In Your Opinion: All Taxpayers Should Be Paying Attention, Not Just Parents

By Bill Connell, Somerset.

I was watching the February 20, Board of Education meeting.  One of the board members explained their vote was due to being worried about an orderly transition.  This board member voted for the super’s non-renewal and early exit.  This does not reflect the goal of an orderly transition.  I could not tell if this over explanation was more political justification or an apology for her previous votes.

I was thinking about the other way it could have been done.

In light of the fact that no action was taken on finding the new super till late January, what was the rush? By rushing it before the election it created a questionable aura around the process. They could have taken the vote in November or December and accomplished the same thing.  Instead of having a solid administration in place so they could focus on finding new a super, they are in the middle of chaos. We can only hope no one else resigns. If you look at the big picture, we are in a very bad place, most of which is due to the school board leadership mismanagement.  Turning the PTO into a political action committee is not leadership.  The PTO should not know more than what the board conveys to the public at a board meeting.

I do need to say my kids are just fine and are none the wiser.  I feel bad for the hard working employees of Franklin schools who just want to do their job. Finding a super and finances are real issues, it’s just too bad they are confused by a weakened leader ship at a time we need it most.

Since I am here. Finding a super is not a simple conversation.  Are we going to play the dance with the state, with a focus on testing and evaluations or are we going to focus on what Franklin really needs.  Empowering teachers, manage class sizes, and hold students and parents accountable for their child’s success. Some of the local pundits complain about testing scores but I think it is putting the cart before the horse.

A real leader would have looked into camera and asked this question to the public months ago.

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