Several years ago a dear friend gave me a gift when she said: “Amelia, continue to follow your moral compass, it will always point the way.”
Those words lead me to serve my country for nearly two decades in the the United States Air Force. It’s also the same moral compass that guided me to serve my community for seven years on the Riverhead Board of Education, where I advocated for the educational needs of all children as well as the dire need to be truthful and fair with our community.
My moral compass pointed me in the direction at age 50 to pick up where I started nearly 30 years earlier – to complete my college degree; besides, how could I stress to my own children the importance of education without fulfilling my own dream.
Last year my moral compass was tested as a Riverhead Board of Education trustee and I reacted by doing everything I could to correct what was taking place behind closed doors that was in direct violation of N.Y. State Education Law. My pleas fell on deaf ears!
In one example the majority vote would have had a profound and direct negative affect on our children and our tax dollars. My continual State Education Law fact-based attempts to guide my fellow board members to abide by the State Education Law was futile. I knew I had no other choice but to publicly expose those involved when a fellow board member stated, “We’re the board; we can do whatever we want.”
My resignation was specifically designed to enable me to speak publicly and put a spotlight on the issue which ultimately prevented it coming to fruition. Had this vote passed, it would have cost our district a tremendous amount of money in litigation.
We have been sitting on so much untapped potential in this school district, potential that would catapult us forward in educating our children. We have a new superintendent who can enable us to utilize that potential, which will ultimately remove our designation by NYSED as a focus district.
I will leave you with a final thought: One morning my daughter asked what I was doing that day and I responded, “I’m going to pick up a petition to run for the BOE again. Yes I realize it’s a time-consuming job, but one day you will have something in your life that you whole heartedly believe in and you must fight for it as I am fighting for this school district to be its greatest”.
And so I ask: “In which direction would your moral compass point you?”
Amelia Lantz Resignation
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