The Whitewater Schools now have an interim district administrator, and the district is looking to hire a permanent replacement. At the most recent school board meeting of 1.27.20, there was a brief discussion of community involvement in the selection process (see meeting video). The school board president and vice president (having each been on the board for several years) discussed focus groups for community opinion (43:50 on the linked video):
Board Vice President: I suspect we [referring to board members] can have input into who wants to be invited to those [referring to focus groups] or who we think…
Board President: They’ll be asking us, Matt and I talked, Jim was there, we have some ready-made groups, the Citizens Financial Advisory Committee, Whitewater Yes, the Whitewater Unites Lives, but we also want staff, BLT [building leadership team], parents groups, ultimately, I think, as many people as as we can get them to talk to is what our goal is.
Whitewater has struggled for years with a same-ten-person problem of low participation. Relying on ‘ready-made’ groups of the same ten people won’t solve that problem. Referring people the board members already known to focus groups won’t solve that problem. Listing parents after staff and building leaders won’t solve that problem. Saying all this in a desultory way won’t solve that problem.
Even those few groups that are newer, and so commendably bring in fresh perspectives, are only part of what Whitewater needs.
A consultant might prefer small groups, but Whitewater needs large groups of people able to speak without board members, administrators, staff, and the same local notables (who have presided of years of stagnation and relative decline) over-watching.
Saying what one ultimately wants isn’t the same as doing what one ultimately should.
Meetings should be well-publicized, in a large auditorium, with refreshments. If an open meeting fails to attract unaffiliated parents and residents, then another should be held. It will take years for Whitewater to re-engage with its public institutions, but one has to start somewhere.
Perhaps some men and women don’t realize how listless they seem. The worthy people of our past faced challenges by rolling up their sleeves and getting to work; they did not roll up the covers and take a nap.
Worse, by far: when ‘building leaders’ see somnambulism in their school board, they will mistakenly think that all the community is as undemanding.
Lack of energy at the top inspires only sloth and carelessness in others, and condescension toward the community.
For Whitewater, ready-made is poorly made.
The kicker’s at the end, “Lack of energy at the top inspires only sloth and carelessness in others, and condescension toward the community”. That might be right when talking about Whitewater.It’s everything after “and” that would be the big problem. It’s hard to measure since it’s mostly stories/anecdotes.
Here’s a sound approach for any meeting (including other meetings where leaders should be present): those who have never been to a meeting – who are unaffiliated and unconnected – get pride of place. They get to sit where they want, and have refreshments first. Ordinary residents come before employees. Employees lower in the organizational hierarchy take precedence over those placed higher in the school system. Elected officials go last, and spend time ushering, or assisting other attendees.
No one – but no one – from the school board or paid leadership should ever take a better seat than ordinary residents. Those at the top go last (if it’s the sort of meeting where leaders should be present). In meetings with leaders, no leader should be on his or her phone, whispering distractingly, walking around disinterestedly, or sitting off to the side away from the meeting.
If this is too hard for paid or elected leaders, they should consider other areas of employment or public service.
the depressing truth is that what you’re writing is true but no way it will seem like it to these guys.
[…] Ready-Made is Poorly Made […]