[Editor’s Note: Mr. LaRose, in his fourth month as the new Superintendent, sent the following message of the season to all members of the School District staff.]
Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. – Henry Van Dyke
Dear CCUSD Family,
Thank you.
As we begin the season of thanksgiving, we would like to offer a shared and sincere expression of gratitude for your daily service to our students and your CCUSD colleagues! Every day the magic of learning and growing is made possible by your work. Some of us may have direct interaction with our wonderful CCUSD students, while others of us are a bit removed from that special, intimate experience. Yet one thing is for certain – learning would not occur were it not for the role you play! From purchasing to transportation; from food service to classroom instruction; from human resources to coaches and clubs; from classified to certified to management – this is the US in CCUSD!
Earlier this year we began visiting to discuss our shared vision for a real partnership amongst all members of the CCUSD family. Together we decided to attend a 2-day institute where the emphasis would be on developing a “working partnership where educational colleagues work together so that students can learn and be successful.” This encouraging statement was included in the promotional language for the West Coast Labor Management Institute we attended as a team. The Institute itself was a great example of a partnership in action, as it was co-sponsored by the ABC Unified School District and the ABC Federation of Teachers.
Our two days together were truly productive and have provided the foundation for continued cooperation and collaboration!
The CCUSD team included our union leaders –Dave Mielke, Debbie Hamme, Audrey Stephens – as well as District and Board leadership, Leslie Lockhart, Dave LaRose and Nancy Goldberg. In addition to spending time together during group presentations and break-out sessions, we also spent several hours together sharing about the great things that make us a family in CCUSD. We also openly shared topics and issues that have hurt trust and divided our family in the recent past. Throughout our honest conversations, we were quick to realize our common interest – the goal of creating a true partnership based on shared interests, values and beliefs. We used the term “ALL” repeatedly in our discussions, and we all agreed – “Success for ALL Takes Us ALL!”
Dave Mielke, who brought the training to our attention, said: Third time's a charm. Our push to create more collaborative labor/management relationships here started with us reaching out to Myrna Rivera Cote, started again with Patti Jaffe and is starting yet again with Dave LaRose. I've told Dave he's not allowed to go anywhere until we get this done! The research is clear: Districts with close relationships between the union and management see significant gains in student achievement more than those without those close relationships. What else do we need to know?
Audrey Stephens shared the following reflection: “As an early childhood person, I have always believed in the importance of building classrooms and programs around a central idea of student success and that we can find success in every student. This is done by embracing a holistic, constructivist approach around student learning, where everyone, students, parents, all staff, work together to ensure every student’s success. When I heard one of the presenters at the West Coast Labor Management Institute state: “Conflict makes good stories, Collaboration makes good schools,” I was wholeheartedly sold on the fact that CCUSD must engage in partnership reform, centered around student success.”
Dave LaRose, the new guy, shared the following with our group: “I believe deeply that high levels of organizational trust are essential to student and staff success. Working as true partners creates a genuinely positive, fun, engaging and hopeful place to both work and learn. As challenging, meaningful, demanding and rewarding as our work is, we need to be able to seek solutions as partners, trust each other, and celebrate together!”
Debbie Hamme, after our second day together, stated: “ This was an incredible experience that proved what can be accomplished when stakeholders work together. I was excited to see all of the positives that resulted from our own break-out session and look forward to a new spirit of collaboration and mutual respect. Our superintendent deserves a special thank you. His skillful facilitation of our discussions led to the discovery of the infinite possibilities that await us and the students of our district.”
Nancy Goldberg, our Board member representative, concurred: “Observing the trust and kindness that our team exhibited at the recent ABC Labor Management Institute, I marvel at their sensitive interaction, cooperation and genuine attempts to change and improve. Our district team rapport will be strengthened and negotiations will certainly improve with this approach.”
Leslie Lockhart observed: I had heard many wonderful things about the labor management partnership that the ABC Unified School District has developed with their Federation of Teachers . I was privileged to see it in action when I attended a seminar on evaluations that were presented jointly by Carol Hansen, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources ABCUSD, and Ray Gaer, President of the ABC Federation of Teachers. I was elated when Dave Mielke, CCFT President, invited all of us to attend the ABC West Coast Leadership training so that we in CCUSD could learn from ABC's successes and struggles and hopefully embark on developing a partnership involving our classified, certificated and management staffs. Author and motivational speaker Dr. Wayne Dyer stated “Change the way that you look at things and the things that you look at will change.” Developing this partnership will change how we look at things in CCUSD. We will work on the premise that “we will not let each other fail” because first and foremost, working together collaboratively means we are working together successfully for our students.
True partnerships don’t happen by accident; thus, we have identified regular meeting times to deepen our relationships and to further clarify our shared sense of purpose and priorities. We will share updates and highlights as we continue on this pathway to a new, exciting partnership!
“The relationship among the adults in the schoolhouse has more impact on the quality and the character of the schoolhouse – and on the accomplishments of youngsters – than any other factor.” – Ronald Barth
Mr. LaRose may be contacted at DavidLaRose@ccusd.org
