Schools

Sound Off

Greenwich community turns out for forum to voice concerns over resignation of school superintendent Dr. Sidney Freund; board promises to begin new era of management and discourse.

In the wake of last week’s stunning resignation of Greenwich public schools Superintendent Dr. Sidney Freund, a crowd of more than 500 parents, teachers, and students filled the Greenwich High School auditorium Thursday night and gave the Board of Education an earful.

The board voted to postpone its regular agenda so the public would have its first opportunity to vent their anger, frustration and general disdain of the board and its actions that lead to Freud’s resignation.

The evening was many things. It included a call to change the way Greenwich electoral system operates in regards to Board of Ed candidates; chastisement of what many said was divisiveness among board members, calls for members to resign … and several pleas for the 62-year-old Freund to reverse his decision.

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In the end, the public heard apologies from some board members for the way it lacked the backbone to stand in support of Freund; a pledge to write an operating policy and ethics code for the board, and to redouble its efforts to do the job they were elected – educating Greenwich public school students.

Freund, who is completing the second year of a three-year contract, literally, sat front row and center in the auditorium of Greenwich High School where there was an obvious security presence with both uniformed and plainclothes police and fire officials, and school security officers on the Hillside Road campus.

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Several audience members and school board members – including Democrats Jonathan Cohen, Nancy Kail and Natalie Queen, Republicans Anderson and Michael Bodson – apologized for not speaking out and giving Freund support during public debates that included  student performance and the possible expansion of the International Baccalaureate degree program from the middle school level to the underclassmen high school level. Kail, Queen and Bodson approached Freund to shake hands and give him a hug after their statements which were limited to four minutes.

At the outset of the meeting, board Chairman Steven Anderson made it clear – he was exercising authority that he has admitted he had not done in the months preceding Freund’s resignation. He cited district policy requiring civility and decorum and prohibited the public from identifying specific board members in criticism.

Parents, teachers, students and elected officials questioned how Greenwich will be able to hire a new superintendent given its administrative track record. Depending upon who spoke, the number of school superintendents who have lead Greenwich public schools over the last dozen years varied from 8 to 12, counting permanent and interim chiefs. Irregardless of the numbers, parents, teachers, elected officials and students seemingly gave the education board a mandate Thursday night – get the house in order and put the priority of educating 9,000 students at the top of the list.

After nearly four hours of comments, Representative Town Meeting member Christine Edwards summed it up, “I feel as though I‘ve been through a major group therapy session. I hope we can grow from this experience.”

Edwards was one of nearly 60 speakers who used their allotted three minutes to thank Freund for his work and to suggest solutions. There were calls for the board to resign, reassess how it operates, and commit to changing how it deals with managing its staff.

Freund announced his resignation May 17, just days after the board voted 6-2 to begin negotiations to give him a two-year extension on the contract that paid him $230,000 a year. Late last week, Freund cited the actions of two school board members whom he described as “accusatory, disrespectful and uncivil; when the questions and requests for information became voluminous, repetitive, manipulative and at times incoherent with no clear purpose or outcome; and when work is purposefully misrepresented, maligned and undermined after Board approval, it impedes progress.”

While not publicly identifying them, during several board meetings, Freund’s actions were questioned by Republican board members Marianna Ponns Cohen and Peter Sherr. He cited voluminous requests for information. Ponns Cohen and Sherr voted against negotiating a contract extension. In her statement, Ponns Cohen said she was “surprised as everyone that Dr. Freund has chosen not to complete his three-year term, as he said he would. We need to move forward as a community, and focus on the pressing need to improve academic achievement for all children in the Greenwich Public Schools. “  

One parent, Vera Merrill, said she filed a Freedom of Information request seeking copies of communications between the two members and Freund. “From Oct. 1, 2010 until the day of his resignation – 7 ½ months – I was informed there were 4,000 e-mails that met my criteria. Was he (Freund) given the space he needed to do his job? It is wrong. I urge you to resign,’ Kim said to hearty applause.

A statement from the Greenwich PTA Council – representing 15 schools - was presented by council President Sue Rogers.* “ Our problem is not Sid Freund, it is not IB, it is not the Vision of the Graduate. Our problem is that we have no stability, no code of conduct and most importantly no leadership being provided by the Board of Education.”

The council added, “We would like to request that you reflect upon whether you have been serving the children well. We ask that you come back and present to the community before the end of this school year a concrete plan as to how you will addressed the issues that will be raised this evening.”

After Anderson concluded a 90-minute segment of public comment – limited to 3 minutes per speaker – board members were given 4 minutes each to voice their opinions in the meeting that last about 4 hours.

Kail said the board should “use this crisis as a wake-up call;” Jonathan Cohen admitted to having “watched his (Freund’s) authority being underminded and I sincerely apologize for that;” in a statement read by Anderson, Sherr who was out of the country, said the board “must face ineffective leadership,” “restructure the board of education” election process and “restructure the PTA Council by electing a leadership that is diverse.”

Cohen echoed the sentiments voiced by several parents and elected officials including First Selectman Peter Tesei who was the lead-off speaker. Cohen said, “ We are not elected. We essentially are appointed by the RTC (Republican Town Committee) and the DTC (Democratic Town Committee).” Historically, each party endorses two candidates for each of the two party slots up for reelection every two years. “If you are dissatisfied, then lobby for resignations. I would press the RTC and the DTC to include more parents of public school children who are knowledgeable” of the system, Cohen said.

Jenifer Howard, a parent of two in the school system, said Freund, “is truly a gift … it is a huge injustice to our children with the high level of micromanagement … I call for a change in election of board of ed. … I respectfully request the resignation of at least 2 board members.”

By the time Steve Meskers, a District 6 member of the Representative Town Meeting spoke, the crowd thinned considerably. Nonetheless, he was greeted with a loud round applause, following his comments that he is “upset by the extreme stupidity of how (board members) have acted.” I thank the board members for their humility.” He continued, “If one member is not capable of admitting our failure, we’re doomed again. It’s not the elective process. When they refuse to agree, they have to figure out how to row together … this about the children. It is a heinous failure to support the educational process and I’m enraged by it.”

Suzanne Aysseh, the parent of two kindergarten students, admitted she attended her first board of education meeting Thursday night. “I can’t believe the Board of Education isn’t expected to behave as kindergartners.” She said her children are given guidelines of expectations and behavior and she expected nothing less of the board. They were good children when they started school and now they are even better children because they know what is expected of them.” She promised the board, “this will not be my last (Board of Education) meeting.”

Board Chairman Anderson said that the board will appoint a committee to establish a code of ethics and operating procedure to be in place before the start of the 2011-2012 school year. He also said that while Freund gave the board 120 days notice, as required by his contract, the board will allow him to stay for 90 days so he can work with an interim superintendent who will be appointed before the school year begins.

Ironically, while some of the divisiveness and discord began over student performance and achievement, the school board began its meeting by recognizing the state and national championships and awards won by the Greenwich High School Science, Math, and Swimming and Diving teams. Each group earned a prolonged standing ovation from the hundreds who gathered in the auditorium.

*In Patch’s commitment to transparency, Sue Rogers writes education stories for Greenwich Patch.

*Editor's note: this story was updated to correct the name of the parent who filed the Freedom of Information request.


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