Spotlight on District 109

Sixteen years.  When all’s said and done, that’s the length of time I will have been a parent in District 109.  I’m halfway through, and frankly, the first eight years were no picnic.  The instruction was fine, don’t get me wrong, but as a selective customer who pays a pretty penny in taxes to the district every year, I expected more than good.  I expected great.  I expected impressive.  I expected to be blown away.  Like most Deerfield families, we moved here for the schools.  We did our homework.  The district’s reputation circa 2001 was that of a world-class system with top teachers and administrators that executed instruction flawlessly and had strong connections with the parent community.  The district was known for outstanding special education programs.  When I moved here, my new neighbors raved about the schools.  “You made the right choice” and “my kids loved the schools” were comments we often heard.

Things started off fairly well eight years ago, but I started to get the sense that the district had a problem with children who didn’t think and act a certain way.  Any behavior out of the norm was considered a discipline problem with no real interest in understanding the total child.  A very strong focus was placed on the highest performers (aka “TAP”) but there was really no plan for the ones who fell between the high and the middle.  Conversely, several friends began to tell me their frustrations with their children’s IEPs and 504s.  Their questions and concerns began to fall on deaf ears.  Sadly, a few good friends have decided to move out of the district for these exact reasons, and I will miss them greatly.

I have always greatly respected the teaching profession but teachers are employees, and like any employee, need direction and guidance.  I once had a boss who loved to say “You can’t let the inmates run the asylum!”  The funny thing about the current administration is that even though many decisions regarding curriculum are made at the top and dictated downwards without teacher input, there is also a lack of leadership and accountability at the building level.  Teachers with very little experience are given great responsibility and when conflicts with parents arise, are not counseled as to the correct manner in which to handle the conflict.  Recently, a teacher took it upon herself to implement a “discipline system” throughout an entire grade level.  Where this “system” came from and whether it was fully vetted by the district are still questions that have not been answered, but like with most things in this district, the non-answer tells you all you need to know.

So, in the spirit of “you can’t move forward until you fully appreciate where you’ve been,” I’d like to make a few suggestions to the new administration.  Number one: Know what’s happening at ALL levels of your organization.  Give people the freedom to do their jobs but ALWAYS ensure the focus is on the customer, the parent and child.  Every child is valuable and precious and every attempt must be made to understand how that child learns and thrives.  Children have a funny way of not fitting into neat little “boxes.”  A world class system understands how to get the most out of every child.  Number two: Pay better attention to the children on the “fringes,” let’s call them the high middle and low middle.  Differentiated instruction is not just a buzzword.  Some kids need a little extra help or a little extra challenge to achieve their full potential.  Turn perceived negatives into positives.  It may take a bit of imagination but it can be done.  Number three:  Give your staff the training and guidance they need.  Give them every opportunity to shine.  But also make sure they have a laser-like focus on the customer.  Make sure there is accountability at every level of the organization, right up to the big desk in the corner office at 517 Deerfield Rd.

So it is with an open heart and open mind that I look forward to the next 8 years.  I was very pleased to see the three new Board of Education members dig right in and ask some great questions of the staff at the last meeting.  These three will not be satisfied to allow the Superintendent to run the district unchecked.  I’m pretty confident there will be accountability at the Board level and I hope their example is taken to heart by the rest of the Board and new administration.  It all starts and ends with communication.  If the district does more listening than talking, there should be no reason why we can’t be a world class school district again.