Board should care more about academics than athletics

To the Editor:

I was disappointed that the Northeast Sullivan School Board voted unanimously to not renew Doug Boyd's coaching contract. (May 15, 2007 issue).

This is another example of sports being more important in our school than academics! Why did Robin Wilkes and the nearly 30 parents have the coaching record of Mr. Boyd published?

Put Intel Science Talent Search into Google and get the top 10 winners of this year's contest. Not one of them played basketball.

I have a letter dated, May 11, 2007 from M.S. Welch, Captain U.S. Navy, Commander, NSWC, Crane; thanking me for the help I have been to the Science Fair at Crane. I have helped there 18 years and I do not remember a project from Union school in that fair. I am told at Crane that invitations are sent to all southern Indiana schools.

Science News May 26, 2007, page 326, reports the winners of the Intel International Science Fair at Albuquerque, New Mexico this year. This report does not tell about the sports the students were in but the number two winner is a home schooled boy.

The Union Science Olympiad team did not show well against the other local teams at the contest in Dugger, March 15, 2007. Are any parents concerned about that?

Did anyone at the Union school know that the Intel International Science Fair was at Indianapolis in 2006? Anyone could have gone on Thursday of that week and talked to the students about their projects. There were more than 1,400 students form 40 countries there. (The world's best).

Most other countries do not have varsity sports.

James F. Jackson

Carlisle