Final Board Evaluation Meeting

The Board met briefly last night to finalize the language for the narrative summary of the Board evaluation. It was a Kumbaya moment. For a minute there I thought they might actually all join together in song as they declared a "fresh start". They pledged to put the past behind them and go forward in a spirit of trust. I'm not kidding - they went around the table and each pledged.

I'm okay with putting the past behind and facing forward, but let's not pretend that fresh starts and accountability are not in direct opposition. You can't preach accountability and then write off past bad actions with a flippant Hakuna Matata. Seriously, if I were a Board Director and I knew that there was going to be this sort of general amnesty on past transgressions I would have taken the opportunity to do something really nasty and divisive - like give a newspaper interview and call a board colleague untrustworthy.

I think it's a bit ironic that they re-pledge themselves to accountability by taking an action that is the antithesis of accountability.

Comments

mirmac1 said…
Sorry, but you can't unring the bell.
DeBell didn't look at Smith-Blum and apologize?

If not, that's going to make it mighty hard to move forward because if all he did was pledge to move forward, it's not enough.

Here's hoping they all mean it but DeBell especially. What a disappointment.
mirmac1 said…
Doh! shoulda said "unring de Bell"
Charlie Mas said…
Apologize? No. There were no apologies. In lieu of apologies everyone agreed to a fresh start. With a fresh start there's no need to apologize because there is nothing to apologize for.
Anonymous said…
DeBell's undisguised misogyny toward Smith Blum has been the hardest thing to stomach for me. He would have had a much harder time with Peaslee were she not the new member who has respectfully displayed deference to the longer serving members.

The guy doesn't like it when strong women question his authority. He much prefers the damsel-in-distress or kissing-up mode that characterizes the women he has tolerated or championed.

It's easy for DeBell to repeat the Rodney King mantra now that his term is almost over, he knows he's damaged is reputation, and he plans on using Frank Greer and friends to get to the next best place.

To the detriment of his future job prospects in politics or public office, DeBell doesn't realize how transparent and offensive he is to those of us who believe people need to behave in a basically decent manner.

--enough already
Charlie Mas said…
They don't even get it.

They don't even understand that "fresh start" is the opposite of accountability.

Accountability, for all of the times that they say it, has no meaning for them. None.
mirmac1 said…
This reminds me of the film "Bully", when the clueless AP forces the bullied victim to shake hands with the insincere, smirking bully. "Let bygones be bygones". Yeah, until the next media hackjob.
Anonymous said…
This topic has probably been addressed in other threads: why doesn't SPS, being such a large school district, have a paid school board? Has there been a study of the relationship between paid/unpaid and school board efficacy? Something has to happen to make this board stop spinning its wheels. What has this board accomplished? What has Supt Banda, the board's sole employee, accomplished? The HR Thread says it all.

reader
Charlie Mas said…
How does paying the Board improve their job performance?

Would pay make the same people take the work more seriously or make the senior staff take them more seriously?

Would pay attract new people to the job - better qualified people?

Would pay just allow the school board to work at it full time so they would actually know what the heck is going on in the district for themselves, without having to rely on the spotty reports they get from the senior staff?

How, exactly, would pay help?

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