I did not follow the last search all that closely, so I don�t know what the Board did and did not do in terms of process. However, it was clear from where I sit that the Board did not share basic values and a clear-end-in-mind. What do I mean by this? For any group to operate effectively � and the Board is a group � the group must have a shared set of values which govern their behavior. Some possible, positive shared values include dealing with people honestly & straight forwardly, making decisions based not on personal needs or wants, and acting with integrity in all situations. The Board must, I believe, nail down a set of shared values; what do they believe, together. Of course, then comes the hard part: living and acting in accordance with those values & holding each other accountable.
I believe that decision making in government must be transparent in nature. This is to say that decisions must be made in the open. Cliques and small groups must not work at odds or in the shadows. My hope is that the Board would act and make decisions in the open, not hiding behind accusations and court filings.
2. There is a wide variance on the school board as to how they involve themselves with the front line staff of Portsmouth schools. We have a school board member who is in the schools almost daily, and has visited each school at least 3 times during her brief tenure. We have school board members who never visit schools except for officially required purposes, and then only interact with administrators. Given those perimeters, what precisely do you visualize as the manner in which you will interact with the administrative, teaching, and support staffs in our individual schools?
I love visiting schools. When I was a high school teacher, I would take one week of my two-week spring break and visit schools, spending a day on a different campus over the course of a week. I sat in classrooms, shadowed individual teachers and students, and learned a great deal.
I know, in dealing with senior leaders in the Coast Guard, juniors tell seniors only part of any story. In order to learn more of the story, the senior leader needs to get out, visit, and talk with people at all levels of the organization in both formal and informal venues.
My plan, and I�d already been thinking about this, was that I would first have someone � perhaps another Board member or perhaps someone from the central office � take me around to each and every school. I�d like to spend at least a couple of hours in each, visiting classrooms, eating lunch with students, hanging out in the faculty lounge, talking with principals & administrators. Working to get the full picture. Once I�d made the first round, I�d take it upon myself to continue on my own, doing a little �leadership by walking around.� Notice, I said leadership, not management. More on this distinction later.
3. Portsmouth Public Schools has a well deserved reputation as a system that hires, promotes, and fires primarily on the basis of what church you attend, which sorority you belong to, or to whom you have a family or personal relationship. Specifically, what would you attempt to do to change this dynamic, presuming that you believe it should be changed?
Well, I don�t know anything about this. I know a few people who work for the school system here in Portsmouth, and I�m pretty certain they were not hired because of their sorority or church or family relationships. Perhaps they are in the minority, I don�t know. I do know this: we must create a situation where Portsmouth Public Schools are the employer of choice. Perhaps we can�t do this with salaries, but we can create a situation where people get to do what they love and can make a difference. (See the ground-breaking book, First, Break All the Rules. This book is on the shelf and available for purchase at Broad Street Books here in Portsmouth.)
Having said that, my belief is that hiring in a school is done by the principal; the hiring of principals & other senior building leaders is done by the superintendent. The Board ought to set guidelines, and ensure those guidelines are followed, but actual hiring decisions are not, I believe, to be made by the Board.
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