As a general rule, editorials for the Tribune and Times are written primarily for our print publication. However, there are times which require general rules to be set aside, especially when timeliness is a necessity. This is one of those occasions.
As many have heard an assistant superintendent in the Harrisonville School District, Joe Parkhurst, was arrested March 18 and charged with two misdemeanors, trespassing and property damage. While this is certainly unseemly, it’s hard to fathom the extent some of have taken to try and turn this incident into an indictment of the school district and a reason to challenge the district’s bond issue on next week’s ballot. This is, at the very least, a backhanded attempt to associate two relatively unrelated issues, but this is actually much more: attempting to discipline an entire organization and its members for an act of an individual who has not even had his day in court.
There are three major issues to consider here: first the bond issue. Parkhurst is not the bond issue; this is not money going into his pocket. As school officials say, this bond issue is for the community and the kids. The situation surrounding Parkhurst in no way surrounds what the schools are hoping to accomplish in the bond issue. The bond is for infrastructure repairs, security and additions and upgrades to various facilities. Although Parkhurst is an employee of the district, in fact supervises some facility operations, whether or not he committed a couple misdemeanors has nothing to do with the bonds.
If anyone is trying to taint the district and the bond with this overly-sensationalized story, they have some major flaws in their logic. The bond issue is greater and more important to the community than the bad publicity this one incident may suggest.
The second consideration is the district’s handling of the Parkhurst situation. There have already been calls for his discipline and/or termination. The actions of school officials is a touchy subject in the area because there have been some serious shortcomings in the near past causing a once-bitten, twice-shy attitude. And if the accusations warrant action, we are confident appropriate action will be taken. But right now, the school is in a wait-and-see situation. School policy dictates all employees receive equal treatment from custodians, to office staff, to teachers, to administrators. The district has to follow their policies and legal advice and wait for the proper time to take action.
The third consideration is the accusations themselves. Parkhurst reportedly got drunk and acted very irresponsibly. That is not a good reflection on the school or the community, but it is also very human. People, even very good people, even very smart people, even very dependable people, can make really stupid decisions. When alcohol is involved those bad decisions come even easier. It can be noted from the case file, Parkhurst was arrested at just after two in the morning on March 18, which means it was actually the early-morning hours of the day after St. Patrick’s Day. Which means in most of the state, bars would have just been closing their St. Patrick’s Day business day.
Parkhurst was in Camdenton to attend an official gathering, but it was not scheduled to start until later afternoon on March 18. If you really want to simplify it: Parkhurst was not at that point at an official school function; Parkhurst was not on school property nor in a school vehicle, and most importantly, there were no students in or around the episode. Is there an excuse for what he is accused of? No. Is there a reason? Probably. Arrest warrant can sometimes lay out details in such a way to make events far more ominous than they really were. Is that the case here? We just don’t know. But his bail was set at $1,000 which is pretty insignificant, and there is no doubt he is suffering a severe case of public ridicule.
It’s pretty safe to say that most all of us have had episodes which would have appeared pretty nasty if they showed up in a police report.
This is not to excuse Parkhurst: if what is accused is true, what he did was wrong and we are sure he will face consequences. But let's not tie the entire administration to
one bad act: and absolutely don’t let this deter anyone from going to the polls on Tuesday and supporting the district’s bond issue. Failure to support the proposition would be the criminal act.
