When Ethics Are Compromised, Who Really Loses?
What happens when those in positions of leadership—those entrusted with making decisions for our children—compromise their morals and ethics, even in defense of what they might consider to be a noble cause? Does their lapse negate the very cause they claim to serve? These questions echoed for me as I left last night’s EBBOE meeting.
Attendance and School Climate
During the HIB data presentation, much was made about the correlation between attendance, student absences, and behavior. But here’s the harder truth no one seems willing to acknowledge: maybe students don’t want to be in school because the climate and culture inside those buildings feels unsupportive, unwelcoming, or unsafe.
As educators, we know the opposite can also be true. Many students seek out classrooms where they feel safe—a place where they are seen, heard, and respected. When schools are not experienced as a refuge, and students have few other options, the question becomes: where else can they turn? When we fail to provide that safe harbor, we fail the very children we are entrusted to support.
The Mental Health Crisis We Can’t Ignore
Dr. Boley noted that 113 students are currently on home instruction. In her words, many of those cases are due to mental health challenges. This should be a flashing red signal. When students are running from school instead of to school, the system is failing them.
Our schools should be nurturing, safe, and engaging spaces. If they are not, we must ask ourselves why. Praising ourselves for superficial improvements while children flee the very system designed to serve them is not leadership. It is denial.
A Broken Compass
The tone-deafness of the board was astonishing. Members were showered with accolades simply for doing the bare minimum: paying attention. That is what the community elected them to do—it’s their responsibility, not an extraordinary achievement worthy of celebration. At least not in my opinion.
Meanwhile, some board members act as though their seat is an audition for a higher administrative or political position, pushing unilateral decisions, bullying others into submission, and steering the community, and more importantly, our children, down dangerous paths. The moral and ethical compass of this board is not just misaligned—it is broken.
Asking the Right Questions, Too Late
Candidates running for reelection are finally beginning to ask important questions. But where was this level of engagement before? Leadership is not about waiting until election season to show concern. If those questions had been asked consistently all along, perhaps we’d be in a different place. Instead, the community is left with explanations of data that should have been transparent from the beginning. Asking “tough questions” is meaningless if the compass guiding the room is already compromised. So, as the old adage goes, a day late and a dollar short.
Discipline, Instruction, and Missed Connections
During the discussion on HIBs and disciplinary issues, a glaring oversight became clear. Classroom removals and rising discipline incidents were framed as behavioral problems, with little acknowledgment of the underlying causes: lack of academic preparedness, ballooning class sizes, and minimal differentiated instruction.
Anyone who has spent even a short time in education knows that acting out is often rooted in disconnection—students struggling to access material, bored by one-size-fits-all lessons, or craving relevance and meaning. Differentiated, engaging instruction isn’t just a pedagogical nicety…. It is a lifeline. Ignoring this connection is mind-boggling and downright detrimental.
Cookie-Cutter Thinking, Cookie-Cutter Tests
Even in day-to-day classroom practices, we see the cracks. Just this morning, my own children compared notes about an upcoming assessment—two classes, two different teachers, the same test, carbon copies of one another. Where is the creativity? Where is the innovative thinking? Where is the space for students to demonstrate what they’ve learned in unique, innovative, meaningful ways?
Differentiation was a buzzword at last night’s meeting. Dr. Boley referenced it in her polished list of goals. But what is the value of carefully crafted bullet points if they never translate into classrooms? Talking about differentiation is easy. Implementing it is hard. Our students deserve leaders and educators willing to do the hard work.
Final Thought
Forgive me if I don’t join the chorus of self-congratulation. I see the cracks widening daily. Data slides and empty applause don’t change the truth: students don’t feel safe, supported, or engaged. Until we commit ourselves to honesty, courage, and the moral obligation to create safe, engaging, and equitable schools, we have nothing to celebrate. Our children deserve more than broken compasses and hollow applause. They deserve schools worth running to.
