Difficult Decisions

As a superintendent in two school districts that are planning for the beginning of an academic cooperative, there are many issues that have to be addressed and difficult decisions that have to be made. I want to share my general thoughts on the decision making process and my thinking around one specific issue: the middle school mascot at Lind/Ritzville Middle School.

To begin with, there are many ways to make decisions within a system. There are times when it is important to create a committee that studies an issue, seeks input from a variety of stakeholders, and then provides a recommendation to those who will ultimately make the decision. There are times when principals and superintendents study an issue, seek input from their staff members, and then make a decision as an administrative team based upon what they feel is the best answer. There are times when an issue is one that is potentially divisive in nature, and thus it may not be in the best interest of the system to create a group decision-making process. In my opinion, one such decision is the decision related to the mascot for our cooperative middle school.

As most of you know, I began working for the Lind and Ritzville School Districts in July of 2011. Therefore, for the past ten months I have been thinking extensively about the formation of the academic cooperative. One issue that I knew would exist, until we officially addressed it, is the mascot issue. I have spent countless hours contemplating how to handle this delicate situation (in all honesty, it’s one of those things that wakes me up at 2 a.m.).

I have had many community members, students, and staff members, both formally and informally provide their opinions and viewpoints related to this topic. I have heard the passion in their voices as they have spoken about what they believe is the correct answer.

After considering all of the different viewpoints from both communities, it became clear to me that this is one of those decisions where community forums, group meetings, etc., would do more damage than good. This is one of those issues that could divide our communities at a time when we need to be working together, more than ever, to form the best education system for the children of Lind and Ritzville.

In an earlier article I wrote for The Ritzville Adams County Journal, I defined what a cooperative means to me – “Two districts working cooperatively (together) and utilizing resources from both districts to create learning opportunities for the students of both communities. The word cooperative is synonymous with sharing, working together, and teamwork.” Therefore, whenever a decision is made that affects both communities and districts, I genuinely try to think about what is best for both communities. I am one of the few employees within our two school systems who is a shared employee and who works for and represents both school districts. I take this responsibility very seriously. Consequently, I feel like every decision that I make, or endorse, needs to represent the interests and desires of both communities.

Often times, people think that when a leader makes a decision that appears to be on his or her own, they are acting like a dictator, or that they are not considering the viewpoints of everyone they represent. In many instances this is not the case. I believe there are times when a leader must weigh both sides of an issue, consider the viewpoints from everyone they have heard from, use information that they know and have learned, and ultimately make a decision. In doing so, the leader is considering input from all stakeholders.

After many months of thinking about, listening to the different perspectives, collecting data from students, and analyzing what I believe to be best for our academic cooperative, I have concluded that it would be best for Lind/Ritzville Middle School to keep the original mascot and school colors of the Lind School District. Thus, the mascot should be the Bulldogs and the school colors should be orange and black.

By doing this, the middle school and its students have a separate identity from our cooperative high school. This also allows the community of Lind to maintain some of its identity related to its history and heritage. I believe this is very important. Likewise, the cooperative high school will be called Lind/Ritzville High School, the mascot should be the Broncos, and the colors should be red and black. This preserves the history and heritage of the Ritzville community, which is also extremely important. Cooperative: sharing, working together, teamwork, and doing what is best for both sides.

In closing, I know this is a very sensitive and difficult issue. I also know that there will be some people who will be upset with me and/or this decision.

However, I urge everyone to fully consider what is best for both school districts and communities. I urge us all to see the positive side of keeping some individual school and community identity and pride, while at the same time forming new traditions and creating a new history within our Lind and Ritzville academic cooperative.

As always, if you have any questions or comments related to this article, or any other school issue, you can contact me in Lind at 509-677-3481 or [email protected] or in Ritzville at 509-659-1660 or [email protected].