SUPERINTENDENT SEEKS TO MUZZLE STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEES

Superintendent John Ramos is apparently trying to restrict volunteers on the committees engaged in the district's strategic planning process from sharing information about the process on social media.

Two such volunteers, Elissa Malespina and Lauren Freedman, have released emails with Ramos in which he directs them not to share information from their work on two committees and states, "The Action Planning Process, including team work, requires a level of confidentiality ... Since the training it has come to my attention that you discussed the planning days at some length on your Facebook page."

He later added, "The question for you and Ms. Freedman is: Can and will you abide by the confidentiality norm of the action planning process OR would you prefer not to be involved because you cannot accommodate the norm of confidentiality?"

Malespina, a South Orange parent and former school board candidate, and Freedman, a Maplewood parent, said they were never told that information from the committee meetings was restricted when they posted comments about it on Facebook.

See those posts HERE.

Their emails indicate that Malespina and Freedman were first contacted on Feb. 25 via email by Liz Brinkerhoff, Ramos' assistant seeking a meeting with them and Ramos. When they responded asking the purpose of the meeting, they were told it related to the action planning process. 

A request for further clarification resulted in an email stating the comments above that they were directed not to share information from the meetings.

In response, Malespina and Freedman emailed, in part:

We would very much like to continue to participate in the action-planning process, but need some clarification regarding your request for confidentiality. The subject of confidentiality was, at most, mentioned only in passing at the Saturday training we attended. 

That said, one of the key goals of the strategic-planning process, as stated in the guiding principles is to be transparent. If the process is confidential, there is no transparency. There is, of course, the possibility that there will be topics that are discussed during the action-planning process that may require some level of confidentiality, but in our opinion, that should be the exception, not the norm.

The latest email from Ramos, dated March 10, indicated he would require such confidentiality if Malespina and Freedman wished to remain on the committee. It said, in part:

I am compelled to reinforce the norms for participation on an action planning team. As I have stated previously, we view the action planning team meetings as a work in progress and have established the ground rule of confidentiality to ensure that teams can do their best work, and that the community does not get incomplete information from work still under development. Our expectations are that: 1. The work and the process of the action planning teams be kept private, meaning internal committee work is not to be broadly published or publicly discussed while they are works in progress. 2. Any information gathering will be a team decision. 

See all of the emails HERE.

Malespina and Freedman issued a statement indicating they plan to resign from the committees because they find the restrictions unacceptable.

See that statement in full HERE.

Ramos did not respond to a request for comment, but District Spokeswoman Suzanne Turner issued this statement:

The Superintendent will certainly be keeping the Board of Education and the community informed of the progress of the action planning teams as part of our ongoing communication efforts. Teams themselves are being asked to keep their work confidential to ensure that they can do their best work, and that the community does not get incomplete information from work still under development. 

All of the action planning teams are expected to abide by this ground rule:

The work of the teams is to remain confidential until the action plans are fully developed and ready to be presented in a public forum. This will protect the integrity of the process, and ensure that all team members have the freedom to brainstorm and create, and consider all possible ideas, without concern for public criticism of work in progress or public expectation that every idea will make it to the final plans. There will be opportunities for the Board of Education and the community to review and comment on all action plans prior to any requests for approvals.

This expectation was discussed at the initial training for action planning teams, and has been discussed by each of the teams in their initial meetings.