I woke up this morning to something very disturbing. "Anonymous" left a hostile comment on this blog about one of the Board of Education members, which I immediately removed. Since I started the Falls Village Blog last April, I have tried to make it a positive force in the community. Eventually, I realized that it would have to touch on politics and "issues" or it would just be a corny online bulletin board and a cheerleader for my favorite causes. I tried to contribute to the electoral process by running profiles of the all the Board of Education candidates so that voters would have something to base their decision upon besides party affiliation and hearsay. I did not consider this to be an open invitation for name-calling.
One of the miracles of Falls Village is that people with very different backgrounds and political philosophies can work together and get along. I saw this backstage last spring at the Falls Village Children's Theater production of "Cinderella." I saw this at the Ladies Auxiliary Calendar Dinner. I saw this at Community Day at Isabella Freedman. I see this at Toymakers Cafe, where people who seem to have next-to-nothing in common have breakfast together.
I pray that the Board of Education and the parents can find common ground. In a town this small, everything is personal. We are all names, not numbers. Falls Villagers feel a deep, visceral attachment to every inch of our town. I understand how difficult it is for the Kellogg parents to not be involved in every aspect of how the school runs. Many of them are there every week doing some sort of volunteer work that is integral to Kellogg's educational mission, and they cannot accept that they are limited participants in governing their school.
Most of the parents and board members have worked harmoniously on other causes. They have to come up with a way to do so at Kellogg. Most of them are amazingly committed, passionate, altruistic people. They have to figure out a way to feel and act like they are on the same team. They need to keep in mind the words of the great Woody Guthrie: "This land was made for you and me."
Friday, November 9, 2007
"This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land"
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9 comments:
How true these words ring! The key to a good relationship is communication. Somehow the BOE has to build back the trust of the parents and the community they once had so Kellogg can move forward. I am not certain how that can be done at this point but Dan is right, Falls Villagers can work together - we've done it many times in the past. Can it be done now? Is the BOE willing to open up those doors of communication? Are the parents willing to put the past aside and try to rebuild? I think they are but the first step is a huge one - once the two groups meet to figure this mess out, all "sides" must be willing to consider the other side's position.
FV a Brigadoon? Maybe, but certainly not Camelot!
In the last 15 years or so numerous contentious and cranky people in FV have aired their often legitimate gripes in unnecessarily public ways... newspapers, courts, etc.. This has caused FV to become the laughing stock in neighboring towns, maybe because the wrangling over there across the river is perceived as being more reserved, polite and much less huffy.
In my travels around the nw corner I often find myself coming to the defense of FV, because I think the public airing of dirty laundry here is a positive indication that people are intimately and personally involved with the town, albeit sometimes in an unnecessarily divisive way, and also because this place is really only a small slice of the way people around the world interact in general. Strife is just part of how things evolve everywhere, but when we live together in such a small community things can get more personal.
Perhaps if you barred anonymous postings, then maybe FV Blog could truly become an additional place for reaching consensus. Without anonymous postings we'd at least know who said what and have the opportunity to take up discussions with them when we encounter them at the post office, toymakers or the transfer station, which is really where most of the business of small towns has been conducted for centuries.
Just some thoughts.
Mark,
Well I disagree and agree: I think Falls Villaege is a Camelot--i think it has a true communal spirit and what we witness are growing pains on the road to utopia. I have never known people to care so much about the place they live.
I think you are right about Anonymous postings. I will change the settings so they are not allowed and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestion.
I responded too quickly. I forgot how having to register as a blogspot or google user frustrated people originally which is why I allowed all commentary. I will make sure to remove any negative or derogatory anonymous posts in the future. They're not "kosher." But I want to encourage participation.
I think (and hope) the days of Falls Village being the "laughing stock" are over. I stated this before - when you speak of the education of our children you will see a lot of passion because of it's importance to the parents. Passion can easily turn to anger when it involves our children. Many parents moved to FV because of Kellogg and the level of education it had. Many feel like that has been taken away (which makes us angry) and I don't know one parent who wouldn't do anything to protect their children and try and preserve their level of education. You see, when you have a model school (per the State) and an excellent teaching staff, it is very hard to understand drastic changes which have no justification or explained benefit - it creates fear and fear easily turns to anger. I, like so many, feel we are owed this level of education because it has been at that level for a very long time and why shouldn't it stay? We justify the taxes we pay because of this great education our children receive and we are scared of losing it.
Yes - there is anger and it's hard. I know I have struggled with this for months. Our kids education is so important to us, and the situation at Kellogg is so chaotic, that we now have to seriously consider moving "across the river" (we have ten years left at Kellogg - had we only a couple years I wouldn't be making this post). It is also very difficult to just sit back and be quiet when you know in your heart of hearts the situation at Kellogg is not at all good. Night after night we wonder what's going to happen next. But we try and we will continue to try. But I do believe given the passion, fear and anger involved with what is going on at Kellogg, we handled it politely, quietly and did not air the dirty laundry.
Oh dear, obviously I need to clarify some of my statements.
First, my comment was about the negative comment that anonymous left on FV Blog that upset Dan and he then removed. It was most certainly not about the ongoing debate concerning the quality of eduction or BOE at Kellogg.
I also agree that a large part of FV's reputation as 'the laughing stock' has passed. Even then, I don't recall hearing anyone laughing at us over anything to do with Kellogg.
I think most people in the region one towns, and the state for that matter, think Kellogg is still a really stellar place to educate children, and may even be the root of some envy.
Having taught at Kellogg I know first hand about the quality of the school, the teachers, staff, and the passionate and involved families and their above average children. I am watching what happens at Kellogg, but have been unable to decide for myself what I think of recent goings on, and therefore won't take sides.
The surrounding towns and their schools are also pretty cool, but please don't run away across the river.
In my opinion, to think FV is Camelot is a little naive, but FV is a place with an extraordinary fabric of wonderful and dedicated people, who together make vibrant things happen. .. FVCT and LHKS are just as a couple of many examples.
FV is certainly not flawless, but still a shining gem.
The intended gist of my note was that I think we need to remain positive and avoid anonymous negativity. We also need to avoid talking to the newspaper and lawyers before talking to those we disagree with.
As a former resident during the mid-twentieth century, and an idealist, I will always see Falls Village as a Brigadoon and a Camelot. Just before my daily check of the Falls Village blog today I was absorbed in reading a historical account of Falls Village from an item which recently came into my posession. Nathaniel Stevens an early East Canaan resident who died in 1834 wrote this account of the first town meeting for which minutes exist for Town C (prior to the naming of Falls Village). The meeting was held in the barn of Peter Hoogenboom, Point of Rocks. I quote from the account:
"The first matters of business are how to get rid of those rattlesnakes and 2) the worship of God, in that official order. The first vote was to offer a bounty of 12 pence 'for the In Coridgement of destroying the rattlesnakes.' This done, the practical Yankees named a committee 'to agree with John Hart to fit his house' for worship. In a third vote they decided 'that all swine shall be well Ringed that goeth at large on Ye Commons.' "
I can only imagine the lively discussion at that meeting, as I can imagine lively discussions of local politics in the year 2007. The issues change, the passion of its villagers does not.
Mark -
I commend Ross Grannan for many reasons but one particular (which is in agreement with you and why I mention it) - he insisted no one go to the press, insisted no one get in to a mud slinging contest, insisted no one do blog posts on what really happens at Kellogg - his reason "I don't want to do anything that would appear negative to Kellogg - lets just get our school back". Now THAT is a Falls Villager!
However, in reference to running away to the other side of the river - in any "battle" you have to make a decision - is it one you can tackle and remain positive or is it at the point where you have to walk away because the battle is taking too much out of you and your family? We are at the latter and the other side of the river looks calm.
PS - I should have mentioned, the original post WAS about Kellogg and the BOE which is why my post was about the same issues. I happened to see it and now know who wrote it. I also know that it was written out of pure frustration, again leading to my post.
Lauriannjane - thank you for your post, it did bring a smile in this difficult situtaion. The issues have changed but you are right, the passion is still here.
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