What is the best way for our community to move forward given 9-R's
recent trials?
Why not celebrate the promise and the hope for big change in Durango schools' public-board-district relations? If the board follows through with its statement of Tuesday night, everyone gets something. The district gets to keep the experience of Mary Barter and the public gets what it has wanted for so long: a responsive school board that puts the public back in public education -- with a pledge to develop a process that ensures community concerns will not be buried or spun, but acknowledged and addressed.
These were the reasons why Durango School Talk was created. Meaningful public participation and increased accountability.
Mistrust may linger, but the board went through a grueling process to reach this decision. We stand behind them and support them 100% as they take their first steps into a new era of collaboration, accountability and outreach.
And, everyone gets what they asked for, while saving taxpayers $218,000.
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7 comments:
Unfortunately, trust is not so easily regained. Once lost, it takes time, sometimes a great deal of time, to trust someone again, and sometimes you might not ever be able to trust that person again no matter how well intentioned, especially when that person will take not accountability or responsibility for destroying trust in the first place.
For me, I'm counting down the days until Dr. Barter leaves. When a new superintendent is hired, I can start anew and hope that trust will not be destroyed again.
I know how we could have got the money to pay the superintendent...we could have sold the liquor store the district bought. We don't need a liquor store anyway!
I usually appreciate the comments on this site, but sometimes the opinions expressed make me think it's a silly endeavor.
The district doesn't own a liquor store. It (we) own a building that is adjacent to the high school that we need to decide what to do with. We shouldn't sell it but carefully consider what the best use is of that property.
Back to the original posting: I too have cautious optimism, and maybe it is too soon to celebrate. But I do think that we need to give some room and support to this new understanding between the Board and Dr. Barter. I don't want to hold on until June 2008 for change. I hope that most people will move forward with "cautious optimism" and give these folks a chance. Our Board is giving a lot of energy to make this work. We need to support them.
So the board says they will modify policy governance. They will be more in charge (why should I be confident). They will direct the staff. What do they really know about education? None are educators. They seem to be tools of single issue (maybe two issue)parents. All are sad politicians. Why should I feel good about this?
You have a choice -- to feel good (as you say) and give it a chance, or to feel bad, and keep fighting it.
You have to understand that Dr. Barter always had two on the board who simply worked for her. Now it appears those dynamics have changed, and the 5 members (accused by Matheson and Zeller) of doing the wrong thing, are the same 5 members who responded perhaps with commonsense (if one looks at money), and with commitment to the community, by publicly declaring alongside Dr. Barter that they were going to take back their leadership role and make a difference.
One has to say: "OK! I'm watching! I'm waiting! I'm giving you a chance!" -- and then at least, give them all that chance, to have a year + that looks like it should.
I'm giving them that chance. The dynamics have changed.
If you don't see results, or action, then you can feel bad!
Attend tonight's work session or tomorrow nights. (Monday/Tuesday). Tomorrow might be more interesting, as it is about open dialogue and moving on with a difference.
I know what I would do with that building adjacent to the high school! I would get local builders/voc.tech students to either repaint it or knock it down and rebuild it, and make it a stand alone "Learning Development Center", then hire a teacher who was highly trained to remediate our students (dyslexic or just behind), with reading, writing and spelling. Between 5-8 students would attend every hour, every day, of every week, and we would see that their elementary school age grade levels would increase so that when they did graduate, they had a reading age to boot.
It's a perfect place to remediate these students, but we need to hire someone to do it!
DHS Learning Development Center.
Sounds good already.
It just occurred to me that we must spend that kind of money on legal fee's and taking parents to due process for no reason whatsoever other than to line someone's pocket or massage someone's ego.
We should ask for the accounts on legal fee's, staff hours processing due process, and pay outs. I bet we would be amazed.
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