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Safety and Security in Schools

By
Tom Deighan
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This is part of a series of ten summertime articles mapping the common ground upon which parents, educators, and communities can unite regarding one of the most divisive topics in America: public education. 

At over 6 feet tall in 7th grade, Jake towered over the other students in the hallway.  On this day, however, the double-barrel shotgun crooked over his arm is what caught my eye.  A crowded hallway . . . a teenager with a gun . . . every educator’s nightmare!  Fortunately, this was twenty-five years ago. 

“No shells,” he reassured me, placing two fingers in the barrels. “I had to give a dumb gun safety speech, but I’m running it to the pickup before your class.”  Jake was 13 and had no business driving, but I trusted him completely with a gun.  That was long ago in a small rural school where we hosted school turkey shoots as fund-raisers.  His pickup wouldn’t have been the only one with a firearm or a gun rack.  Times certainly have changed! 

I have written about the 80/80/80 rule in public education (80% of parents and 80% of educators agree on 80% of the issues), but it may be more of a 95% rule when we consider safety and security.   Virtually all parents and educators agree on this issue.  As superintendent, I have served in a small rural district with no local police department, which meant we were on our own in an emergency.  I have also served in a large urban district that had its own police department.  Approaches to safety and security vary depending on the district and community, but all parents and educators agree on some basic principles.

First and foremost, parents demand to know that school staff are not only qualified professionally but that they are also good people.  It may sound unfair to label people as good or bad, but there’s really not much gray area on this issue.  Adults can afford to interact with each other within broad parameters, but when it comes to children, people are either good or bad.  Ask any parent, and I suspect you will find widespread agreement in their definitions.  Parents only want good people working in schools.  Period.

Beyond just trusting the staff, parents also expect their children to be protected from unwanted intruders.  The doors should be locked, the playground fenced, and staff should have reasonable procedures to limit access to the school.  In addition to being a security issue, this is also a practical matter because schools are so easily disrupted. The best-intentioned visitors can easily cause chaos by showing up on the playground or in a classroom unannounced.  Trust me, I check in at the office every time, even as the boss, because we are ultimately considering the worst-case scenario.    

God forbid, if a threat emerges in a school, parents want to know that staff will do whatever is necessary to protect their children from any harm.  How schools plan for this varies widely. Evasion, isolation, and evacuation are always options, but any bad person threatening a child should be decisively stopped by whatever means necessary.  More and more districts are hiring armed security or arming their staff due to this fear.  Threaten a child with a gun, and political differences quickly evaporate, at least for that moment.

Once schools reasonably ensure that children are safe and secure, we can worry about all the normal kid stuff, but things have changed a lot since I saw Jake in the hallway with a shotgun.  We didn’t worry as much about guns 25 years ago, but we also did not worry about cyber-bullying or online safety either. Of course, no school is perfectly secure, but statistically speaking, schools are still the safest place for a child. Parents and educators from wildly different backgrounds actually work together every day on this and other critical educational issues.  I bet Jake is a parent now, and I bet his 13-year-old can safely handle a shotgun and a pickup truck.  I also bet that he would agree with most parents and educators about the importance of safety and security, even regarding double-barrel shotguns.

Tom Deighan is a public educator and currently serves as Superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com

Bystanders and Upstanders at the Seat of Scorn

By
Tom Deighan
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Once upon a time, a powerful ruler publicly humiliated a simple woman.  He invited her as a guest of honor to an annual celebration, but instead of honoring her, the ruler heaped ire and abuse upon her, attacking her character, honor, and integrity. She helplessly endured it in silence while her friends and colleagues silently watched. No one spoke up or even stood beside her. Her seat of honor at a celebration was instead a seat of scorn.

Those same friends and colleagues privately came to her afterwards and affirmed their love and support for her.  The ruler also visited the woman and apologized very sincerely for his hurtful and unfair behavior and invited her to another celebration. She was not attacked this time, but the previous injustice was ignored, and she left more wounded than ever, because private praise rarely heals public wounds, and neither do secret apologies. Such a broken heart simply festers.

I share this little parable because I am often asked how people can affirm support for their local educators, and I believe it is how we choose to respond when someone sits defenseless in the seat of scorn. Like the simple woman in our parable, local educators often sit alone and humiliated in the public eye, but this is not just happening to school staff. Police officers and healthcare workers have been targeted mercilessly, and likewise, volunteer elected officials like school board members and city council members. Still yet, the seat of scorn is not limited to these leaders or professions. 

Ask the men and women at the drive-thru windows and convenience store counters how often they are cussed or insulted lately.  Ask your bus drivers, your cooks, your custodians, or your school secretaries how people often treat them.  Ask the tellers at the bank, your servers, your pastors.  Ask your friends and family, and ask the person in the mirror, for you probably have felt it, too. Yes, local educators currently feel isolated and humiliated at the seat of scorn, but they are not alone in regard to feeling so alone.

Such treatment is often face-to-face, but nowadays, anyone can be abused publicly by petty tyrants on social media.  Simple folks retreat to social media for a celebration with friends and family, but they quickly find themselves sitting ducks in the virtual seat of scorn. Despite dozens and dozens of “friends” looking on, people rarely stand beside them publicly. An avalanche of support may pour in privately, but private praise and secret apologies never heal public wounds; they just make it worse.

I am often asked what our local educators need, and it is the same thing everyone else needs right now: someone . . . anyone . . . brave enough to stand beside them at the seat of scorn.  Whether online in social media or in line at the store, people should not suffer alone when someone browbeats them for the higher cost of a fountain drink or for simply being a healthcare provider, police officer, or educator. We should never return bad behavior with worse behavior, but we can always walk across the room and stand beside them, so they know they are not alone. I wonder how many times I have personally been guilty of being a bystander.

When schoolkids receive anti-bully training, they learn that being a bystander simply fuels the bad behavior.  As a result, children learn to be upstanders.  Simply standing up with the person often neutralizes the bully, and the person is no longer alone.  Instead of silently watching when someone is humiliated in the seat of scorn, we should be like our children. We should stand beside them, whether online or in person, because private praise and secret apologies afterwards never help.  We all know the hot seat of scorn, so let’s be upstanders rather than bystanders when it happens in our communities. Please pray for restored civility in our communities, the courage to stand with each other, and above all, the safety of our schools this Second Sunday of the Month. 

Tom Deighan is superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

A Few Voucher Questions

By
Tom Deighan
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Yes, I am a public school superintendent, but I have never opposed school choice, be it charters or vouchers. I firmly believe locally controlled public schools – schools truly in the hands of parents and local educators – can compete with any other structure, no matter how epic. As our state barrels toward vouchers, however, I wonder if we have learned from the epic nightmare that allowed millions of Oklahoma tax dollars to be secreted away by an online virtual charter school. If that stuff happened in your local school, it would be an open-and-shut case. 

I do not fear school choice, because frankly, the traditional educational establishment has alienated ourselves from parents and educators at the local level in recent years.  People wonder why educators do not show up at the polls, and I suspect it is because we have allowed radical national voices to shape our message in Oklahoma. Oklahoma parents and educators are not radicals. In such an environment, I cannot dismiss parents’ legitimate concerns and demands for more options. 

Unfortunately, the radical alternative paints all public schools as evil places. And likewise, few local parents see their community schools as evil (it’s those other schools), and they do not wish to see their local funds disappear into some epic sinkhole.  Local parents and educators want the same thing: Safe, Caring, Healthy, Open, Orderly Learning Spaces where kids can learn (S.C.H.O.O.L.S.).  As long as we continue to allow Marxists or Crony Capitalists to sanction our options, however, your local community schools will continue to be either overregulated and bureaucratized or systematically dismantled and sold to the highest bidders. I don’t believe this is the school choice parents envision, either.

Hopefully, our state’s epic journey has taught us that rules for the politically connected and powerful, on either side of the aisle, should be the same.  If that is the case, public schools can compete with anyone. That’s why Public Money, Public Rules must apply to vouchers. This cuts both ways. If the rules are good enough for public schools, they should be good enough for voucher funds poured into private and for-profit schools. Conversely, if the rules are not reasonable for private or for-profit schools, they should not be applied to public schools. I have never encountered a single educator who opposes this logic, for the current rules are killing neighborhood schools.  Likewise, I have never encountered a single private school educator willing to deal with all our rules, tons of cash notwithstanding.

I realize that there is nothing more dangerous than asking questions nowadays, but Oklahomans might consider some as we move forward on vouchers. Will they report four, five, and six-year graduation cohort rates?  Will they be penalized for drop-outs, even if they move to other states?  Must their teachers and principals suffocate under the obsolete, time-wasting TLE Evaluation system?  Will the salaries of ALL staff be reported publicly?  Will their students take all of the irrelevant, state-mandated, federally-driven, Common-Core Friendly standardized tests?  Will they pick-and-choose which kids they enroll?  Will they receive A-F scores? If voucher students don’t “fit,” will these “other kids” be sent packing to their home school district? (As it currently happens.)  Will they return the remaining funds to the home school? (This currently does not happen.) Will they pay their teachers according to the minimum salary? Who will track and ensure the money has been spent appropriately?  How do we avoid thousands of tiny little scandals that could easily create an even more epic disaster for Oklahoma? 

Here’s a suggestion: let’s just pattern the new voucher system after the medical marijuana laws. Let’s invite out-of-state or foreign bad actors to milk the state for all its worth and damage rural communities. When it becomes a political liability, we can courageously and slowly fix those laws to protect Oklahomans.  We could even throw some drug money at the schools (for the kids!). Wait a minute, this all sounds strangely familiar. Perhaps, the real question: Is this some sort of epic template?

Tom Deighan is superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Your Local Christmas Graduate Factory

By
Tom Deighan
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0

This time of year, I am struck by the sheer volume of Christmas gadgets that appear on the shelves, and I am fascinated how Santa’s Workshop can produce all that stuff. I have always thought of schools as factories, too, but instead of gadgets, we make graduates, and during my career, I have congratulated literally thousands as they exited our assembly line. Some were destined for college, some for work, and some had no plan whatsoever, but this is often the time of year when many realize that graduation is just a semester away, and many of them wonder if they are ready to exit the assembly line. 

I don’t know much about factories, but I once toured a tire plant. To a layperson like me, a tire is a tire is a tire, but the tires they produce are myriad. All tires are road-ready, but high-performance tires must be supple enough to provide excellent traction yet tough enough to survive corners at high speeds. Tractor tires carry weights that would crush normal tires, and everyday car tires fall somewhere in between. The same factory creates all these tires with absolute fidelity and zero waste. I bet Christmas gadgets are less complicated to make.

Unfortunately, making graduates is not so predictable. Factories can produce perfect products, but nothing enters them that might alter the final outcome. Public Schools, however, Welcome All, Serve All, and Love All who walk through their doors. We may manufacture graduates, but we do not exclude anyone from our assembly line. Our students may live in mansions or be homeless. They may have genius IQs, or they may have a severe intellectual disability. They may be star athletes, or they may be quadriplegics. Nevertheless, public schools face the highest expectations to produce perfect, road ready tires with virtually no waste. Every parent wants their child to graduate as ready as possible for the world ahead, and the ramifications are eternal. 

To a lay person, a student is a student is a student, but students are not easy to classify and much more complex to manufacture than tires or gadgets. Critics of public education often point to the imperfect product exiting our assembly line, but they rarely acknowledge the enormous challenge of advancing all children, regardless of status or ability, toward graduation. When a tire exits a factory it can never be anything but the tire that “graduated”. Our students, on the other hand, may graduate as a tractor tire or a replacement donut, but they have the freedom and potential to transform themselves into a Formula One racing tire. Many other countries predetermine how they will exit the school assembly line. Americans, however, know that the students that we manufacture get to pick whichever road they choose and to go as fast as they wish. It’s the American Dream, and it is why public educators do what they do. 

Christmas might be on our minds right now, but our seniors are worrying about things like FASFA’s, finding jobs, and completing their classes on time. They may not show it, but they care deeply. Some are on track to be high-performance, and others don’t know what type of gadget they will be, but please reassure them few of us were ready at this point in our lives, but somehow, we managed to exit the factory road-ready, and few of us are now what we planned to become. If you have a senior in high school this Christmas season, you know it’s not about the Christmas gadgets, and so do they. Fill their stockings with more love than stuff this year, and let them know how you felt back in the day. Somehow, we made it, and so will they, no matter how ready they feel to exit this graduate factory in the months ahead. And if you have no children in school, say a prayer of thanks for your local graduate factories, for they are producing your future neighbors. They are even more amazing than Santa’s Workshop.

Tom Deighan is superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Toby Dawn’s Empty Backpack

By
Tom Deighan
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Nothing makes my lifelong friend and childhood hero, Toby Dawn McIntyre, happier than the start of school, so happy that I always thought he would make a great teacher, but he insists that the summer vacations are too short. Each year he brings me a backpack full of zany school supplies. I never know when or where he will show up, I just know he will somehow interrupt my peace and quiet when I least expect it. This year, he appeared in my backyard as I relaxed on my back porch. “School starts next week, Tommy Boy!” I rolled my eyes as he approached.   

After the last two years, anything normal is welcomed, even Toby Dawn, so I was happy to see my friend. Last year, it was full of Batman masks and hand-sanitizer, so I never really know what to expect. He has brought me everything from an Alf lunchbox to a giant crayon, and one year, he dumped out an entire backpack full of paper clips. Every single one was interlocked with another, which illustrates not only his excitement for school but also his endless joy in aggravating me. I would never admit it to Toby, but I was excited to see what he brought. This year’s backpack was empty, however. 

“I have been thinking,” he said, which are dangerous words for Toby, “that all we needed back in the day were a few Big Chief Tablets, some fat pencils, and crayons.”  I carefully inspected the backpack, for Toby is known for surprises, but it really was empty. “Nowadays, schools already have too much to handle, but on top of it all, you have the COVID . . . again!”  I sighed, a little uncertain about where Toby was headed. “So this year, I knew there was nothing I could bring you. There are no answers. No magic bullets.”  

Toby was right. Once upon a time, back-to-school was simple, and after the last two years, everyone hoped that this year would be normal. Unfortunately, people are now afraid that this year may be even more chaotic than ever. Almost on cue, COVID has reared its ugly head just in time to revive all the anxiety, pressure, and uncertainty. It can be overwhelming for anxious staff and parents, and it is downright disheartening for students. They just want a normal year. 

Before we worry or give up, however, let’s remember that most schools in Oklahoma managed to stay open last year. The studies that many of us relied upon last summer when we decided to open also proved true here: there was very little spread in schools. We went into the year uncertain, but we took those first tentative steps in hope. We decided locally that in-person learning was best, and we would take it day-by-day, keeping school open until it was no longer safe or possible to do so. We had no vaccine and very few treatments last year, but somehow, by the Grace of God, we made it. God willing, we will do so again this year. 

“This backpack is empty this year so you can fill it up, Tom.” I cannot remember Toby ever calling me anything but Tommy Boy. “And at the end of this school year, I expect it to be packed with joyous memories after a full year of school. Because one way or another, I know your schools will once again unite, and once again you will decide together how to serve our children and this community.”  With those words, my tall red-headed friend quietly walked out of my backyard. And somehow, that empty backpack filled my heart. Yes, we are once again facing an uncertain school year, but we are facing it together, and whatever comes our way, we will face it for our kids. And just like Toby Dawn, I am confident that the fear and uncertainty bubbling up this week cannot be compared to the joy set before us this school year. We will figure this out, again, Oklahoma!

Tom Deighan is currently the superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com You may read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Okies Want Oklahoma Solutions

By
Tom Deighan
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When I rely too heavily on one news source too long, I tend to see everything in life through my Cable News Goggles,and it’s terrifying!  Regardless of which “lens” I choose, I walk away wondering if I need to build a bunker. Sometimes, so I can pretentiously claim to be unbiased, I flip back-and-forth between opposing news sources. This only makes things worse, and I am absolutely certain that I need a bunker, but that’s tricky in Oklahoma. How do you build a good bunker that simultaneously protects against climate change and the impending takeover of the CPC in a place with porous clay soils beneath and tornadoes above? 

Clearly, our Cable News Goggles are not always accurate or healthy lenses on the state or local level. National news feeds provide excellent, far-away perspectives, but they also offer more opinions and less helpful information. Consequently, we rarely have consistent information about COVID or the ice sheets in Antarctica, but we always know what “experts” think. Instead of news, it has become my daily affirmation that my views are not only rational and healthy but also absolutely correct. Eventually, I no longer tune in to hear what “my side” is thinking; I tune in to hear what I am supposed to think. Like driving a car through binoculars, that’s when Cable News Goggles become dangerous. We cannot confidently use faraway, partisan lenses when looking at state or local issues.

In recent years, Oklahoma seems to increasingly make local and state decisions based upon or in reaction to national politics, and education is a prime example. National Democrats fight for more money for ineffective programs, and National Republicans fight to subsidize private schools without any accountability for the public funds. Simultaneously, both suffocate schools with unproven regulations and cookie-cutter solutions that change as often as the graduating class. Advocates for smaller government want bigger class sizes schools – for other people’s kids. And advocates for bigger government want more untested programs – for other people’s kids. 

Just as Oklahomans don’t like faraway strangers telling us what to do, we don’t always want national, partisan solutions to local or state issues. Okies want Oklahoma solutions, and thankfully, most Oklahoma legislators are still Oklahomans first. Even when they are undeniably Republican or Democrat, they are first Oklahomans, and they will work together – against national narratives – to find an Oklahoma solution. We have seen that so far in this legislative session related to the complex issue of school choice. Yes, Oklahomans support school choice, but they also support Public Money, Public Rules. The money may need to follow the kids, but the rules must follow, too. 

The national cookie-cutter solutions being offered in Oklahoma today are no better than the national cookie-cutter solutions implemented in 2009 through SB2033 that brought us Common Core and other stuff. Ultimately, those did not work because they were not Oklahoma solutions. Common Core was as hastily ratified as it was hastily canceled, by mostly the same legislators. We are living through that again as some hastily adopted reforms have quickly created more problems than fixes. This is what happens when we force Oklahoma into national templates – from either side of the political spectrum. 

The issue of school choice is a truly difficult but solvable issue, as long as we take off our Cable News Goggles and look at it as Oklahomans. I applaud our Oklahoma legislators, regardless of their stance, for truly looking at this complex issue as Oklahomans first. What is needed in Gotham City may not be needed in Oklahoma; likewise, what works in a faraway state may not work here. Local Okie parents and educators know their communities and public schools best, and they are not wearing their Cable News Goggles in the classroom. Local and state issues are not nearly as terrifying as they look in our newsfeeds when we look at them as Oklahomans. Nevertheless, we should probably still build those bunkers, but we can just call them fancy tornado shelters for now. 

Tom Deighan is superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Drowning Ducks and First Day Jitters

By
Tom Deighan
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0

Earlier this week, I thoroughly confused DPS staff with this story about drowning ducks. As young newlyweds, my wife and I visited a lake for the afternoon, and I saw a couple of ducks badgering another duck. The poor little guy could barely hold its head out of the water, so in my most manly voice I squealed, “Renee!  They’re drowning him. Save him!”  Renee immediately sprang into action, but on the way to save that duck, she slipped in the mud, ruining her brand-new white Reeboks. Of course, the duck was fine, but I shared this story to illustrate two important principles:

First principle: When someone relies on you to be calm, and you panic, they will abandon all reason and run into a lake to save a drowning duck. 

Second principle: Ducks don’t drown easily, so don’t be too quick to run into the lake and ruin your Reeboks, even when your crazy husband is screaming. (On the other hand, when ducks really do start drowning, it’s serious!)  

We hoped for a normal school year, but like clockwork, COVID once again reared its ugly head, and this year may be more uncertain than ever. The urge to panic is real, but I want to be sure the ducks are drowning this time before I send her into the lake to ruin another pair of Reeboks.

Yes, we face uncertainty again, but we have been on this road for some 500 days. I cannot make sense of dueling narratives on the news channels, but I know we kept schools safely open last year, and we did this without a vaccine. We also saw relatively little spread last year in the schools, like the studies we reviewed last summer. The State quarantined a lot of healthy people, but we rarely ever had 50 or more confirmed positive cases in our schools at any given time, even at the peak. Despite quarantining over 2,500 students and staff last year, we managed to keep school open safely. So far, quarantines have not resumed.

If last year is our guide, and we do not send healthy people home to quarantine, this is more manageable than last year. If last year is our guide, we will see very limited spread in schools. If last year is our guide, without vaccines, then we are better prepared to face this year. If last year is our guide, we are some hard-to-drown ducks!  Nevertheless, we do not have the same options we had last year. We also have more people in our buildings. This year certainly could be worse, much worse, so we should be ready. 

We will not panic, however, because ducks rarely drown. We will do what is necessary to keep DPS staff and students safe. If necessary, we will close schools. If necessary, we will go virtual. If necessary, we will limit visitors and events. And if necessary, we might even go rogue because when ducks everywhere are drowning, all options must be on the table. But let’s not ruin our white Reeboks just yet, for we are nowhere near the COVID peak we saw last year. The most important thing we can do right now is to stay home if sick. That is our first and most important line of defense. 

Our students rely on us parents and educators for reassurance and certainty. COVID is real, and it is deadly, but we have 500 days of past COVID perspective. We know more and have more tools than we did last year. Yes, the Delta and the other dozen variants may truly upend everything, and if so, we will respond accordingly. We cannot panic, however, for if we panic, our students have no hope of a normal school year. Trust me, when ducks start drowning, I will be the first one screaming, but until then, let’s keep our Reeboks dry. Above all, please stay home when sick, and please continue to pray for the safety of our schools this second Sunday of the month.  

Tom Deighan is currently the superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com You may read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Watch out for Post-COVID Stress Disorder

By
Tom Deighan
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0

After a year of being locked up, masked up, and hyped up, things are actually looking up. Since Spring Break, COVID cases have dropped precipitously in schools and across Oklahoma. People are starting to travel and go to places like the movies for the first time since this started. Summer even looks like it might be somewhat normal; we might even have fireworks for the Fourth!  COVID-free skies certainly seem to be ahead, but that does not mean this ordeal is behind us because in addition to being locked up, masked up, and hyped up – a lot of emotions are also pent up. As a result, we are starting to see fireworks much earlier than usual as we look forward to summer.

When I worked as an EMT, I remember panicked people arriving at the hospital behind the ambulance. Fear and concern consumed each of them, and often, someone was able to relieve their fears quickly. Curiously enough, this good news did not always produce relief and joy in them. Sometimes, upon discovering that everyone was safe, the fireworks really started! Sometimes they exploded in tears and sometimes in rage over the smallest thing. I remember an otherwise rational man shattering a hospital snack machine over a stuck bag of chips. We got free snacks that night, but I also learned that we never really know how traumatic experiences will affect us, so we need to be ready for unexpected emotions as COVID ends.

After a year of helplessness, we are all starting to sense a little hope, but fuses are shorter than ever. Regardless of which side of this thing you have been on, it has been stressful. People have lived in constant fear for almost a year – fear for their health, fear for their loved ones, fear for their livelihoods, and fear for their nation. Add an unbelievably contentious Presidential election and the politicization of virtually every aspect of life, and we are all walking powder kegs. Most people quietly endured it by focusing on their families and friends, but many of us are starting feel this pent-up pressure. I think it is due to Post-Covid Stress Disorder. (Disclaimer: I am not a real doctor.)

Initially, I thought I coined this term, but I Googled it, and sure enough, it is a real thing. After this long year of stress, uncertainty, and helplessness, people are suffering the lingering effects of the COVID age. Just when things are looking up and people have some room to relax, terrible feelings start bubbling up. The interweb is replete with videos of people losing it over the smallest things in the strangest places. Road rage has been replaced by COVID rage. Sadly, these people are as surprised as the people around them, because pent-up emotions can explode at the most inconvenient times and in the strangest ways. People rarely walk away feeling better, even if you get free snacks. It can happen to anyone, so if you haven’t had a COVID moment at some point during all of this, get ready. It might just sneak up on you when you least expect it. 

Fuses are short right now, and short fuses produce quick explosions. It can happen at the drive-thru, at the grocery store, at work, or even online if we are not careful. As this school year winds down, I hope everyone can recognize all the stress we have been carrying around. Our school has managed to stay open all year, safely, but it certainly was not easy. We did not always agree, but by the grace of God it looks like we are going to make it.  Likewise, across our state, most schools were open. Most parents were able to go to work. Most businesses stayed open. As Oklahomans, we are truly blessed. 

For these remaining few days of school and the summer ahead, please be extra kind and extra patient with everyone, so we can save the fireworks for the Fourth of July. May we all continue to intentionally extend grace to each other as we finish this long journey, no matter how long it takes, so our children can learn how to finish strong, even when strong emotions so easily beset us.    

Tom Deighan is a public educator and currently serves as Superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com

A Simple Academic Vision

By
Tom Deighan
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0

Through the years, I have read volumes of academic visions containing indecipherable educational jargon that seems to create more questions than answers.  (Unfortunately, I have also produced my fair share as well!)  Yet, I have rarely seen any succinct academic visions for Pk-12 education through the elementary, middle, and high school levels.  Education is an infinitely complex journey, but the challenge of a long journey has never stopped anyone from starting with a simplistic road map. Likewise, I think we need more clarity in education about progression from elementary to high school.  Like a long road trip across the country, we need to know our destination, and we need to know which way to turn at Albuquerque.  Below is a simple academic vision for PK-12 education:        

At the elementary level, each grade will foster high character, healthy relationships, and strong morals as evidenced through personal accountability.  Mastery of essential academic skills and facts necessary to succeed at the next grade level will be the primary focus for all students, with reading and math literacy always taking precedence.   Mastery of reading and math skills will be further evidenced in their application through writing and speaking about science, history, civics, and other academic subjects. Graphic and performing arts will enrich and support academic growth.  Physical education and unstructured play will be incorporated as essential components of childhood and necessary to learning. 

At the middle level (middle schools and junior highs), mastery of elementary skills will be expected upon entry, and if necessary, students will be rigorously remediated until mastery of essential academic skills necessary for middle level coursework can be evidenced.  High moral character and behavior are expectations as students grow and mature socially. Middle level coursework will provide deeper exploration of distinct academic subjects. Students will support results and conclusions with evidence, facts, and logical discourse through written and oral communication.  Graphic and performing arts will support deeper understanding of history and culture through artistic expression.  Health/physical education, athletic competition, and extra-curricular participation will be promoted for all students.   Pre-college and pre-career diagnostics will provide students and parents with insight regarding possible career paths as they prepare for high school.

Finally, high schools will be structured as college and career preparation centers that foster strong social connections.  All academics, programs, and discipline will prepare students to enter the workforce, to further their education, and to be productive community members.  College and career readiness assessments will guide all academic instruction.  Whenever possible, students will be challenged to address real-world academic, civic, and business issues within a given field and model professional behavior.  Highest evidence of proficiency will be demonstrated through written and oral communication, artistic expression, professional experiences (internships/mentorships), and concurrent enrollment.  Participation in extra-curricular activities is affirmed as an essential component of students’ growth. Every student will graduate, and every student will graduate with college or career experience.

As a career educator, I wonder if we have unnecessarily complicated the educational process.  Oversimplification is certainly not the answer, but in an increasingly complex and divisive world, parents, students, and educators need to identify their common ground and shared expectations regarding education.  In my experience, when they are given that chance, they will agree much more than they disagree, and when they disagree, they will do so with tolerance and dignity. Perhaps my little academic vision is imperfect, but that’s ok if it will begin crucial conversations to rediscover the role and nature of schools.  

Tom Deighan is currently the superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com  You may read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Muddy Bottom Blues and Open Schools

By
Tom Deighan
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0

In “Muddy Bottom Blues,” the modern Delta Blues artist Tab Benoit describes what it’s like to get stuck in a shallow, muddy swamp, when it’s “too soft to walk, too hard to swim.”  To make it worse, swamps are full of alligators waiting for night fall, when the moonlight glints faintly in their reptilian cornea. You got the muddy bottom blues: “That gator eye on me . . . that gator eye on me . . .”  

Schools that decided to stay open this year certainly experienced a long, hard year with gators always close by. Fear and uncertainty. Conflicting science and dueling experts. Pro-maskers and anti-maskers. Changing guidelines. Kaleidoscope maps. A face full of swamp gas in every email and social media post. A constant battle between drowning or being trapped. CDC and NIH and OSDE and OSDH and OMG!  

Every public-school staff member and board member who committed to in-person learning slogged through this daily all year. But it was no easier for parents or students, either. Would we close at Labor Day or Fall Break or Christmas Break or be ready for the surge after Spring Break?  On top of this, they had the quarantines. 

Through all this, schools that stayed open felt like the exception, alone in a swamp at nightfall. Whichever news source you choose for daily affirmation, the topic of crisis schooling with kids isolated behind screens served both sides of the narrative well. Honestly, it seemed like the system incentivized schools to close and penalized schools who fought to stay open. Barely any attention was given to districts who made the other hard choice. Despite the inconvenient fact that most schools in Oklahoma were open all year or only closed temporarily, we all felt “stuck on muddy ground . . . that gator eye on me.”

Nevertheless, districts that stubbornly refused to close did not do so out of ignorance or for political reasons. On the contrary, by July of last year, the “science” was pretty clear regarding the low risks of transmission in schools as evidenced in studies of schools in Switzerland, China, New South Wales, France, and Germany. Similar studies also determined that the risk of outdoor transmission was almost nil. Despite the swamp gas, in schools that remained open, educators, parents, and our school board slogged through these issues on a local level, focused on our kids’ and communities’ needs. Our kids needed school; parents needed to work; businesses needed to open. We cussed and discussed, as Okies do, and we figured this out. Local hospitals, departments of health, and emergency management all helped.  None of us ever agreed completely on any particular detail except one: school must be open. Everyone pulled together, and somehow, by the grace of God, we all emerged from the swamp.  Seniors graduated!  You made it, so congratulations! 

And what about those muddy bottom blues?  Washed away by tears of joy. Those gator eyes?  Handbags and boots. The swamp gas of Facebook and cable television remains, however, so don’t light a match just yet!  As hard as it was, I have heard from many in districts who went virtual, and they seem to have been miserable. As tough as this was, it was worth it for communities who kept school open. We got muddy, but we definitely made the right choice. We made the decisions locally, and we made them together. We should all rejoice to be Oklahomans, where schools and our economy could reopen. 

As your local educators, however, we are most honored and blessed, for you trusted us with your children, and you crawled through this swamp, too, despite all the gators. We all put on a brave face, for courage is not the absence of fear but rather moving ahead despite the fear. Thank you for courageously making this school year possible, and for our own local versions of “The Muddy Bottom Blues” all over this Great State.  Enjoy a well-deserved summer!

Tom Deighan is a public educator and currently serves as Superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com

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