To the Editor:

Unlike Mr. French, I don’t recommended that you copy, paste, and send this letter off. Rather I ask that you read and consider: how we might collectively safeguard our children against the negative effects of low morale, in a time of high risk.

Dear Assemblyman Blankenbush,

Thank you for your attendance/interest in the plight of the Norwood-Norfiolk School District.

As I noted at the meeting on Thursday past, I have had a longstanding (15yrs) relationship with the Norwood-Norfolk School District, as a parent of students who attended the school. I shared with you and others at the table that when the opportunity to move my children to the Potsdam School District arose two years ago I took it...a move that both my children and I can not be happier for.

The issues that confront the Norwood-Norfolk School District are in many ways the same as all the surrounding schools. What marks a difference in the Norwood-Norfolk District are two issues of longstanding 1. persistent poor morale of faculty & staff 2. persistent poor performance.

In 2009 an outside consultant was hired by the school, given the good graces of the tax paying public, to have K-12 assessment completed which focused on vision and mission. Dr. Shafer incorporated input from a variety of constituents, producing an excellent report that included both findings and recommendations.

His findings identified poor morale, showed how the poor morale transitioned into poor performance for both faculty and students and assessed the source of the poor morale as ongoing conflict between the four top level administrators (superintendent and 3 principles).

His recommendations for moving forward (i.e. what needed to be implemented) were clear, measurable both in terms of processes and timeframes and very specific as to who was responsible (administration for implementing and broad of education for making sure it happened). To date (3 years later), none of this has been implemented.

The scenario I just painted does not represent a single incidence but rather “a persistent and chronic problem”. And, while I am well versed in the fact that small school districts commonly resort to outside help in identifying issues and areas of improvement, I feel strongly that it is this districts persistent inability to take that good advice/direction and implement it- as being grounds for serious restructuring. That Dr. Shafer so ad-aptly showed the connection between poor morale, poor performance and its root in administrative conflict (and incompetence of the broad in seeing change through) deeply resonates with myself and a number of other community members.

The faces you saw at Thursdays meeting represent the longstanding powers at be in this small community-respective of school issues. And, while I will tell you they are genuinely good-hearted individuals, they are also profoundly steeped in ways of thinking that lack the type of critical thinking necessary to re-imagine their school. In my opinion you would have been better off listening solely to students.

In my long course of interactions with this schools administration and broad I was shocked and saddened by their frequent characterization of students (how they talked about their student body) as, “haves and have nots”. As a parent and as a professional in the field of education I can tell you that the vocabulary of “haves and have nots” is a mindset and an arresting one at that.

Professionals working in the field of education talk about students in terms of economically disadvantaged peoples (or advantaged) and we do so for one very clear reason-it allows us to separate out the economic factor while continuing to recognize that when these students arrive at our door step they hold the following in common: their dreams of a future, a naturally inquisitive mind, and a very narrowly distributed G-factor (basic intelligence)...”this” being a mindset that sets the stage for a “can do” attitude and action...and it is what you see prevails in the Potsdam School District...

I commend your work on more equitable distribution of school aid and I hope for your support in making sure that restructuring of school districts focuses on quality (highly effective programs and people remain in tacked and properly supported) and not union bargaining tables or some arbitrary town line:)

Anne-Marie FitzGerald

Norwood