We have two reactions to the release of the Kristen Porter
settlement with the Gilroy Unified School District. First, we
applaud Porter’s decision to waive her confidentiality rights
written into the settlement agreement so that the public could know
the details. After all, taxpayers who are footing the bill ought to
know what the Porter dismissal cost them.
We have two reactions to the release of the Kristen Porter settlement with the Gilroy Unified School District. First, we applaud Porter’s decision to waive her confidentiality rights written into the settlement agreement so that the public could know the details. After all, taxpayers who are footing the bill ought to know what the Porter dismissal cost them.
Second, we wonder what the district was trying to hide. The roughly $18,000 settlement, representing salary and benefits Porter would have received through the end of the school year, was reasonable. The district didn’t pay damages.
The public can – and should – have a beef with the lack of evaluation documentation provided to trustees by administrators who were asking for Porter’s immediate firing. The public can – and should – have a beef with trustees who approved the firing recommendation without that documentation. The public can – and should – have a beef with the timing of the firing, just 12 hours after Porter exercised her free speech rights by speaking critically to the school board. The public can – and should – have a beef with the unprofessional way the firing was carried out by district officials.
But no one should have a beef with the modest settlement the GUSD negotiated to avoid what would likely have been a much costlier lawsuit that many people believe the GUSD would have lost.
So we’re left wondering why the GUSD seems so intent on giving itself public relations black eyes.
We place most of the blame on trustees’ and administrators’ bunker mentality that leads it to shut down communication and to view the world through an “us versus them prism.” That’s the same myopic reaction that often poisons relations with parents.
This latest, and hopefully final, chapter in the Porter drama is yet another example of the district’s poor communication skills and the unnecessary turmoil it causes. Both internally – for example, improved teacher evaluation procedures – and externally – from welcoming parental input to being forthright with taxpayers – the GUSD has a lot of room for improvement in the communication department.
It’s not just a feel-good issue.
Improving communication will help attract top teachers, improve teacher performance, boost employee morale, increase parental involvement and multiply community trust. All those things will go a very long way toward helping the district achieve its ultimate goal of doing a great job at educating students.
