Dear Mr. Pollio,
I have recently had occasion to read a variety of letters to “Dear JCPS” regarding the abhorrent behavior of current duPont Manual High School principal Jerry Mayes. As a proud Manual/YPAS graduate of the class of 1994, I am appalled by what I’m reading.
I have lived in Los Angeles, California for the past 20 years, and as you might imagine, some pretty demeaning opinions about Kentucky get spouted here from time to time. I always rise to defend Louisville and my high school in particular as in fact being models of diversity and tolerance. To hear that a school I deeply loved and valued as a place of inclusion is now being led by someone intent on moving it backward, who absolutely embodies the stereotype outsiders have of Kentucky as a place full of hateful, homophobic, ignorant racists, is beyond enraging. It’s heartbreaking. There should be no tolerance for his intolerance in the JCPS system. I hope you will take the necessary steps to remove him from his leadership position and to prevent him from interacting with and thereby harming any more young people for the remainder of whatever career he is able to have.
Thank you for considering what I have to say.
Sincerely,
(Name Withheld)