Too Little Too Late?

In the aftermath of Schools Superintendent Dr. Sidney Freund’s surprise resignation Tuesday, if the graded itself on how it operates,  some members might give themselves a failing grade.

That appears to be the consensus of some board members, town officials and PTA representatives who were still reeling from Freund’s announcement he made to the school board in an emergency early morning meeting Tuesday.

Just days after the board voted 6-2 to begin contract talks to extend Freund’s three-year pact until 2014, Freund tendered his resignation, giving 120 days as mandated by his $230,000 a year contract. Freund most likely will stay until mid-August to help the transition to an interim superintendent, according to Steven Anderson, ed board chairman.

While officials were circumspect in their assessments of Tuesday’s developments, a “Bring Back Dr. Sidney Freund” page was created on Facebook by resident John Colbert, with the number of followers and posters ‘liking’ the page continually growing. Early Wednesday there were nearly 200 followers and dozens of posts “liking’’ the page.

Almost universally, those who spoke with Greenwich Patch blamed the divisive air that has pervaded the school board operations for months, which apparently proved too taxing and frustrating for Freund, a veteran educator who began his career as a teacher in 1970 in the New York City Public School System.

Board members vowed to become more vocal in demanding a more professional decorum and process in dealing with the school administration.

“We had a wonderful superintendent who was doing great things, who had support of the community, teachers and administrators and most of our board members,” said Democratic school board member Jonathan Cohen, who is not seeking reelection. “Through our failures we squandered those services and we allowed him to leave. We put him in a position that he felt it was necessary to leave.”

Cohen added, “What does this event say about the process of running the board? It says very bad things about that. I think the fact that the board couldn’t pull itself together and create a constructive environment for the superintendent to work in, speaks very poorly for the board. We all are responsible for this. But clearly some are more responsible than others.”

Another Democratic board member, Nancy Kail, said, “I don’t blame him in the slightest. He put his heart and soul and he was thwarted at every turn. He couldn’t push forward anything. What’s there to stay for?”

Kail also said, “I think we need to be more respectful, strictly play by the rules and when board members deviate from those rules or behave in a way they shouldn’t, the rest of us have to call them out on it. Dissent is part of a democracy … but you can’t undercut and go around what the majority says and that happened routinely.”

In his one-page letter to the school board that was sent to the staff and parents of the 9,000 students in the system, Freund wrote, “It’s unlikely that the residents of Greenwich, or any community for that matter, will ever fully agree on the direction of a school; however, it is important that all engage in honest and respectful dialogue. It is also important that the Greenwich community become unified and supportive of a direction once it has been publicly debated and agreed upon by a majority of the elected Board.”

To the scores of parents, teachers and administrators who attended recent school board meetings, there was a very public display of discord, at times on a personal level, lobbed at Freund. Republican Marianna Ponns Cohen has repeatedly questioned Freund and his intentions of expanding the International Baccalaureate program to the middle school level, contending it will mean the program also will expand into the high school underclassmen level. At one point, Freund defended accusations that he did not respond to queries from Ponns Cohen, saying he received 180 e-mails from her in one month. She, and fellow Republican Peter Sherr, have questioned several of Freund’s decisions and his assessments of issues including student performance test scores.

Ponns Cohen’s reaction was a statement she e-mailed Tuesday afternoon. “I was surprised by Dr. Freund's decision, and wish him the best in his future endeavors. I have no doubt that we will move forward productively and successfully as a district.”

Sherr did not respond to a request for comment.

Through schools communications director Kim Eves, Freund declined to comment further.

Board Chairman Anderson was blunt. “This was just a failure at the board level.” He added, “We need to make sure that we give him the correct direction and let him do what we hired him to do rather than snipping at him with questions on decisions made.”

Without making direct accusations, Anderson said, “Anybody who’s been at our meetings in the last 6 months has seen napalm politics … that you’re never done with the topic. This is collateral damage to napalm politics.”

Cohen was frank in his assessment of how Freund’s resignation evolved will affect the search for a new schools chief. “I think the fact that the board couldn’t pull itself together and create a constructive environment for the superintendent to work in, speaks very poorly for the board.” He added, “We all are responsible for this. But clearly some are more responsible than others. Nothing makes me think that anyone else who is qualified will want this job. I am extremely unhappy and very upset.”

Kail went on to say, “board members deviate from those rules or behave in a way they shouldn’t. The rest of us have to call them out on it. Dissent is part of a democracy but you can’t undercut and go around what the majority says and that happened routinely. Now that it’s happened, we now have to figure out what we have to do. I will be much more vocal in countering these destructive forces that won today.”

In a prepared statement, Greenwich High School PTA co-chairs Camille Broderick and Lauren Rabin said, “We are equally disappointed that some town and BOE members have decided that it is acceptable to create such a hostile and volatile work environment, whose only outcome is a revolving door for the office of superintendent. This divisive atmosphere, created by a few, is in direct violation of the BOE's governance policy as stewards of the public education system. No superintendent should have to work under such conditions.”

First Selectman Peter Tesei said Freund “fostered strong relationships with the faculty, parents, students and the community at large. It is unfortunate the present climate on the Board of Education has created impediments for the Superintendent and Board to implement a unified vision for academic excellence.”

The mood was somber in Board of Education headquarters where some staffers'  emotions were evident with voices cracking and sniffles punctuating phone conversations.

Deputy Superintendent Ellen Flanagan said the staff was “stunned. We are extremely anxious of what the district holds in the future. He is someone who has consistency, leadership and focus.”

She added, “He is an amazing educator, a true leader and I feel privileged to have learned a lot with his leadership.”

The president of the 15-member PTA Council, Sue Rogers, said, “He is a champion for our children and this is a great loss.”

Meanwhile, Anderson said the district must forge ahead to search for a new superintendent – it’s ninth in 12 years. “It’s likely we would go with an interim while we start up the search process and whether the interim is internal or external has not even been discussed yet.”

While Facebook posters implored Freund to reconsider his decision, Kail said she was willing to resign from the board "if it meant Sid would come back."

*Editor's note: Sue Rogers also is a Greenwich Patch contributor writing on education issues.