Manzanita is great for kids

Regarding school closures, it's difficult for any school district today to try and meet all the needs within a financial framework that's currently looking forward to some severe cutbacks.

I'm appalled, though, at some of the viewpoints expressed by many of the concerned stakeholders. As an educator of more than 25 years, and currently supervising teacher education programs with two large organizations, I can attest to the overall excellence of one of the schools currently being criticized as "gang" related, low test scores, etc.

Everyone of the staff at Manzanita Elementary are hardworking and excellent teachers. Attending a school with a high proportion of second-language learners never hurts anyone unless they have poor parenting or poor teachers.

That's not the case at Manzanita. My grandson attends that school. His test scores and several other students are above average, even in the gifted area.

Obviously, attending a school with second-language learners hasn't harmed their education.

Working together, we can solve this problem. Our school board needs suggestions and a look at all of the options- - all within an environment that's not name-calling or discriminatory. Dorothy Payne Newbury Park