To the Editor:

For those of you who saw last week’s front-page article [“Process questioned: BKW appoints board president’s wife to new job”], I feel it is only right to comment on the one-sided article and share some information that was missing. My father has lived in the Berne-Knox-Westerlo school district his entire life. He grew up here, raised a family of his own here, and still resides here!

He was always passionate about seeing the school and community succeed when my sister and I were student athletes, and to this day that passion remains the same. He wants only the very best for the students of BKW, which is why he volunteers his time to sit on the school board. He sees how special our community is and every decision and action he takes is only done to further the success of our district.

As for my mother, she started working for BKW 15 years ago. She has worn many hats during her time there and has grown with every role she has played. She started as a teacher’s aid substitute and then was a part-time maintenance secretary, followed by being a part-time transportation secretary, elementary-office secretary, and then business-office secretary.

Today, her role is a personnel assistant in charge of payroll and human resources after years of hard work. Although she was a Board of Cooperative Educational Services employee the past year, she never truly left as she still did payroll for BKW. She has taken HR classes and training as well as taking Civil Service exams to get higher titles and grow professionally, on her own.

All of her progression through these positions, she did on her own before my father was a member of the board of education. She has loved, worked hard, and excelled in her roles while Allie and I were students, and even after we both graduated because she cares about our district.

My sister and I both were students at BKW and ran cross-country and were on the track-and-field team. I left BKW with a state championship and a Division I scholarship and my sister left BKW with a sectional championship title and a Division I Scholarship. BKW made us who we are and had a part in our success. My family is proud of our school and wants to give back in any way we can.

When I met my now-husband in Chicago, we always talked about going back to the wonderful little community I grew up in. So when a job position opened it seemed like fate when he applied, thorough OLAS [Online Application System for Educators] like every other candidate, interviewed, and was offered a teaching position! No one knew who he was; he is from Canada and went to college in Chicago. He earned his teaching position on his own!

My father’s role on the board did not influence the hiring committee at all. It was not made known who he was until after the final rounds and a recommendation had been made to hire him. Now we are proud taxpaying homeowners in Berne; in fact, the taxes I pay far exceed the small stipend I received as an assistant coach and currently, I am a volunteer coach for the indoor track program where I receive no pay for my time!

As I started my career and Chris began his, I knew that I needed to give back to the school that gave me so much by my coaching cross-country and helping to inspire young athletes! With my background in running, I applied for the coaching position and was hired. I went through the same process as anyone else. I was once a Bulldog, will always be proud to have been a Bulldog, and appreciate the opportunity to work with young Bulldogs with a bright future ahead of them!

It is sad to think that a newspaper would print half-truths about the district and my family instead of focusing on the good and positive that has been happening at BKW. Our community has so much to be proud of and so much to be excited about.

We should be focused on remaining united and work together to continue to make BKW an amazing school district. My family has a desire to see BKW succeed and grow just like I’m sure all community members do!

Courtney Miedema

Berne