Observations from an OLD Chair about Listening
I would be remiss if I did not start out with: these are my thoughts and only my thoughts; I do NOT speak for the board-!!! Bet you have heard that before
Tonight I decided to write about listening. It is an excellent skill… here’s an old question – If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? The reverse is also true- If no one says anything until a decision is made, does that mean that no one was listening? I believe that communication is the key piece in most everything we do or hope to do. This is a learning process on many levels – I would very much like to be able to improve the communication with the community, and believe we have made some positive strides in that direction. Yet, I still hear that some in the community feel unheard or may even feel that the school board does not act based on community input. I can think of two recent examples where decisions were made based solely on the feedback we received from parents and staff. I will elaborate.
First of all, my job as I see it is to try to make intelligent decisions for the good of the students, parents and staff while making financially prudent choices. To do that I listen to the facts presented to me; I do my personal research into the issue; I listen to input from parents, students and staff; I vote based on that information. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? But not always.
My first example has to do with busses at Veneta Elementary. I have always disliked and felt our students and families were endangered by the bus situation as it was for the last years. The new plan, lining them up over to the north of the school made sense to me, was recommended by the architects and approved by the original design committee. The busses would not be in front of the school so all the real and imagined dangers having to do with large vehicles, little cars and even littler children would be greatly diminished. Financially, it was a sound decision. All is well. Then Dr. Fromme from the Veneta Veterinary Clinic came to our meeting offering a solution that I liked even better – At First. The buses would enter from Hunter through a side entrance, make a loop behind the school and exit with children safely in the bus. Sounds even better – until the community came to us with their concerns. Supervision was going to be tough. The play area in the middle of that loop was going to be smaller because of the loop. Territorial Sports Program [TSP] provided many games there and would also be affected. Some were concerned because the community uses that track as a walking area for exercise. There were many more solid reasons that were brought to my attention. One of the final straws for me was that Hunter is a very narrow street and now we are going to have all buses turning in and pulling out in that space where children, adults and pets walk regularly without bike lanes or much of any walking space. So we went back to the drawing board. We discussed this at length – some of you may have been present. I appreciated the offer so much, but there was just so many who came forward and spoke up against the idea that I changed my mind- as did others I would guess given the vote the came about. Why did that happen? Your Board listened to you. I weighed the options with the other things I mentioned above which I consider are my responsibility and voted with your input. Thank you so much for bringing these things to my attention.
The other recent example I have happened early June of this year. Elmira Elementary School is finalizing their design plan. The experts recommended putting the gym on the south end of the school with the office in between and the cafeteria area [the Commons] at the north end. Made sense to me, and it looked great. The committee of parents and staff liked something else. They wanted to have the gym in the middle with the office on one side and the Commons on the other. Now to me, this did not make much sense… The Entry was going to be less formal or visible, and it truly foregrounded the gym.
Those of you who know me well know I have spent the last 40 years working with the University of Oregon athletes on the academic side of the equation. My greatest complaint about our society is that we put too much emphasis on sport achievement and not enough on academics. The thousands of students I have worked with through the years often had never received accolades for their ability to think as all praise went to their jumping, running, throwing or hitting ability. So I instinctively did not like foregrounding the gym.
But then the meeting happened. The architects gave us the expert recommendation- said that the other choice being considered [the committee’s preference] was going to be “almost” as cost effective. The folding door joining the Commons and the gym was going to cost $70,000 and hints were made that it could be damaged by gym like activities. The parents and the staff were adamant about their preference and made extremely good points as to why their choice worked better for them and therefore the community. After some discussion, it was suggested that perhaps the folding door could be eliminated. As a result of excellent input from both the experts and those who will be using the building who are experts in what they prefer and know will work better, the board listened. If the costs are the same, the gym will be in the middle.
So I guess those are two examples of where community input was so valuable to me in casting my vote. There was another example of community input that resulted from a decision we made that we knew was best for the students but had not let the parents voice their position. Some did and I am grateful to them as well. With their input we were able to adjust the situation to something that worked well for as many as possible and achieved our end goal.
This is an area of communication I am looking to improve. The problem for me is determining what might draw comment, getting it out in a timely manner, finding a way to reach as many as possible, take input and make a decision in a timely manner. But that is another conundrum, another column and another day. I would love to hear your opinion on how you feel that might be done.
I am grateful to the community who have contacted me and who have come to meetings. I understand that family time is important time so you might write to me or any board member and make your concern known. It is the ONLY way a board member can listen- if you share your ideas. Please write to me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us – I look forward to hearing from you again. I leave you with this thought and quote. If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. Margaret Fuller (1810-1850, Journalist, Critic and Women’s Rights Activist) and this video about a form of listening. https://youtu.be/gvwHHMEDdT0 Enjoy.