There’s an old comedy routine by Abbott and Costello called ‘Who’s On First?? Today, seventy-some-odd years later, it still generates laughter. Unfortunately, when it comes to Clarkston Community School District their hierarchy structure is such that who’s on first now, shouldn’t be.
The underlying problem is the school district elite have forgotten who should be on first. It’s not a single person. It isn’t the superintendent. It is not the school board president. On first should be the voting/taxpaying public (including their children); then the duly elected board of education (as a whole), then down the pecking order, the hired superintendent and administration.
In Clarkston we have watched with dismay the abdication of the board’s responsibilities to the administration. We were stunned, as many in the district, to read quotes from school Boardmembers Joan Patterson and Rosalie Lieblang.
‘I’ve heard teachers and counselors want to talk to me, but were told all requests have to go to Steve (Hyer, school board president),? said Patterson. ‘That is so wrong ? if someone wants to provide me with information, I should have that right.?
She also had trouble arranging a meeting with Superintendent Dr. Al Roberts and Bruce Beamer, executive director for business services, and was again asked to forward questions to Hyer instead.
Lieblang, had to threaten using Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act to get information from the administration. Said she, ‘My understanding of our budget and our financial situation has significantly changed since June 2009 . . . The 2011 budget information we received at the Jan. 25 meeting was very surprising. To see numbers that show that we must make at least $7 million in cuts, which uses all of our remaining fund equity, was very unexpected.?
Why are boardmembers — entrusted with running the district — not getting information they need in a timely matter? Why is is difficult for a school boardmember to meet with members of the administration? Why cannot a school boardmember, in the course of executing their duties to the best of the ability, talk to the district’s frontline officers — teachers?
Why must all information be filtered through one or two people, then to the board and only to trickle down to the public? Is there something to hide?
We don’t know.
We have repeatedly tried to move the district into a more transparent operation. To open the books so all could see. To educate the public on the process and why decisions are being made. Each attempt has been thwarted, pushed aside with comments like, ‘It’s too complicated for the public to understand.?
And, now there are more questions than answers. People are scared, angry and starting to point fingers. Rightly so, for they have been shut out of the process. Knowledge has been controlled and released in amounts only the administration thought was needed.
The hierarchy needs to be put right — and quick — if there is to be the trust between the district and the community.
We applaud the recent efforts of Lieblang and Patterson and implore the rest of the board to ask the tough questions. Challenge the administration, challenge yourselves. Take back your responsibilities of running the district, direct the administration. You ran for office and were elected. Do not be directed by someone who answers to you. — dpr