This is the article I submitted to the Cape Cod Times this morning for the “My View” section. Whether or not it is published remains to be seen, but the message is on point.
President Lincoln said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
Election season is upon us again and, in Yarmouth, I’m afraid that may well mean that neighbors will begin lobbing nasty condemnations at one another over differences of opinion about our school district.
I honestly believe that we all must want the same thing. Surely, we want a great school district with well-rounded opportunities for every child. Such a district would offer great academics, sports, music and other outlets for our children; would enhance property values for the taxpayers; would provide an inspiring workplace for teachers; would be a source of school pride for students and would provide parents with a sense of relief. For what more could anyone ask?
The problem appears to be a difference in opinion about how to achieve such a goal. One side espouses that such a bucolic situation already exists; the other side sees facts which absolutely prove this not to be so. The latter is chastised for being “negative” when they point to the facts of declining enrollment (a cost of $4 million of our tax dollars this year alone!) and worsening performance indicators (lowest MCAS scores of Cape schools, lower than state average matriculation rate to colleges, etc.) – to name a few.
Those who wish to see the areas of deficiency in our district acknowledged and addressed by those in a position to do something about them are summarily dismissed as “negative” and as “naysayers”. It is a fact that the district’s deficiencies are unequivocally driving our top achieving students to other schools.
This distraction tactic is unproductive, damaging and naive.
D-Y Schools have some wonderful things to offer our students (sports and music, for instance) and there is much for which to be proud. I implore parents to imagine what it would be like to know that our children are attending schools where they are getting the best well-rounded education offered on the Cape, or at the very least, an education that can readily compete with the best there is to offer. What would that do for our future, for our children, for our property values? How can anyone in good conscience deny THAT is a goal for which we should be proud to strive?
The problems our district face are not with the children (we are told that lower-income families’ children simply cannot perform), they are not with the teachers (who are mostly dedicated people who care for our children and are doing their best within the parameters set for them by an inept administration), they are not with the parents (who want the best education possible for their children – even if it means getting them to better districts), and they are not with the taxpayers (who want accountability and credibility). The problems in our district exist because the leadership refuses to acknowledge, admit and set forth a plan to fix the areas of deficiency. So much time is spent redacting data, editing facts and putting a spin on the truth that no one in a leadership position puts effort into fixing what is broken. So the downward trends continue and hurt EVERYONE involved: the children, parents, schools, taxpayers.
Calling voters negative who wish to see the deficiencies addressed, ignoring the problems, and simply repeating that everything is wonderful will not, does not make it so. We must be resolution-oriented, not blind to the challenges we face.
The current course of action is failing our children and our common goal. We must put the children of Yarmouth and Dennis first. It is time for measurable changes to address our district’s deficiencies – not more of the same.
DY Voice of Reason 
I think you are critical of Mrs. Woodbury and she deserves it, the numbers don’t lie and we have been mislead in the past. However, I think some steps have been made this year and last, that will start to turn things around. The first was the elimination of the Principal at Mattacheese and her new replacement. I think the entire building has changed due to this one move. I have no complaints with Mrs. Knell, she has done everything we have asked and then some. The communication between school and parents has increased 1000 fold since our first day there.
I think Mrs. Woodbury has finally seen that education is no longer a profession you go into expecting certain number of children, a fixed customer base so to speak. Those days are over. Parents and kids want to be sold on the schools they attend. We want proof that our kids will be taught at a high level, we want the schools to be open and information to flow back and forth. The STEM program at DY, is a good start and it’s what parents want. The middle level academy at Wixon is another example.
There are some things that still need to improve, the curriculum at the lower levels needs to become much more rigorous and standards within the schools and classes need to be much tighter. For example, some math teachers in 7th grade don’t assign homework, some do? Also why is the use of EDline optional? It’s not optional at Harwich or Cape Tech. I bet most people didn’t know that the Edline will send you an email every time the teachers update it. What a wonderful tool that nobody uses, but we pay for.
I see things this way and I make no apologies. I have certain expectations from my kids, their teachers and the administrations. I have no allegiance to any school except the best school for my kids, should anything drop off in quality I would not hesitate to switch my kids to another school with a 20 mile radius of my home. This is the way of education, and the sooner all of the people who work at the schools understands this the more likely they are to keep their jobs.
Some of the issues I take with some of the things that are being done to improve the district are (1) I don’t know how the district gets away with focusing resources on just one group of kids (the STEM program) when there are classes who started this year with no textbooks (which I have heard happened from various teachers); (2) coming up with programs and renaming Wixon an “academy” to make it appear more desirable isn’t substantive. It can’t just be about “selling” our district. The district will sell itself if they will just improve the curriculum, properly and appropriately assess the programs being put in place to accurately determine the success of programs (which is NEVER done in this district – Woodbury comes up with things that she thinks will look good to the public, pushes them and then never follows up to see if they are actually effective).
The curriculum being offered at all grades is terribly deficient in my opinion and cannot begin to compete with surrounding schools. Woodbury’s supporters like to espouse this nonsense about all the AP courses that are available (but the very vast majority are available in “virtual” format only – and that is not a legitimate way to compete with actual classes that are available at other schools).
I completely agree about EDline. I utilized it to some extent and enjoyed having it as a resource. However, were it not for having read something obscure in one of the piles of materials I received at the beginning of a school year, I’d never have known it existed.
I make no apologies for being critical of Woodbury. I am more critical and find it even more appalling that our current school committee signed a six-year contract with her when all of the information available about her performance evidences her profound ineffectiveness as a superintendent. Until she is no longer at the helm or until we have a school committee who will hold her feet to the fire and demand results and a real, legitimate plan for turn-around (not just another way to spin the facts to create yet another false illusion of improvement), this district will continue to experience worsening difficulties.
As for replacing the Mattacheese principal, I believe that there are no shortage of ineffective administrators in this district. I am no fan of Ken Jenks and have heard that sentiment echoed by teachers and parents alike. I had a couple of opportunities to interact with Mrs. Knell and found her to be professional and seemingly competent. She certainly appeared to me to be far more proactive than Ken Jenks ever thought of being.
Primarily, I am just tired of being dismissed as just being “negative” because I expect my elected officials to actually do their jobs and because I want to see our property values NOT being severely impacted by the poor school district. Our district pays the fifth highest amount in school choice tuition in the state!!! That is horrendous. And those are flat dollar amounts – not percentages per student. We are just barely behind Springfield and Worcester, for crying out loud and those are huge districts!
I have one child at Mattacheese and one at St. Pius, neither school is perfect which is why I have two kids at separate schools. I understand your frustration with a six year deal, but there is not much we can do about it at this point.
I can’t speak about what happens at DY but I have spoken with Mr. Jenks several times and he has always answered my questions adequately. My child is one that may attend DY in 8th grade and I don’t leave a stone unturned.
In regards to the curriculum it seems to me that the teachers are allowed great leeway which is why there are such disparities between same grade class rooms. The STEM program basically boils down to one extra class per trimester in Math, Science, Engineering or Technology. It’s does not stray much from the standard 8th grade curriculum. It is portrayed as a more rigorous program but it’s only as rigorous as the teachers make it, there is no written mandate to challenge the children. It is clear that the staff is making every effort to ensure that the current 7th graders expect the STEM program to be harder academically, which in my opinion, is being done to discourage certain students from applying. They have also changed the name on the application to Accelerated Program as opposed to STEM. I suspect the same thing is being done with the Wixon Academy. Whether this is right or wrong does not matter to me. The only thing that matters to me and many parents is how will this benefit my child? If the DY district does not take action and do things such as the STEM program and the Wixon Academy the migration is certain to intensify.
My son graduated last year, so my interests are broader at this point. I think you and I agree far more than we disagree. I respect your involvement and that your family makes the appropriate decisions to provide the best educations for each of your children.
Many families are disparaged for pulling their children out of the district and I find this horribly offensive. I absolutely do not blame any parent for seeking the best education for their child, wherever that may be.
One of the things which I find very distasteful and dishonest is what I feel is the Superintendent putting “lipstick on a pig” in order to sell the schools in the public eye. The performance indicators are not improving and they haven’t for the six years she has been here. Every year, they are worse and the public listens to her vacillate between picking out only a small portion of data to support saying that things have improved and blaming low-income families for our low indicators! She has no credibility.
I’ve certainly made no secret about how I feel about Woodbury, but the truth is that the only way we can make any changes is to require the School Committee to do their job and hold her feet to the fire. However, all but one refuses to admit there is any problem whatsoever!
It’s frustrating for sure. For those parents (albeit a very small minority) who are reaping any benefits for these supposed new programs – I am happy for them. The truth is that we have so few kids left at the high school that SOMETHING had to be done to take up space and it sure sounds like a novel and wonderful concept to bring (and segregate) the best 8th grade students there for this supposed special academic program. I sure wouldn’t want to be the parent of a kid who was left behind. And how will it be for those kids to join back up next year with their prior (but very special) classmates next year?
Well done, Susan; your “My View” was published in today’s Cape Cod Times! It couldn’t be any more timely and exquisite.
It would be nice to think that perhaps everyone can see and understand that wanting to see deficiencies addressed so that our schools are better all-around does not mean and should not be summarily dismissed as just being “negative”. It truly is a small-minded and elementary distraction ploy which furthers no one’s interests other than those responsible for the deficiencies in the first place.