Here are several concrete steps we need to take to reunify the School Community, and regain confidence from the public.
The past year has been a difficult one for the School District with a management crisis and divisiveness within the school community. Some people have been unhappy with the overall direction of the District; we need to regain their trust. A plan of action to that effect is needed.
Trust will not come back just by chance, or that could take a long time. Fortunately we are still an excellent School District and everybody knows that; therefore, with some effort applied, the situation can be fixed.
Here is my plan of action, if elected:
- I will do my best to make the Board meetings run smoothly and efficiently, and be shorter.
- I will encourage decisiveness on issues, and lead by example.
- If there is any issue that divides the community, I will ask representatives from both sides to get together, probably with the help of a mediator (e.g. former School Board member, or a professional facilitator), and try to arrive at a consensus. People who have disagreements in our District sometimes forget
that they share 95% of the same goals; they need to be reminded of that key fact, and we need to encourage them to find a win-win situation. Consensus building and the ability to strike compromises are critical. I believe that my long-time business experience running large project teams, task forces, various meetings, and managing people will be extremely useful in that regard.
- I will take the pulse of PAMA (Palo Alto Management Association, the middle management of the District) to make sure that school administrators, teachers and staff are really satisfied with the new Superintendent's management style. If some (hopefully minor) adjustments are necessary, I will definitely let him know. Right now we are in the honeymoon phase, but we all know that it will not last much more than 5-6 months at best (This is Palo Alto, we all have opinions!), so I will definitely do a check. We must do everything we can to avoid another
management crisis.
- I will have a frank conversation with editors of the local newspapers, and ask for their collaboration in covering positive stories about the District. They are highly responsible publications that are mindful of our community and might be willing to help, at least a bit (of
course, they will not distort the truth, so we must have those great success stories to tell). I will encourage my colleagues on the Board to also be proactive with their positive communication efforts.
- Along with my Board colleagues, I will work with the different stakeholders: PTAs, unions, PAMA, and share my concerns about the trust issue, share my vision of what needs to be accomplished and ask for their collaboration. In essence we need to have the school community aligned and working toward the same great goals, as it was for Measure A. This is where leadership skills are critical: share the vision and motivate people to help you make
that vision come to fruition.
|
