BURKEonBOARD

(Oct. 11, 2008) – It has been five days since I had coffee with ISD 192’s assistant superintendent for education services, Dr. Christine Weymouth last Monday morning. I said I would get back with a recording of that conversation and I haven’t. About that in a second.

At our coffee, Dr. Christine Weymouth brought with her district finance director Jeff Priess and HR director Linda Goers. I was happy they joined. I’ve raised many questions about district finances and questioned the executive level staffing in Weymouth’s Department of Teaching and Learning, so I suspect that is why Goers was along.

Now about the recording of our conversation. There is no recording.

Dr. Weymouth asked that our conversation not be recorded. “I…wish that we could have privacy in our conversation without recordings. This would be valuable to me as trust is central to my ability to communicate effectively with those I work with,” Dr. Weymouth wrote to me before our meeting as her reason not to record the conversation. We started our conversation Monday morning on that subject of trust.

I said to her and the other two, “I don’t understand how a private conversation about public education and public policy promotes trust. That is exactly what’s wrong with this school district and this town,” I said. “Too many people want to do the public’s business in private. Then they wonder why they don’t have the public’s trust and support.”

Which elicited a comment from Jeff Priess that the district’s trust problem was caused by me and others like me. Not the first time I’d heard such sentiments expressed. Board member Tim Weyandt said last month, at a school board meeting with a public relations consultant, that the district’s image problems were because of a “lyin’ PR hack,” which I’m pretty sure was a reference to me.

Just goes to show you how one set of facts can lead to different interpretations. I think the district’s image problems are caused by the district.

As many of you know, I am a public relations practitioner, a profession held in co-equal esteem with ambulance-chasing lawyers, used car salesmen and Congress. Nonetheless, I tend to see the world through glasses colored by my experience. For me, all problems are communications problems. Of course, they’re not, but most problems can be made better or worse with good communications or bad communications.

The way I look at this district and the issues it has with trust and credibility, it comes down to some bad (in my opinion), expensive decisions that have been taken over the past few years, compounded by unskilled and disingenuous communications. The goal has to be, not to “spin” the situation, but to explain the situation in a substantive way, even if it acknowledges mistakes or that things didn’t turn out as planned. And, contrary to Jack Nicholson’s character in “A Few Good Men,” there must be a presumption that we can handle the truth.

The good news for the school district is that they are in an excellent position to win back the trust of their constituency. At no time since I’ve lived here (2002) has the public paid closer attention to school district issues. That means that district leaders and the board can have an easier time getting their message heard if they decide to start being as frank and forthright as possible. It’s amazing how understanding people can be if they don’t feel manipulated. They might not always agree with your solutions, but at least they may come to trust the messenger. That, in my opinion, is not the case now.

That’s how I see it. That’s what I told my fellow coffee klatchers Monday morning. We talked about a lot of other things last Monday, too, but I suppose I would be untrustworthy to relate those conversations, so, instead you get my little treatise on trust and ISD 192.

Maybe you see it a different way. If you do, let me know. Send me a note at tim@burke4board.com. I don’t mind if people agree with me, but I get more from folks who write thoughtfully with different opinions and ideas. And let me know if you mind me sharing your ideas here with our readers. The offer is open to anyone who cares about our schools, including school district honchos.