Statement from the Board
Greetings Community Members,
We would like to address some of the events from this past week. There is currently a non-functional relationship between our school board and our School Director, Mr. Bissey. This situation is not good for the school, including all of its stakeholders, and given other concerns with his performance and willingness to collaborate, we considered dismissing Mr. Bissey at our regularly scheduled board meeting.
We would first like to state that at the meeting, one of our board members made a comment that a faculty member “didn’t matter.” That comment was unconstructive and hurtful, and it did not reflect the feelings of the board, nor does it reflect the values of our school. On behalf of the school board, we apologize for that inappropriate comment. The board member who spoke it chose to resign, so we do not feel that will happen ever again.
There is a time and a place for all conversations, and we are happy to have dialogue with anyone, in the proper setting. The purpose of a public board meeting is to conduct board business. Boards often offer a Public Comment period, and we did so as well. The purpose of that session is to be heard, not to engage in dialogue. Once the board discussion topics begin, public comment is no longer appropriate, as it distracts from board business. We anticipated that we might have a contentious meeting, and sought OSBA guidance on how best to manage the meeting, which included stating some ground rules. Those ground rules were not followed. As tensions rose, it became quite difficult to maintain order and continue with business. We have heard that many people felt disrespected in that process, and we are sorry to hear that, as that was not our intention. We apologize for any ill will that created. Over the course of the pandemic, we have probably all heard of school board meetings that become unruly, and we simply don’t desire nor have the resources to excuse people from the meeting. If we cannot conduct our business and have rules of order followed, our only other option is to adjourn the meeting, which doesn’t solve problems, it only prolongs them.
The meeting itself was not a good reflection of Madrone Trail, we hope we can all agree on that. After the meeting, Lexie, Cori, Gesine, Katie, and Erik ended up chatting together for over an hour. The conversation was civil and constructive, and it was everything the regular meeting should have been. It was people sharing their perspective, listening, and attempting to find common ground. We greatly appreciate Lexie and Cori taking the time to speak with us, and we look forward to working with anyone who would like to work with us in that manner. We hope that begins a small foundation from which to build back trust and dialogue in this school.
We understand the tension and stress has been high as the pandemic drags on. Despite lockdowns and walkouts across the country, our school has remained relatively immune to such distractions, and resilient as we adapt to constantly changing times. We believe this is a credit to our community: to our students, parents, and our amazing staff. Most of us have kids in the school, so we see and appreciate the work being done by the faculty every day. One of our “kids” is actually a teacher at Madrone, which provides additional insights and appreciation into the work they all do. As it was mentioned during our meeting, we are conducting interviews of last year’s 8th grade parents, and it is uplifting to hear the stories of the lasting impact our teachers have had on our students, and we look forward to sharing those with you! We would all love the opportunity to support the faculty more, but that has been difficult for us to accomplish with this current impasse.
We understand the community felt blindsided by these developments this week, which is understandable. We heard from you that you would like more input into these critical decisions, and the fear of the unknown “what next…?” scenarios is terrifying. We hear you loud and clear, and we would like to address some of these concerns, as best we can.
Starting with the last issue first, which is contingency planning and “what next…?” We were absolutely thinking about the needs of the school, staff and students over the last couple months, and coming up with ideas and initiatives to ensure critical operations continue to function. We know this was a significant decision, and we did not consider it lightly. It was not sudden, although it was accelerated by events outside our control. We understand that many people wanted to know if we had plans, and why we had not solicited their opinions. Our actions were guided by the belief that if we began talking with key people about “what next…?” scenarios, that would have undermined Mr. Bissey and his ability to do his job. We did not want that, and we would not undermine the director of this school like that, no matter what challenges we were facing. At this moment, we don’t know how to reconcile the competing interests of discretion and giving people advance notice, but we recognize the value of both goals, and we hope you do too.
We also heard that the various stakeholders in the school want more input into these decisions. This is completely understandable. The board serves an important role in ensuring accountability at the school. It is the desk where “the buck stops here.” The really tough decisions and issues end up with us. These include issues with students, staff, parents, and other members of the community. We may acquire knowledge of the school and staff and students that is privileged, confidential, or otherwise illegal to share with others. This knowledge informs our decision-making in ways that we cannot always share with the larger stakeholders of the community. Even in a meeting to consider the dismissal of a director, we must use discretion in what we are able to share. This is another area where competing interests that are independently good may not be reconcilable. But we are always open to hear new and creative ideas.
We have heard your show of support for Mr. Bissey, and descriptions of his many positive qualities and achievements. To those points, we have nothing to argue, and we never have. The reasons he is well supported and the concerns we have are not mutually exclusive. Our concerns are not a matter of bruised egos. We hear clearly a vocal majority of support amongst staff and parents, but not everyone has felt that way, and our job is to look out for those people too. Our job is to consider not only what has happened, but what could happen again. These are not just our concerns, they are concerns raised by staff, and they deserve to be considered as well. If even a few faculty members do not feel supported, our students will not get the best education we can offer them.
We will continue to work towards a goal that we feel is in the best interest of the school. We are listening to your concerns, and we are considering them. Ultimately, as stated in our meeting, we are looking for people who want to work with us. We are willing to work with anyone who can have civil, constructive dialogue, with a sense of common purpose, including staff, parents, and even Mr. Bissey. This is what community is built on. We are aware of two instances in the past where significant numbers of board members were ‘run out of town,’ and those events almost killed the school. If we have no board, we have no school, and everyone loses. Especially the students. Many of us joined the board after one such event, with a commitment to provide stability to the school, and not run when the going gets tough. We are capable of self-reflection, and willing to admit mistakes. We look forward to continuing to work with you all constructively to make the school a better place for our students and staff.
PS: All our board meetings are noticed and posted on the calendar on our school website. Agendas are required to be posted with 24-hours’ notice, which we always follow, and we strive to post them 48 hours in advance.