Letters to the Editor
May 9, 2008
Time for a change on the school board
Nancy Huehnergarth
To the Editors:
In a recent issue of NewCastleNOW.org, the Chappaqua Central School District Board of Education stated that it was responsible for ensuring that “district decisions are the result of a thoughtful, deliberate and inclusive process.” But during the five years that I worked in close proximity to the board and district leaders as a Seven Bridges/District-wide PTA chair, I was deeply disappointed by what I felt was a lack of open-mindedness and inclusiveness in the district’s decision making process. This observation and the recent unflattering state comptroller’s audit of the district’s internal financial controls have led me to conclude that we need to elect new members to our Board of Education.
What I did come to believe, during my PTA tenure, was that our most senior administrators and board members were unlikely to consider or educate themselves on worthwhile issues brought to them by the community, that oversight of our food service vendor was minimal, at best, and that our leaders were unlikely to enforce existing district policies, like our nutrition policy.
Full spectrum of community opinions not heard or taken seriously
While CCSD leaders like to cite how they form stakeholder committees to investigate complex issues and make recommendations on how to proceed, one concern I have after serving on one of these committees (CCSD Health Advisory Council, January-December 2005) is whether they are truly representative of community viewpoints. Senior school leaders, in my view, did not make appointments to the council to ensure that it truly represented the views of the community.
From what I’ve heard from other community members, my experience is not unusual. In the case of the schedule change, some teachers have spoken publicly about how they were told by administrators to keep their opinions to themselves. If the full spectrum of community opinions are not heard or taken seriously, you get exactly what we’re seeing right now: student protests, teachers speaking out in the media and threats to vote against the school budget.
Aggressive tactics in lieu of communication and inclusion a mistake
A question we should ponder is this: Is the Chappaqua community more resistant to change than others and therefore aggressive tactics must be employed? I get the feeling that is what some of our senior school leaders may believe. But I have a different view. When implementing significant change in any school district, whether high-achieving or not, it’s important to involve all stakeholder groups from the get go, as well as communicate frequently with the entire community. That’s how you achieve a reasonable amount of buy in and a smoother transition. In a community like Chappaqua where people are well educated, detailed explanations and serious opportunities for input are even more important. Change is never easy, but when stakeholders feel that their input truly counts, buy-in is more readily achieved.
Time for new faces and a new way of governing
No matter how you spin it, the buck stops squarely at the feet of our Board of Education. Now that the State Comptroller’s office has alerted us to instances where state laws and district policies have been disregarded (failure to always utilize competitive bidding and failure to complete required background checks on employees working in close proximity to our children), coupled with the disappointing community relations we’ve been seeing for years, it’s time to elect new faces onto our board and to demand a new way of governing.
NewCastleNOW’s editors were correct in asking the community to pay careful attention to our upcoming school board elections. We need to ensure that our school district remains high achieving and proactive, that it values and respects community input, and that our schools are a place where gifted teachers want to work. Please vote on May 20.
Nancy Huehnergarth
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