To the Editor:
What has been happening this summer in the Stamford Public Schools? After the June Board of Education regular meeting, everything went silent. Students, parents and teachers were blatantly put on hold. Although it is late in the game and the board refused to stop the new flexible high school schedule, change is still possible.
Read Between the Lines…
What good is Stamford Public School’s Vision 2025 when Stamford’s SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) ‘achievement’ scores continue to sink and I-Ready ‘skill’ scores remain low? To add to this concern, where is the 2024-2025 superintendent’s Board of Education evaluation? Oh, it was conveniently cancelled in June when the superintendent announced she would leave after fulfilling the last year of her 3-year contract (2025-2026). Then to muddy the water, the Board of Education president announced to the public—without a 9-member board vote—the superintendent would serve as the interim. So, to be clear, the BOE has no idea if our district’s learning goals were even accomplished by the only employee they supervise, and new initiatives are still being implemented next year?
Change Request #1 for the Board of Education: Please buy out the current superintendent from her 3-year contract (2023-2026) and hire an objective interim superintendent.
Change Request #2 for the Board of Education: Please put on hold all new initiatives being implemented across the district (2025-2026)… the incoming superintendent may want to use other strategies to solve achievement and skill growth concerns.
Building a vision is about accountability. With 23 schools, 57 administrators and 10 more positions being added this fall ($12-13M in total salaries), it is alarming that there continues to be a lack of targeted oversight—only 5/23 schools completed their Strategic Improvement Plans (SIPs) as of mid-July and some have not been updated since 2023. Even more disheartening, since 2019, four BOE presidents and almost all majority BOE members have consistently lacked policy and state law understanding. Why are SPS administrators allowed to be so lax with required progress updates? Why are administrative title changes, lateral moves, and after-the-fact discipline reports valued more than following the mandated Connecticut Code of Professional Responsibility for Administrators?
Change Request #3 for the Board of Education: Please hold all 23 building principals, directors, and coordinators accountable for completing their School Improvement Plans by August 1, 2025.
Excellence or Autocratic Leadership?
When the Board of Education president and central office leaders have little tolerance for stakeholder concerns and the well-being of all students, the truth eventually comes out. Using the role of board president as a bully pulpit or caucusing with only six majority party members is not acceptable—there are nine active members on the Board of Education who should be part of the decision-making process. If only the 10th member of the BOE, the mayor, would step forward and put her foot down, too. Instead, she remains quiet and enables this poor behavior. Educators, families and students (approximately 34,500 individuals) do not deserve this type of political abuse. With the lack of listening and consistent collaboration, district working conditions will continue to struggle under the weight of low morale and failure. This is not acceptable for Stamford, our taxpayers, our families, our educators and most important, our children.
Over a 6-year period, power and politics seem to have taken priority over teaching and learning. Policy, state law, ethics and professional codes need to be followed consistently. Elected officials, especially, should be setting the tone for excellence throughout the Stamford Public Schools. This is also vital for our future superintendent’s role in bringing success back to Stamford.
Please read between the lines…change is still possible. The next Board of Education regular meeting is this coming Tuesday, July 22, at the Government Center, 7 p.m.
Dr. Rebecca Hamman currently serves as a member of the Stamford, CT, Board of Education. She is a career educator (teacher & administrator) and has worked 11 years elementary and 15 years secondary. Her comments are her own, and do not represent the official views of the Board of Education or its committees.