I would like to apologize to my blog readers for a few egregious mistakes made on my blog over the past few months. I made a mistake with my initial post about longevity payments in the Town of Walpole by incorrectly blaming the unions for the longevity payments when I should have blamed town bylaws. Later, in another post, I reported inaccurate information regarding a proposal to demolish a house on Main Street and construct a strip mall. In fact, the proposal calls for not a strip mall but a large office building. My post about that was deleted because I still needed more facts. Additionally, my latest post about Mr. Stephen Imbusch's appointment to principal of Walpole High School has made some believe that I do not like Mr. Imbusch. I realize how it may have appeared that way based on what I wrote, but, rather, I have always said that I would support whomever was chosen but would probably have been more inclined to support Mr. Holcomb for the reasons I stated. Regardless, Mr. Imbusch is an incredible individual who is more than qualified, and I have maintained that position. Another error that I made was in implying that I had not been given the chance to ask during site visits how parents and teachers felt the candidates would handle school crises. In reality, I did theoretically have the chance to ask this question. But I had other questions that had to take precedence.
I let down my readers by making serious errors, and I wish my readers would let me know when I do things like that. I value your readership, and I continue to strive for accuracy and will do my best to report the truth in the future. I'd also like to boast by saying I also appreciate those who continue to tell me that they trust my blog more than they trust other local news sources!
I let down my readers by making serious errors, and I wish my readers would let me know when I do things like that. I value your readership, and I continue to strive for accuracy and will do my best to report the truth in the future. I'd also like to boast by saying I also appreciate those who continue to tell me that they trust my blog more than they trust other local news sources!
School Superintendent Lincoln Lynch announced the new principal of Walpole High School today in a letter to students, parents, and staff. I can't say I agree with his assessment of Mr. Imbusch, but as I have said before, I will support whomever is chosen. Good luck to Mr. Holcomb, the other finalist. I hope to see him as Superintendent somewhere someday. I had been secretly hoping he would pull an upset.
A message to Mr. Imbusch: Please read what I wrote about you and where you can improve in your exposure and connection to students. Please take it to heart. I think it would strengthen and improve the school, and I am sure you would agree. A good number of students that I have spoken to would have preferred Holcomb, so you have some work to do to reach out to the student body! Also, you should consider some of the ideas that Holcomb has proposed, like requiring 25 hours of community service from students as a graduation requirement. I would be one to go along with that, although maybe not at the level of 25 hours but less than that.
Here is the text of the letter:
A message to Mr. Imbusch: Please read what I wrote about you and where you can improve in your exposure and connection to students. Please take it to heart. I think it would strengthen and improve the school, and I am sure you would agree. A good number of students that I have spoken to would have preferred Holcomb, so you have some work to do to reach out to the student body! Also, you should consider some of the ideas that Holcomb has proposed, like requiring 25 hours of community service from students as a graduation requirement. I would be one to go along with that, although maybe not at the level of 25 hours but less than that.
Here is the text of the letter:
Dear Students, Parents and Staff:
As Superintendent of Schools, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Stephen Imbusch as the new Principal for Walpole High School. Mr. Imbusch demonstrates the leadership characteristics needed to move the school forward. Mr. Imbusch began his career at Walpole High School thirteen years ago as a Technology Teacher and has served the past eight years a Assistant Principal.
Throughout the exhaustive four month selection process, Mr. Imbusch exhibited an authentic desire to advocate for the success of every student. He expressed his belief that students and faculty deserve an atmosphere of mutual respect. He openly identified weaknesses that need immediate attention, such as removing the school from accreditation warning status; improving two-way communication with students, faculty and parents; establishing a team-building model for inclusive decision making; and strengthening mid-level courses. He understands the history and culture of Walpole and will ensure stability in the position.
My sincere thanks to the scores of students, parents and staff who participated in the selection process. Several common themes surfaced from a thorough review of the feedback submitted. Mr. Imbusch's skill set best aligned with the framework of skills and characteristics necessary for the leader of a 21st century high school.
Both finalists earned our sincere appreciation by preparing for and participating in the process.
Mr. Imbusch will fully assume the duties of Walpole High School principal on March 15, 2010. The District will be posting the (now vacant) Assistant Principal position for a start date prior to the next school year. In the meantime, an Interim Assistant Principal will be announced shortly.
The contract is under negotiations.
Sincerely,
Lincoln Lynch
I was fortunate to have had the honor of being a student representative on the committee that conducted site visits of both Walpole High School and Seekonk High School, the current workplaces of both candidates for principal at WHS. The site visits were conducted last week, and are the last steps in the process of selecting a new high school principal by March 15. Here are just some of my thoughts about the candidates, taken from what I heard during our site visits and from my own conversations with members of the school communities. These are in addition to my previous statements about each of the candidates from February, here.
I came away from the site visits with the full belief that both candidates are extremely strong, and no matter which one is chosen I have no doubt the other will someday take a higher job and will do an outstanding job. Both candidates are extraordinary people who love their jobs and love seeing students succeed. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Both were clearly professional and compassionate in their work. I basically see no problem with either becoming principal of Walpole High.
As part of the site visits, the committee met with groups of students, parents, and teachers at each school. In Walpole, students we met were very enthusiastic about Mr. Imbusch potentially becoming principal, and genuinely seemed to like him. However, there was a dramatic difference between them and the students in Seekonk who literally could not stop talking about how Mr. Holcomb has made their high school experience so much easier. Later, as we were walking through the halls of Seekonk, I was struck by the fact that students were high-fiving Mr. Holcomb because they wanted to. They genuinely connected with him and respected him. The students we spoke to in a group said they were sad he might have to leave to work in Walpole. They said that Mr. Holcomb respected them, and the respect was mutual. They said he went to school events, sometimes with his family, because he really liked to go.
Let me be brutally honest. The sort of relationship between student and administration that we saw firsthand at Seekonk doesn't appear to exist in Walpole with any of our administrators, not only Mr. Imbusch. While Mr. Holcomb is known to walk the corridors of the school and likes to check in on teachers in their classrooms, Mr. Imbusch has never come into any one of my classrooms. Both candidates were called "calm" and "professional" when they were dealing with student disciplinary issues, yet Mr. Imbusch does not command as much respect from students as Mr. Holcomb does. Mr. Imbusch does not peek in on teachers and students to check in on how they are doing. I don't see Mr. Imbusch at school events or athletic games outside of school. The students in Seekonk called Holcomb "down to earth", whereas in Walpole I don't see that from Mr. Imbusch. I see someone who seems serious most of the time with no sense of humor. I perceive him as an administrator who works in an office somewhere near the lobby and who only shows himself between classes and a few times during the day when he's in a hurry to go somewhere. He does not show his face very often. He does not walk into classrooms to see students learn. One teacher in Seekonk wrote an email in which she said, "It is not unusual for [Holcomb] to stop in classes spontaneously and support learning. Just last month, he stepped into my classroom and without missing a beat started teaching factoring to a surprised class. The students loved it!" I have not seen the same from Mr. Imbusch, and frankly I can't imagine him walking in on even a computer class, which he used to teach. Staff members at Walpole High said Imbusch was "magical", and said he is always around "taking it in." Unfortunately, I don't share the same view. I don't believe he's taking it in at all. Parents at Walpole High said they wanted a principal who "knows all the kids by name." I don't think Imbusch knew my name until this year. He doesn't know the names of any of my friends. He's not familiar with any of my siblings who have gone through the high school with him as assistant principal. Mr. Holcomb, on the other hand, knows the names of students. Seekonk students said that getting to know Mr. Holcomb is an "awesome experience." They said he motivates students and is there for everyone while not choosing favorites.
Students at Seekonk want Holcomb to be their assistant principal. They begged us not to take him as our principal. They like him. With Imbusch, from a student's perspective, I see someone who spends most of his time in an office and I don't know whether I would even notice or care whether he left this year. I feel he is our assistant principal, and that's about it. I feel no connection whatsoever to him. The students we spoke to at Walpole High liked him, but I didn't see any significantly visible enthusiasm or excitement in the prospect that he would be their principal. In Seekonk, students were practically falling out of their chairs to try to tell us how much Mr. Holcomb had made a difference in their lives. That had a huge impact on the impression I had of Holcomb.
Another reason why I would have a difficult time supporting Mr. Imbusch for the principal position is because of his, and other administrators', lack of collaboration with the WHS Student Council. The Student Council has been frustrated for many years by the fact that they have not been able to get any of their proposals implemented because administration has failed to work with them. The Student Council has been relegated to the role of being nothing more than a mere school spirit organization as a result of the administration not giving them the power to do anything significant. If Mr. Imbusch becomes principal, I would like to see him try to do what he can to collaborate with the Student Council and enable them to be a more effective organization. Frankly, I don't think he will do that, judging by his work as assistant principal. Mr. Holcomb, on the other hand, seems to me to be somebody the Student Council could probably better work with in their initiatives. Otherwise, I think it would be best if we disbanded the Student Council if it can't get the full cooperation of our administrators. If its only role is to promote school spirit, it would be best if we created another, more concentrated, organization to do so. The Student Council should really be a partner in working to improve the school. Administration, including Mr. Imbusch, has not given them any ability to do this over the past several years.
In terms of working with students outside of the Student Council, I have not seen very much effort from Mr. Imbusch. When Imbusch was on the graduation requirements committee to reform our outdated graduation requirements, the final proposals were never presented to the student body as a whole. To this day, I await the list of the revised requirements that Mr. Imbusch seems to be so proud of. I have not seen them yet. They are not on the school website. They were never presented to students. I will wait.
Regardless of their connections to students, only one candidate I think really has the experience and the long term commitment to be principal: Mr. Imbusch. Holcomb has been assistant principal at a small school in a rural town for about three years. He has already talked of becoming superintendent somewhere someday. While this is an admirable goal, and certainly I see him working his way up to that role someday, I feel he needs more time to get his feet wet in Seekonk before he starts thinking about such lofty goals. If he has only stayed there for two and a half years, I can't imagine how long he'll stay in Walpole before he'll start applying for superintendent jobs. He is still fairly young - he has time, and needs to slow down. Mr. Imbusch, on the other hand, has been working at Walpole High for many years now both as a teacher and as an assistant principal. He has worked his way up to this status by learning the ins and outs of working in a school both as a teacher and as an administrator. At Walpole High, we need a principal who will come and improve the school with everything he's got and then will leave after a solid number of years. We simply can not continue to have principal selection committees every three or four years - we need someone who is there for the long run. In my view, Holcomb is rushing to get to the superintendent's job without stopping to take a breath for a moment and just enjoying the experience of making a positive experience on students and helping them succeed. To his credit, he served as a teacher for ten years, but only got into administration four years ago. He is an incredible individual who will undoubtedly go far in his career and still has time in his life to do so - but his desire to move as quickly as he can into higher office after only a few years as assistant principal is disconcerting.
One of the questions that I would have liked to have asked teachers and parents at Walpole and Seekonk is how they feel each candidate would have handled major scandals or incidents like what we saw in Walpole last year with our Athletic Director. When major incidents, like a student death, or scandals occur, it is important to have a strong leader who can guide the ship through turbulent waters. I wonder what Imbusch or Holcomb would do when you have a faculty in turmoil, a student body in shock, and the media knocking at your door. I never got a chance to ask that question and would have liked to have known the answer from the perspective of teachers and parents who have worked with him.
The decision to choose a new principal is extremely difficult. I would have a hard time making the decision if I was in Mr. Lynch's shoes. Both candidates are equally qualified. Both candidates are incredible people. Thank you to both for their service and dedication to my generation. I await the final decision this week and will support whoever gets chosen.
I came away from the site visits with the full belief that both candidates are extremely strong, and no matter which one is chosen I have no doubt the other will someday take a higher job and will do an outstanding job. Both candidates are extraordinary people who love their jobs and love seeing students succeed. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Both were clearly professional and compassionate in their work. I basically see no problem with either becoming principal of Walpole High.
As part of the site visits, the committee met with groups of students, parents, and teachers at each school. In Walpole, students we met were very enthusiastic about Mr. Imbusch potentially becoming principal, and genuinely seemed to like him. However, there was a dramatic difference between them and the students in Seekonk who literally could not stop talking about how Mr. Holcomb has made their high school experience so much easier. Later, as we were walking through the halls of Seekonk, I was struck by the fact that students were high-fiving Mr. Holcomb because they wanted to. They genuinely connected with him and respected him. The students we spoke to in a group said they were sad he might have to leave to work in Walpole. They said that Mr. Holcomb respected them, and the respect was mutual. They said he went to school events, sometimes with his family, because he really liked to go.
Let me be brutally honest. The sort of relationship between student and administration that we saw firsthand at Seekonk doesn't appear to exist in Walpole with any of our administrators, not only Mr. Imbusch. While Mr. Holcomb is known to walk the corridors of the school and likes to check in on teachers in their classrooms, Mr. Imbusch has never come into any one of my classrooms. Both candidates were called "calm" and "professional" when they were dealing with student disciplinary issues, yet Mr. Imbusch does not command as much respect from students as Mr. Holcomb does. Mr. Imbusch does not peek in on teachers and students to check in on how they are doing. I don't see Mr. Imbusch at school events or athletic games outside of school. The students in Seekonk called Holcomb "down to earth", whereas in Walpole I don't see that from Mr. Imbusch. I see someone who seems serious most of the time with no sense of humor. I perceive him as an administrator who works in an office somewhere near the lobby and who only shows himself between classes and a few times during the day when he's in a hurry to go somewhere. He does not show his face very often. He does not walk into classrooms to see students learn. One teacher in Seekonk wrote an email in which she said, "It is not unusual for [Holcomb] to stop in classes spontaneously and support learning. Just last month, he stepped into my classroom and without missing a beat started teaching factoring to a surprised class. The students loved it!" I have not seen the same from Mr. Imbusch, and frankly I can't imagine him walking in on even a computer class, which he used to teach. Staff members at Walpole High said Imbusch was "magical", and said he is always around "taking it in." Unfortunately, I don't share the same view. I don't believe he's taking it in at all. Parents at Walpole High said they wanted a principal who "knows all the kids by name." I don't think Imbusch knew my name until this year. He doesn't know the names of any of my friends. He's not familiar with any of my siblings who have gone through the high school with him as assistant principal. Mr. Holcomb, on the other hand, knows the names of students. Seekonk students said that getting to know Mr. Holcomb is an "awesome experience." They said he motivates students and is there for everyone while not choosing favorites.
Students at Seekonk want Holcomb to be their assistant principal. They begged us not to take him as our principal. They like him. With Imbusch, from a student's perspective, I see someone who spends most of his time in an office and I don't know whether I would even notice or care whether he left this year. I feel he is our assistant principal, and that's about it. I feel no connection whatsoever to him. The students we spoke to at Walpole High liked him, but I didn't see any significantly visible enthusiasm or excitement in the prospect that he would be their principal. In Seekonk, students were practically falling out of their chairs to try to tell us how much Mr. Holcomb had made a difference in their lives. That had a huge impact on the impression I had of Holcomb.
Another reason why I would have a difficult time supporting Mr. Imbusch for the principal position is because of his, and other administrators', lack of collaboration with the WHS Student Council. The Student Council has been frustrated for many years by the fact that they have not been able to get any of their proposals implemented because administration has failed to work with them. The Student Council has been relegated to the role of being nothing more than a mere school spirit organization as a result of the administration not giving them the power to do anything significant. If Mr. Imbusch becomes principal, I would like to see him try to do what he can to collaborate with the Student Council and enable them to be a more effective organization. Frankly, I don't think he will do that, judging by his work as assistant principal. Mr. Holcomb, on the other hand, seems to me to be somebody the Student Council could probably better work with in their initiatives. Otherwise, I think it would be best if we disbanded the Student Council if it can't get the full cooperation of our administrators. If its only role is to promote school spirit, it would be best if we created another, more concentrated, organization to do so. The Student Council should really be a partner in working to improve the school. Administration, including Mr. Imbusch, has not given them any ability to do this over the past several years.
In terms of working with students outside of the Student Council, I have not seen very much effort from Mr. Imbusch. When Imbusch was on the graduation requirements committee to reform our outdated graduation requirements, the final proposals were never presented to the student body as a whole. To this day, I await the list of the revised requirements that Mr. Imbusch seems to be so proud of. I have not seen them yet. They are not on the school website. They were never presented to students. I will wait.
Regardless of their connections to students, only one candidate I think really has the experience and the long term commitment to be principal: Mr. Imbusch. Holcomb has been assistant principal at a small school in a rural town for about three years. He has already talked of becoming superintendent somewhere someday. While this is an admirable goal, and certainly I see him working his way up to that role someday, I feel he needs more time to get his feet wet in Seekonk before he starts thinking about such lofty goals. If he has only stayed there for two and a half years, I can't imagine how long he'll stay in Walpole before he'll start applying for superintendent jobs. He is still fairly young - he has time, and needs to slow down. Mr. Imbusch, on the other hand, has been working at Walpole High for many years now both as a teacher and as an assistant principal. He has worked his way up to this status by learning the ins and outs of working in a school both as a teacher and as an administrator. At Walpole High, we need a principal who will come and improve the school with everything he's got and then will leave after a solid number of years. We simply can not continue to have principal selection committees every three or four years - we need someone who is there for the long run. In my view, Holcomb is rushing to get to the superintendent's job without stopping to take a breath for a moment and just enjoying the experience of making a positive experience on students and helping them succeed. To his credit, he served as a teacher for ten years, but only got into administration four years ago. He is an incredible individual who will undoubtedly go far in his career and still has time in his life to do so - but his desire to move as quickly as he can into higher office after only a few years as assistant principal is disconcerting.
One of the questions that I would have liked to have asked teachers and parents at Walpole and Seekonk is how they feel each candidate would have handled major scandals or incidents like what we saw in Walpole last year with our Athletic Director. When major incidents, like a student death, or scandals occur, it is important to have a strong leader who can guide the ship through turbulent waters. I wonder what Imbusch or Holcomb would do when you have a faculty in turmoil, a student body in shock, and the media knocking at your door. I never got a chance to ask that question and would have liked to have known the answer from the perspective of teachers and parents who have worked with him.
The decision to choose a new principal is extremely difficult. I would have a hard time making the decision if I was in Mr. Lynch's shoes. Both candidates are equally qualified. Both candidates are incredible people. Thank you to both for their service and dedication to my generation. I await the final decision this week and will support whoever gets chosen.
On February 27, I had a great interview with Patrick Shield, candidate for Walpole selectman. Listen to the interview here, or play right here:
Charlie Baker, who is running for governor as a Republican, visited the Westbury Farms Family Restaurant in downtown Walpole today. He met with a variety of local residents, answered questions, and gave a short speech. He then took a walk to Betro's Pharmacy where he chatted with customers there.
During his speech, Baker promised not to make any cuts to local aid or prison mitigation money as governor. He also sought to do a total review of all state regulations and unfunded mandates.
Governor Deval Patrick, running for re-election against Baker, will be visiting Walpole within the next couple of weeks according to reliable sources inside his campaign.
Here are some pictures of Baker's visit to Walpole. This article is by no means an endorsement necessarily for Baker or his campaign.
Mr. Baker speaks with Walpole Police Chief Richard Stillman and other Walpole officers.
Mr. Baker chats with customers at Westbury Farms.
Mr. Baker answered questions from local residents in the parking lot of Westbury Farms. Selectwoman Nancy Mackenzie (at left) and Town Moderator Jon Rockwood (at right) were present as well.
Mr. Baker was introduced to local officials by fellow Republican, Town Moderator, and 2008 State Senate candidate Jon Rockwood.
Various members of the Board of Selectman were given the opportunity to speak directly with Mr. Baker. Shown here are, from left, Chris Timson, Selectman Chairman, Cliff Snuffer, and Nancy Mackenzie, along with Jon Rockwood.
Mr. Baker chats with Peter Betro, of Betro's Pharmacy, and a customer inside Betro's.
During his speech, Baker promised not to make any cuts to local aid or prison mitigation money as governor. He also sought to do a total review of all state regulations and unfunded mandates.
Governor Deval Patrick, running for re-election against Baker, will be visiting Walpole within the next couple of weeks according to reliable sources inside his campaign.
Here are some pictures of Baker's visit to Walpole. This article is by no means an endorsement necessarily for Baker or his campaign.
Mr. Baker speaks with Walpole Police Chief Richard Stillman and other Walpole officers.
Mr. Baker chats with customers at Westbury Farms.
Mr. Baker answered questions from local residents in the parking lot of Westbury Farms. Selectwoman Nancy Mackenzie (at left) and Town Moderator Jon Rockwood (at right) were present as well.
Mr. Baker was introduced to local officials by fellow Republican, Town Moderator, and 2008 State Senate candidate Jon Rockwood.
Various members of the Board of Selectman were given the opportunity to speak directly with Mr. Baker. Shown here are, from left, Chris Timson, Selectman Chairman, Cliff Snuffer, and Nancy Mackenzie, along with Jon Rockwood.
Mr. Baker chats with Peter Betro, of Betro's Pharmacy, and a customer inside Betro's.
It seems that Walpole is becoming a "battleground town", if there is such a thing, in the race for governor. A visit by Republican candidate for governor Charlie Baker is expected on Saturday, February 27, at 10:30 at Westbury Farms in downtown Walpole, and sources within the Deval Patrick campaign tell Sam Obar 180 that details are still being worked out for a visit by Governor Deval Patrick to Walpole within the next couple of weeks.
Rumors first began swirling of a visit from the governor yesterday, when Walpole Times reporter Keith Ferguson first reported that the governor was visiting an East Walpole home tonight. That is true, however, it appears to be a private fundraising event that is closed to the public and to the press. A source within the Patrick campaign told Sam Obar 180 that "the gathering [...] is an informal private party at the home of an old friend of the Governor's."
It appears, however, that even as tonight's event is closed to the public, the governor will be coming to Walpole in a more public capacity "within a week or two," according to the same source.
More details will be published on this blog once they are known. Check out Sam Obar 180 for all of this and more.
Rumors first began swirling of a visit from the governor yesterday, when Walpole Times reporter Keith Ferguson first reported that the governor was visiting an East Walpole home tonight. That is true, however, it appears to be a private fundraising event that is closed to the public and to the press. A source within the Patrick campaign told Sam Obar 180 that "the gathering [...] is an informal private party at the home of an old friend of the Governor's."
It appears, however, that even as tonight's event is closed to the public, the governor will be coming to Walpole in a more public capacity "within a week or two," according to the same source.
More details will be published on this blog once they are known. Check out Sam Obar 180 for all of this and more.
I had the opportunity to attend the open forums for both candidates for the open Walpole High School principal job on February 23. I was able to see both candidates present and discuss their so-called "education philosophies", and find out why each would like to become the next WHS principal. Here are my thoughts.
First, I would like to say that the forums were well run. In the particular forum that I attended, we were seated in a conference room just off of the WHS media center. We filled out questionnaires regarding each candidate and the forums were very interactive with a lot of questions and a very open atmosphere. School Superintendent Lincoln Lynch and Assistant Superintendent Jean Kenney ran the forums very well.
However, I was disappointed that there were no forums for actual STUDENTS. There was a forum for parents, faculty, department heads, the so-called leadership council, and Student Council. But there was no forum for just students. I guess it was assumed that the Student Council, which had selected members of its own to serve on the Principal Search Committee, represented the student body as a whole. However, as a student who is not part of the Student Council, I can say that the Student Council does NOT represent the student body as a whole. It would have been nice if all students had the opportunity to hear the principal, rather than just a select few.
Stephen Imbusch
Mr. Imbusch is the front runner for the job owing to his current position as Assistant Principal at WHS. As a student at Walpole High School, I can say that Mr. Imbusch has for years clearly been trying to get involved with the students and teachers. From the beginning of freshman year, I have seen Mr. Imbusch standing in as many hallways as he can, looking at each and every student who passes him. It can get fairly annoying, but I recognize now that he probably does that because he wants to market himself as student-oriented, which indeed was a focus of his presentation about why he should be selected to be principal.
He has teaching experience at Walpole High, and he has been an administrator here for a number of years. He knows all of the faculty and students, or knows of them. One of the things I had been hoping for during his presentation was whether he had any new ideas for the school. I didn't expect him to have any major new specific proposals because he has already spent so many years in an administrative position and has had the opportunity to put forward his ideas already. I had assumed that of the two candidates for principal, he would be the one who would be unable to present any NEW creative ideas and proposals for the school. However, I was clearly wrong. Among other ideas, he pushed an initiative that I thought I would never hear uttered from a Walpole administrator: the idea of implementing what he called "online learning" and embracing technology a lot more. What a true relief that was, although I am not surprised given that Mr. Imbusch is a former technology teacher.
He discussed his role in reforming the student graduation requirements this year, and discussed the introduction of student advisories instead of homeroom blocks next year. Both of these were ideas that he seemed very passionate about pushing for some reason, and appeared to be taking credit for these initiatives even when they were very complex proposals that are even to this day being worked out.
However, I was concerned with Mr. Imbusch's response to a student who asked him whether the graduation requirements should have been presented to the student body as a whole after they had first been proposed. Indeed, every single student who had been on the committee to reform graduation requirements had voted against the proposed changes in part because they felt they were too difficult to attain and would result in scheduling conflicts and nightmares for students who could not take their preferred classes. Up to this point, no one on the student body actually knows what the new graduation requirements will be, even though they have been in the final stages of planning for months. Mr. Imbusch seemed to agree that students should have been able to review the new requirements and offer comments on it, however I wonder why he had not done so when he has already had the opportunity.
Overall, Mr. Imbusch performed extremely well, and better than I thought. Additionally, while his Irish accent may bother some people, it really isn't that bad.
Scott Holcomb
Of the two candidates, I was most disappointed with Mr. Holcomb.
He started the presentation off extremely strong, using six large blocks that he had created the previous evening at home. The blocks, which each had one letter on them, illustrated his educational philosophy. He stacked the blocks in the shape of a pyramid, with three on the bottom, two in the middle, and one on top. The block on top had the letter S on it, standing for "Students". He believed that students were the most important element of his educational philosophy, and therefore belonged at the top. In the middle were the T and P, standing for "Teachers" and "Parents" respectively. And at the very bottom were the blocks representing Administrators (A), Community (C), and Municipality (M). I appreciated the fact that he clearly preferred offering a visual description of his educational perspective, however I really didn't think they proved anything other than he is a good visual thinker.
In general, he used a lot of fluff during his presentation, and seemed to be obsessed with the idea of promoting school spirit, which is actually quite a problem at Walpole High School but really should not be at the top of our priorities list in my opinion. He used words like, "I want to unite our school further," without actually showing how he sought to do that other than through school spirit activities.
A positive of his presentation, however, was his interest in collaborating with students and being creative about extracurricular activities. He seemed to indicate he would be willing to circumvent the teachers' union in order to make sure that students had a wide choice of extracurricular activities. He said that the education and enrichment of our students should be put above making sure that all teachers get paid for every activity they serve as advisors to, which I wholeheartedly agree with. He also discussed adding such things as after-school movie viewings which require little teacher supervision.
However, from reading The Walpole Times' profile of him, I can say that I was really concerned with the way he seemed to cast off Walpole High School as just another step towards becoming a Superintendent somewhere. According to the Times, "if selected for the job, Holcomb said he'd love to serve Walpole High as principal for the next 10 to 15 years whereupon he'd like to pursue a position as a superintendent."
To me, it seems as though he's more interested in moving quickly up the ladder of administration than about actually spending some time at Walpole High and enriching the education of the students who go there.
--
Having heard both of these educators present their reasons about why they want to be principal, here are my final comments: I think either candidate would be perfect for Walpole High. I don't have any preference as to which candidate Superintendent Lynch chooses to be our principal.
Regardless, here are the pros and cons, as I see them, of each candidate:
Imbusch
Pros:
Holcomb
Pros:
Cons:
First, I would like to say that the forums were well run. In the particular forum that I attended, we were seated in a conference room just off of the WHS media center. We filled out questionnaires regarding each candidate and the forums were very interactive with a lot of questions and a very open atmosphere. School Superintendent Lincoln Lynch and Assistant Superintendent Jean Kenney ran the forums very well.
However, I was disappointed that there were no forums for actual STUDENTS. There was a forum for parents, faculty, department heads, the so-called leadership council, and Student Council. But there was no forum for just students. I guess it was assumed that the Student Council, which had selected members of its own to serve on the Principal Search Committee, represented the student body as a whole. However, as a student who is not part of the Student Council, I can say that the Student Council does NOT represent the student body as a whole. It would have been nice if all students had the opportunity to hear the principal, rather than just a select few.
Stephen Imbusch
Mr. Imbusch is the front runner for the job owing to his current position as Assistant Principal at WHS. As a student at Walpole High School, I can say that Mr. Imbusch has for years clearly been trying to get involved with the students and teachers. From the beginning of freshman year, I have seen Mr. Imbusch standing in as many hallways as he can, looking at each and every student who passes him. It can get fairly annoying, but I recognize now that he probably does that because he wants to market himself as student-oriented, which indeed was a focus of his presentation about why he should be selected to be principal.
He has teaching experience at Walpole High, and he has been an administrator here for a number of years. He knows all of the faculty and students, or knows of them. One of the things I had been hoping for during his presentation was whether he had any new ideas for the school. I didn't expect him to have any major new specific proposals because he has already spent so many years in an administrative position and has had the opportunity to put forward his ideas already. I had assumed that of the two candidates for principal, he would be the one who would be unable to present any NEW creative ideas and proposals for the school. However, I was clearly wrong. Among other ideas, he pushed an initiative that I thought I would never hear uttered from a Walpole administrator: the idea of implementing what he called "online learning" and embracing technology a lot more. What a true relief that was, although I am not surprised given that Mr. Imbusch is a former technology teacher.
He discussed his role in reforming the student graduation requirements this year, and discussed the introduction of student advisories instead of homeroom blocks next year. Both of these were ideas that he seemed very passionate about pushing for some reason, and appeared to be taking credit for these initiatives even when they were very complex proposals that are even to this day being worked out.
However, I was concerned with Mr. Imbusch's response to a student who asked him whether the graduation requirements should have been presented to the student body as a whole after they had first been proposed. Indeed, every single student who had been on the committee to reform graduation requirements had voted against the proposed changes in part because they felt they were too difficult to attain and would result in scheduling conflicts and nightmares for students who could not take their preferred classes. Up to this point, no one on the student body actually knows what the new graduation requirements will be, even though they have been in the final stages of planning for months. Mr. Imbusch seemed to agree that students should have been able to review the new requirements and offer comments on it, however I wonder why he had not done so when he has already had the opportunity.
Overall, Mr. Imbusch performed extremely well, and better than I thought. Additionally, while his Irish accent may bother some people, it really isn't that bad.
Scott Holcomb
Of the two candidates, I was most disappointed with Mr. Holcomb.
He started the presentation off extremely strong, using six large blocks that he had created the previous evening at home. The blocks, which each had one letter on them, illustrated his educational philosophy. He stacked the blocks in the shape of a pyramid, with three on the bottom, two in the middle, and one on top. The block on top had the letter S on it, standing for "Students". He believed that students were the most important element of his educational philosophy, and therefore belonged at the top. In the middle were the T and P, standing for "Teachers" and "Parents" respectively. And at the very bottom were the blocks representing Administrators (A), Community (C), and Municipality (M). I appreciated the fact that he clearly preferred offering a visual description of his educational perspective, however I really didn't think they proved anything other than he is a good visual thinker.
In general, he used a lot of fluff during his presentation, and seemed to be obsessed with the idea of promoting school spirit, which is actually quite a problem at Walpole High School but really should not be at the top of our priorities list in my opinion. He used words like, "I want to unite our school further," without actually showing how he sought to do that other than through school spirit activities.
A positive of his presentation, however, was his interest in collaborating with students and being creative about extracurricular activities. He seemed to indicate he would be willing to circumvent the teachers' union in order to make sure that students had a wide choice of extracurricular activities. He said that the education and enrichment of our students should be put above making sure that all teachers get paid for every activity they serve as advisors to, which I wholeheartedly agree with. He also discussed adding such things as after-school movie viewings which require little teacher supervision.
However, from reading The Walpole Times' profile of him, I can say that I was really concerned with the way he seemed to cast off Walpole High School as just another step towards becoming a Superintendent somewhere. According to the Times, "if selected for the job, Holcomb said he'd love to serve Walpole High as principal for the next 10 to 15 years whereupon he'd like to pursue a position as a superintendent."
To me, it seems as though he's more interested in moving quickly up the ladder of administration than about actually spending some time at Walpole High and enriching the education of the students who go there.
--
Having heard both of these educators present their reasons about why they want to be principal, here are my final comments: I think either candidate would be perfect for Walpole High. I don't have any preference as to which candidate Superintendent Lynch chooses to be our principal.
Regardless, here are the pros and cons, as I see them, of each candidate:
Imbusch
Pros:
- Knows the school and its students and faculty; has taught here and worked here since the 1990s
- Discussed embracing technology
- Presented specific examples of ways he has worked to improve the school and what he wants to see implemented as principal
- Lives in Rhode Island; how much time can he really commit to Walpole High School and related events?
- Could not point to specific examples of where he has directly collaborated with students on initiatives other than through large committees to reform specific policies
Holcomb
Pros:
- Willing to put education above unions, if necessary
- Good at visual descriptions
- Already has a foot in the door with a wife who teaches in Walpole
- Deeply passionate about promoting school spirit
Cons:
- Used a lot of fluff, no real specific ideas that he wants to implement
- Disconcertingly concentrated on school spirit for some reason
- Seems to be more interested in moving up to superintendent than actually spending quality time in Walpole
This is fairly easy. However, there will still be some who still won't know. All are eligible to enter.
If you think you know, submit your answer to sam@samobar.com with the subject: "Where in Walpole", and you will be entered into a drawing for a grand prize of being able to ski free as many times as you want at Wachusett Mountain for the rest of winter 2010, or going to as many Pawtucket Red Sox games as you want for free in summer 2010 (courtesy of our friends at WDIS AM 1170, Norfolk).
If you work as a Walpole police officer for at least 25 years, you automatically receive a hefty payment of $875 upon your 25th anniversary of service. Even if you work just 5 years, you get a posh bonus of $475. Add that to the thousands of dollars you already earn in detail work and overtime, and you can see why being a Walpole police officer is actually quite lucrative. No wonder more than half of the Walpole Police Force earns more than $100,000 per year.
The police aren't the only ones earning nice bonuses for merely sticking around. It clearly pays to work for the Town of Walpole, thanks to clauses in various union contracts that permit town employees to collect longevity payments. Personnel Bylaws require the town to reward employees for their years of service - compensation that is largely unheard of in the private sector. In fact, there is no mechanism for rewarding town employees for their performance or for saving their department and the town money.
The longevity payments are funds that can be used to renovate the town website, purchase textbooks for the school department, or even lower parking, athletic, activity, and lunch fees at the schools. Instead, they are being used to reward our government employees for simply working a long time when the rest of us get squeezed with higher fees.
We all know how hard our municipal employees work. I go to the Walpole Public Library regularly, and am taken aback by the friendliness that the staff exhibits towards all patrons. Town Hall employees are always friendly and helpful. They work hard and love their jobs. Police officers and firefighters are incredible people. I understand why one could argue longevity payments are reasonable.
But when Walpole is struggling to cover its costs, and is cutting tremendously in other areas of the budget, it is time to put a stop to the practice of providing longevity payments. As the Las Vegas Sun wrote in December, "Longevity pay is a holdover from days when governments didn't pay particularly well." Now, those days are long gone. Being a government worker is actually fairly profitable, even in a small municipality like Walpole. I know the unions had to make painful decisions this past year in health care and other costs. But the town needs to stand up for its taxpayers next time and push for an elimination of the longevity payments. Few businesses reward their employees with these lucrative bonuses - there is no reason why the town should. My radio producer has not missed a day of work since 2000. I think he's one who would deserve a good longevity payment, but too bad my radio station is in the private sector. When none of us can afford longevity payments, our town can't afford them either!
The police aren't the only ones earning nice bonuses for merely sticking around. It clearly pays to work for the Town of Walpole, thanks to clauses in various union contracts that permit town employees to collect longevity payments. Personnel Bylaws require the town to reward employees for their years of service - compensation that is largely unheard of in the private sector. In fact, there is no mechanism for rewarding town employees for their performance or for saving their department and the town money.
The longevity payments are funds that can be used to renovate the town website, purchase textbooks for the school department, or even lower parking, athletic, activity, and lunch fees at the schools. Instead, they are being used to reward our government employees for simply working a long time when the rest of us get squeezed with higher fees.
We all know how hard our municipal employees work. I go to the Walpole Public Library regularly, and am taken aback by the friendliness that the staff exhibits towards all patrons. Town Hall employees are always friendly and helpful. They work hard and love their jobs. Police officers and firefighters are incredible people. I understand why one could argue longevity payments are reasonable.
But when Walpole is struggling to cover its costs, and is cutting tremendously in other areas of the budget, it is time to put a stop to the practice of providing longevity payments. As the Las Vegas Sun wrote in December, "Longevity pay is a holdover from days when governments didn't pay particularly well." Now, those days are long gone. Being a government worker is actually fairly profitable, even in a small municipality like Walpole. I know the unions had to make painful decisions this past year in health care and other costs. But the town needs to stand up for its taxpayers next time and push for an elimination of the longevity payments. Few businesses reward their employees with these lucrative bonuses - there is no reason why the town should. My radio producer has not missed a day of work since 2000. I think he's one who would deserve a good longevity payment, but too bad my radio station is in the private sector. When none of us can afford longevity payments, our town can't afford them either!
My apologies for not posting on this blog as often as I should. Actually, I have a number of different articles I am writing for this blog all at once, but most of them involve extensive research in the town's budget and salaries. All of these articles will be published at later dates.
I am very pleased to see that Town Administrator Michael Boynton has suggested regionalizing certain town services. It makes a lot of sense to regionalize services like Animal Control, Veterans Services, and Health. Our town animal control officer may be disappointed that he may lose his job, and I don't blame him. Many of us are familiar with our ACO's work. In fact, I believe that he has been involved with finding one or two dogs that my own family has owned over the years. Unfortunately, however, regionalization is probably the wave of the future when municipalities must find long-term solutions to revenue cuts.
Veterans and Health services, too, could be consolidated, and Mr. Boynton has proposed Engineering as well. I don't actually know all that much about the work of any of these departments, so I can't give an honest assessment as to whether it would be a good idea to regionalize.
However, Mr. Boynton also proposed regionalizing library services. I can't imagine how he proposes to regionalize library services. Walpole is on the way to building a massive new library and towns nearby, too, have libraries that they are happy with and will not be leaving vacant in favor of regionalization. So library services can not be regionalized in my view. Unfortunately, since Mr. Boynton appears to be unwilling to come on to my radio show again, I don't think we will ever get the opportunity to get the facts about what exactly he is proposing. Hopefully that will all come out later.
Regionalizing other town departments, however, is a positive step in the right direction towards saving Walpole money. Also, hopefully by next year, we will have a new governor like Charlie Baker who has vowed not to cut local aid in his budgets (but that is by no means an endorsement for Mr. Baker).
I would like to close this by saying that videos of Walpole Selectmen's meetings are now available on the internet here.
I am very pleased to see that Town Administrator Michael Boynton has suggested regionalizing certain town services. It makes a lot of sense to regionalize services like Animal Control, Veterans Services, and Health. Our town animal control officer may be disappointed that he may lose his job, and I don't blame him. Many of us are familiar with our ACO's work. In fact, I believe that he has been involved with finding one or two dogs that my own family has owned over the years. Unfortunately, however, regionalization is probably the wave of the future when municipalities must find long-term solutions to revenue cuts.
Veterans and Health services, too, could be consolidated, and Mr. Boynton has proposed Engineering as well. I don't actually know all that much about the work of any of these departments, so I can't give an honest assessment as to whether it would be a good idea to regionalize.
However, Mr. Boynton also proposed regionalizing library services. I can't imagine how he proposes to regionalize library services. Walpole is on the way to building a massive new library and towns nearby, too, have libraries that they are happy with and will not be leaving vacant in favor of regionalization. So library services can not be regionalized in my view. Unfortunately, since Mr. Boynton appears to be unwilling to come on to my radio show again, I don't think we will ever get the opportunity to get the facts about what exactly he is proposing. Hopefully that will all come out later.
Regionalizing other town departments, however, is a positive step in the right direction towards saving Walpole money. Also, hopefully by next year, we will have a new governor like Charlie Baker who has vowed not to cut local aid in his budgets (but that is by no means an endorsement for Mr. Baker).
I would like to close this by saying that videos of Walpole Selectmen's meetings are now available on the internet here.
Sam Obar
- Journalist
- Historical Commissioner
- Radio & TV Commentator
- WHS Student
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Email Sam
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- Journalist
- Historical Commissioner
- Radio & TV Commentator
- WHS Student
SamObar.com Home
About Sam
Email Sam
The Sam Obar Show (radio)
