The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Letter to the editor:

As a member of the Dayton School Board, I would like to address the September 15 meeting at which no business was conducted after it was disrupted by a candidate for the School Board, Aneesha Dieu.

The Washington State School Directors Association directs, and I quote, “School districts must refuse admittance to anyone who refuses to wear a face covering. This refusal of admittance includes board directors, members of the executive team, and staff.”

It is inconceivable to me that a denizen from the decent town of Dayton would consider it acceptable for them to disrupt a meeting by throwing a puerile tantrum and waste the time of all those present.

All the members of the school board are unpaid volunteers. I can’t speak for the others, but I feel that I can make better use of my time than playing an extra in Aneesha Dieu’s political theater, where my only role is to play a tin duck cutout in an arcade shooting gallery while Ms. Dieu hurls abuse at me.

I can only highlight just a couple salient points that Aneesha Dieu made that evening. When presented with the fact that all State support for the school could be suspended if mask guidance is not followed, she stated that the school district could operate just fine without state support. She continued, “...the district could get grants and that she knows how to write grants.” Since nearly the entire district operating costs are covered by the state funding, I think Aneesha Dieu is obligated to provide a funding proposal for the school district showing who she intends to get grants from and how much from each organization in order to cover costs.

Once the room was cleared, she expressed to me the rather ghoulish thought that it would be a good thing if all the students in Dayton got COVID because then they would be immune. To me, it is appalling that a candidate would wish harm in the form of a disease to the children of Dayton. Sure, most of the young students would not suffer serious consequences from COVID but some of their parents and grandparents likely would.

Is Aneesha Dieu’s motivation for attending school board meetings merely to disrupt them and obstruct school business?

Please consider the consequences of your vote this November. I for one, do not want to crucify Dayton’s youth upon a cross of politics.

Justin Jaech

Dayton, Wash.