Democracy required for superintendent search
Frustrated is an understatement regarding how I felt when I first learned in yesterday’s Sun that interviews with the superintendent finalists had been set for next week. As the school committee, we were due to decide this and other search issues at our March 19 meeting. Our bylaws do not allow some members (or one mayor) to make such a change—the rules require us to make decisions as a group in public meetings. So now there will be a special school committee meeting on Monday, March 10 at 7 pm in the Mayor’s Reception Room. The public is invited to attend and be heard on this issue.
Granted, the search committee named their finalists one week earlier than the timetable required, but to schedule interviews without the entire committee’s knowledge and approval (I wasn’t the only one in the dark) and without public discussion, is wrong. This is the school committee’s most important decision. The final vote will impact the quality of education our children receive for years—better to pick the right candidate and have citizens participate than rush the process.
So, here’s my wish list: All the interviews are held on one Saturday morning with ample public notice. Before that, the entire committee decides the date and format for the interviews, determines if there are other candidates to include, develops a process for on-site visits, and hears from the community. Now, I may not get all my wishes but I should get the opportunity to present them to my colleagues in an open forum, debate our differences, and vote; in which case, the majority will prevail. That, my friends, is how democracy is supposed to work.