Submitted by Brian Raabe, Greenwich
Watched the YouTube replay of the Board of Education meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
As of this writing, guess how many people have watched?
150.
Not sure how many watched live the night of the hearing, but the room itself looked pretty empty.
Not to be preachy but it’s a simple fact that truly bad decisions are made in small groups not subject to oversight.
We have seen that in Greenwich already.
We have pulled back to reason by turning over BET leadership.
There is a ton more to do.
If you agree, stay involved.
Infomercial over.
Who were the evening’s winners?
All of the students that spoke – but in particular:
The young person who took the dais at 20:45 in the replay link above and cited school districts across the nation that are role models for transparency in headcount reductions. Schools that provide position by position disclosure.
All we have are vague details around placeholders. What we do know is the current placeholders disproportionately impact World Languages at Greenwich High School. Of 6 or so planned cuts, 3 will be in World Languages.
Makes a lot of sense in a world so interconnected.
Makes a lot of sense in a town with such an international community.
Makes a lot of sense when the historic track record of isolationism and nationalism is bloodstained.
Foolish.
Another winner among students?
The young person that arrived from athletic practice and took to the dais with no notes. (44:45 mark via the link above).
She talked about her early childhood education challenges due to poor eyesight.
She described the small class settings and extra help early in her schooling that enabled her to stay on track, “to grow.”
She compared that to the present day in her AP chemistry classes, with desks so packed between lab tables due to large class size, it’s hard to walk around.
She spoke to how revised scheduling and cuts make small group or individualized teacher access before or after school a steep challenge for some – not even an option for others.
She spoke of year after year cuts.
She shared all this after she was admonished by the Chair for not being on a list of speakers for the hearing.
Was that necessary?
Late in the month public comment, scheduled the same night as a well attended high school event, comment time limited to one hour. Kids called out for not being on a list.
Sensing a pattern.
She was unflappable regardless of being sanctioned before she even began.
Super solid.
Winner.
The other end of the spectrum, the losers?
It’s the holidays so will take a pass on naming individuals.
Broadly we are all losers here.
After two hours watching the replay there was much less to learn than was had at the High School Holiday Choral Concert.
Perhaps the universe was talking to us by having both the concert and the BOE meeting on the same night.
What we are decimating with cuts, versus what our youth can achieve – on a split screen.
Any doubt over the return on investment in our kids would immediately wither before the music even started.
Black tie. A dedication to craft.
Life lessons.
A stage packed with Greenwich’s bright future.
And it may be a digression, but no one today is celebrating how Ludwig, Ernst someone or other cornered the Hamburg barley market in 1720 and made a killing.
Three centuries later what we are holding onto from that time is Handel’s Messiah and our children belting out “Hallelujah, Hallelujah!”
That is what separates us from the animals.
Cutting the arts diminishes our humanity.
But we aren’t taking about cutting the arts alone.
We are talking about the outgoing BET‘s gift that keeps giving, cuts to the entirety of the school budget.
While at the same time we are talking about building $60 million dollar swimming pools.
While we are talking about $25 million dollar ice rinks.
All that, measured in millions upon millions – and in the same breath we are talking about releasing teachers.
Superintendent Jones indicated that enrollment has trended down.
As GHS PTA President Monica Huang pointed out, over three years GHS enrollment is down only 100 students yet has suffered 11.5 teacher cuts, 6 learning center aides, 5 instructional coaches, 1 administrator, 4 administrator assistants, and 18 learning facilitator stipend roles.
The High School is now being bled with leeches for another 6.5 headcount.
For students in their final four years before we expect them to head off to the college of their choice and represent Greenwich on a national stage, are we choosing to prepare them?
Not according to the various student body officers that spoke at the hearing.
Chair Mercanti-Anthony felt compelled to correct the record on public input, citing a November hearing plus last week’s after a speaker suggested public time was too limited or poorly scheduled.
The problem Doctor is that not only is time being limited for input regardless of November and December hearings, you folks aren’t listening.
Why are we cutting anyone?
The lack of depth in the debate leads to things like the town being mismanaged onto CBS news.
The bus parking issue has been talked about by parents and ignored by the First Selectman since the beginning of the school year.
Made it to CBS news?
Shocker.
How could a town like Greenwich get here:
https://www.cbsnews.com/
While we cut teachers, and park buses on the school lawn, our First Selectman oversees litigation against our Board of Education.
Maybe we should have a hearing and public comment on that? How many cuts at GHS would not be needed if we weren’t spending money suing ourselves?
So convoluted it has to be expressed with a double negative.
Drop the ongoing BOE litigation whose purpose has yet to be shared?
That would be in the spirit of the season.
Brian Raabe