6 thoughts on “LETTER: Lack of Participation & Info in Planning for Future of Town Schools is Worrisome

  1. Elodia …

    Thank you for this summary of the meeting and your concerns. I was one of the people who was interested but had competing commitments … so would very much appreciate the PowerPoint presentation and a summary of the “findings” and top issues identified.

    The facilitator’s response — at least as you describe it — to your simple requests is appalling, in my view. If the point of this forum is to generate public input, then those who attended (and those who did not) are entitled to a summary of what was learned. To me, it’s the simple step of “closing the loop” of communication and sharing.

    Equally important is the opportunity to spread the word and share the learning with the larger public — an opportunity that is completely missed if there is no effort to communicate with concerned constituencies. This seems at odds with what I understand to be a new priority by the School Committee for better communications with parents and the larger community.

    … Chuck

  2. I was a parent that also attended the meeting and agree with Elodia’s sediments. The lack of communication is troubling, frustrating and just plain wrong. Great solutions need input from all constituents. I fear that the end result will not be optimal given the input/participation and communication from the company we hired to ‘facilitate’ a solution, to our own School Committee enabling this lack of communication. This is a great opportunity to really pull in residents of all sorts to the table, to engage, inform and activate! I’m hoping that the School Committee and company hired are listening to the residents and will change the current climate in order to enable, inform and activate for a better Watertown. Please stop enabling status quo reactive and insular behavior! We don’t want another missed opportunity! How much are we paying for this?

  3. I will speak for myself, but would imagine stand for a broader group of parents who have several children in the school system and will NOT attend these meetings as it doesn’t fit into the already hectic schedules we lead. This does NOT mean we do not care and it also does NOT mean we don’t want a summary of the topics and concerns raised at these meetings. PLEASE SHARE WITH THE COMMINUTY AS WE ARE DEPENDENT ON THE COMMUNICATION ON THESE ISSUES>

  4. Dear Chuck, Watertown Mom, Mary Ann, and other concerned folks,
    Two more steering committee meetings have taken place. There are still no detailed agendas or handouts. Some minutes have been posted at the WPS site. Here is the link: https://sites.google.com/a/watertown.k12.ma.us/wps/sc/watertown-high-school-project.

    According to the the request for proposal the budget for this project is $50,000. I still can’t figure out who is leading the band and continue to be concerned at the low community turnout. Where are the teachers, the PTO groups, parents, taxpayers, etc. I know people are busy but how about some organized tag teams so that different people attend and report back to the community. The remaining meeting schedule as of now is:

    Tuesday July 19 6:00pm Steering Committee, Phillips School, 3rd floor
    Wednesday July 27 7:00pm Community Forum, High School Auditorium
    Wednesday August 3 6:00pm Steering Committee, Phillips School, 3rd floor
    Tuesday August 16 6:00pm Steering Committee, Phillips School, 3rd floor
    Wednesday. August 24. 6:00pm Community Forum, High School Auditorium

    Hope to see you at these meetings. Elodia

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