Fresno schools: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire
If I had any artistic skills at all, I would draw an editorial cartoon featuring the closed door to Fresno Unified School District Superintendent Michael Hanson’s office. The door would be bulging outward, with big puffs of dark smoke streaming out around all the edges. Wavy lines would portray intense heat radiating from the inside.
On either side of the door would be giant movie-set fans running at top speed but only partly succeeding in blowing the smoke away. Affixed to the fans would be plaques that read, “Donated Exclusively by Your Loyal Majority of Indebted & Grateful Board Members.” At the bottom of the plaques, in fine print, would be “Signage Courtesy of Harris Construction.”
The district’s special public relations consultants and the recently retained criminal attorney would be standing in front of the fans, with flapping price tags pinned to their backs, desperately holding onto heavy objects to keep from being blown out the door. They would be shouting in unison, “There’s no smoke here, so how could there be a fire? leave the poor man alone!”
Racing into the room would be two firefighters, one with a traditional helmet and the other with a cap that reads “Arson Investigator.”
David E. Roy, Fresno
This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 7:49 AM with the headline "Fresno schools: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire."