Well, the Superintendent search continues full steam ahead, even though the Board was presented with 500+ signatures from people who have no confidence they can do an effective job. In a school system with 3,000 students and just over 1,500 families, that’s a significant number. Those folks have seen the decision making process in effect for 7+ years now. They have seen instructional decline, bad hirings, employee unrest, and questionable spending practices. They have had their concerns fall on deaf ears.
A good board, whether it is in the private or public sector, provides oversight of management. When things go wrong, the board usually wants to know why. It’s called a post-mortem and successful organizations conduct them all the time. Our BOE, which currently consists of attorneys, captains of industry, and “management consultants” should know this. You can’t run a successful organization without learning from your mistakes. The community has been asking for this at board meetings for months. The response from President London is ”Most of the issues that have come up in the past year have been examined and dealt with”. Really. That’s news to us.
We need a Superintendent who will reach out to the teachers and parents and repair the damage incurred over the last 7 years. Honestly, we are not asking for much. Is it too much to ask to get a reasonable response to your inquiry? The answer doesn’t always have to be “yes”. A “no” is fine with a valid and reasonable explanation. “Mrs. Jones, we understand your concern, but we can’t accommodate you at this time because……”. And I’m not talking about a gobbledygook management-speak answer. I’m talking about a valid and heartfelt response that shows you really care. Of course, it is much more effective when it comes from a person who ACTUALLY DOES care.
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According to a recent Patch story, one consultant recommended getting input from “clergy, parents groups and men's and women's groups”. I think we just may have found the answer to our problem. I think we definitely need to consult the clergy. The clergy of the community must lead us in prayer for the superintendent search. Since the BOE will not listen to community input, this is what we must fall back on. So please proceed expeditiously to your church, synagogue, temple, or mosque, and pray for the children of District 109. Pray that somehow we will hire a caring, dedicated, and capable leader who will return us to the world class school system that we all expect and demand.
