A Letter from an OR Alum and Parent of OR Students

This was a letter I received today asking it to be posted.

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   As an Oyster River alum and parent of current OR 9th & 2nd graders (and a preschooler for a time) I believe this principal-board debacle is indicative of problems that go beyond the high school principal search process. In the two years I've been back in the district I continue to be distressed by the policy islands that exist independent of each other both between schools and within them.

      For example, Mast Way does many things very differently from Moharimet - including important aspects of special education and nutrition programs. The Mast Way teaching staff and administration have demonstrated expertise and enthusiasm for their work, but in my opinion there is a confidence vacuum at the level of staff decision making required to truly ensure every student has the best opportunity to succeed. That vacuum is a result of too much uncertainty over too long a period – inconsistent or absent critical leadership and planning. For example - there are limited resources for advanced learners. Differentiated education is a lovely concept, but teachers don’t have access to the tools to expand the practice to strong students…they end up cobbling together their best combinations of technology and advanced material, but there is no consistent process across grades to ensure that strong students aren’t recreating the wheel year after year – and no audible conversation about how to fix that. These strong students can reset the bar – trust them to be the vanguard for creative learning that pulls everyone along…start talking about how to celebrate and accommodate them at a district level and watch how their success expands and trickles down, inspiring more reaching among their peers. Pushing success up from the bottom is working against gravity – and rarely reaches the top. Any second grader knows that working with gravity is more efficient!

        I understand that for quite some time there were subject matter teachers in the district that had never met each other….I’m not an education expert, but I would expect that middle school math, language, science or social studies teachers know more about the high school curriculum than I do from attending open houses and reviewing the handbook;  it does not appear that was consistently the case and more alarmingly, ever a goal. Development of strong curriculums and best practices of instruction should be a shared process across the district and I commend the pockets of innovation in special education and world language where there are early efforts to do just that. This approach should be a district wide initiative right now – not a “who’s willing” or “where’s the crisis” reactive response. 

       I recently attempted to participate on the district Wellness Committee. As a public health RN with adolescent health, grant writing, and program planning and evaluation experience I felt my skills could be valuable to district initiatives. I attended one meeting where I strongly encouraged the committee to refocus its work on re-evaluation of the boilerplate Wellness Policy. That policy was written 5 years ago to meet the minimum requirements to receive school lunch program funding and has very limited application in its present form. The current committee charge appeared to be micro-problem solving for the high school nutrition program at the same time it was organizing a search for a new food service director. Solving problems inherent to an old administration while preparing to hire a new one is an inefficient use of time and resources. The new Food Service Director is the best person to address many of the problems that were on the table – from pizza vendor selection to student lunch line flow and menu reliability. For 80K+ a year, this position should be managing these challenges. The Wellness Committee should be focusing on policy recommendations – identifying goals for the district with regard to health and wellness. These goals should go well beyond concerns about irregularly sliced pizza and out into the physical, psychological, and emotional health of students, faculty and staff. After this meeting I forwarded a few great resources to Mr. Colter as examples of best practice wellness policies and received no response. I forwarded resources that I thought would be useful to the search committee to guide selection criteria and interviewing to Sue Caswell, district business manager, as she was identified as heading the search for a Food Service Director. I received no response. This failure to acknowledge much less facilitate exchange in the interest of best practice should be of concern. If the resources are already being used, I’ve seen no evidence of that. If they aren’t, they should be…regardless of who they come from. 

         A few days after the first wellness meeting I attended I was advised by the Superintendent that the committee had no need of any further assistance from me, as it was “his committee” and he felt it had adequate representation from parents, community members and health professionals. I attended the next meeting as a silent observer – he’s correct – the nurses from across the district are passionate and invested advocates for our students. Mr. Colter did pass along a membership list when I asked, with the caveat that not everyone makes every meeting. No members introduced themselves as parents or community members who weren’t also staff or school board members. Many on the list did not attend either of the two monthly meetings I did. I simply did not see the depth and breadth of stakeholders at the table that are required to support sustainable policy evaluation.  While I’ve only been to the last two meetings, in my corporate/business world experience if there are members of an important advisory group that are consistently absent then the group should be re-evaluated for both form and function. This example of a leadership vacuum at the policy level illustrates a point where I see constant weakness in the district. 

        I can’t speak to the rationale the board used to reject the Superintendent’s nomination for High School principal. I can only suggest that perhaps they too have been baffled by the lack of consistent transparency with regard to policy goals.Interim principal or not? How about now? How about now? Now? In the hours of school board meeting tape I have watched, it certainly appears that the board frequently confuses itself with respect to both policy and practice. From the abdication of the district strategic planning consultant to vocal community dissatisfaction regarding communication to the resignation of key administrative positions that could be seen as an exodus, it is clear the district needs to re-orient itself to regain a unified direction.  Without that direction, the policy islands will remain and folks will do the best they can with what they have to work with – bracing for crises and conserving resources like tiny little developing nations. In fact, there is a collective level of knowledge, skill, and commitment among educators, students, and parents in this district that could rival any superpower. I encourage everyone to remember that with rights come responsibilities - the right to information comes with the responsibility not to assume its absence is a personal affront or indicative of nefarious doings. The right to be heard comes with the responsibility to be respectful. The right to participate comes with the responsibility to show up with solutions. And finally, as we see unfolding in front of us,  the right to make decisions comes with the responsibility to manage the consequences. I encourage everyone to take a deep breath, roll up your sleeves, put on a smile, and ask “How can I help?”. I encourage the school board and district administrators to make answering that question their first priority.