(This was an open letter sent to all members of the School Committee today by Ellen Guerin)
Good afternoon everyone,
I enjoyed watching the interviews last night and was very impressed with both the candidates and the questions you asked. Although I do think it was a little light on Special Education. Be that as it may, I was struck by two things which were glaringly obvious. One, was how they both completely validated all of the great programs, initiatives, technology, and the approach to how they were introduced and how they are being sustained in addition to the many other great things that have happened in this district. Someone must have been doing something right. Although may not perfect all of the time, but after all, who really is. I am sure that whoever the new Superintendent is, they will have their flaws too.
Which brings me to the topic of communication. I want to thank those of you on the school committee who responded to my e-mail yesterday in such a timely manner. I appreciated your honesty and candor. I will give those of you who did not get back to me the benefit of the doubt that you were busy. I can appreciate that, because I am in the unique position of truly understanding the time commitment being a school committee member can be and the sacrifice it is to you and your family and quite possibly your job. That being said, if I was hearing between the lines at the end of Dr. Mazzola's interview last evening, two of the board members indicated that communication was an important component to the relationship with the Superintendent.
Well if that is true, then I hope in the future I (we as a district) can count on that coming from all of you as well, because if there has been a lack of communication it has broken down everywhere, just not with the Superintendent. Going forward, you ALL need to be better communicators and listeners amongst yourselves, to your administration, all of your teachers and to ALL of the people in the community. Especially the ones who are brave enough to get up in front of you and tell you like it is. If memory serves me correctly, the majority of the people who would come to you in public forum had the exact same story as our two candidates had with regard regard to the state of our district. Right down to the Responsive Classroom.
How does a school committee support the programs that a Superintendent puts in place to enhance our district and is able show that they are working, but not support the Superintendent? After listening to the candidates last night, it is even more confusing to me.
You are the leaders of our School District with an awesome responsibility to our students, parents and our teachers. You are the face of the Sandwich School District and it is my sincere hope that you will treat whoever may be selected to be the next Superintendent with much more respect, and professionalism than you have on the past, even when they tell you something that you may not want to hear. We hire them because this is what they know. One great example was Dr. Canfield's position on safety. Children's safety is paramount in an immediate situation the same as our current Superintendents. Can it be that all of these people with the professional educational experience can all be wrong!!!
I don't know how you could come away from last night's interview process with anything other than complete validation that our district was and still is headed in the right direction, that we have happy and engaged teachers, and we are leaps and bounds ahead of the game. This is why it is still all so confusing to me, as how this can all be, but yet, we find ourselves looking for a new Superintendent at additional expense to the taxpayer -- not to mention of what can be said for the character of our town.
Yes, you are correct communication is so very important and so is "purposeful praise" So I do praise you and thank you for giving up so much of your personal time to be on our school committee. It can be a thankless job. I am thanking you and I hope that you can continue to grow from this whole experience and move our district in a more positive direction. I most definitely hope that the new Superintendent does everything you want exactly the way you want it, or we may be back in this boat again in a few more years.
Sincerely,
Ellen Guerin
25 comments:
Given the current Majority's lack of professionalism, experience, and ethics, I certainly hope the new Superintendent does NOT do exactly what the Committee wants. We are hoping the Committee hires someone to be everything the Committee isn't!!
No the candidate must abide by all their commands and directives or they too will be shown the revolving door for no valid reasons.
Sandwich is in such a sad state of affairs.
Matt Bridges (next super) is a very nice gentleman but I hope he knows he must first sell his soul, mind all of Sherry and the gangs directives, even if that requires him breaking laws.
It's actually very easy for some people to sell their souls, stand for nothing and play the fence,stay under the radar and don't make waves, mind Sherry Marshall directives and the pool gangs rules, do lots of smiling like everything is perfect and hope no one down the road catches you not keeping our kids safe and breaking MGL financial protocols.
The paycheck is gonna be great though.
Thank you Ellen for your voice of reason.
Thank you Ellen. Thank you for trying to get through. The School Committee does listen but only to certain people who have agreed with their plan. I do hope in the future it changes, but I truly think that will take electing two new school committee members who refuse to play the same games. Regardless of who the Superintendent of the Sandwich Schools is, the School Committee is the voice of the schools and the school needs in the community. The are also the advocates for the schools in the community, the way the community learns to trust them and what the district is about or not. We have a great deal of healing to do and we will see how long it will take for the community, and not just a certain segment of the community, to trust this school committee again. There lack of professionalism is truly unbelievable.
NO SITE VISITS FOR THE SUPERINTENDENT CANDIDATES!!!! You have got to be kidding me. No one has gone to communities the candidates come from to talk with staff, parents, town officials, etc. And this School Committee thinks they are ready to had over a 30 million dollar budget and the largest piece of taxpayer money in our town, not to mention the future of the schools. This is outrageous!!!!!!!! Thank you again George Brennan and the Cape Cod Times for exposing this in the paper this morning.
When former Superintendent was on the finalist list for a community in Rhode Island, interviews of groups of parents, teachers, citizens, and town officials when on for a full day. Again, I say if recall wasn't so difficult, the school committee group driving this train wreck would be out the door. Outrageous. I understand sensible members of the committee suggested site visits last night and were shot down.
A correction to one of the commenters.....If Sandwich is paying attention and god knows it better be, Sherry Marshall will be on the outside looking in in May and we can regain some semblance of normalcy on the school board!!! Lord,hear our prayer.
The Truth Maker would add after attending last nights interview process. I spoke to the canidate from Arlington and asked him a question he did not answer or offer. Would he plan to move to the Cape and live. I am told that his wife is employed at UM in Dartmouth. That it was possible???? I am told that the driving time is only one hour and fifteen minutes and that is nothing compared to what I drive every day. I mention it would be nice to have a person who will be committed to the community and be available to the community.
I have an invitation for coffee if he should be chosen. I was not impressed by some of his answers in regards to the pool safety issues and it would appear a conflict of interest as well. It is obvious the man is very dramatic, watch his hand motions when you see the tapes of last night meeting. Reminds me of the one that sits near the Chair now.
Spoke with severel that attended the first night and I was informed that they had one good canidate that was interviewed. Well, we all will get to form our owne opinion, when we see the delayed vidio recording.
Where are the canidates that have worked with putting together a $30 million dollar budget?
I can say that after watching Matt and hearing
what he stated , the union led members may be thinking hard about not casting a given vote to him.
Perhaps the fix is not in? as of yet?
It is disturbing that no disclosure was made of one candidates association with the Mass. Association of School Committee's. It is very troubling that site visits were not a part of the process. The article in the Cape Cod Times today revealed quite a lot about the negatives in the process.
Tell me does Dr. Johnson live in Town. I was unaware she did
Dr. J lives close by on the Cape -- but not Sandwich. Not that residence is relevant.
I don't think trust would be an instant with even the local guy. He has baggage and a lot of people are aware of it, plus he is actually part of the old guard. If it is him, I hope he steps it up considerably on all levels.
Truth Maker has a point about commute. I don't think the residency thing is an issue.
But if it is a bag job and the local horse was the plan from the beginning we'll know soon enough. The interviews are on Sandwich t.v. tonight starting at 7 p.m. Can't wait to see the discussion about site visits. I hear it is something else. Got the blow by blow from someone who was there and the Cape Cod Times article today.
Thank you Andrea, Shaun, and Barbara for continuing to try and bring some reason to this madness! Thank you Barbara for your service on the SC and for your many years of service in the system. Shaun and Andrea thank you for continuing to work at this. And I hope next year you get some help.
The Cape Cod Times this morning has something for everyone. Aritlcles about the local candidates various connections to people he will be overall in charge of, details on Dr. Johnson's legal approach and a "my view" Jess Linehan uses to blast the Sandwich Board of Selectmen, make broad accusations at Dr. Johnson about her performance in the oddest way of using town manager as an example. She claims the BOS has tried to hire the next Superintendent by default. I guess that is along the lines of what she accuses her fellow school committee members of. Gosh no one has a right to do anything but Jess and her friends and her husband's friends. Her letter distorts the facts but good copy for the scandal she professes she wants to avoid for the town.
One thing missed somewhat by the times article about the tangled web for our local candidate is his brother is a custodial supervisor for the schools, under the schools facility manager but directly linked to possible promotion and pay increase obviously to the superintendent.
For years we have had politician after politician raise the question of good financial practice in our School Department. We have seen individual citizens and groups hammering away at this. Some was overkill and simple mistrust. Often made up and distorted information was used, but the point was "who's minding the store"
We have had union bashing non-stop for a year in Sandwich among our very vocal majority of citizen advocates. I think that's a cop-out. But now we have an illustration of what small town political practice really looks like. Just as the School Committee can't be stopped, this can't be stopped until we as a community rise above it and that will take leaders who rise above it. Or in the case of the School Committee, both leadership stepping up to the plate and new leadership.
As the issue of commuting has been brought up in this forum, let me share my thoughts.
• A 65-75 minute commute is manageable in the short term, but is not optimal or sustainable in the long term.
• A successful superintendent must be open and accessible, and open to the informal conversations that come from being a presence in the community. I understand that part of the job, and commit to meeting that standard for Sandwich if I am selected to be your next superintendent.
• I think any talk on my part of relocation, and looking at housing options, is putting the cart before the horse. If I am offered the position in Sandwich, then I will work with my wife to find a home that meets our needs. She teaches music at UMass Dartmouth, and I do want to weigh my convenience against her quality of life and her commute.
I want to thank the author for raising this issue, and thank the host for offering the chance to reply in his forum. I also offer my best wishes for the community and its children, regardless of tonight's outcome.
Hmmm, Today in the CC Times My View Section, I think J. "Pipsqueak" Linehan attempted to answer Ms Guerins outstanding letter to this blog. Does anyone besides myself think that Ms Pip is living in another world? For her to proclaim the past ten year troubled history of our school system, in her opinion, is like the college student who shows up for the final lecture of the semester and begs the professor for a passing grade even though that was the ONLY lecture attended! Give us a break Ms Pipsqueak, I think perhaps a teacher wrote the column for you, because I could not see your arms waving as I read it.......
The Truth Maker would respond to Brother Paul.
Given all of the turmoil we have here in the Sandwich school district It concerns me as a citizen that anyone we hire for any position that has the salary package that you would be given does not willingly address moving from a distance, to at least be in the same ball field.
My reasoning behind my comments , go more to our tax dollars pay your salary, so, why should you also not feel the same pain we all have during these hard economic times.
Driving conditions here and where you are now living, especially during the hard winter months, get to be very slow. A drive that may take an hour one way soon turns out to be two and more.
The present Super lives in a nearby Town, a short distance from the office, but she has been available to everyone and anyone who invited her to any meeting. She has been known to be in her office until midnight on many nights to assure the proper leadership and direction was being attended to. This is called dedication to the job and I for one as a taxpayer appreciate the effort and energy she has brought to the district all for the benifit of our children. It is more than a job for her and that for me is a shame how she `has been treated by the conflicted present school committee members.
The "my view" this morning was very interesting. It is hard to see that Ms. Linehan has been listening to what's going on or listening very well. It rambled and made no point really. It is clear that the BOS brought up financial considerations only last week in their meeting.
The four women on this school committee don't seem to be part of the rest of the town at all. Their view really seems to be more distorted with each passing day. The comment from Ms. Crossman in today's article about the local candidate was telling in terms of the four not really knowing what they are suppose to be doing. She said that the organizational conflicts in the district for the candidate were only a concern if he was a final candidate. In high functioning organizations they would be a "concern" period. I think the fact that the school department does not run a very tight ship, is one of the major problems. They have their own way of doing things, who gets hired, etc and don't even have an Human Resource office protecting our tax dollar by creating common place business practices. The Minkoff debacle is proof.
These four women seem to want to enable the dysfunction of this organization because, who knows why really anymore. Time to move on Sandwich to a more professional school committee and school department.
Rich would respond to Truth Maker regarding his resonse to Brother Paul:
Paul said that the commute is not optimal nor sustainable in the long term. He also said he would meet the demands of availabilty. Lastly, he said he and his wife would find a home that met their needs if given the job.
To say he should feel the same economic pain "that we all have" is not logical nor relevent.
The worst argument I heard in public forum against the outgoing super is that she had lunch one time at a better table than everyone else. Let's not start attacking a potential new super by questioning where he should live if given the job! Especially with what he said in his post about committing to availability and eventually searching for a new home.
After the vote tonight the school board will be sending the schools back about 10 years.
Marshall probably wishes it were still 1972.
Small town politics at it's worse the past year.
Three words stick out to describe the last years events.
Devious, Conniving and evil women they are. There behavior and total disregard to the taxpayers, parents, teachers, children and especially to Dr. Johnson is just nasty and evil.
What goes around comes around hope it hurts when it comes back around to the four women. Karma can be a wonderful thing.
"Devious" and "conniving" imply far more brains than I think we are dealing with here. I think "petty" and "small-minded" would be a lot closer to reality!
The Truth Maker would respond to Rich,
What is not logical and revelent is hiring conflicted candidates to Replace DR. Johnson.??
It is also illogical for some to believe what the present conflicted four have publicaly stated.
How could anyone believe the words comming from there mouths when they knowingly mislead the selection process.
Is it possiable that some of the candidates did not do due dilligance and believed what they stated, It goes with out saying that several candidates themselves, were not forthcomming as well.
How could any candidate possibly heal our sick school committee process and who would want to given all of the legal disputes that still have not been resolved
I did hear the word trust spoken in how they would resolve the present issues, well trust come with being honest and upfront yourself.
Rich you may not think having any one making $150,000 a year live at least on this side of the bridge is not relevant, well I do.
At least they get to pay taxes in the area they receive there income from
I agree Rich. Watching the interviews, on top of this painful year for the community with week after week of extremely troubling behavior by the majority members, on top of the scene described in the court house revealing even more hidden agendas,
--- as I processed what was going on having read about the candidates, listened to the soft ball questions, I was struck to the core with the realization that nothing Dr. Johnson did makes her deserve the way she has been treated. And nothing anyone could have done obviously would have changed the mind of the women responsible for this mess. All of it from rumors and immaturity, small mindedness, and inappropriate behavior. Let's not start again.
Nope no public forum tonight. Voted 5 to 2 not to allow the public to speak as most of us had already predicted. May 5th can't come soon enough.
Fix was in a long time ago for Matt is our prediction. The Easton guy's qualifications sounded very impressive but maybe not quite up to speed to take over such a large district.
This town needs an outsider to get things under control again.
We will see what happens now. At some point we still may have two superintendents. At any rate, the pick was my choice and I'm grateful because if you look at the web-site for his current district, there is a great many policy documents authored by him. His strength does seem to be team building, policy and communication. Also he has been up front about his window before he retires. It may be just the right amount of time to turn things around.
He kept talking about his spiritual core. I wish he would prove that and give Dr. Johnson a job. She just wants to stay here. I would hope he can see what a bag job this had been where she is concerned. Not to mention if the district can find away to work with her we loose the liability exposure. Sure hope he is light years beyond the majority school committee!
The Truth Maker would add that, we indeed need a fence mender to overcome this whole year of trials and tribulations. I thinks Dr Canfield can be a stablinzing force, provied he has two new members on the School committee that will also work toward that as a goal for all of our children in the district.
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