We will still be a community on November 9th

Dear Dexter Community,

I have a simple request. As the school board election approaches, if you read or hear something inflammatory or outrageous about someone you previously thought was a nice normal neighborly person, have the moral courage to speak directly to the person being accused of low character and values.

Dexter and surrounding are small enough to do that. Apply this to any of the four school board candidates who may be spoken ill of. I believe they have each expressed an openness and willingness to communicate freely on topics of interest. Take them up on the offer.

I say this from experience. In 2020, I lost an election. Honestly, no big deal about that. I’m happy and doing really well, as my friends and family know. Although I had hoped to continue serving the Dexter community, passing the baton to new eager school board members was liberating. I wished them all well at the time. I continue to wish them well now.

The sad part of the whisper campaigns and the public diatribes against me (biggest threat to Dexter Schools, lol!, still a knee-slapper) was that some people believed ugly lies without even taking the time to talk to me. Former friends believed it. Neighbors believed it. I was unfriended, ignored, and ghosted. If you used to be my friend, and you threw me over, I noticed. There’s no need for that. Not for a school board election in a modest Midwest town. It’s the people in our lives who matter.

I am in a unique position to be able to say let’s keep this 2022 election fair and above board. Why not stick with the issues: education, funding, transparency … find out where the candidates stand and choose the ones we agree with? Could those who speak in favor of their candidates avoid ad hominem attacks on the ones they don’t care so much for? Could we promote without tearing down?

I firmly believe we can. And won't we all be glad we did when November 9th rolls around and we still live next door to each other, send our kids to school together, and mail our letters from the same small post office.

Thank you, and thank you to the people who took the time to get to know me and my true character over the years. That matters more to me than any old election. I’m not the evil witch of the west.

Barbara Padgett Read

FORMER School Board Trustee

Wife, mother, friend, neighbor