Watch what they do, not what they say
At yesterday's Student Learning Committee meeting, Ms Santorno told the Committee that the Superintendent will postpone his decision to split middle school APP. She told them that the District is very busy with a number of other tasks and that this matter can be addressed later as it is not urgent.
I would like to direct the attention of the public, the Board, and any future board members to how Mr. Manhas and his staff conducted themselves throughout this affair.
First of all, they refused to engage the community throughout. They refused to meet with the APP Advisory Committee. When they did meet, they refused to talk. They refused to participate in any dialog at all. For ten months, the District staff refused to answer even the most fundamental questions about the process. Staff, including Ms Santorno, promised to share their thinking with the community – they never did. They never consulted with the APP community, the Washington community, or the Hamilton community. They did not include public input as a factor in their decision. We know this because they provided a decision-making tool and it did not include public input. Even when asked for a more complete and detailed listing of the pros and cons of their decision, public input was not inlcuded as a factor in the decision.
Second, when the Superintendent and his staff produced their decision it was in direct violation with District Policy. They didn’t bother to check the Policy as part of their process. When confronted with their policy violation, they claimed that they are not bound by Policy.
The Superintendent claims that he wants to make the District’s culture more open, honest, transparent, engaged and accountable. Not one of those values was represented at any time in this process. In fact, I cannot think of a single instance in which Mr. Manhas or his staff ever did a single thing in support of these values. It seems to me that the Board is responsible for every improvement we have made in these directions.
So look and notice well, Board members. Look and notice well future Board members. The Superintendent and his staff routinely ignore Policies. The Board is a policymaking body. If the Policies are ignored, then the Board is superfluous. The staff truly believe themselves unaccountable to the Board.
The Superintendent and his staff do not act in support of the values they claim to hold. They do not act in support of the Vision set forth by the Board. They are contemptuous of the Board.
Even now, after the Board Review revealed the grotesque failure represented by this decision, the Superintendent and his staff are only postponing it. They haven’t taken one step away from it. They aren’t even leaning away from it. Their arrogance is breathtaking.
I would like to direct the attention of the public, the Board, and any future board members to how Mr. Manhas and his staff conducted themselves throughout this affair.
First of all, they refused to engage the community throughout. They refused to meet with the APP Advisory Committee. When they did meet, they refused to talk. They refused to participate in any dialog at all. For ten months, the District staff refused to answer even the most fundamental questions about the process. Staff, including Ms Santorno, promised to share their thinking with the community – they never did. They never consulted with the APP community, the Washington community, or the Hamilton community. They did not include public input as a factor in their decision. We know this because they provided a decision-making tool and it did not include public input. Even when asked for a more complete and detailed listing of the pros and cons of their decision, public input was not inlcuded as a factor in the decision.
Second, when the Superintendent and his staff produced their decision it was in direct violation with District Policy. They didn’t bother to check the Policy as part of their process. When confronted with their policy violation, they claimed that they are not bound by Policy.
The Superintendent claims that he wants to make the District’s culture more open, honest, transparent, engaged and accountable. Not one of those values was represented at any time in this process. In fact, I cannot think of a single instance in which Mr. Manhas or his staff ever did a single thing in support of these values. It seems to me that the Board is responsible for every improvement we have made in these directions.
So look and notice well, Board members. Look and notice well future Board members. The Superintendent and his staff routinely ignore Policies. The Board is a policymaking body. If the Policies are ignored, then the Board is superfluous. The staff truly believe themselves unaccountable to the Board.
The Superintendent and his staff do not act in support of the values they claim to hold. They do not act in support of the Vision set forth by the Board. They are contemptuous of the Board.
Even now, after the Board Review revealed the grotesque failure represented by this decision, the Superintendent and his staff are only postponing it. They haven’t taken one step away from it. They aren’t even leaning away from it. Their arrogance is breathtaking.
Comments
The power that the Board has over the Superintendent is in yearly reviews and renewal (or non-renewal of a contract or renewal without a raise). I've never seen an annual review where the Board said, "Superintendent has not followed the letter and/or spirit of Board policies."
Your reporting goes right to the heart of what I have been saying about the culture of the bureaucracy. I keep waiting for some new senior leadership to come in and say, "You do this how? Why would you do it this way? Does the district work better for students and parents doing it this way?" But sadly, Carla, for all her smarts, has now joined the parade of non-transparent decisions.
1) The Superintendent evaluation could include an element about how well the Superintendent complies with the letter and spirit of Board Policies.
2) The Superintendent evaluation could include an element about how well the Superintendent enforces Board Policies.
3) The Board could hire a Policy Enforcement Officer who is fully deputized with the authority of the Board to enforce Policy violations. This means confronting people who violate the Policies and compelling them to comply.
4) The new Superintendent just does things right.
I'm sure there are other possibilities.
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You would have had to be there to believe it. Ms Santorno really bristled at the idea that she and her staff would have to defend their decisions and actions to members of the Board. It was really clear that she didn't think they had any business looking over her shoulder. The fact that their decision was utterly indefensible did not seem to matter to her.
I don't think the board or district administrative staff have the ability to effect sweeping change - system wide. Tabling till next year...so disrepecful of families waiting too long to know the future of their kids going to middle school...Split don't split, same building different building, music yes music no, cohort yes cohort no, overcrowded not overcrowded, co-house with another program don't co-house with another program, it's just preposterous. This whole discussion started way too long ago to not have meaningful resolution yet, it's just plain weird.
There are two things the board can do to make policy enforceable and we are doing both of them. One is to make the time and effort to review and revise our policies so they are sensible, up-to-date, and reflect the board's vision and values. The second thing is to hire a Superintendent who is committed to implementing and monitoring adherence to policy, which we are also doing.
In terms of where we are with APP, Charlie pointed out to the board that policy D12.00 prohibits adding any new APP sites without board review (and district-wide enrollment growth). The board asked the Student Learning Committee to conduct this review, which we have done. The staff presented information and answered some of the questions posed by board and public. Frankly, they did not make their case regarding the problem (overcrowding), much less the solution (splitting APP). The analysis left much to be desired.
It became increasingly apparent to me that if there is overcrowding at WMS (or any school), we need a systems solution, not an ad hoc solution. Because we are overhauling our student assignment plan and are waiting to get the review of various programs (special ed, advanced learning, alternative ed), it makes more sense to consider this particular program at this particular school after the dust has settled.
It is not my intention to leave parents hanging and I am sorry that we do not yet have a clear plan for advanced learning. I am confident that our new Superintendent, working with Carla, will be able to come up with a reasonable and comprehensive plan based on academic considerations.
If anyone would like to discuss these issues further, I have drop-in office hours every Thursday at the bookstore/bakery at NE 65th St. and 20th Ave NE, 8-10 am.