FPS Forms Two New Committees, However Concerns About Transparency Remain

By Gordon HopkinsThe Fairbury Public Schools Board of Education held a special meeting on September 29, to discuss the findings and recommendations of a “Community Stakeholders Committee.”School Superintendent Stephen Grizzle recently issued a statement that read, in part, “There was excellent discussion amongst the board members that were present and part of the committee and the ones that were not involved. After discussion, the consensus of the board was to move forward with two main goal areas for our continued work.”Stakeholders CommitteeA steering committee was created and a series of four meetings were held in the spring and summer months of this year at the ‘47 building in response to a variety of issues raised by a parents group.The committee is comprised of FPS staff, teachers and administrators, and a diverse range of community member stakeholders, many of whom are parents of current or former FPS students. The committee was facilitated by external consultants, Dr. Keith Rohwer of NCSA, Dr. Brian Maschmann of Norris Public Schools, and Dr. John Skretta, of ESU6.Dr. Skretta delivered the exit report, the purpose of which was to present the final results and recommendations of the committee to the board.The committee identified four major areas that needed to be addressed and provided recommendations: culture, communication, trust and support.Those two goal areas identified by Grizzle are communication and culture. To address these areas, Grizzle has announced the creation of two new committees, one for each goal area. Each committee will consist of three Board of Education members; four community members; three teachers, one from each school; two classified staff and an administrator.It is the intention of FPS that the first committee meetings be held prior the school board meeting in November. The meetings are not open to the public and the press will not be allowed to attend.Transparency ConcernsOne issue that was brought up by the parents group at the April school board meeting was transparency.Dr. John Skretta delivered an exit report to the school board on August 25, the purpose of which was to present the final results and recommendations of the committee to the board. One member of the board, Dr. Jonathan Winter, asked for a copy of the various notes, suggestions and other documents individual committee members turned in as part of the committee discussions. Winter asked, “Actually, I do have one question, the stakeholder input. So all of the information that you guys gathered with us, especially in regard to the second homework assignment, where we identified an issue in each one of those quadrants and then came up with a solution for that. We will get all of that information, correct?”Dr. Skretta responded to this request, “Yeah. All of, all of the stakeholder input information has been provided to Superintendent Grizzle.”Winter recently told FJN, “I contacted the outside contracted facilitators and asked to see the full results. I knew that participants had written specific recommendations and ideas, so I wanted to make sure that we could garnish and incorporate those responses into our goals and strategies moving forward. The facilitators did provide me, and other board members, with the written responses. Upon further inspection, it became clear that some forms were missing. I only knew that because my own submitted response was not there. I contacted the facilitators again, sharing my concerns that their furnished report was missing some entries. The facilitator has repeatedly assured me that I have been provided with all of the information that they have. And, while I’m assuming it was not intentional, I still have concerns that some responses were lost on the facilitators’ end. While I am disappointed in this lapse from the facilitators, there is nothing more that I can do, as the facilitators were contracted as an outside entity. The Fairbury BOE is dedicated to being fully transparent with the information and entries that we did receive, and will continue working to be up-front and forthcoming with sharing information with our stakeholders.”FJN also requested a copy of the stakeholder input information from Superintendent Grizzle and he provided the data to FJN but also worried committee members might have reservations about participation if they thought their work might be published.“My concern is that these artifacts will be used and taken out of context in any article you write,” Grizzle told FJN via email. “If these new members see that others’ notes or comments have been taken out of context, will they want to be part of our process? I would not. Not if my notes could be used in the newspaper for an article.”FJN does not intend to publish the notes from individuals in the stakeholder input information but had requested that information only to confirm what has been reported publicly.Regarding the information that Dr. Winter said is missing, Grizzle responded, “I have given you everything that I have. You have what the school board got and what I got. My assumption is that whatever is not included has been misplaced?”

A Harvest Of Harmony

Chuck Moore Floor

Related Articles

Family Flourishes At Cedarwood

Did City Council Know They Were Voting On Staff Raises?

Budget Hearings Begin

Hope-Wymore Closing October 1