Opinion: “I think communication was obviously lacking.”

“I think communication was obviously lacking” was what Raquel Granger said in the article published in The Daily Herald on July 17, 2014, which recapped the long awaited meeting between the Saba Educational Board and the Saba Parent Association.  I think many of us would agree that communication was lacking.  No doubt about it, but it’s also obvious that the board still has not learned any lessons about communicating. After weeks of criticism by Sabans about how the board conducted itself and the subsequent backlash when several teachers and the director’s contracts were not renewed and the board still is not communicating.

One of the past issues is that teachers have not been present on the first day of school. Are all teachers going to be here on August 18, 2014, the first day of school?  The reason why I ask the question is because teachers were told to be here for an 8 am meeting today, August 8, 2014, and at least two are missing in action. So doesn’t it make sense to share with Sabans the status of things if to do nothing more than to take speculation out of the air?

I think the questions that parents are asking are clear and requires very little of the board than to be transparent.

• Who are the new teachers by subject and what are their qualifications?
• Who is the new director and what are his or her qualifications?

There have been rumor whirling around for several weeks that the new director is someone that the community knows and loves. If it’s true then tell us and let us all congratulate the individual.  If it’s someone else then by all means tell us who will fill this very important role in the community. Silence breeds rumors and rumors have a tendency to expand and take on a life of their own however not sharing the information continues to reinforce everyone’s view of the board as an entity that is arrogant, unconcerned and abusive to its staff.

Friends of the Parents at SCS