District 150 teachers are on the brink of a strike, and negotiations don’t appear to be moving very quickly. Yet the Journal Star mentions in passing (emphasis mine), “[Superintendent] Hinton, who did not attend the negotiations, said both sides seemed to be understanding each other better after Friday’s talks.”
Why isn’t Hinton attending the negotiations? According to the District 150 Board of Education Policy Manual the first thing on the list under “Powers and Duties” for the superintendent is that he shall “attend all meetings of the Board, shall be a member of all committees, and shall attend all meetings of the same, except when his or her own appointment, performance, contract, or salary are being considered.”
Perhaps there is a really good explanation, but the paper doesn’t state what it is. I know the guy isn’t going to attend every meeting in the world, but wouldn’t you think that, of all meetings, these might be some of the most important ones for him to attend?
Time doesn’t appear to be an issue. He had time to draft an undated letter to the teachers with a line some have interpreted as a veiled threat (“options have been prepared for our families in the event of a work stoppage”) and another line that is a bald-faced lie (“two school buildings were closed this year”; Blaine-Sumner was not closed, but simply repurposed for administrative use).
It’s just another credibility gap. Of course, that isn’t the only one in these negotiations. I’ll just mention again, in case anyone has forgotten, Associate Superintendents Cindy Fischer and Herschel Hannah are budgeted to receive raises totaling approximately $60,000 between the two of them. These are positions that are completely unnecessary in the first place. They were created to replace Kay Royster on an interim basis until a new full-time superintendent could be found. Then they stuck around after Hinton was hired to give him time to be certified. Then they were made permanent. And now these huge salary raises are scheduled for same year they want a “hard freeze” on teacher salaries.
And what about the $877,000 in premature property acquisition adjacent to Glen Oak Park that the school board authorized this year? The Park Board has yet to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the school district on sharing park land for a new school there — although that meeting is coming up next Wednesday (Dec. 13).
One will pardon the teachers for being skeptical of Hinton’s claim: “While we have taken serious steps to address the deficit, we have remained focused on our core business — student achievement.”
If you’re interested in reading all of Hinton’s letter, a PDF version of it is available on Clare Jellick’s Education Blog, and the text can be seen here by clicking the “Show More” link below.