Nataliya Braginsky, a member of an organization of public school teachers called the New Haven Educators’ Collective, sent in the following opinion article from the group, about New Haven’s search for a new schools superintendent.
(Opinion) In the midst of unclear communication, changing timelines, and a lack of transparency about the NHPS superintendent search process, a coalition of teachers, parents and families, students, and community members is forming. This coalition is engaged, informed, and committed to seeing New Haven hire the best possible superintendent for our students and our schools.
We expect the Board of Education to be responsive to the feedback and requests of the public. In the spirit of community participation and public involvement, now is the time for the search committee to share important information about the hiring process.
If the Board of Education values community input, they will follow through with the four requests below:
• Release the names of the final superintendent candidates.
While the press has released some finalists’ names, others remain unknown. The public needs to know the names of the final candidates for superintendent.
• Update, publicize, and commit to the selection process and timeline.
The most recent update on the NHPS website indicates postponed meetings, and vacant positions on the search committee, with locations and times still to be determined. To promote public participation, the BOE should finalize the search committee, publicize decisions, share updates more widely, and hold themselves accountable to the timeline. The public also needs clarity on the role of the different members of the hiring committee. How is the final decision for selecting a superintendent made and who makes it?
• Share meeting dates, times, and locations for community forums.
The Board of Education has tentatively set dates for community forums. The BOE, working collaboratively with the NHPS Department of Communications, should actively promote these meetings using social media, local news outlets, and existing communication channels within NHPS (email, automated phone calls, and NHPS website).
• Clarify and distribute the agenda for community forums.
The public needs to know the purpose of the community forums, as well as receive agendas outlining goals for the meetings. Is the public invited to these community forums to continue sharing our views with the search committee, or will we have the chance to meet the final candidates? If the community forums are not an opportunity to meet the finalists, when will the community have this important opportunity?
Click on or download the above audio file to hear a previous interview with members of the New Haven Educators’ Collective on WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven.”