If it was the school board’s intent to become rock stars, then they’ve succeeded.
Their last two meetings have been standing-room-only audiences for their performances, though jeers seem more prevalent than cheers.
I call them performances because no one is quite sure what’s really going on backstage surrounding the situation with Lake Orion High School’s Principal Todd Dunckley. Dunckley is basically being demoted to a position as an assistant principal at an unnamed middle school.
It’s the equivalent to the lead guitarist being stripped of that role and made to ding a triangle at the very back of the stage.
Like rock stars, the school board and Superintendent Ken Gutman seem to think they can do whatever they want and get away with it, including publicly shaming an administrator who has been with the district for nine years.
Had he not spoken up at the last board meeting, talking about how he was enthusiastic about his new position, Dunckley could have potentially been out of a job during one of the worst economic downturns in recent history. The rumor before the transfer was that they weren’t going to renew his contract at all.
It’s true that voters have given the school board the right–and whoever they choose as superintendent–to make such changes. But is this really what the community wants or needs?
From the outpouring of support we’ve seen in the letters we’ve gotten here at the paper and from those who attended the meetings, it’s not.
My main question throughout this ordeal, one that both Mr. Dunckley and the community also seem to be asking, is simply: why? We’ve yet to get a reasonable answer.
Instead, we get cheery PR speeches about how Dunckley is a valued administrator who will continue to bring his experience to…blah, blah, blah. You know the rest.
There have also been rumblings that it had something to do with the high school not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals. The only story I’ve written about AYP was when they ranked very high on state and county levels.
Another reason I’ve heard is a rumor going around that Mr. Dunckley did not fit the vision of the future. Whose vision? Should it not be the community’s?
The board seems to be operating under the idea that they, and only they, know what’s best for students in Lake Orion. And while that is their jobs, the public needs to hold them accountable for their deeds.
Schools should operate under the idea that all kids really need is a clean, well-lighted place to learn and competent folks to teach them. We have a school board to make sure of this.
Instead, boards in general seem to soak the community for as much money as they can, claiming they always need the new bells and whistles of modern education with the same flair as snake-oil salesman.
‘Are you going to deprive little Jimmy or Joan of getting a top-notch education?? they plead.
Dunckley seems to be a casualty of this syndrome, which is all too familiar in an age of ‘obsolete? school computers that seem to need replacing every two years.
Old equipment surely doesn’t fit into the vision of the district’s future, and neither did Dunckley.
I may be wrong, but there’s been no other explanation offered, so I’m forced to surmise.
In the end, Superintendent Gutman and the board–and maybe even Dunckley himself–could have made the process a little smoother by offering more to the public.
Most of the decisions were made behind closed doors, which is pretty normal policy for personnel issues like this. No one wants to air their dirty laundry in public.
But remember, this is the same board that held the discussion to keep their elections in May–which costs more money–during a Tuesday session at 8:45 a.m. no one in the community seemed to know about.
It seems they don’t think the public is listening or watching. That’s why taxpayers need to make themselves heard at the polls no matter when elections are held. Parents and non-parents alike should be involved. Attend meetings, watch them on-line, or read the stories in this paper. Keep your leaders honest.
Because what the board and superintendent are banking on is complacency, especially with the Dunckley matter.
They know that over summer, school becomes a memory for students and parents. And come fall, when school starts back up, they’re counting on that summertime amnesia to stick. Dunckley? Who’s he?