Board Member: "The Liability Is Just Too Much"

When Jim Bogle, the school superintendent in Lebanon (MO), moved to Crocker to take a similar job, he considered a unique idea: reward high-performing students with high flight -- a ride in a GA aircraft.

Last week, however, members of the Crocker (MO) school board shot down Bogle's idea. "We don't know anything about the planes," said board member Kris York, quoted in the Waynesville Daily Guide. "You hear about a 747 crashing every now and then, but most of these crashes are small little planes. The liability is just too much."

Bogle said, while in Lebanon, he had a way of dealing with liability. "We made parents come in and sign the form in the office and made sure they understood their children will be flying in an airplane," he said. "Some parents said, 'Why can't I sign this at home?' I said to them, 'Look, think here -- airplane, crash, lawsuit.' I know if there's a crash it'll be the parents' last concern, but we still need to deal with what might happen."

But members of the board continued to oppose the idea and Bogle admitted that he wasn't necessarily a supporter -- more of a messenger.

"We had a group in Lebanon who wanted to fly to New York three weeks after 9/11," Bogle said. "I told them, 'The answer is simple: No.' I heard from some of them, 'This could happen anywhere.' I said, 'Yes, that's right, but the answer is still no.'"

So for now, the idea of rewarding extraordinary students with an introduction to flight has been grounded in Crocker.

FMI: www.dese.state.mo.us/directory/085049.html