I have seen this post several times and I so appreciate the thoughts behind this message.
To be totally transparent, the things mentioned in this post are what we signed up for; we know there will be angry folks out there regardless of the decisions we make. Have school on a snowy day or don’t. Cut a program or keep a program. Build a new building or keep the old buildings. Provide services to a student who struggles with behavior or expel that student. Include students with disabilities or provide services in segregated classrooms. Fire the coach or keep the coach.
We are used to, and expect to, make decisions based on what is best for students and we know that the decisions we make will not make everybody happy.
But, this is a whole new arena of decision making for school administrators and school boards. This isn’t about making someone happy or unhappy, this is about making decisions that are directly tied to the health and safety of our students and our families and our staff and our community members.
As a school administrator in a large district, it is agonizing every day to try and choose from what are often a list of pretty bad options. What we need to do to start up school and keep everyone safe is a task that appears to be, quite frankly, undoable at times. But, we also know that we HAVE to get to a place where children are learning and are both emotionally and physically safe. And, that is ALL children, from our most medically fragile students to our students who want and need to engage in activities and learning opportunities that are well beyond what can be offered via a computer screen to our students who may have significant learning disabilities that require many, many services from multiple providers.
I appreciate the kind thoughts and words and especially appreciate the compassion encompassed in this post. I have often felt unmoored within this crisis and it is the compassion and empathy we give and receive that anchors me again and again and I am so grateful.
