I am on the HUUSD Board and have considered it an honor and privilege to work with many of the members of this board as well as the administration of our schools. The board members are made up of volunteers who care about their children and the quality of education they receive. The administration consists of people dedicated to the education of our children.
I am mystified and saddened by the lack of civility and vitriol certain members of our community have resorted to lately: attacking the board; making personal attacks against members of the administration, in particular the superintendent, and an individual who is running to fill a school board seat in Waterbury who has a history of volunteering countless hours for his community.
I know the board and administration are taking steps which will result in changes for our children. Change is hard and can be scary. I get that. What I don’t understand is the anger and personal attacks which I believe stems from fear. I also believe there are a few members of the community who have personal agendas and are fueling the fear with misinformation. I don’t claim to understand why people would do this.
MISINFORMATION
Many people show up at our meetings or have turned to social media to attack the work the board is doing and the superintendent of our schools. They misrepresent information which misleads and fuels the fear. Why? I have no idea. I have heard from people accusing our superintendent of ulterior motives but have yet to hear what those motives are. I can assure you, she is not in it for the money or the joy of wearing a “bull’s-eye” on her back. Whenever I ask her why she hasn’t given up on us, her response is always “For the kids.”
Our administrators and superintendent have been leading our schools for years, the superintendent for 11 years. We pay these people to run our schools because they are the experts at educating children. Based upon the education my two children have received or are receiving, the administration is doing an excellent job. They hire wonderful, passionate teachers who are dedicated to their professions; they make sure our children are learning in a safe environment; and maintain facilities to educate our children within the constraints of the budget provided them.
WHY WOULD THIS CHANGE?
My question is, why do people think this would change? Why wouldn’t the administration still care about our kids? I am dumbfounded by the conspiracy theories I hear, and the awful things said about our district’s leadership. Interestingly, I first decided to get involved with the school board because I was hearing terrible things about how the district was being run and money being spent. As opposed to making decisions based upon hearsay information, I wanted to learn firsthand whether there was any basis for these accusations. As I started to attend meetings, I found no conspiracy; as a matter of fact, I found the administration to be incredibly frugal with our money and passionate about educating our children. I have seen zero evidence to show this has changed.
I have lived within our school district for over 30 years. We are a community of kind and generous people. However, it appears the national stage of anger and fear has infiltrated our community. Maybe this emotion is tied to social media which seems to disconnect neighbors and fuel fear and anger. I feel sorry for these people. I teach my children to think for themselves and to be compassionate and open minded when listening to others who have a different point of view. I want my children to be prepared for any obstacle life may throw at them. My worry is that these people who are so distrustful and spreading the vitriol are inadvertently teaching their children that this behavior is OK. We are better than this and I hope we can show our children that compassion and understanding are the way to a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
White lives in Warren, Vermont and serves on the HUUSD Board.
