To the editor:

Regarding the recent KSDK repeated film loop of a Mehlville School District bully, I believe Superintendent Tim Ricker walked away from a major opportunity to discuss the programs and activities under way that deal with this universal problem of bullying.

Granted he had to be careful of the student-privacy factors, but KSDK’s daily to hourly coverage of this event meant some kind of comment was needed. Viewers were given a bad impression of the district and the superintendent.

Dr. Ricker’s refusal to speak gave the media the hook they needed to draw more publicity for the story during a sweeps week.

We have family acquaintances living in Nebraska — two educators — who were considering a move back to the Oakville area. They called to say after reading about this story on the Internet that they had decided to stay in Nebraska.

On a larger scale, will the Mehlville School District be able to get any positive coverage from KSDK in the near future?

The district’s negative relationship with the Call is bad enough, but to expand “bad press” to KSDK could mean an even bigger problem.

Please know I have always been a supporter of my local school district, and I know hindsight is 20/20. It’s a shame, however, that our superintendent did not deal with the media the way the Rockwood superintendent did, a real sad shame.

Carl Kleusch

Oakville