Silence is agreement. We have been fed an ‘opinion’ that carries so little fact in it that the Chinook Observer had to dedicate a substantial portion of its space to negating that ‘opinion’ — yet very few of the people most closely associated with Ms. Amy Huntley’s tenure as superintendent of our school district have stepped up to speak to what they know to be true: no one is ever perfect at what they do, but Ms. Huntley has thus far done a fine job for us.

Ms. Huntley’s ink dried on her diploma here. She came straight from college with a diploma in one hand and the organizational skills of a seasoned corporate professional. She is as much a part of this peninsula as the sand on the beach. We, as a community, are as responsible for who she’s become as a professional educator as she is herself. We all looked to her leadership in our most difficult time — the recent pandemic — and she led with courage and graciousness, even during a serious illness of her own. Now she is repaid for the countless hours she has spent making it all work with ingratitude and lies?

Ms. Huntley has an unusual perspective for the position she holds. She knows us individually. She didn’t come from ‘outside’, so our strengths and weaknesses are known to her. She strives to harness the unique gifts we each bring to the table for the benefit of every student in the district. Given how different we all are, sometimes this looks chaotic to people on the outside looking in. Questions arise about where the district is going educationally. Here’s the thing: that’s happening everywhere. It’s perfectly normal to question processes and philosophies, and when a dialogue is established, to find answers together. That’s what education is supposed to be; not just random memorization of facts and formulas with no context to give them usefulness, but a collaborative opportunity to understand a topic together and apply that knowledge for the betterment of all Ms. Huntley uses that standard for the entire district and expects the people working here to attempt to uphold it.

No one takes the job of superintendent hoping to win a popularity contest. It is basically a lot of customer service combined with hours of state ‘do’s-and-don’ts’, followed by days of meetings with people who have no idea what it means, on an administrative level, to be a ‘school’. It’s a little like garbage collecting — everyone is fine with the service as long as it happens regularly and requires no more input than delivering the beneficiary to the street for pick up. As soon as the ‘price’ goes up, or requires more input from the purchaser than they’d care to give, the complaints start coming out of the woodwork. Motivations and character are questioned. No one but a person with a passion for education would want the job. The best term for someone of that caliber is old-fashioned: they have integrity.

Integrity is a quality that doesn’t usually have a voice of its own. It is discovered to exist over time. One thing that cannot be questioned about Amy Huntley is her integrity. Her word can be counted on, her follow-through will be complete, her investigations scrupulously honest and above-board.

Many of you reading this probably had her for a teacher. For some, she is now in charge of educating your children, too — and even in a few cases, your grandchildren. You may have liked her, maybe you didn’t. She was a tough teacher, after all. But you cannot in good conscience say ‘she didn’t care about me.’

Stand up for this good woman. Speak your truth, and if you feel like you haven’t gotten the response you requested — which is not at all the same as the response you wanted — try going straight to her instead of listening to voices that have already compromised their truth in the name of politics and personal agendas. Give her what she has always given you — the chance to succeed when given the right tools and the right support. You are entitled to disagree with this opinion, but if you do agree with me, then let her know it by speaking up. Silence does harm.

LIANNE LOO

Paraeducator, student advocate, Ocean Beach Options Academy