For The St. Louis American
A new chapter in the educational history of Normandy public schools has now begun. The 24 communities that still comprise the new Normandy Schools Collaborative must take note of the lessons from the past and look energetically to the future.
There are some who may desire to find the entity or persons to blame for the current situation and inadvertently stay stuck in the past. We must move forward while understanding the past so that we will not relive it.
We should also ascertain whether or not the rights of citizens of the community were dismissed when almost $10 million in reserve funding was sent to other districts and then not entirely spent on the children from Normandy. Our focus, however, must not waver from the future.
If our children are to be successful today, tomorrow and in the future, here are the two things I suggest occur.
Everyone, past and current, involved in getting us to this point must stand in your own truth about your role in the failure of the district – from the State Board of Education and DESE staff to local school board members, administrators, teachers, support staff, community partners, parents, family members and students.
And everyone above involved in the future success of the children of Normandy must ask one question about each and every decision made from this point forward: “Is it in the best interest of the children?”
When I ask each of us to stand in our own truth, I ask not for a public display of our rightness or our mistakes. Rather, I am asking for self-reflection that is honest and forthright for each of us to use in our own personal growth. Our self-assessments need not to be shared with the world, but instead used for our own growth.
Blaming others or patting ourselves on the back will not help our children. Using our energy to simply litigate the past will not help our children. We can, however, show our children that if our rights have been infringed upon, we must speak up and fight for ourselves and those around us.
Today, our lives are hectic, with little or no time for much of anything, let alone self-reflection. But failure to be honest with ourselves and strive to become better will simply lead to the same outcomes for our children, and that is simply not acceptable. I would like to challenge each of you to make the time to reflect on the past and the future and to understand your role in helping the children of our community be successful.
Is it in the best interest of children? This seems like a straightforward question, but it’s not easily answered by all involved. We cannot have those in charge, no matter where they stand, to allow politics, expediency, self-preservation or apathy to stand in the way of what’s best for the children of our community. We cannot allow anyone involved to put anything but our children’s future first in their decision-making.
We understand the challenges ahead are daunting. And yet if we are going to succeed, we must work together – from the state and administration, to the teachers, parents, students and community partners. I mean honestly and truthfully work together.
This means we are in real relationships with real conversations that will be uncomfortable at times. And yet, doing so will lead to us all to be able to say, “Yes. The decisions I made were in the best interests of our children.”
After all, our children are our future.
Chris Krehmeyer is president and CEO of Beyond Housing.
