At last night’s school board meeting, the board voted to approve the attached list of new principals. Sadly the bureaucracy bypassed parental, teacher and local staff input as per policy. Chalk this up as another “The Central Office Knows What is Best”. 

This is the text of a letter I submitted to the board. Supporting documentation appears in the PDF version of the letter:

6 May 2014

HAND DELIVERED
Kristi Swett, President
Salt Lake City School Board
2256 South King Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84109

Re: Flawed Principal Selection Process

 Dear President Swett,

I am voting against the May 6, 2014, Human Resources Board Report,[1] because I believe that the names recommended as new principals were selected in violation of the school district’s tenants of shared governance.[2] Any attempts on my part, over the past three weeks, to obtain clarification from the superintendent have been met with silence.[3]

Furthermore, I believe that the process utilized to bring these names forth, omitted school board approval[4] and was in violation of SLASA Written Understanding[5] and SLTA Written Agreement[6].

Moreover, the current selection process was conducted in a manner that robbed the parents, teachers, school staff and local community members of their critical role in helping to choose the most effective leader[7] for their neighborhood school.[8]

I would betray the trust my neighbors placed in me, if I become complicit in excluding our local governing councils from what should have been a collaborative process. I cannot in good conscious offer an affirmative vote for this report.

Shalom,

J. Michael Clára
Board Member

Enclosures (7)

cc: Proceedings of the May 6, 2014, Board of Education Meeting

Link: PDF Version with attachments