Some school officials at Colony Oak Elementary School in Ripon are reportedly unhappy with the fact that scholarships were awarded to some of its eighth graders by a representative of Central Catholic High School in Modesto.

Part of their complaint to the Ripon Unified School District Board of Trustees and Superintendent Louise Johnson was that the parochial school representative used the award ceremony, held during a school assembly before graduation, to promote Central Catholic’s programs.

The school officials interpreted the awarding of the three scholarships as a recruitment process by the private high school campus in Modesto that goes against the grain of acceptability. “Unacceptable and crosses the line,” were the words used by Board President Mike Fisher to describe what has been going on for nearly a decade. “Unethical” and “unprofessional” were the descriptive terms used by Trustee Ernie Tyhurst in describing Central Catholic’s presentation of the scholarships. That’s unethical and unprofessional multiplied eight times since the awards have been given out at the annual awards assembly for the last eight years. That’s two years shy of a decade of helping students pursue their secondary education at an educational institution which has been in existence since 1966 and has produced many outstanding alumni who have attained success in various fields on both national and global scale – Byron Storer who was a football player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and former baseball player Chris Pritchett, just to mention a couple of names. And that’s just in the field of sports.

Of course, that’s beside the point of what Tyhurst, Fisher and the superintendent were trying to expound on with respect to the issue involving the scholarship presentation. Based on Tyhurst’s comment at the meeting, any high school that took similar steps would have been viewed in the same unethical and unprofessional light, all things considered equal. At least, that’s what I understand when he said, “We have a private school in town that doesn’t (recruit) on our campuses.”

I think part of the problem here is the interpretation being given by Ripon school officials to what Central Catholic has been doing for a good number of years. They call it recruitment; others may view it as a much-needed encouragement to the students by extending them a financial helping hand to propel them to succeed in life.

I’m just curious to know the reaction of the parents whose children were honored and recognized with a scholarship offer from a top-notch high school. Did they also complain to school officials that their children were receiving the scholarship awards?

The fact this scholarship-award tradition has been going on for nearly a decade and yet this is the first time the superintendent and the board members have heard about it is surprising by itself. What the they appear to be saying is that they should have been notified by Colony Oak’s current and former principals about what Central Catholic, or any other high school for that matter perhaps, has been doing for the last eight years – and apparently without any complaints, until now. What prompted Colony Oak School officials to complain this time?

According to the story, Superintendent Johnson was confronted with a similar recruitment situation involving another educational entity from Modesto and all she did was place a phone call to the school superintendent in question to notify him and his staff “to cease such behavior.” She suggested taking the same step in the case of Central Catholic instead of sending a letter to the Modesto school’s officials as the trustees have suggested.

 In taking that step, though, I wonder if this is to the benefit of the school officials or the students. It seems to me that instead of discouraging offers of scholarships awards to give young students an incentive to continue their education and attain meaningful success in life, school officials should expend more effort in generating those positive actions from higher-education campuses – including the town’s private Ripon Christian High School. If that needs a change in protocol when it comes to the offering of scholarships, or if there’s none, get one established, I think that would be a better  - if not a more positive – way to iron out an administrative wrinkle.



This column is the opinion of city editor, Rose Albano Risso, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Bulletin or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA. She can be contacted at ralbanorisso@mantecabulletin.com or call (209) 249-3536.