A Mendocino County public school administrator recently plunged to his death from one of the terrifyingly tall bridges that form the Confusion Hill bypass, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
Kevin Jolly, who was just hired on as superintendent of Covelo’s Round Valley School District, was 45 years old. He had been missing since last week; on Friday, his car was found parked near Confusion Hill. The P-D somewhat strangely relates third-hand intelligence to the effect that Jolly had been “sad” lately.
Before coming to Covelo, Jolly served only six months as head of the Burbank Unified School District. A July 3 editorial from the Burbank Leader hints at strife between the short-term superintendent and the faculty, while suggesting that Jolly had set high standards for that district.
The P-D notes that Jolly was the first person to die from falling off one of the two Confusion Hill bridges, which stand hundreds of feet above the Eel River and were opened to the public in 2009.
This article appears in A Room Without A View.
This is truly sad. However, what struck me most about this short piece is some of your word and content choices. For one, I’m curious about your use of “falling,” when your implication clearly seems to call for the word “jumping.” Additionally, describing the bridges as “terrifyingly tall” seems a bit sensationalist–almost as if Jolly was frightened into taking this leap. Finally, you mention that Jolly was the first to die by jumping off this bridge; have others fallen and survived?
We know that he fell. We don’t know, but can suppose, that he jumped.
You’ve driven across those bridges, right? You’ve looked down?
Doubtful, but I truly have no idea. As noted, I was just passing along the P-D’s take.
Sad to say-if i had to live in covelo…
Nah… forget it!
Hank cannot defend his poor writing without spewing hate. Shut up, Hank, Sue has perfectly valid points, whereas you have a perfectly hostile, defensive reply. Maybe you pushed him? Try not failing at reporting and you will not be called on the carpet for it!
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Hardeeharhar should leave the humor to others.
I am a student from Burbank, CA and I personally knew him.
He was a depressed man, extremly “fake smiled” and was obviously pleeding for help. He set extremly high standards, and was not liked. He was the butt of every joke. And he knew. This was a suicide. Not “Speculation”.
How sad …..
How sad …..
Does SLANDER mean anything to any of you!!! Anyone who TRUELY KNEW him, knows how he would not hurt himself…shame on YOU!!! The media & whomever else should be alot more sensitive!!! What if this was you they were talking about, how dare you try & damage his & his families reputation!!!
Anyone can fall on any surface, & just because a body is found somewhere doesn’t mean anything. As the saying goes “A picture is worth a 1000 words” & “it’s in the eye of the beholder”.
He impacted countless children & adults alike in a very positive way. He is by far a great loss to society, co-workers, true friends, & I’m sure most of all his family!!!
If you can’t be positive or respectful, keep your thoughts and mouth quite!!!
Before going to Burbank Dr Jolly was the superintendent at Center Unified School District in Antelope California. He was a remarkable man and a great superintendent. I don’t think anyone disliked him. I guess Burbank wasn’t up for the challenge. Dr Jolly you will be missed. Becky our prayers are with you and the kids.
Steve & Nancy Wright
Curt
You are so very wrong on everything you said. What kind of person would hide behind a computer and spew that kind of horrible lies. I was a board member who worked very closely with Kevin for many years. He was an individual who drew names once a month and then worked that persons job for a day to keep in touch with what was happening in the district. Yes, I saw him scrub toilets so he could stay connected, He would join the schools bands and play right along with the students and those class visits he was slammed for. They were standard practice in our district. A board member always went with him. They were a positive experiences! Teachers were complimented not judged! Any leader or person who has to make hard decisions especially in this economy is going to ruffle a few feathers but these mean heartless attacks need to stop. He has many, many friends at Center USD. and a very large family that loved him very much. Could you please just keep your mean thoughtless comments to your self. As a student you don’t have a clue as to what happened. You are in no position to speak on any of this!
Steve, Nancy:
Thanks very much for your remembrances.
What a loss, He had a wife and 8 children and spent his life trying to make holding school school districts to high standards. Not everyone agreed with his methods and some districts simply weren’t well matched for his leadership style. I don’t think placing blame anywhere is appropriate at this time.. I believe he felt very misunderstood and unappreciated as a professional ..As his time in Burbank Unified was coming to close, I feared something like this might occur My condolences to his family..
Today’s Press-Democrat has an update. It mentions that Jolly grew up in Humboldt County.
So you just report other people’s news….cool
Served on the Modoc Joint Unified School Board when Dr. Jolly was our Superintendent. Kevin was a good man and had a great family. His expectations were high and he demanded excellence in work. He always looked for the best in others. He will be missed.
I hope that the local authorities are giving a full investigation and not just going with the knee jerk easy answer because they might not want to spend any time because he is an “outsider.” He could have bumped into a tweaker or tried to help someone with a fake broken down car. The guy did have a rough year, but I don’t really see this being what some are saying. I knew the man and he could play hardball if needed, but was mostly a good guy trying to do his best. He was better than most in my opinion.
Nancy,
I do not think Curt was intending to be mean and heartless, just commenting on how it was. He was pretty spot-on for being “just a student.” As a teacher in the district, I can vouch for much of what he said, other than being depressed and having a “fake” smile; didin’t know him personally so cannot assert that. This was speculation on Curt’s part, but I truly don’t think he meant to be disrespectful. Your experience was similar to ours as far as his dedication and involvement, working jobs for raffle winners, etc. However, it has NEVER been standard practice for school board members to accompany superintendents on school visits as a matter of course. This developed because of several situations where he left teachers in tears after visits to their classrooms/staff meetings. Those teachers were most definitely “judged.” Not to say he didn’t equally compliment, but it was certainly not always a positive experience. And since you weren’t in Burbank, I don’t think you can say that Curt’s assertions are wrong or “horrible” lies. Dr. Jolly, sadly, WAS the butt of many jokes. I can’t say that he “knew” this, but it went on right on up to the principals. Very sad situation all around and my thoughts go out to his family and friends. Very sad that he could not reach out to anyone for help if he felt so despondent.
No matter what happend or how it happend, it’s very sad and it’s his family who is suffering… Everyone on here may have their thoughts on what happen to him, but keep in mind saying bad things about a father,huband,son and brother that was loved very much needs prayer for healing and not bad things said about him.
Not to be rude but i have lived in covelo my whole life. It is extremely corrupt as is the mendocino county system. I am in fact a victim of the people who probably forced him off the bridge. He probably caught on to their demented ways and opposed them as i do. Right now they have stolen my identity shredded my medical records replaced it with tbe history of a crazy lady who spent a lot of time in chowchilla prison. If the state would investigate the valley the tribe and the county they would see how many unsolved murders missing persons and so called suicides! There is a viscious ring and tbey destroy anyone who is on to them. Im next.