My Turn | Giving thanks and a few words of advice to the Unit 4 school board

Jeff D'Alessio, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·4 min read

Apr. 23—Dear present and future members of the Champaign schools board of education,

Thank you! You may not have heard this for a while. Your willingness to serve on the board of education for Champaign schools is admirable. All of us "out here" are very aware that this is not a paid position. Your volunteer efforts are hereby noted, appreciated and respected.

As an aside and prefacing this note, I worked in Champaign schools in the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s as a counselor at Jefferson Junior High/Jefferson Middle School. I met my wife of over 45 years in 1974 at Jefferson, where she was a teacher. We raised our now two adult children through the quality of B.T. Washington, Jefferson and Centennial schools.

Our daughter and our daughter-in-law are presently employed by Champaign schools. Our four grandchildren — ages 6 to 22 — have attended and/or are now attending Champaign schools. Our breadth and depth of appreciation for Champaign schools goes "way back" and continues to this day.

It has been an amazing, diverse educational process that we have come to greatly appreciate and admire. Thanks to all those who have contributed to the quality of Champaign schools and, therefore, the quality of our families and communities near and far.

Presently, we think we join a host of people who are concerned about the status of Champaign schools' board of education (though we now live on the other side of Wright Street in Urbana). Three of our four grandchildren remain in the Champaign schools, as do their moms, as noted above.

'Mutually brainstorm solutions'

I offer a couple further asides prior to encouraging a "reboot" for members of what will become this re-configured Champaign schools board:

— Following my professional career at Jefferson, I was a lead trainer with the National Center for Conflict Resolution out of Urbana. We were led by educators/consultants/authors Dick Bodine, Donna Crawford and Fred Schrumpf and joined by valued trainers like Vernessa Gipson, Russell Brunson and Joe Omo-Osagie. We worked across the country in the 1990s through the early part of 2001.

The federal Department of Juvenile Justice funded much of what we did. Our national landscape of conflict resolution education and trainings and this work through many schools and districts changed forever with the event of Sept. 11, 2001. Prior federal monies devoted to prevention and early intervention efforts in schools and communities were then directed to safety and security at our airports and communities. Prevention and intervention monies took a distant seat.

To this day, I remain saddened by this redirection of how we deal with conflict and its resolution in our country and our communities and the focus of how our federal, state and local monies are spent.

— Our trainings were focused on two primary arenas:

1. The seminal work of authors' Roger Fisher's and William Ury's books — "Getting to Yes" and "Getting Past No" and their pivotal points to resolving conflicts: a) Separate the people from the problem; b) Focus on interests, not positions; c) Mutually brainstorm solutions to identified problems; and d) Choose and act on mutually agreed upon fair resolutions.

2. The work of psychologist William Glasser and his Reality Therapy and Control Theory concepts and skills of helping all humans meet four basic needs: a) Belonging; b) Power (internal, not external); c) Freedom and d) Fun.

These dual focal points and beliefs underlined our trainings and our efforts to "reach and teach" children, youth and adults how to not only manage the inevitable conflicts in life but also how to resolve such conflicts. It was good work.

'Respect and civility'

My present "re-boot" message to this next iteration of school board members: I would encourage a review of these noted materials along with an application of their tenets. I am convinced that such awareness and application would provide needed methods and manners for being a school board member and for resolving the conflicts that inevitably occur when people of all ages encounter difficulties.

As I understand it, your primary School Board responsibilities are three-fold:

1. Hire and evaluate the district superintendent.

2. Approve policies and procedures commensurate with the district's mission — "to positively transform learning and life outcomes for students through educational justice, equity and excellence."

3. Manage taxpayers' monies in fiscally responsible ways that support our schools.

You are not elected to manage the day-to-day operations of a school district; nor to engage in the vitriolic verbal and written volleys that seem to surface when differences of personality and discord arise as a member of the school board.

Again, I do thank you for your service. And I do challenge you to represent those of us whom you represent with respect and civility as you take on your tasks as a school board member.

Please, further the cause of offering those students, families and staff in your purview a healthy model of how to deal with and resolve conflicts while helping to create a respectful culture to ensure a quality education for all involved stakeholders in our schools.