Well, that's not really true, of course. Two years is long enough to take the measure of any man, and to judge by the FaceBook page that sprang up yesterday (
Bring Back Dr. Sidney Freund ) and already has 344 "likes", Dr. Sidney Freund has a
huge base of support among the students, teachers, parents, and townspeople of Greenwich. Why, then, is he abruptly resigning with another year still to go on his contract?
The reason is not far to seek: internecine Board of Education politics. Apparently two outspoken malcontents, Marianna Ponns Cohen and Peter Scherr, have polarized the Board by their outspoken criticisms of Dr. Freund, and even stooped so low as to question his personal integrity. No public servant should have to put up with such disgusting treatment, and Dr. Freund has apparently decided that he is one of them.
Everyone in Town should check out the FaceBook page and read the comments posted on it. Your blood will boil, dear reader, just as mine did. Two misguided people, who seem to think that sowing contention and making personal slurs is their God-given right, have thrown the entire educational system in the Town of Greenwich into turmoil. Shame on them!
So here is a humble suggestion:
in return for Dr. Freund's recision of his resignation and agreement to spend one more year in his post (as set forth in his original contract), all the current members of the Board of Education should resign immediately and forthwith. The Town should call a special election in June for a new Board (cheaper than starting a search for a new Superintendent), with terms running until the end of 2013. No current Board member should be allowed to be a candidate in the new election.
With a proper airing of issues and vetting of the candidates (who should, of course, outnumber the eight slots available so that the voters have some choice in the matter), a new Board of Education could be seated over the summer to work on a "fresh start" with Dr. Freund. My guess is that the level of interest will be so high among parents and townsfolk that we will wind up with perhaps the best Board of Education in the State of Connecticut.
How ironic that Dr. Freund should have recently been named "Superintendent of the Year", and is now asking to leave because, as is widely assumed, he doesn't wish to put up with the vilification of two rotten apples. So let's throw out the old barrel, and bring in a new crop of apples who can work with Dr. Freund to give Greenwich the kind of school system it needs and deserves.
How say you, fellow townspeople? Shall we try to start over and bring Sidney Freund back?
