Was something broken that needed fixing?
This is the question I’ve asked myself recently, as the rumblings of turmoil within Manitou Springs School District 14 have gotten increasingly louder.
I am the mother of two students who choice into MSSD14. I am a strong believer in public education and am the product of two public school teacher parents.
I care deeply about the notion that public education offers the best opportunities for my children to grow and learn to be informed, well-rounded and caring citizens of their community and the world.
I was drawn to Manitou’s small school district five years ago, when it seemed priorities were still straight around balancing academics while facilitating a love for learning (and play!), honoring the arts and teaching them for art’s (and music’s and theater’s) sake, saving (mostly) recess, keeping homework at a minimum and teaching from curriculum that includes the stories of marginalized voices.
No school district is perfect. But I did not sense that the system was broken when we came to Manitou. Unless a system is falling apart, I believe new leaders should spend time observing, listening and learning the system’s culture to best support its well-being.
Good leaders will learn from those within the system and amplify their voices for the good of the whole. My sense is that District 14 leadership has more recently pivoted in a direction of “fixing” things.
The high turnover of principals and teachers is a red flag. Perhaps high turnover is a result of a lack of listening, understanding the culture and supporting those well-established in their roles for the good of the system.
I remember my father, who was growing a reputable music program in a small-town Kansas school district, was devastated when leadership cut programming that would deeply hinder student participation.
My father was the expert and knew how to engage students of all kinds in his class and offer a way for students not academically gifted to find a place in school through band.
When leadership finally let my dad hold the reins (not before trying to get him fired first), the program excelled and the entire school district benefitted from the reputation that the small-town band acquired at many a state fair, parade and competition over the decades.
In some recent “off the record” conversations, I tried to get a sense of what MSSD14 teachers are experiencing. I heard them, first and foremost, scared to share their feelings openly, for fear of retribution.
Those willing to talk feel micromanaged. Teachers once highly acclaimed in their areas are now evaluated as needing much improvement.
The “appearance of listening” was a theme I heard repeatedly. This is something I experienced first-hand last fall, when district leadership offered several meetings regarding masking in the district.
Offering various forums for listening with a highly rigid agenda is a farce, and many of us saw through it. I was grateful for the bravery of the Manitou Springs City Council, which enacted the mask mandate days before school started so that school was a place where “the good of the whole” remained paramount.
District leadership seems to feel zeal about enacting new standards and procedures. To what end? Some might be beneficial; are others for the sake of appearances that will actually hinder learning?
For me, the school districts where staff and students are the happiest are the ones where teachers’ and building staff voices are at the forefront, and district leadership sees its role to serve and support them, not the opposite.
Is district leadership listening to the expert voices among us? What is district leadership trying to fix, and are we losing what is most special and unique to this district in the process?