Editor’s Note
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Archive for June 4th, 2009

Two approaches, two superintendents, one conclusion

1 comment June 4th, 2009

If there’s any doubt that new Rockford School Superintendent LaVonne Sheffield has no intention of getting stuck in the swamp that is District 205’s history, yesterday’s ouster of the old guard ought to put that doubt to rest.

Sheffield announced the first of her cabinet changes this week, keeping two of the long-timers and sending three more packing. The ones with suitcases who’ll be looking for new jobs in the district or elsewhere include long-time numbers and operations guy, Tom Hoffman. Hoffman’s fingerprints have been on every school finance and budget sheet, and many of its operational programs, since well back into the early 1990s.

Superintendent Linda Hernandez, who wanted the permanent contract Sheffield got, told Register Star reporter Cathy Bayer that she was “shocked” at the news. “When you’re talking about a district that lives in the past and talks about lawsuits all the time, it’s kind of ridiculous to get rid of all the people with all the history.

“The three of us,” Hernandez said, referring to herself, Hoffman and 30-year veteran Marcia Strothoff, “have the institutional knowledge.”

I am all for institutional knowledge. Without that glue, an organization falls apart. The catch, however, is knowing when valuable institutional knowledge has become an albatross. The Rockford School District has been wearing its albatross proudly for decades. It has been living in the past for at least the last three decades, and some might argue four.

The loudest voices believe the real model for Rockford schools ought to be the one we used back in the 1950s, or, if we are really “modern,” the 1970s. Far too many in the community, the school administration and the classrooms continue to pine for the “old days.” (That’s frequently code for white-only, middle class, English-speaking, sit in seats and never talk back.)

Institutional knowledge is important. But, Superintendent Hernandez inadvertently proves my point when she says so clearly: “…a district that lives in the past and talks about lawsuits all the time…”

It’s time for those pining for the past to pass.  I’d suggest not starting a sentence with “we’ve always done it this way” if LaVonne Sheffield is in the room.