And in Conclusion.

And so the story goes…


There was never an “ending” to this parable as is the case with our District. There are simply “understandings”that we come away with when all is said and done.

The Victim in this story represents the students, parents, teachers, and community – running out of time and facing the uncertainty of a sound future.

The Officer is the consciousness of the community/stakeholders – wanting to do the right thing, willing to do the right thing and asking questions in search of the truth.

The Perp – Our District Administration/BOE – staying within the letter of the law but carelessly and callously disregarding the well-being of the ENTIRE community as they make and take decisions with a myopic view and understanding of the impact it will have on the WHOLE.

The Witnesses are those members of this community who continue to sit on the sidelines, get feed information third and fourth hand and despite their lack of involvement will not and cannot escape the emotional and economic cost of the current state of our school district.

And finally – the birthday cake represents all the issues and problems our school community currently faces. All dressed up it is easily admired, but expose the inner workings and you’ve got a mess on your hands!

The emotional ebb and flow you experienced in reading this story is exactly what I and many others experience day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month and year-to-year while navigating, engaging and trying to improve this school district.

Expecting answers or any semblance of rationale at any point along this journey is just not practical because at every turn there will be introduced new facts, new figures, new people and yes NEW rules for which it is virtually impossible to “conclude” anything.

The best we can hope for is an “UNDERSTANDING”, not even agreement. And with that -- it is up to the individual to decide the next move and it will take WISDOM and COURAGE.

So as we continue this discourse of educational reengineering in the city of Plainfield – know that we don’t have to settle because we are afraid of what might happen, or we are ashamed at what has happen, nor do we need to be pacified by a few good deeds. The expectation should be for intellectual, moral and ethical GREATEST from the top down – across – sideways and walking up to the graduation podium!