Sometimes, I wonder how society gets enough folks to volunteer to be elected officials who aren't paid---like school board members. When I think this, I typically snap back to reality pretty quick: many people (me included) believe that doing the right thing and public service is worth the trouble, no pay, and time it takes. I sincerely say and write that it's an honor to serve our community.
The issue of to mandate masks -- or not -- was the big decision of the day. Ultimately, the board voted 4-3 to remove the mandatory language and strongly encourage use. At some point, I know we were going to reach this day, where we need to see how badly the buildings will be hit by quarantines and the virus itself. In college, one of the academic ideas that has stuck with me in the policymaking space is looking at "the tragedy of the commons." This is a simple, non-academic article on its premise. In a nutshell -- it's based on the idea that there's a shared "space" for folks (in the academic example, it's based on pasture usage and cows). The idea is that there's only so much land in the shared space and the "commons" works when folks have one cow---but the tragedy of the commons happens when folks turn their individual interests above the good of the whole and get more cows. This is a "tragedy" because the more individuals who add individual, extra cows to only their benefit and to the detriment of others--they actually eat the food (grass) of everyone in the shared space together and can cause others' cows to not have enough food. I continue to try to be transparent in my mindset and thinking all while trying to listen. My concern has been related to the tragedy of the commons--that if our kids are masked--we can limit quarantines to as small as possible (which benefits everyone--teachers, students, parents) and the sacrifice of each person and their parents to the benefit of others. It's as simple as that. The board, admin team, and teachers are in an impossible situation. There's multiple articles about how this issue is tearing communities up. Here's one, another, and another -- all within the past month. These highlight the increased anger, divisiveness, and inability of society to listen to one another in a genuine way. I work incredibly hard to know my strengths, weaknesses, and biases in various situations. A potential weakness is that I could be an "insider." I work in the policy/political space. I sit in public meetings all day as a profession. That bias means that decorum and tradition is personal to me--because our democracy is rooted in it. We had 11 citizens who spoke, some for masks and some against. Everyone stayed within the three minute comment time and the conversation stayed (with the exception of a couple times) non-personal. What I struggled with was after the vote was taken and we moved on was how there were multiple audience participants who interrupted the board's conversation with questions or comments. The content of the questions wasn't necessarily bad, but I struggled with how comfortable some folks seemed to be with interrupting an official meeting instead of trying to listen, learn, and take questions to people in a one-on-one setting. Honestly, it puts the board in a bind. If we say: thanks, but please be respectfully quiet, comment time is over---the board look like jerks. If we let folks interrupt with questions regularly, it can very easily get out of hand, take all night, and lose decorum. Because I sit in public meetings all day and recognize that if I speak out of turn, I'm at risk of removal from the meeting if I chime in with an opinion or question. I may lose my rapport with legislators or those testifying. So, I take notes, follow-up as necessary, even text them immediately if it's urgent to get a piece of information to them---but I refrain from interrupting their meeting in which I'm an audience member in. That's likely why I take the lack of active listening yesterday so personally. Mask opinion aside, I think society is losing the ability to listen well. Rightfully so, it's my role as a board member to listen and try to understand everyone who spoke (and those who didn't but still attended). even though I have my own opinion. I'm admitting to you that I struggle with this. As I was reading about improving listening skills, multiple articles referenced that most people only recall about 25% of what someone tells them due to trying to prepare to respond and other factors. Too often, I resort not to the acronym I just learned of RASA (Receive, Appreciate, Summarize, Ask) but I go to responding. Too often, I don't listen mindfully and hold my tongue -- but I respond. By listening to respond instead of listening to ask questions and learn, I know that I can talk past others---missing their point and even cause them to miss mine. I think the issue of masks, vaccines, 24-hour news media and politics today amplify this by encouraging the drama and talking over one another to try to get the last word. As a pragmatist in life, this is hard and bothered me more than the vote itself -- because it gets me to think about things like: what would the parents have done if the vote went the other way? What will backlash will be if the board decides that too many little kids or are being quarantined and we reinstate? I fear for the lack of civility and the lack of active listening if it comes to that decision (which I hope we don't get to). Like many of you, I work to ensure my faith guides my life. I encourage you to read this positive article about how my Christian faith encourages listening and how listening well is an act of love to one another and to God. Until next time, Craig
3 Comments
Rebecca Hoskins
9/16/2021 10:37:25 am
Much appreciated, Craig.
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Jon
9/16/2021 02:40:23 pm
Well done my friend. We learn and get better for the next time
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Chelsea
9/17/2021 10:48:29 pm
Craig, as always, thank you for your personal transparency and your leadership. Your insight always comes through with a lot of thought and care. I appreciate you and the rest of the school board for serving at this absolutely impossible time in our schools.
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AuthorHallsville resident. Foster Parent. School board member. Politico. Jesus Follower. Cardinals Fan #MizzouMade Archives
June 2020
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