School Committee Candidates Talk Transparency and How to Improve Communications

On Tuesday, April 7, Framingham voters will decide which of three candidates will be elected to the 7-member Framingham School Committee.

There are two 3-year terms available this year, as incumbent Andy Limeri chose not to seek re-election. On the ballot are incumbent Beverly Hugo, Jim Kelly, and Scott Wadland.

Patch asked each of the candidates a series of questions. The answers to those questions are being published this week. One question will run through Saturday, March 28.

Monday’s question: What do you see as the major strength of the Framingham Public Schools? The district’s major weakness? How as a School Committee member would you address the weakness? Click here to read those answers.

Tuesday’s question: Framingham School Committee sets policy for the district. What policy would you like to revise or create for the district? Why? Click here to read those answers.

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Today’s report focuses communications and transparency.

Candidates were asked: School staff and district parents in a recent survey complained about the lack of communication and transparency by the district’s administration, specifically the Superintendent. How can the School Committee - and what would you do specifically - to fix the issue the two major stakeholders in the district have?

Wadland: ”I believe that there are a number of things that the School Committee can influence with respect to transparency and communication in the district:

• Establish a policy and process for uploading School Committee meeting materials to the FPS web site in advance of meetings, so that folks can follow along at home or can bring the materials themselves and be guaranteed of having a copy. In this case I would use the “expanded” agenda that gets handed out in the meeting and has additional descriptions of the topics. In at least one case I know of, a former school committee member missed an important discussion because what was posted with the town clerk was unclear.
• Get out there and talk to people! In the business world where process improvement models like Lean and Six Sigma are used, this is sometimes referred to as “going to the gemba” where “the gemba” is “where the action is”. Surveys can be useful in certain cases if you have folks who are skilled at developing them and you have broad participation across your stakeholder groups, but they fail miserably as a substitute for real conversation.
• Take full advantage of available expertise. As I discussed in this space on Monday, the Framingham Public Schools are fortunate in that we have a number of parents who are passionate about the success of the district and have professional expertise in communications, public relations, education and other related areas. However, some folks feel that we’re not fully taking advantage of these resources.
• Communicate at the appropriate level. District-wide information should come from the district; school-specific information should come from individual schools. Parents or teachers at one school should not be disadvantaged because their peers at other schools have already received something they have not.
• Continue to maintain, refine and improve practices. The creation of a “task force” suggests to some that we haven’t maintained good practice and lead some to question “How did we get here?” In the future I hope that we don’t have to repeat these efforts on something so fundamental as transparency and communication.”

Hugo: ”Excellent communication and transparency are vital to the optimal performance of a Superintendent and School Committee. The use of new technologies, the sophistication of our staff and parents and the desire of our parents to be part of solutions lead us to reconsider, reevaluate and reform our practices.

As Chair, I recently convened a Communications and Public Relations Taskforce comprised of multiple stakeholders to increase our efficacy in the flow of information. Should I have the good fortune to be reelected, I look forward to continuing my participation and improving best case practices.

Through regular communication with all district stakeholders, issues of lack of transparency will naturally subside as the major source of discontent is undeniably tied to a dearth of information. As Justice Brandeis said, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

I have also been the catalyst in the implementation of a novel style of contract negotiations called “Interest Based Bargaining” with our negotiating units, a method whereby both labor and management sit at the same table and communicate their issues in a collaborative and respectful manner directly, and not through their lawyers. This method fosters collegiality, transparency and mutual respect through a constant flow of communication, not just during negotiating years, preventing issues from festering until the bargaining year arrives.

The constructive use of social media can lessen the frustration of staff and parents through consistent and timely dissemination of critical information. The recent spate of snow days, the issues pertaining to the school calendar, and the dissemination of variable information on the PARCC Exam have all highlighted the need for one central repository of information that is more conducive to today’s need for instant information than the classic web page technology. These advances still have shortcomings, as not everyone has a Facebook or Twitter account and some families still lack computer connectivity.

Any communications systems must contain a component for ongoing assessment, continuous improvement and interaction with all stakeholders as we continue to build relationships with all members of our community.”

Kelly: ”When we refer to transparency we are asking for administration to act in open ways, without secrecy.

In some situations, I believe it is absolutely appropriate for the administration to discuss internally only, and not publicly. Sometimes, too much input from multiple sources can confuse or veer a means to achieve large, long-term goals off track. Think of a time you’ve had major decisions to make and the more people you took “advice” from, the more confused you became, or the harder it was to make those decisions. The purpose of administration is to guide the ship so to speak. They have been put into that position because a panel made up of School Committee Members, teachers, and parents, felt that he or she was the best fit to meet our district’s short and long term needs.

It’s crucial we keep in mind that it takes many more hands and specialties than that of administration and teachers to run the day to day operations of the FPS whom also serve in our children’s education. What the buildings and grounds team needs is different from what the aides and office workers need, which is different from what the nurses need and so on. From my conversations and meetings with people in these roles I have found that they all have different perspective on what appropriate communication is for their role. Each of these groups deserve to be heard, to have their knowledge and expertise acknowledged and taken into strong consideration when decisions from the top are made as they have an immediate impact on what they can do for the district and their students.

I believe that money being spent on the Communication Officer position will have a greater, immediate impact to the families and the teachers in the district if it was spent to increase staff in the Translation Office with more qualified individuals to meet the demands for translation. It is my view that the tasks which the Communication Officer is charged with, are being met or are able to be carried out by existing positions within the structure of the administrative offices. My concern is costly redundancy in job responsibilities.

Both groups must see their needs addressed and met in some form or another. When expressions of dissatisfaction are shared, it is best to right it sooner rather than later. That is the responsibility of the School Committee to do at any time, not just at review time. It is important for the School Committee to remain neutral and not develop an allegiance to the administration, but rather to the stakeholders; both families and all staff.”