Reply to APS School Board Chair Drama

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[quote=Anonymous]Message from Mary Kadera -

School Board Leadership Succession
 
I know this is not everyone's idea of a juicy "Memorial Day Kickoff To Summer" topic, but some questions have come up this week on social media and in other forums about succession on the school board. I'd like to respond to them rather than leave them unanswered. I am doing so in a personal capacity; these statements are not official positions of the board or of APS.

Every July, at the official beginning of our school division’s new fiscal year and school year, the School Board elects its Chair and Vice Chair. While there are no official rules that dictate who should be voted in, it has been the custom for the Vice Chair to move into the Chair role, and then for the School Board member “next in line” in terms of seniority to become Vice Chair. I’ll refer to this practice as “orderly succession” in the interest of brevity and clarity.

It is also normal for School Board members to discuss questions and concerns they may have about the change in leadership with the person who is likely to assume the role of Chair. This year, that would be me. And this year, the discussion has taken a little while longer than in the other two instances I’ve personally been involved with.

My wish is for all of us to move forward together with an open-hearted interpretation of this experience: namely that there was serious deliberation because we all care so deeply about this community, its schools, the people who teach and love our children, and the children of Arlington.

My second wish (if I get two) is that we reaffirm the value of orderly succession as a general operating practice. While some may point out that this practice has a few flaws, I believe its benefits greatly outweigh those flaws. The School Board is a part-time job. Its members and this community cannot afford the distraction and potential divisiveness that the alternatives to orderly succession would present. This body has serious business to do, and that’s what you elected us to focus on.

Each Chair will bring particular strengths and something of their authentic self to the role, which means by definition we won’t all do the job the same way. To my mind, this is a good thing for our community. We learn from seeing what others try. Not one of us will do it perfectly. We risk it anyway. This is what we encourage our students to do every day.

I am proud to share that I intend to be your next School Board Chair and I am incredibly grateful that I will have the good counsel of Bethany Zecher Sutton in the role of Vice Chair. Bethany has always been and continues to be a colleague I count on for thoughtful dialogue, a nuanced understanding of equity, and an appreciation of the many ways we can cultivate and measure academic success. I know you’ve seen those qualities in her, too. We are focused on moving forward and tackling the serious work in front of us, which to my mind, as always, yields its best result when we have you alongside us.[/quote]

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