Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140058
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But some educators say the four items the board agreed upon at a lengthy, often frustrating weekend retreat in Charlottesville are shallow solutions that may not improve communications at all.
The adoption of the four items came in response to a divisionwide morale survey released in May that revealed widespread dissatisfaction with Superintendent Herman Bartlett as well as the School Board. School employees indicated that they believe no one listens to their suggestions, and that they are afraid to be too vocal against the administration for fear of losing their jobs. To make matters worse, the School Board then failed to act on the results of the survey until the retreat, drawing sharp criticism from members of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs.
In response to the survey, the board decided:
To hold a series of forums where teachers could publicly express their concerns and fears
To require board members to visit schools, teachers and principals more often
To put a suggestion box in each school to take anonymous complaints or comments
To consider conducting another morale survey later in the year.
Wayne Worner, the Virginia Tech consultant who designed and conducted the survey, said the document was never meant to be an evaluation of the School Board or the superintendent.
"This [survey] has somehow become the defining school performance record and it was not meant to do that," Worner said.
Worner also added that the results of the morale survey were not much different than an identical survey in 1990 when Harold Dodge was superintendent.
Regardless of what it was meant to be, argued board members Annette Perkins and Bob Goncz, the perception of teachers and the public is that the survey is an evaluation, and it must not be ignored.
"I don't know why we're making such a separation between what an evaluation is and what a survey is," Perkins said. "The bottom line is the perception people have and we must change, change our behavior so that perception will change."
Board member Dick Edwards was the first to propose a fix by suggesting the open forum for teachers.
"These are the professionals down in the pits who know education," Edwards said. "We need a system fix to allow teacher input on a broad range of things.
"A [quarterly] forum with Montgomery County School employees with an open agenda would allow that communication. If at the end of a year's time, the teachers feel they have not been represented, then we can say, 'guess what, don't come to us and complain because you had your chance.'"
Board member Barry Worth disagreed, saying that if teachers are afraid of the administration, then none of them would be willing to stand up and discuss their concerns. Instead, Worth urged suggestion boxes for each school so that teachers could leave anonymous questions and comments.
"The whole reason teachers are not talking now is because they feel they can't," said Regina Smith in an interview Tuesday. Smith, the president of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, said the lack of trust between teachers, the School Board and the superintendent is the real problem.
"Until the School Board addresses that issue, and learns how to hold that trust, they can hold all the forums they want and no one will come," she added.
B.J. Mullins, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, agreed.
"It concerns me to see that some board members think [a forum] will solve the problem," she said Tuesday. "I am very supportive of any individual standing before a group to speak on an issue, but there are teachers who feel it is a real risk to do that. I think an open forum is just not an answer."
A third suggestion, made by Elliston representative Becky Raines, is for board members to visit the schools, meet with the teachers and principals and let the public know that School Board members are open to input.
A frustrated Perkins agreed with Raines' suggestion, but insisted that the crux of the entire communications problem is the behavior of the board and the superintendent, and the subjective feelings school employees develop when trying to make suggestions.
"We've skirted the whole issue here. We haven't discussed any of what we had on the agenda. We have come up with some ideas, but these ideas don't really address the problems head-on," she said. "We need to talk more about behavior, and to really address the way we react toward people, and the way they react to us."
Finally, the board tried to reach a consensus on whether it would conduct another survey later in the year, but could not agree. Some believed it would be too soon to measure the success of the public forum, suggestion boxes and school visitations, while others thought it might be useful to have the additional information.
"I was disappointed that the School Board decided not to do another survey anytime soon," Mullins said. "It was agreed before that the survey would be conducted routinely and it should not be put off for another year."
by CNB