For months now the Phoenix has covered the “news” emanating from the seeming disarray among Bristol Warren Regional School Committee members. Recently this havoc has spilled over into the school committee’s oversight of the school administration’s decision making.

Speaking for myself, while others may disagree, it is time for our school leadership to concentrate on educating children and allowing teachers to excel at what they do best without the distractions of racism and social justice.

The latest 2020-2021 RICAS and SAT scores clearly indicate that this school district has a long way to go to carry out previous Superintendent Jonathan Brice’s plan to become a top-5 school district in five years. This appears unrealistic.

How about something more realistic, with both college preparation and career/technical education sharing equal importance? In the long run this will serve our community well.

The recent brouhaha among school committee members about the selection of a Project Based Learning (PBL) consultant is the latest example of unnecessary obfuscation. Since PBL is unarguably a critical part of learning for people of all ages, it was very appropriate for Mt. Hope High School administration to support the development of this skill among its teachers. In my opinion, the search for a qualified consultant (one specializing in PBL) appeared to be contracted. We haven’t heard why. A simple “project based learning consultants in New England” internet search displays many vendors more qualified than the Freedom Dreams organization.

So much of this discord, to the point where claims of racism were being made, could be avoided if due diligence had been followed. Accept it or not, our schools are being embroiled in the various issues contained in the critical race theory debate.

I have a thought — isn’t it time for proponents and opponents of this social justice concept to focus on the results of our students’ learning. Our children and their parents deserve better.

Craig Evans
Bristol