Tell the whole story

The dismay of students of the Antrim Elementary School in Point Pleasant Beach and their parents was evident Tuesday night as they protested the Board of Education's decision not to grant tenure to the school's principal, Thomas O'Hara. Even though they should have known the Borough Council can't do anythnig about a school personnel matter, at least 70 parents, teachers and pupils gathered outside Borough Hall to show their support for O'Hara.

But their frustration was heightened by a lack of useful information about the decision. The best the Press could report about it came via e-mail last week from the board president. She wrote that "the principal to receive a tenure contract for this position must be someone who meets the extremely high standards and expectations that the board has.''

The board owes the school community an explanation of what those high standards and expectations are and how O'Hara failed to meet the mark. But don't hold your breath. The board will claim it can't elaborate because of the confidentiality of a personnel matter. That's a shame. And it undermines the lessons to those students about how important it is to tell the whole story.