I did not single you out; you were just one of the hunxdreds who have served the City and from what I heasr, you were not missed after your departrure…. but thanks for at least trying!

So, in your wisdom, you reject the idea employed by Cities including that of hayward City Council. Perhaps you are a teacher? Those folk seem to have all the answers but are unable to propose a solution to HUSD’s problem.

The disparate parts will never be reconciled. The trustees should pick their best choice and live with it until they succumb to pressure to change their choice. That is how it has been and how it will be.

Had you been around, a tad longer, you would understand that the problems of HUSD extend back in time a bit longer than the ten years you describe. Our educational community problem commenced with the successor to an able Supt, He, the successor an Assistant Supt.’ at HUSD, lasted about a year and a half.

We then hired Marlin Foxworth, a man whom I thought to be quite able but who was in distress over his relationship with HEA. He resigned ‘under pressure‘, after nearly completing his first four year term.

Kathy’s husband, a trustee at the time, went to Florida with two other trustees, to vet Dr. Kohl, who promptly drew ire by spending money on carpets and removal of the dais in the ‘old’ board meeting room at the offices on Amador at Elmhurst. That successor Foxworth, Ms. Kohl, did not last the full four year term prior to termination. There had been a fuss over an expenditure involving new carpets and the removal of the old, unused dais in what had been the Board meeting room. Use of the City Council Chambers offered greater seating capacity than what had previously been the case. When that move was about to occur, one Board of Trustee member was outraged at City’s request of re-imbursement for the cost of the VCR tape, the technician’s presence necessary to do the recording and minor janitorial expense was to cost the School district as much as $15,00 per meeting which that particular, loudmouth found objectionable. A local developer chipped in an amount equivalent to a years worth of meetings, probably for the purpose of aiding a ‘saving of face’ for the school district until such time as that particular member faded away. It had nothing to do with Kohl but I bring it back from the recesses of the public’s mind as a reminder of the fairly low level of capabilities of some of those we elect to the Board of Trustees. … a major factor in the last 20 years of low level of toleration for those we hire as Supt.

Soon after we terminated Kohl, and paid out those large sums of money remaining in her contract, we hired Dr. Vigil, who after taking the job here in Hayward soon disclosed, in what could be described as an act of bravado, ( bragged ?), that Hayward was his ninth job as a superintendent, all of which experience occurred within a four State area….. Of those experiences of the first eight, he was ‘only fired once’! Id course we terminated him, which cost us six months wages or about ‘just’ $125,000.

The above saga carried on for a tad over 20 years. The problem remains now just the same, but is growing worse as the ’word’ is passed about how ‘we’ have treated Ms. Duran who has twice bailed us out of our immediate difficulty, since it was she who intervened between Kohl and Vigil then came back to our rescue after Vigil’s sudden departure. You do know how we have ‘heaped stuff on her”. do you not? Is it any wonder that she wishes to rejoin her husband?

So the saga has continued a bit more than 20 years and we still have not vet solved the budget problem, truancy problem, or Superintendent problem, low test score problem nor the HEA problems.

My bet? The process will fail again without a Town Hall meeting, conducted along the thought that, after listening to constructive, pro-active suggestions, presented by attendees, culled from the many who would present themselves as volunteers, from within t pro-active entrepreneurial types in successful businesses, professional types, who would see creation of activities employing volunteers, screened by Trustees for aptitude and personal; history of voluntary community service. As well as the Trustees own reputation and demonstrated personal success.

When will we learn that when qualified, civic minded volunteers are formed into committees which pursue, review and formalize potential solutions involving a single aspect of the wide concerns faced by trustees.

An example is found in the many volunteers who present themselves as seen presently occurring in aid of City Council’s ability to oversee City Hall Staff, including City Manager. Those groups, which City describes as ’commissions’ possess respected volunteers, residents of the community who meet on a scheduled basis to consider ideas brought forward for examination and either acceptance or decline, so that City Council does not have to deal with a lot of rant from no nothings who fail to understand the words, considerations. desires brought to those commissions prior to advancing them to Council…..

Go to City of Hayward’s Website, scroll through the links dealing with Planning commission, Library Commission etc…. there are at least 10 such groups of volunteers who pursue reasoned rationale of issues and render suggested solutions, forward those many subjects to Council for formal approval and or denial by City Council.

Creation of similar groups of people would aid HUSD immensely by drawing in volunteers with sufficient education to enable efficiencies directed to an improved HUSD. Exploratory conversations within those groups would eliminate the bitter disappointments occurring within the past 20 + years of failure. A turn around will not occur without creation of the needed establishment of ‘advisory’ groups at which each is directed to a specific area of administrative concern.

In such actions, you would see a greatly improved public comment period at HUSD meetings without all the rancor brought forward, on many occasions by some pretty intelligent but highly frustrated folk who have no place to turn to offer courses of action save that found in use of rancor at Public Comment period….

The ‘Public Comment’ problem is heightened by the Board’s ‘by-law‘; which says that after an initial, single hour of input, often seen and heard as ‘rant’ at public comments, the Trustees call a halt and defer any additional public comment period until item J arrives, near the end of the proceedings. I’ve witnessed the arrival of item J occurring as late as 11:30 pm when 10 or a dozen yellow cards have their names called out, to an entirely empty Chamber, saving only the presence of Trustees and some staff. That was a stunt personally observed occurring at a union meeting in 1948 when that Union had endorsed George Wallace a former Vice President of the US thought to have communist leanings. The purpose of splitting public comment time is impious. at best!

Public opinion about the racial content, caused condemnation and removal from public libraries, school classrooms etc., but I remember a book directed to kindergarten youngsters and first graders, which was entitled ‘Little Black Sambo’. It had a conclusionary tale where a tiger chased it’s tail with such increasing speed and intent of purpose, that it melted into butter… It was a childish tale, demeaning to African American folks. However, I remain mindful of the tale when viewing ineffectiveness of the public comment period at HUSD meetings. We run around in circles until we tire and then, just fade away’ with nothing accomplished in areas of budget, truancy and test scores.

Now, if you were a candidate for the job in Hayward, successful in another location, why would you come to Hayward seeking the Superintendent’s job?

Assume that potential applicants have ‘the street smarts’ to visit Hayward, prior to applying for the job and as a result of the visit, are tipped off to the problems occurring with parents, HEA, truancy AND THE GENERAL INDIFFERENCE OF THE OVERALL COMMUNITY, as it continues to exist, even after at least a twenty year period, not ten as you state.