NEW SCHOOL SUPER: "A FRESH START"Ithaca's recently appointed School Superintendent, Lucius Quincy Culpepper, 3rd told parents, faculty and students gathered in the Ithaca High Auditorium tonight that it was "time to heal the wounds of the past" and promised "a fresh start" in the history of a troubled Ithaca school system.
Culpepper, a veteran educator with broad experience as a teacher and principal, and most recently superintendent of the Walker School District in Alabama, was chosen by the embattled ICSD Board to replace Judy Pastel, who critics claim had been insensitive and 'unresponsive' to numerous incidents of racial tension in the schools.
The Board itself had come under fire in recent days for not moving quickly enough to investigate allegations of stonewalling and coverup on the part of school administrators who, according to critics, had failed to respond immediately to reports that minority students had been harrassed or physically threatened by their white peers.
"We'se been thro' that awwl in Alabamey, " Culpepper told his audience. "Done tha' , been ther'. It's time to put it awl in th' past. One big happ'y family, that'se mah motto."
Culpepper, hailing from a school district that is 98% white, has long been a proponent of busing, a practice that has been criticized in Ithaca for failing to redress social and economic inequities in minority neighborhoods.
"Ah'se sent chil'un right over to th' next coun'ty and it works, let me tell ya, it works." Culpepper assured parents in his warm, rich Alabama drawl.
In an interview he gave to IS after his address, Culpepper told this reporter that his favorite hobbies include participating in Civil War re-enactments, snipe hunting and hosting Southern style barbecues.
"Ah'se particularily like recreating the battle of First Manassas, don't mind tellin' ya. Like to play old'se General Beauregard when he beats the tails off those damn yan..., Ah beg yar pardon, Ah mean, won a great victoree agin' his ah-ponents."
Comments invited at: ezrakidder@gmail.com - Peace, Ezra at 6:07 AM
