Transparency at work in School District 2

Newspapers from coast to coast last week celebrated Sunshine Week, a time to champion openness and transparency in government in issues from access to public records to open meetings.

Ironically, Sunshine Week 2024 happened to coincide with an example of transparency worth celebrating right here in our neck of the woods.

Thursday night, Big Horn County School District No. 2 held a public forum during which citizens were able to question three finalists to be the next principal of Lovell Elementary School.

We’re not sure most folks realize how rare such an event is. We have been told that kind of open forum would not take place in other communities. One Jackson resident, upon hearing about the forum, remarked, “Really? They’re doing that?” He said that wouldn’t happen in Jackson – nor in many other communities, we figure.

It is human nature, especially among leaders, it seems, to want to control the situation, control the narrative. And the more people that are brought into a discussion, the more complicated the process becomes. Too many cooks spoil the broth, right?

But for District Two superintendent Doug Hazen and the Lovell School Board, more input brings more knowledge to the hiring process about the kind of principal a candidate will be. School patrons submitted questions about homework, bullying, art and music education, discipline and behavioral issues, family relocation willingness, future plans and why the candidate wants to go into administration.

It was illuminating for citizens and school officials alike, and the forum came after a long day during which the finalists toured the school with student council members, interviewed with members of the hiring committee, observed teachers in the classroom and met with staff members. It was, no doubt, a grueling process for the finalists.

School district officials didn’t have to hold the public forum, with all of the other sessions having been conducted, but they did so because they wanted to be open, to include district patrons and to gain additional input, and they did so because the Lovell community has a long record of transparent governing. Rarely does the school board, town council or hospital board in Lovell go into so-called “executive” sessions, better named “secret” sessions.

Not so with many other communities, some of which build executive sessions into their meeting agenda on a regular basis.

And so we take our hat off to School District No. 2, Superintendent Hazen and the Lovell School Board for allowing the public to play a strong role in this important process. Good show.