We have been left scratching our heads at the behavior of Durango School District 9-R Superintendent Dan Snowberger.
The trouble this time began earlier this month when a Durango Herald reporter approached Snowberger with a simple question: Why, according to police records, had district spokeswoman Julie Popp allegedly been banned from the Needham Elementary School campus?
Needham administrative assistant Laura Mottershead told police Popp was “aware she is not allowed on the property.”
Police were also told that Popp could be armed if she returned to the school.
It is not hard to see why anyone might be alarmed by this information.
In an age of mounting fear for school safety, and legitimate concerns about people who are not welcome at schools returning armed, not to mention school district employees themselves, we would think that any superintendent doing his or her job would either want to clear up any confusion and assure the public, or get to the bottom of the matter and take swift corrective action.
Snowberger, bafflingly, took a different tack.
As can be seen from the exchange of emails posted with the Herald’s story Tuesday, he simply denied, denied and denied.
Asked for public records, he said, untruthfully, “We have fully answered all questions regarding this matter.”
Then he questioned whether even asking him about a potential matter of public safety and administration was “good journalism.”
And he still was not done.
“Your attempt to slander an individual without evidence is sad and despicable,” he wrote, maintaining that he was being “threatened into providing false information ... to feed your desired story.”
We did not have a desired story.
If there was no reason for us to think the schools under Snowberger’s authority might not be safe or well run, we would happily move on to the many other subjects that we think deserve our and your attention.
Snowberger, however, appears to think the best defense is an offense.
We find this peculiar in a public official, and counter-productive, to say the least. His mistake may be in thinking he is at war with the Herald – or the public’s right to know. He seems to think that takes precedence over safety and accountability, which he is supposed to provide.
“I have many more important things to address on behalf of the 5,000+ students in my district,” Snowberger also wrote. “I’m happy to respond to relevant questions on issues of importance to this community.”
If we were confident Snowberger knew what was of importance to this community, we might not be having this conversation.
Call us foolish, but we persist in thinking that we, too, are judges of that.
And we and you still do not know what happened with Popp at Needham to apparently make people afraid.
Was it nothing? If so, why is Snowberger not eager to clear it up?
We would think he owes at least that much to Needham students and parents.
We are also puzzled why, so far, the 9-R school board, whose five members are elected by district residents, has not showed concern that we are aware of.
It is the board that hired Snowberger, the board that can fire him, and apparently, the board alone that could compel him to cease the unhelpful bluster and just do his job.
