I addressed the Dec. 6 special meeting of the Niles School Board. It was a strange experience for me because it was my first school board meeting as a private citizen after serving on the board for seven years. By the way, the board looks very much scarier from the perspective of a citizen than I thought we were while I was on the board. The following are my remarks:

There is one imminent issue about which I care very much. That issue is the selection of the next superintendent. You many never have to make such an important decision again while you serve on the board.

May I take a few minutes to offer my ideas about our next superintendent? What qualities should he or she have? What kind of a superintendent does Niles need? I think our next superintendent should:

• Be completely honest with the school board

• Recognize that he or she has only seven supervisors, the members of the board

• Lead the districts’ administrators and hold them accountable for implementing district policy

• Require principals to lead teachers and hold them accountable for the efficacy of their educational product

The theme of those four qualities of a superintendent is establishing accountability at each level in the district. You cannot set standards for the district if the lines of authority are unclear or not enforced. The district will never reach excellent outcomes if administrators and teachers are not accountable for their product. Standards without accountability are meaningless.

You may have already detected a military flavor to how I would run the district. I am guilty.

My only defense for offering that kind of leadership is that it works!

You cannot run a large organization by consensus. Leaders should respond to superiors not whom they lead. I’m not advocating picking someone to lead this district who refuses to listen to subordinates. Even the most autocratic military leader listens. But when that leader makes a decision, he or she expects that everyone will carry it out. When that leader detects that a subordinate refuses to carry out instructions, that leader must take steps to change that subordinate’s behavior or replace that subordinate.

All this can be done without table pounding, shouting or threats. I’ve seen it done.

In case you think what I’m saying is obvious, consider that each candidate for superintendent will have heard all about the unfortunate events of last spring. Please make it clear that only the board can guide the superintendent. He or she should listen to administrators and teachers, but he or she should not allow any of them to ignore him or her. If any administrator or teacher willfully tries to undercut the authority of the superintendent, that person will be dealt with according to established district policy and that you will support the superintendent completely.

Some or all of you may disagree with me completely. I urge to you consider the children of Niles. I would expect that administrators and teachers will be uneasy with a system of accountability.

Remember that the superintendent and the school board must do what’s best for the children and not necessarily what’s popular.

 

Michael Waldron is a retired lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army, who was born and raised in Niles. He previously served on the Niles Community School Board of Education. He can be reached at ml.waldron@sbcglobal.net.