the right thing.

The WCSD School Board needs to trustingly overcome their fear of large-scale, vigorous community input. Board meetings need to be returned to an early evening time, and held in school auditoriums. This would allow all public shareholders to participate in discussions about our dysfunctional schools and how to improve them. Complete transparency with the community, rather than hiding from the truth, is the only way to solve WCSD’s many problems.

HONESTY – The three Magi gave the evil King Herod an honest answer regarding the purpose of their journey. Neither the Magi nor baby Jesus were harmed by the Magi’s honest, truthful response.

If WCSD’s Superintendent, School Board, principals, teachers, and support personnel ever hope to have schools that don’t ruin the lives and futures of children, they must find the moral courage to honestly share our schools’ dire situation with the public.

• The attendance rate IS horrific, illegal, and unacceptable.
• Drug/alcohol abuse IS at epidemic levels and destroying our students, while WCSD’s superintendent remains silent – offering no plan for stopping it.

• Violent and disrespectful behavior towards staff and students IS the norm.
• The great majority of our students ARE functionally illiterate, graduate completely unprepared for productive futures … and it’s getting worse.

• WCSD has policies that refuse to allow the community –or parents –  to make unannounced campus visits. Other policies threaten the employment of teachers and staff who speak-out publicly about these problems. These illegal but unchallenged policies are a HUGE reason why these problems continue and must be rescinded immediately.

Washoe County School District advertises that it employs “9,580 caring adults,” collectively paid approximately $1 billion per year to educate, prepare, and protect its 60,000 students.

How much these individuals actually “care” cannot be proven. What can be claimed with certainty, is that whatever these 9,580 men and women are doing is NOT resolving WCSD’s serious problems.

This is 100% the fault of  Superintendent Joe Ernst. His craving for peer support and “being liked” prevents him from disciplining employees who are not doing the jobs they’re paid to do.

The Superintendent could remedy this situation by quoting Winston Churchhill to ineffective employees: “It’s not always enough that you do your best. Sometimes you have to do what’s required,” adding, “Or someone else will soon be doing your job.”

What’s required at this moment is for the problems with our schools to be uncovered, exposed, and healed.

The best way to accomplish this is for WCSD’s entire workforce to commit to standing-up for the Christmas Story values of purity, trust, and honesty.

These values were embodied in the adult life of that Bethlehem babe, and transformed the world.

WCSD’s 9,580 “caring adults” need to individually stand up for these same Christmas Story values. If they do, they’ll prove that in the 2,000+ years since that first Christmas Message came to earth, purity, trust, and honesty have lost none of their transformative power, and our schools’ improvement will bear witness to that fact.

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