To the editor:

Although he did not respond to media inquires, I am supporting, and hope the reader will also consider, Renard Barnett for the Bainbridge Island School District School Board.

While he may not have answered the Review’s questions, he did answer mine, personally. I’d rather someone answer me personally than sound good in the media.

Here’s the main gist of my interest in him. He states that he communicate with people from all walks of life and communicate. What does this tell me? He is someone who is conscious of those on this island who are not the stellar students every parent wants. We neglect the fact that there are students who do not “fit in” the high achievers of this island. When they don’t fit it they simply drop out.

I know this because I’ve seen it happen. I also know it for reasons I never wanted to know. You see, while I did well and Bainbridge High and my name is on a plaque in the library among those who were awarded the “Faculty Honors” (1986). Yet if I went to school today, I would not make it. In the end I was unable to achieve much, and now I cannot achieve what little I could at my height.

In short, I know what it means to have limits. Imagine being a student faced with limitations who has some aptitudes in the arts, woodworking, mechanics and other practical skills. There is ceasing to options for him or her. Instead, it’s just a pressure cooker for fourth-grade students to put on PowerPoint presentations on aquatic ecosystems of the Winslow Ravine or endless college prep courses so they can make it to Stanford.

Sorry, Mr. Kinkead, but you’re impressive career is too impressive. We need someone on the school board who listen to and understand the students being left behind in our increasingly elitist school system.

FRANCIS JACOBSON

Bainbridge Island