We’ve yet to determine if Superintendent Ken Gutman is a mad man or a genius.
With all the recent lineup changes in the school district ? Sarah Manzo as Webber’s principal, Bev Tepper as associate high school principal, Heidi Kast as assistant superintendent and now Sophia Lafayette as the new high school principal, just to name a few ? it’s hard to imagine what’s coming next.
On one hand, standardized test scores continue to go up, 10 of 11 district schools are now Blue Ribbon Exemplary and classes like Television Production Workshop (TPW) continue to win awards on the state and national stage.
On the other hand, we at The Review suspect a sort of murky undercurrent, evidenced by poorly advertised weekday morning school board meetings, and instructions from the superintendent telling staff that any contact with the media must be filtered through him first.
As the new high school principal opportunely pointed out in her dealings with Detroit Schools, proof of change takes time to appear, so we’ll wait in anticipation to see where Lake Orion schools are headed.
But we do know one thing: the school board is challenging the administration’s recommendations. Lately, they haven’t been Gutman’s ‘yes men.? And we’re pretty happy about it.
Historically, school board votes have been sickeningly unanimous. Even on big issues, they vote as a whole. All day, every day kindergarten is one example. School elections is another. Some members even vote for an issue after publicly stating their opposition. Janet Wolverton is notorious for saying, ‘I didn’t agree with this, but let me tell you why I voted for it.?
But, by George, there’s something stirring among board members and we think it’s dissension. Woo hoo!
Tiffany Weber-Phillips piqued our interested in November when, during the second round of discussion and voting on election dates, she stood alone in a 6-1 vote that kept elections in May. Most recently, Jim Weidman and Bob Gritizinger voted against hiring Sophia Lafayette as the new high school principal. And at the same meeting, Weidman voted against the new teachers? union contract.
We applaud the dissonance.
In Lafayette’s case, we’re glad boardmembers spoke out, not because we don’t like her, but because they offered valid and energizing concerns on the issue at hand.
Seven elected adults who have been charged with the well-being of thousands of students should never complacently follow recommendations. A healthy school district should be forged out of red-hot debate over what’s best for students. Board members should disagree. That’s how progress is made.
More often than not, contentious issues are important issues and don’t come with an easy or popular answer. Students deserve policy guardians who are passionate and courageous enough to say unpopular things.
Thank you, Tiffany, Jim and Bob, for doing that. Hopefully the trend continues ? we think it means good things for the district.
Plus, it spices up board meetings a little, and we like that, too.