Dear Oyster River School Board:
I am writing this open letter to you for two reasons. The first purpose is to indicate my strong support for your nomination of Dr. James Morse as the incoming superintendent of schools at Oyster River. The second purpose is to distance myself from the lawsuits that are presently obstructing his hire, since by making claims on behalf of ‘the community,’ Mr. David Taylor has implicated me in them.
First, I was pleased to hear your announcement at the deliberative session that you have elected to hire Dr. Morse. As I said in my email dated 1/25, I attended all three public candidate forums and thought Dr. Morse stood head and shoulders above the other two candidates. As I described, I did not anticipate my own reaction and was prepared to write a very different email, urging you to fail the search. I was most swayed because I believe Dr. Morse could forge a common vision at a time when the district needs it most. I applaud your choice.
My enthusiasm was tempered, however, by your subsequent announcement that his contract was being held up by Mr. Taylor’s lawsuit. I have read Mr. Taylor’s charges against you, and I object both to the severity he ascribes to whatever irregularities he perceived in the search process, and to the notion that he represents ‘the community’ in his complaints. I am a member of the community who strongly supports excellent and equitable public schools and he does not represent me. As far as the process goes, I applied to be on the screening committee, was not chosen, but still attended the forums and provided feedback (to which three of you responded), and I felt satisfied that my participation was welcome and valued. It is not universally true that 'the community' feels excluded.
Moreover, the ultimate fear Mr. Taylor indicates in his filing to block an expedited decision – that you were conspiring all along to hire someone who would erode the district’s philosophy – was not borne out. You elected to hire a highly qualified individual who seems to have won wide approval among diverse stakeholders in the district. This is what I would hope from any board and I think it is an extremely positive step forward. I know a forum provides a limited view of a candidate, but none of Dr. Morse’s comments suggested conflict with the basic philosophy of the district. In fact, I thought he shared some compelling ideas that could help articulate the philosophy in innovative new ways.
I think there is a larger issue at stake too – a successful lawsuit risks poisoning the well to the point where any subsequent search could also be seen as illegitimate, contaminated by the forced failure of the original search for seemingly partisan reasons. I am coming to believe that what will ultimately be most destructive to Oyster River’s quality and reputation is the continued escalation of a battle between warring factions. If this continues, Mr. Taylor and FORE will, ironically, have contributed to its deterioration. But there are also reasons to be hopeful; at the 2011 deliberative session, Mr. Taylor won approval for the district to hire a consultant “to investigate the culture of distrust and disrespect in our district leadership and community at large and to report specific recommendations to improve that culture.” Here is an excellent opportunity to address this issue. Board members, you have done your part by electing to hire a top candidate for superintendent. I hope Mr. Taylor does his part by allowing you to do so.
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With Regards
Jayson Seaman
Durham, NH
I am writing this open letter to you for two reasons. The first purpose is to indicate my strong support for your nomination of Dr. James Morse as the incoming superintendent of schools at Oyster River. The second purpose is to distance myself from the lawsuits that are presently obstructing his hire, since by making claims on behalf of ‘the community,’ Mr. David Taylor has implicated me in them.
First, I was pleased to hear your announcement at the deliberative session that you have elected to hire Dr. Morse. As I said in my email dated 1/25, I attended all three public candidate forums and thought Dr. Morse stood head and shoulders above the other two candidates. As I described, I did not anticipate my own reaction and was prepared to write a very different email, urging you to fail the search. I was most swayed because I believe Dr. Morse could forge a common vision at a time when the district needs it most. I applaud your choice.
My enthusiasm was tempered, however, by your subsequent announcement that his contract was being held up by Mr. Taylor’s lawsuit. I have read Mr. Taylor’s charges against you, and I object both to the severity he ascribes to whatever irregularities he perceived in the search process, and to the notion that he represents ‘the community’ in his complaints. I am a member of the community who strongly supports excellent and equitable public schools and he does not represent me. As far as the process goes, I applied to be on the screening committee, was not chosen, but still attended the forums and provided feedback (to which three of you responded), and I felt satisfied that my participation was welcome and valued. It is not universally true that 'the community' feels excluded.
Moreover, the ultimate fear Mr. Taylor indicates in his filing to block an expedited decision – that you were conspiring all along to hire someone who would erode the district’s philosophy – was not borne out. You elected to hire a highly qualified individual who seems to have won wide approval among diverse stakeholders in the district. This is what I would hope from any board and I think it is an extremely positive step forward. I know a forum provides a limited view of a candidate, but none of Dr. Morse’s comments suggested conflict with the basic philosophy of the district. In fact, I thought he shared some compelling ideas that could help articulate the philosophy in innovative new ways.
I think there is a larger issue at stake too – a successful lawsuit risks poisoning the well to the point where any subsequent search could also be seen as illegitimate, contaminated by the forced failure of the original search for seemingly partisan reasons. I am coming to believe that what will ultimately be most destructive to Oyster River’s quality and reputation is the continued escalation of a battle between warring factions. If this continues, Mr. Taylor and FORE will, ironically, have contributed to its deterioration. But there are also reasons to be hopeful; at the 2011 deliberative session, Mr. Taylor won approval for the district to hire a consultant “to investigate the culture of distrust and disrespect in our district leadership and community at large and to report specific recommendations to improve that culture.” Here is an excellent opportunity to address this issue. Board members, you have done your part by electing to hire a top candidate for superintendent. I hope Mr. Taylor does his part by allowing you to do so.
--
With Regards
Jayson Seaman
Durham, NH
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Links to Case Materials
I am a community member that is just outraged at Taylor's suit to stop the superintendent search. I feel that the public is being peppered with half-truths and outright false allegations from Taylor and his FORE supporters. I looked at the YouTube video he posted trying to allege FORMER board members in illegal activity. This was a board that he himself sat on and had every opportunity to stop any behavior. I also tried to post a comment on YouTube but it was blocked and removed within minutes. In order to get a more complete story out there, I commend this blog (which I just discovered) for allowing this comment to stand.
ReplyDeleteHere is some history of David Taylor that should be known.
He lost in the election some years ago by a 2:1 margin. After this election, he then tried to force the public perception and board actions through the use of public comment and letters to Fosters. Keep in mind that this is the same David Taylor who once tried to motion while on the board to eliminate public comments as well as reduce Right to Know requests.
When unsuccessful at the podium, he gathered some friends and formed FORE, which is nothing more than a political group engaged in bullying and obstructing any progress this board has tried to make. It was first formed over the non-selection of the high school principal, then moved onto other issues like curriculum by falsely accusing board members of certain beliefs, then onto the Pledge of Allegiance and trying to stop its being said at board meetings, then onto Mr. Kach's personal Twitter feed.
The list is representative of FORE's tactics over the past year. They try and mostly fail at changing board decisions. In their past attempts, FORE members have bullied, harassed, and disrespected these elected officials. With each decision, no harsh reality has set in regarding our schools. Would ANYONE argue that Todd Allen is not the best choice for principal? That was a direct result of the board NOT choosing to elect the high school principal candidate last year.
Back to David Taylor. After his group at FORE had attempted and failed at changing the board and rather than NOT waiting until this March's elections, he decides to take things to court. I will not argue the merits of the first case that he won other than stating that yes...it appears that the board didn't follow RIght to Know but they acknowledged it in the court documents and the judge commented on that. What I will point out is that us as taxpayers had to reimburse David Taylor $4000 for these legal fees. He represented himself so other than processing charges by the court, how did he come up with these figures? More importantly, this money is directly coming out of the school budget where it could have done good in the classroom. By winning this first case, David Taylor has taking direct, quantifiable money out of our educational system.
The main focus at hand is his second case - which is to stop the superintendent search. Here is my question to the community at large - If the selection committee comprised of teachers and staff, PTO representatives from every school, and community members chose this candidate and everyone agrees that this candidate if a great choice, why stop it? What benefit to the continuing education of our children does this case support? The case's merits at hand are arguing the selection of community members in the selection committee. They are not arguing the actual selection of the candidate or how it was done. David Taylor seemingly is trying to prove a point but at what cost? The past case was a simple slap on the wrist to the board but this case has big ramifications on our future.
ReplyDelete1. Will the district be able to find another qualified candidate?
2. Who would want to apply for this position knowing that one community member can potentially derail the process using courts?
3. How will teachers and staff feel who have worked months on the hiring process to see THEIR candidate thrown away?
David Taylor is seeking political revenge on this board. Period. However, this time, his actions ooze out of the board meetings and into each and every classroom in ORCSD. They threaten our opportunity to select the right candidate (whom the district AND teachers have done) and undermine the process that was publicly vetted and documented from Day 1. The search process was successfully done over 450 times by this consultant that the district hired (NESDEC).
I call on everyone in this district to STOP DAVID TAYLOR from continuing this nonsense and let's move on with the education and mission of ORCSD by finalizing the selection of Dr. Morse NOW!