Fayette County schools are in a tailspin. What can be done to pull them out of it?
It’s fair to say that the Fayette County school district is in a tailspin right now.
Thanks to COVID-19, it’s lost more than 700 students whose parents are tired of online school, which will soon enough affect its bottom line in funding. In the middle of fights over how and when to return to school, Superintendent Manny Caulk died, leaving the district rudderless. And now there’s been a total upheaval on the school board, putting in charge two experienced educators who nonetheless have little experience with running a large school district or managing the kind of factional politics that might make Machiavelli weep.
In the midst of this, our children are back to zoning on Zoom, if they are even there, falling behind in ways few can afford to do. Oh and the board needs to hire a superintendent, some superman or woman who can manage all these problems.
The issues go deep and broad, including the fact that the majority minority student body is now being led by an all-white school board.
On the other hand, there are a lot of people more interested in our school system than ever before. There are the Let Them Learn folks, many of whom, judging from their social media posts, now parse every word from every school board meeting to see what it means to the hope of returning to school. There is the Support Our Schools faction that recounts numerous uplifting stories about our virtual experiences.
There are people like Penny Christian, PTA 16th District president, anxiously watching to make sure Caulk’s reforms for students of color aren’t undone or Jessica Hiler, looking out for teachers from her perch as head of the Fayette County Education Association.
“To move move forward, we need to work together and understand all of our kids are being impacted,” Christian said. “So we hold the board accountable. We understand we may not accept their decisions, but we always push for transparency, communication and accountability.”
I talk to lots of people about schools a lot, both as a parent and as a journalist. For what it’s worth, here’s my advice moving forward:
Given past problems, the district needs to be very clear about its reopening plans. If, as many suspect, they are running out the clock until teachers and staff are vaccinated, then say so. While I wish they’d taken a more creative approach to getting some kids back in school, the vaccination argument is a reasonable one. Just don’t keep getting our hopes up, only to dash them. Don’t worry about too many emails to parents; in the past the problem has been too few. District officials, like acting Superintendent Marlene Helm, need to go on TV and write editorials to tell us why choices are being made the way they are.
(At the same time, I sure hope all the people complaining about virtual schools are doing everything they can to bring down runaway infection rates, like social distancing, wearing masks and not getting together in large groups.)
The board needs to make very very clear that it understands that its lack of diversity brings a lack of perspective and tell us what they’re going to do to make sure that Fayette’s traditionally under-served children of color will get the same educational opportunities as their white peers.
The board needs to understand that it is the boss of the superintendent, not the other way around. “Too often the board sits around and waits to be told what to do by the superintendent and not the other way around,” former board member Amanda Ferguson told me.
New board chair Tyler Murphy has been good at asking questions and good at accountability, but he has to do more than stir things up now that he’s in charge. He has to build consensus to move the district forward.
As for parents, what if we acted as interested in schools when they were open as we do when they’re closed? How many times did you watch a school board meeting pre-pandemic? Volunteer at your child’s school? Think about running for school board? Now we understand exactly how important they are, and maybe we value them and the people who work in them more than we did before. Let’s remember that moving forward.
Todd Burus, one of the facilitators of Let Them Learn, said he thinks many of the more than 3,000 members of his group will stay interested.
“I think the people who have been more engaged will stay more engaged,” he said. “They realize how important it is, they realize how bad it is downtown at central office.”
OK, that’s not exactly what I meant, but I guess that’s where the accountability comes in. One thing is certain. Many parents now realize exactly how hard teaching is, because they’ve had to do it themselves. They know how important our schools are. Let’s remember when we’re out of this crisis.
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 10:45 AM.
