Dear Oyster River Cooperative School District Community Members:
As the faculty and staff of Oyster River High School, we find it imperative to inform you in detail as to the current status of our principal search and the School Board’s response. We feel strongly that a permanent replacement of Laura Rogers is essential to our school’s progress. An interim option would not allow us to maintain the momentum we have built.
Background
As of June of this year, Laura Rogers will be resigning from her position as the principal of the high school. As a result, our superintendent began the process of finding a replacement to fill the position in February by commissioning a diverse group of voices, which included the following stakeholders: students, parents, administrators, school board members, and faculty. This committee worked tirelessly to ensure that the district find a candidate with vision to guide our school in a successful direction.
Process
In March, the faculty and staff went to the School Board and read a signed letter explaining the problems with assigning an interim until a new superintendent is chosen in 2012. It was clearly outlined why an interim would not benefit student learning nor align with the educational philosophy of this school, district, and community. At this time, the board assured the townspeople present, along with the faculty and staff, that an interim was not being considered and to move on with the hiring process. After two interviews, site visits, daylong visits with the candidates at ORHS, and a community tea, the two finalists were sent before the Board for final interviews. Up to this point, no concerns were raised about the quality of the candidates or with the process itself.
Upon entering private session, Superintendent Howard Colter nominated Justin Campbell as his candidate choice, and the board voted 4-3 to not support his nomination. The board refused to provide any reasoning for this vote. At this point, we do not have a principal for next year. Subsequently, the board delivered a statement during the April 13th School Board meeting explaining that their reasoning was budgetary and because the district was nominating a new superintendent in 2012.
Future Action
We as a faculty and staff ask you to attend the school board meeting on the night of April 27th at 7 pm to show your support for our students. At this meeting, we will be making a statement revisiting our concerns surrounding the potential impacts of this decision to student learning. We invite you to voice your opinions on the situation and our district’s course of action. Through letters to the board and attendance at school board meetings, we ask you to join us in speaking out against the board’s inability to keep its word.
As we move forward with this process, the faculty and staff will continue to stay focused on what is most important: our students. We hope to see you on the 27th as we seek a solution to the question of leadership at the high school.
Sincerely,
The Faculty and Staff of Oyster River High School
This letter embarrasses many fine educators at our high school, who can ably do their job next year under any circumstance, including an interim principal. Been done many times many places without incident. If you take even a medium view here (and not even a long view,) letting a new consensus choice superintendent lead a selection process for a visionary, highly qualified principal is well-worth the potential "impacts" and "loss of momentum" overstated so shrill in this letter.
ReplyDeleteThis a a great letter from what is likely a caring and dedicated staff. I can understand the candidate wanting a multi-year contract. In today's age of economic uncertaintity and educational accountability, a Principal needs to be empowered and to have the stability of a longer term contract.One of the reasons why the national average for Principal's staying at schools is only 2 -3 years is because school boards try to micro-manage the daily operations of a school. When A Principal has a contract and knows he will becoming back the following year, he can, if need be, remind a board member that they might be out of line, etc.
ReplyDeleteTo me, this whole issue is about power. It seems like there are some board members who want to be able to micromanage the school a little, and a Principal with a long term contract would be an obstacle to that.
Donald,
ReplyDeleteis this 2-3 yr average just for hs principals? Because Mr Harrington has been at MOH for more than 20years. If ORCSD is so terrible and interferring, why can we say our principals last so far beyond the national average? That would also include Mrs. Rodgers [7 years] and the principal at MW [I can't recall the name] prior to Mrs. Gallo.
Just a note....
The principals and staff have stayed so long in this district because they have always felt supported and valued. With the election of Mr. Brackett as the school board chair the board has become adversarial, devalues the work and commitment of the staff, faculty and administrators in our schools, and micromanages the administrators they hired to run the district. We will continue to see an exodus of our best and brightest until all the damage that has been done can be corrected. Just a note....
ReplyDeleteorcitizen, didn't Mr. Brackett just become chair? That makes no sense. Mrs. Rogers and Mr. Colter had already given their resignations before the election in March.
ReplyDeleteProblems don't become problems in a few weeks. Your statement doesn't add up.
"Through letters to the board and attendance at school board meetings, we ask you to join us in speaking out against the board’s inability to keep its word."
ReplyDeleteOk, so much for all the statements made on this board about how the faculty is NOT involved in stirring up community opinion.
Let's get back to the post about Teacher ethics, to NOT disparage the school district that employes them.
WOW, unbelievable. These folks better stay hiding behind their unions because this would never fly in the private sector.
This is the second time Mr. Brackett has been elected as chair, you apparently do not actually watch what is going on. If you had you would have noticed Mr Harringtons very positive comments about this Administration in comparison to many others he has worked with over the years.
ReplyDeleteThis district is going to have a much more difficult time getting the best people in, there is a shortage of good administrators in the state and they do know which districts have difficult boards.
Lori, yes I actually do watch what is going on-in the few years I have been here.
ReplyDeleteApparently you feel you can be testy with those that ask questions. I sincerely doubt there will be any difficulty in getting interest in our open positions. All in all, what's going on here in ORCSD is hardly horrible. GO out and see what's going on in other parts of the country.
More veiled ethics charges, ChrisAnn? Looks like a very public letter and not 'hiding behind the union' to me. Your continued hostility toward 'these people' - the people who continue to teach your children very capably, by your own account - is not admirable especially amidst the calls for unity on both sides.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, as for ethics, what do you make of Todd Selig circulating Jenna Roberts's letter on 4/7 via his official email account to other town employees - evidently encouraging their endorsement or her position? Do you have anything to say about this? Or are all your 'high standards' really double standards?
Sorry! Mr. Selig's email was forwarded on 4/13 not 4/7.
ReplyDeleteYou call it hostility; I call it pointing out hypocrisy by those claiming that these same individuals [apparently ‘people’ is not acceptable, even though they are in actuality ‘people’] are not involved in stirring up controversy. There’s nothing veiled about my statement. If you read the page of ethics posted earlier and then you read a letter by the faculty calling the school board liars. Well, to me that is making statements against the school board. Is it not? Or are the only ‘people’ being called to this show of unity the ones who have a dissenting opinion?
ReplyDeleteAnd let’s be real, you are not using your real name. It’s easy to throw mud at myself or Jenna Roberts or Todd Selig when you can hide behind a cover that is essentially no different than being an anonymous post. I have not seen this email you mention, I suggest you direct your dissatisfaction with ‘it’ [if it’s ok to call an email an ‘it’] with the sender of the email?
Thank you Lori - it's nice to see that there are others that recognize that ChrisAnn is long on rhetoric and short on fact. One + one = two whether you use the new math or the old.
ReplyDeleteAnd another essentially anonomous post!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
ChrisAnn the teachers are coming after you. They did not get the memo about unity. Even if they did it does not apply to them. Only you because you dare to point out their flaws.
ReplyDeleteRun, before you get detention.
ChrisAnn, as a student who attended the school board meeting earlier this month I am appalled at how much of a keyboard warrior you are. You had the opportunity to speak out at the meeting. There was ample time to express your concerns during public comments. Yet you choose to wait until you are behind the safety of your computer screen. I am not saying I don't disagree with everything you say, as you have made some valid arguments. However you calling people out for being anonymous is very hypocritical when most of the people posting on here actually spoke at the meeting.
ReplyDeleteListen, we can fuss and argue all we want. What happened, happened! We do NOT have a HS Principal for next year and we need one! Many of the good, quality administrators are hired up already. Most quailty administrators may now shy away from working here based on how the process went for the last fellow. The board needs to go find a quality leader, offer them a multi-year contract and a $10,000 signing bonus.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone thought about asking (begging) Laura Rodgers to stay??
ReplyDeleteI can't speak to why she is leaving but if you watch the SB meetings for the past year you may get an idea.
In my opinion she was treated with a lot of disrespect by some members of the board. Maybe we can fix this and kept a great principle!!!!!!!