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Schools

Board of Education Members Speak

The statements given by the Greenwich Board of Education last Thursday during a public forum on the resignation of Schools Superintendent Dr. Sidney Freund.

Greenwich Patch is publishing the comments made by each of the eight Greenwich Board of Education members during last Thursday's public forum on the resignation of .

Leslie Moriarty:

This has been a very difficult week for all of us. First, I want to thank you everyone for attending tonight, sharing your views and showing your support of the Greenwich Public Schools.

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The students, parents, staff and community members have a right to expect that the Board of Education should be able to chart a clear path for the continuous improvement in our schools and for providing an excellent education to each and every student. You have the right to expect the Board of Education hire a high quality Superintendent and then support his ability to achieve these goals.  You also have a right to expect that the Board understands that while the Superintendent reports to the Board, he also works for the community.

In my opinion, Dr. Freund was the best Superintendent that Greenwich has had for many years and deserving of the TRUST and SUPPORT of every member of this Board.

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When he came to Greenwich, he was tasked to refine the multiple initiatives into a more cohesive and achievable list; to provide stability and leadership to our staff who had seen a revolving door in the Superintendent office; to improve our delivery of special education services; to focus on best practices and improving the quality of teaching in each classroom.

Dr. Freund embraced those goals and worked tirelessly for their achievement.  He engaged the Board every step of the way, working together with full transparency and accountability.  He was, and still is, a perfect fit for Greenwich.

Like most of you, I am angry at the actions that caused our Superintendent to believe that he could not accomplish his objectives and gave him no choice but to resign. I am sorry for any part I played in this situation. We never should have gotten to this point. 

Going forward, we need to ensure the Board is focused on the areas that will leverage our successes and address our shortcomings. We need to ensure we have processes that encourage discussion of differing points of view, but provide for finality so that the Superintendent can move forward. We need to ensure that the Administration’s efforts are focused on the 9,000 students. We need to provide confidence to the staff that the Board is committed to the District’s long and short term goals and that we support their efforts. We need to do a better job of communicating the work of the Board and the status of our schools.

In addition, the Community needs to stay engaged to ensure that Board members are doing the job that you expect and to let us know when we are not.

My goal has always been to support and improve the Greenwich Public Schools and I will continue to keep that at the forefront of my actions and decisions.

***

Mike Bodson:

There is little that can be said that has not already been stated. I am embarrassed by my actions, by my inactions and by my losing the focus on the covenant made by all of us up here to always put the children first. 

At this point, what we can do is admit our failures and then move to actions, to the concrete steps which will re-engender some level of community trust in the Board.  We need to take the steps that you have all asked us to take - To replace an effective leader, to examine fully why we have become dysfunctional, to re-focus our policies and procedures to become effective, and most importantly to establish standards of behavior that allows positive dissent reject negative dissonance.

When I joined the Board 4 1/2 years ago, I did so with pride, with a hope that I can help effect positive change and give back to a community I love. I had the honor of working with some amazingly talented administrators, board members and Town officials coupled with energetic and supportive parents and 9,000 incredible young people. They set a standard which I failed to meet and for that I must apologize. To be leaving office under these circumstances is a matter of shame to me personally.

Growing up in Greenwich one always felt that this was a special place. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t Lake Woebegone, it was Greenwich, a name that carried a cachet that was backed by the reality of life here. We lost our way and that’s a shame. We must re-find the magic that I know is still present in this community.

We as Board now must do all we can to get us back on track, to understand why there is not stability and constancy at the top and why driving talented superintendents out of our district is in any way an accepted norm. We need to stop the bickering, must stop playing games, must make decisions and then focus on execution, of making things work. Only then will the Board regain the respect of the community. As was said, we made this mess, now we can either choose to re-live it over and over again or we can fix it and I vow that I will focus on doing whatever I can to fix it.

I will miss Sid.  He is a man of passion, of ethics and integrity, a gracious man who cared for our kids.  Thank you for the incredible work effort and for the results.  I hope we can build upon the work you started.

Finally to the students, I hope there is a positive lesson you can learn from what has happened.  I hope you will see that errors can be made, but can be solved.  That bad behavior may not be forgotten, but maybe forgiven if you take the right steps to make amends. And most importantly, it isn’t always what you do but how you do it that matters. It is to them that I state my final apology and my commitment to work harder and in a better way for you.

Thank you for letting me speak.

***

Nancy Kail:

I am Nancy Kail, one of the newest Board members.

All 3 of my children, now in high school and college, have been in the Greenwich public schools since Kindergarten.

Many of you probably don’t know who I am – I’m not often in the press.

That’s OK with me.

I thought the Board of Education was about just that – education.

Debating education issues, voting, then moving on, speaking as one.

The Chair is the spokesman for the Board.

I ran for the Board to use my 15+ years of education experience to benefit public school students.

I am not a politically shrewd person. I do not seek or cultivate the press.

I didn’t think Board work was about Republicans, Democrats, Liberals, Conservatives or the Tea Party. To me, there is no place for that here.

I thought I would have the privilege of working with an excellent Superintendent.

Your outcry over Dr. Freund’s departure is understandable and justified.

I agree with your reasons why Dr. Freund is so beloved in our District.

He is a rare combination of expert educator and exceptional manager.

Under Dr. Freund’s leadership, our schools were poised to make significant improvements.

Although many would have you believe otherwise, our schools are among the best.

We have award-winning scientists, government students, mathematicians, musicians, athletes, teachers.

But, we are not the Greenwich Public Schools of 20 years ago.

We enjoy greater diversity, socioeconomically and ethnically. We are not Westport, Fairfield or Ridgefield.

Our large size and diversity are strengths, but also present challenges.

We have areas of weakness we need to address.

For example, all 8 Board members and our Superintendent agree we need to improve standardized test results.

Dr. Freund tirelessly worked to improve student achievement. There are no quick fixes.

It’s unfair to hold school leaders accountable for results from soon after they arrive in Greenwich.

We can’t draw conclusions then look for the data to support those opinions.

Had Dr. Freund been able to do his work, I believe the data would have indicated marked improvements.

But Dr. Freund has made up his mind and we need to move forward.

Let’s use this crisis as a wake-up call.

To get away from debilitating politics and back to a focus on students.

Unexciting but important Board Goals and an Action Plan will help.

So will adhering to Board Norms, Roles and Responsibilities.

A Communication Plan to inform the public of Board positions.

And please, attention to issues such as

1. Providing our students with tools for success in the 21st century

2. Helping our teachers receive adequate training

This is what will attract and retain a Superintendent as good as Dr. Freund.

AND talented teachers, of which we have so many already.

Fundamentally, it is about Respect and Trust - in one another and in school leadership.

We should and do demand a lot from our administration:

Improved student achievement, reduced budgets, transparency, intense reporting and accountability, innovative solutions.

We can’t expect quality performance if every decision is mired in unproductive micro management.

I do not mean blind faith or rubber stamping. I mean effective oversight.

We will be able to fulfill our responsibilities as board members if we trust in the professionals we hire to do their jobs. Or else, they should not be here in the first place.

This is hardly headline grabbing stuff. But it is the true work of the board.

It is what I thought I was elected to do.

My heart is in helping public school students.

As long as I have your support, it is what I will continue to do.

It is what you should elect all Board members to do.

***

Jonathan Cohen:

Good evening. I am Jonathan Cohen and I have been on the Board of Education for 3 1/2 years. We have some obvious problems at the Board of Education. We have just squandered the Superintendency of the best leader of our schools in many years. We have disenfranchised our teachers, administrators and parents by failing to work in a reasonable way with those we are meant to have oversight of. Those things, of course, have an effect on the students whose interests we are supposed to protect.

I believe that the reasons for those problems are pretty clear. I watched as Dr. Freund’s authority was undermined until he resigned, and I watched as most Board of Ed members were unable to prevent it. For that I sincerely apologize.

The 8 of us on the Board are considered to be your democratically elected representatives on the BOE. We are not. In fact, most of us were essentially appointed by either the RTC or the DTC (the Republican and Democratic town committees, respectively). If you are dissatisfied with the performance or behavior of certain members of the Board of Education, and I know that I am, there are several things you can do. Firstly, you can lobby for the resignation of one or more BOE members, if you think that’s appropriate.

Secondly, you can press the RTC and DTC to include in their memberships more parents of public school children who are interested in, knowledgeable about and supportive of Greenwich public education. I have noticed that the members of our community who seem to be the most vocal and angriest about public Education don’t seem to be involved in our schools and don’t come to Board of Ed meetings. I hope that will change.

Third, you can lobby for a change in the process by which BOE members are elected, in order to provide for actual choice among a number of qualified candidates, as opposed to the somewhat arbitrary system we have now, where candidates are essentially elected in name only. I submit that the focus going forward should be on who are the best possible actors in the service of Greenwich public education, as opposed to on who are the best Democrats or Republicans.

Lastly, I would like to reaffirm my support and commitment to our schools, our teachers, our administrators and our students. I will try to work constructively and well with all of my fellow Board Members as we address the challenges before us. I would also like to publicly thank and acknowledge our teachers and administrators who actually run our School District, they are doing a much better job than they are given credit for and we should realize that is in our interest to support them.

***

Peter Sherr (as read by Chairman Steven Anderson):

I was surprised and disappointed when I learned Sid Freund had decided to resign last week. Dr. Freund accomplished many positive and long overdue reforms to improve our schools including installing stronger administrators and principals, building relationships with community stakeholders, relentlessly improving classroom instruction practices, and successfully advocating for the proper funding of our schools. I supported Sid in all these initiatives; and I hope we continue this progress under his successor. I wish Sid well in his future endeavors.

We must now return our attention to guiding Greenwich Public Schools forward.

First, we must Support the staff- principals, teachers, aides, support personnel and others- that are the heart and soul of our schools. The system only moves forward through their commitment backed by the support of parents and other stakeholders. This must be job one!

Next, we must face the dysfunction and ineffective leadership that has plagued the Board of Education and our schools for many years. We can not look elsewhere or blame someone else. We must look at ourselves individually and collectively.

Last, we have a number of structural problems that have been avoided and deferred for far too long. We must address the root cause and reform the system to deliver the results our children deserve, parents demand, and taxpayers expect. We must:

1. Restructure the Board of Education.

Our current system puts the selection of the Board of Education in the hands of less than 200 people and guarantees seats to individual parties. We need an electoral process that rewards   the best ideas and is truly democratic.

2. Build a Functional Board of Education

Leadership requires listening, understanding, and compromise  on the path to consensus. A properly functioning board recognizes that diversity of opinion and hearty debate leads to best possible  outcomes.

3. Reform Board Governance and the Role of the Superintendent

The Board and Superintendent have proper roles and responsibilities. The current system fosters tension and secrecy  and prevents the cooperation and collaboration we need to  succeed. This system must be replaced with something more functional and effective.

 4. Restructure the Greenwich PTA Council

The strength of our system is rooted in the generous support of parents through their contributions of both time and treasure. Like the BoE, the PTA Council must also reform its process for electing their leadership to assure diverse opinions are heard and all school stakeholders are represented.

5. Create Superintendent Successors from within Greenwich

We should be promoting leaders who understand and appreciate the unique and diverse characteristics that make Greenwich. Working with the Superintendent to develop future leaders must be a top priority.

I joined the Board of Education because I am deeply committed to improving the system that will educate my children and all children. I hope everyone will join me in the conversation about the future of our schools and how best to achieve success for our children. It’s time to move forward!

***

Natalie Queen:

It has been a long two weeks, since Dr. Freund announced his resignation. When his words were spoken, I wanted to cry. I could not say a word. It took a moment to sink in. After short conversations with other board members, I drove to work with many questions. Of course the whys? Whats? How? Who? all came into my mind. I know Sid's decision was not an easy one. He really likes Greenwich, the whole make-up of the town, not just the school system. One would have thought that he grew up here!

As a board member, I know that  there were many times that I wanted to get up from the table during our meetings and go home. I am not one for being publicly embarrassed, and that was how I felt. Should I have said something? Possibly. Would it have mattered? is the real question. I don't believe it would have. So I stayed and returned to the duty that many residents appointed me to do. All I did was PRAY that the next meeting was going to be better and more productive than the last one.

Yes we could have done a much better job at making sure that business was taken care of at all of our meetings. Yes, there are a few other things that as a board we could have done better. All I can do is apologize for my lack of not speaking up when things got crazy during those meetings.

Is that enough at this point? I wish I could say that it will be.

I decided that I had to try and put myself in the shoes of Dr. Freund. Could I? Should I? Would I? Why would I? Hard answers came around honest answers. Ones that he gave already.

I will say that my 4 years on the board, I have had 2 great years working with Sid.

When I met Sid during our "Super Search" I knew he was the best candidate to be "Our Superintendent."

We have had 2 great years with great changes to our educational system. Sid has put us on a positive road. A positive road that will not hit any crossroads. We have 9000 students, 800+ Teachers, and Administrators that must continue to educate in this path. This will happen.

I don't have to like Sid's decision, but I will always respect him and the hard choice he made.

Thank you Sid for all that you have given to us. I thank your family for sacrificing their family time with you to allow you to be in Greeenwich with us. I am just sorry that we did not hold on to you. 

As I turn my hat - Parent hat on ...

I thank you for your leadership. I spoke during a board meeting concerning the extreme lack of education when it comes to "Black History" in ALL of our schools. Especially during the month of February. I brought this up again, because my daughter mentioned it to me once again. Obviously this is a thorn in her side. I told her that I mentioned it during a meeting. She took this with her to school, and mentioned in to Mr. Winters, who as a leader took it to his staff. My daughter's teacher Ms. Chabina, has implemented a piece of Black History into her class. Thank you for listening.

Marianna Ponns-Cohen:

I am as surprised as everyone that Dr. Freund has chosen not to complete his three-year term, as he said he would. That being said, I wish him success in his future endeavors.   

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.   

At this juncture, I believe we need fundamental reform, not incremental change, in the delivery of education in our Town. The fundamental reform may be as simple as getting back to basics, absent political or ideological bias, with renewed dedication and rigor.  

Current results and student performance speak for themselves. The last set of test scores was unacceptable. The status quo is unacceptable; the children of the GPS deserve far better.  

It is imperative that the Board takes on the responsibility of providing strong guidance and leadership during this crucial time.

Moreover, we must meet our challenges transparently; the whole community must be involved. We have special challenges, and we have to be able to make the best decisions with the best information for the sake of all children, as well as the Town.

The work of the Board of Education must not occur behind closed doors.

In my one term on the BOE, the Town has not been well served by the Board’s lack of transparency and accountability. At least one other Board member and I have made numerous attempts to discuss in depth at the Board level, in full public view, the causes of academic underperformance.  

In addition, it came to light that, in 2009, the Board chair and the superintendent entered into significant long-term commitments without prior public vetting and Board approval. No Board member should have to find out that an employee and fellow Board member entered onto an important commitment without informing the public or the full Board.

Much has been said recently about too many questions and emails. It is every Board member’s fiduciary responsibility to ask questions and get answers in order to make informed decisions on issues that affect our schools and children.  

In my view, the Board of Education’s proper role is not to rubberstamp initiatives whose efficacy in Greenwich has not been adequately demonstrated by the administration.

If I asked, apparently for some, too many questions as, for example, when I discovered that long-term commitments had been made without Board approval, then I would point out respectfully that others asked too few questions.

The Town is at a crossroads.  

If our children are to be well-served by the GPS, the BOE must encourage and support open and robust discussion of critical issues.  The Town as well as the Children in the GPS will be the losers if those who ask questions as part of their fiduciary responsibility are effectively silenced.

Chairman Steve Anderson:

I care deeply about the educational environment that this town offers my three boys (the twins who are freshmen here and my 7th grader at Central). I care deeply about the educational environment for our 9,000 PreK-12 students. After 6 years on the Board, I enjoy a certain blissful naivety in continuing to think that each and every student can achieve unbelievable educational heights.  I think I’ve taken that blissful naivety and combined it with pragmatic reality; there are not unlimited budget dollars, there are limitations to how much can be accomplished how quickly, not everyone will agree with my views.  Combine naivety with reality.

I chaired the search committee that brought us Sid.  We had a winner.  In his two years here, he reinvigorated that office; he has that hop in his step that is nicely contagious at so many levels of education.  He is an educator first, than an administrator.  And we the Board messed it up.  While I hope that everyone on the Board feels some responsibility, I as the Chair; I feel a huge amount of responsibility for this result.  And we’ve got to get it corrected.

I firmly believe that, as we near the end of Year 2 of our District Improvement Plan, we are now on the right sustainable track that will lift our educational levels to where we all want them to be.  We are sufficiently funded for Year 3.  We’ve created much better, stronger leverage points with our teachers and instructional leaders.  But we haven’t figured out how to set a desired goal for our Superintendent, give him the guardrails for how far he can drift in his pursuit of the goal, and then monitor, fund and support him to help get him and us to the goal.  Our desires and our actions as Board members must be pure:  how is it going to improve our 9,000 students?   When there’s disagreement, work hard to understand the other person’s rationale and thought process.  Doesn’t mean you have to agree with them but hopefully you understand them.  Disagree without being disagreeable.   Make your point, win or lose graciously, move on to the next topic.  Know how a Board member is expected to act.  That is not happening right now.  Look at some live examples: currently, I still am getting accused of magneting my kids.  Never mind that my kids were magneted before I even came on the Board 6 years ago.  To this day, people still accuse me of committing the school system to IB via a signed letter.  Back in February, the Town Attorney opined that that letter is not a contractual document and “merely indicates Mr. Anderson’s support for the IB programme in general terms.”   But it doesn’t stop the attacks.  How is that helping Board interaction and the achievement of goals?

We need to fix this quickly.  The Board, with input from the community, needs to establish and live by a Code of Conduct.  I will be putting together a committee on that topic within the week.  You will be on time, you will be at meetings, you will be prepared, you will articulate views in a constructive manner, you will not just complain that something needs to be fixed and never offer the solution, you’ll work to fix it, you will not politicize the education of our children, you will pull your fair share of the work required of the entire Board.  This needs to be the set of common expectations for all Board members

As the Code of Conduct and common expectations is being established and lived by, we need to reestablish proper civility.  That has begun tonight and I will vigorously push this forward from the Chair.  Arrogance, condescending statements, taking emails out of context to stir people up – no place for it.  From all of our different backgrounds and with all of our different beliefs, let’s have those rich discussions about math, English, science, social emotional growth.   Not rehashing decisions made 6 months ago. 

A number of folks correctly talk about moving forward.  Let’s do that but we’ve got to make sure we don’t ignore the past; we must acknowledge and address why we ended up here tonight, learn why we failed and correct it quickly.

The specific, concrete actions:  by the end of this summer, as Chair, I want in place a Code of Conduct, a set of common expectations, an understanding of Board protocol; all of this with public input.  We need to recreate the environment that is designed for success for our students, our staff, our Superintendent, our Board and our Town.  Stay tuned and stay involved, changes need and will be coming quickly. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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