As the issue of School Board Director Matthew Rustad’s plagiarism scandal reaches the public, The Crier staff has developed its own opinion on the issue. Board members and community members have weighed in, but no one has heard the student voice.

Some of us believe his censure was enough, although the majority of the staff believes in this case of events, Rustad should help make the issue easier for everyone by resigning.

The district will now spend money on lawyers from the school budget that could be spent on education. In addition, the other school board members are now put in a bad position, having to spend their time on this issue and distracting them from other matters.

In making our opinion, we considered statements from members of the school board.

“Plagiarism is theft, theft of someone else’s intellect and knowledge, and I would ask for nothing less than resignation,” said Director Amy Kelly.

We also considered community opinion. An SFHS alumni created a petition encouraging Rustad to resign which now has over 80 signatures. It stated, “While we can forgive Mr. Rustad and respect his action of self-censureship, it is in the best interest of the students for Mr. Rustad to truly take ownership of his egregious error of judgement and resign.”

Rustad made a comment during the first meeting which was a blunt admittance of the mistake he made, and that he will learn from the mistake. Everyone around him will learn from the mistake as well.

Not all community or board members agree, however. A comment on the most recent online article from ABC newspaper website said, “He admitted to what he did was wrong and apologized in writing and to the public, so how much blood do you want from him?”

The Crier editorial board does not ask for blood, but believes someone who sits on the governing board of our school district – a board that makes and oversees educational policy – should hold himself to
the same, if not higher, standard expected of students.

Growing up in a school setting we were taught plagiarism results in consequences. In high school it might mean an “F”, in college, possible expulsion, and in the professional world – most people lose their jobs.

So if Rustad doesn’t resign, can he continue to be a leader among our students? Instead of brushing
this off as a “mistake” with no real consequences and putting his fellow board members in an awkward position, we believe Rustad should resign.

If he is truly interested in educating our students, that might be the best example he could set for students and the issue will be eliminated.

*Please note: an editorial is an unsigned opinion which reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board