Truth's back seat
Without putting too fine a point on it, more than nine months have elapsed since Pleasure Ridge Park High School sophomore Max Gilpin died after collapsing at football practice. That is more than enough time for Jefferson County Public Schools to have given birth to its investigative report into the teenager's tragic death.
An investigation conducted by Louisville Metro police for the Jefferson County commonwealth's attorney's office started around the same time last year. It was finished in November, and the 2,000-page report was made public in March. The school district said it would take four to six weeks to "digest" the findings.
Somebody hand them the Pepto, because they're still "digesting" three months later.
More than that, they're fighting attempts to force them to turn over their findings to other parties involved in several lawsuits brought since Max Gilpin's death...
... the district seems to have lost sight of the bigger picture: A child died on their watch. The public deserves to know what happened without further delay.
As it is, their maneuvering is like stonewalling...
Superintendent Sheldon Berman took a valedictory lap for the school year in a guest column in Sunday's Forum section, but he did not mention this investigation in that piece. It was a glaring omission. He must correct that, and address public concerns, by talking to the public now about why the district's investigation into Max Gilpin's death has taken longer than the ones that pinpointed the destruction of shuttle orbiters and astronauts' lives. And then he and the district must cooperate with law enforcement.
Today is day 299 since Max Gilpin was taken off life support. That's too long to wait for the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment