I was discussing your post with a friend and he stole my thunder a bit, but your school district is 87% white (http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools.aspx/q/pag…). As a result, your school has no choice but to actively seek diversity, because it has none!

I'm sorry but watching a German folk dance and everyone partaking in a great sing along does not automatically make Haslett Public School the posterchild for diversity education. Your example after all isn't exactly a great stretch in creativity – I mean it's a bunch of white western Europeans watching another group of white Western Europeans sing and dance – I don't really consider that a huge stretch of your personal diversity barometer.

All of that aside, the bottom line is your superintendent's comments were not appropriate for a person in his position who has to work with ALL people and ALL students in the district – not just the 87% native English speakers. There's also much more to diversity than learning a folk song. Diversity is all about putting yourself in that person's shoes in order to try to understand how they look and perceive the world around them. That being said, my advice to you is to put yourself in the shoes of the 13% of your fellow students and try to gauge how you would feel to see that slide?

Rather than shying away from or discouraging diversity, my school actively seeks it. We are a small high school, and still manage to offer Spanish, French, German, and Chinese language classes, which is a large amount of programs considering our size. In addition to these programs, we have “sister schools” in both Germany and China. Exchange programs are very frequent and all students are highly encouraged to participate. One of the best memories I have of these exchanges took place last year when our school hosted group of German students and teachers. I remember attending a large assembly in the auditorium in which one of the teachers played the guitar and taught us a German folk song. We all started to get the hang of it, and by the end were all on our feet singing right along with her. In addition, Haslett High School hosts a “One World Day” in which class is canceled for the entire day and speakers are brought in from as many countries as possible to teach us about diversity.

I can say completely that there is not even a hint of anti-diversity feeling in the Haslett School District. In actuality it is quite the opposite. It upsets me that a poorly chosen joke has been taken out of context and that people are claiming that these views are being taught to our staff and instilled in our students. There could not be anything farther from the truth.

I really did not need further evidence that those who insist on “English-Only” frequently could benefit from more practice with its correct usage.  Your response more than evidences my position.

I don't know of any requirement that I learn “every language of every immagrant (sic) so that we can communicate with them.”  Where did you find this law?  Was it written in English?

Any supervisor is accountable.  Mr. Duda's job performance did not measure up in this instance,  Mr, Duda's performance is significantly less than satisfactory & the elected offficials of the school board must hold Mr. Duda accountable.

If the school board doesn't understand that, the tax-payers must inform the members that that is a reasonable expectation.

Thank you for your comments; however, they are unresponsive to the issue at hand.

Have a great weekend!

Mary Elizabeth Nichols

How about the actual work Mr. Duda has done? Did you read the paper? There were only five school districts listed in the Lansing State Journal that received “A”s for their AYP. Haslett was one. GREAT JOB, Mr. Duda!!!!!!!!!!