Fosters Opinion: Why FORE and why now?

Another letter to the Fosters Editor from Oyster River resident, Wallace Mosher:

Why FORE and why now?

As a community member of Oyster River Cooperative School District I had, until recently, little interest in town politics or the intricacies of our school system beyond what was immediately in front of me, the attendance by my two children. As a family, we engaged via field trips, volunteering, PTO, but in general I was content to let things take their course, assuming any meandering would eventually straighten out without my help. I had trust in the community members and elected officials, who were willing to devote their time to ensure folks like myself need not get involved, if that was our wish. However, very public events have transpired under the governance of the latest elected School Board, which has generated a significant amount of controversy, discussion and investigation. My curiosity piqued, I took the time to peripherally understand the issues, and took enough exception to the handling of them to act.

For my part, it began with the ORCSD School Board's rejection of the Search Committee's nomination for High School Principal. Normally I would not have given this a second thought, until I did give it a second thought and gave it a harder look. Dead horse here, but the question remains; how is it that a select group of seven individuals could summarily reject the work of multiple community members, teachers and yes, Board members, who collectively spent hundreds of hours to narrow a field of 44 applicants to one whom they felt had the credentials and ability to lead our High School? It didn't take much work to see the math and logic didn't work, and I found it extraordinarily difficult to believe the School Board had any more expertise in this area than the folks they trusted to do this work. I still do; sorry folks, this action flies in the face of reasonableness. For many who question the direction, goals and aspirations of this current School Board and who are subsequently seeking honest answers to legitimate questions, this is where it began. And for others, it has been years in coming.

Pulling at this thread, it became apparent that I was not alone in my incredulousness. A small group of us endeavored to communicate with the Board and give a voice to many others who shared our concerns, in what we hoped was through an effective means, via petition. At the culmination of our work we presented the perspective of over 400 community members directly to the School Board at a public meeting, and this presentation fell on ears that very clearly indicated they did not want to hear. How? They opened up the meeting to public comment only after they voted and made the decision to move forward with a new principal search, effectively closing the case for further argument by a concerned community. However, we still made our case, the School Board appeared to pay attention, and in the end acknowledged nothing. We indicated during this one-way discussion that their action had awoken a sleeping giant, and perhaps they did not understand, did not believe, or did not care. Either way, their silence was deafening, and incredibly frustrating. I have talked with a variety of people who have written one or more letters to the School Board, and who feel that their voices are being ignored. So how do you communicate with those who refuse to listen? What will get their attention, and get them to listen?

Enter FORE. Make no mistake, this is not a group of small minded, vindictive, petty has-beens who have nothing more to do in their limited spare time than to engage in witch hunts, pester and make life miserable for the current School Board. They consist of a diverse group of intelligent, thoughtful, articulate, concerned parents and community members, who provide a face, presence and action for the 400-plus folks whose collective voices have been ignored. They are dedicated to attending meetings, paying attention, disseminating information and doing the necessary work for the rest of us so that we can obtain what the School Board is unwilling to provide: information, direction, understanding. Like it or not, FORE is exercising their rights under law to ensure as much as possible that this School Board operates within the laws, rules, obligations and oaths its members swore to when they took office. The School Board is composed of elected officials who are duty bound to observe all of these requirements, and they will be held accountable for their mounting transgressions. It is unfortunate that we have ended up here, as the School Board has many faces; elected officials, friends, neighbors, parents. This makes all of this doubly difficult and painful. My heart goes out to the School Board and their friends, family, and neighbors, but it also goes out to the community into which they have injected themselves, at some cost. This is a very difficult time for the Board, and I sincerely hope they and their families can get some peace during this mess. But as elected officials, the transparency that they promised, and the opacity that they have delivered, has triggered a community response that will need to be reckoned with, whether they want to or not. They must speak for their actions, and must do so responsibly and with candor. That is why there is FORE, and why FORE is needed now.

Wallace M. Mosher
Lee