It is detriment to the educational system as a whole to force upon one such Kevin Yancey a position that he does not desire to take. Indeed, to force one into any position that is not of their choosing is not in keeping with the foundation of this country, nor of any who knows freedom. It is the forced will of an owner of property to place that property into a position not of its choosing. Such an act of the directors or board members does not bear them any sense of kinship or familiarity among those they attempt to subjugate. Instead it but breeds only discord and contempt. The will of over 300 of your fine students displayed this contempt that was born of your ill-fated and wrongfully-achieved decision. Their actions alone show to you the great influence, the respect, that Kevin Yancey has with those who have been graced with his tutelage and leadership. It is a rarity indeed that an educator should achieve such loyalty from a singular pupil and rarer still when that number is counted not by the score, but by the hundreds. The school board of Madison Consolidated School Systems should hold no other recourse than to reverse their decision and reinstate the principality of Kevin Yancey to the Madison Consolidated High School, should he choose to accept it. For any action less bespeaks only of political backwash of the foulest sort and is far beneath the dignity of any true member of the board who would hold the value of their students’ futures, not their bank accounts, in their hearts.
-William Curtis Russell, Lafayette School Corporation, MCHS Alumni
