Be constructive

What is the objective of your “Wake-Up Call” advertisement?

Is the objective to save face or is it still an attempt to have Tom Farrell fired? The advertisement dwells on the lack of record of when Tom showed up for work. How many successful executives keep track of their “attendance” at work? Whether or not Tom keeps track of when he is at work or when he takes a vacation has a minimal impact on the performance of the school. If there is some bureaucratic need to report the Superintendent’s “time at work” then please help him develop a system of reporting which would minimize wasting time and which would hopefully provide some meaningful information. Knowing Tom, he would be the first one to listen to and consider any constructive criticism and recommendation. He has always done so. He may not agree or implement every idea; however, I have the confidence that he will sort out options and propose to implement those that best accomplish the schools objectives.

As an ex-college professor I have created a habit of grading:

Carrie, Laurie and other members of CARE … I give you an F for this last advertisement … hope you will got a better grade next week … we will all be watching.

I give Tom Farrell an A and the school a B (middle school gets a somewhat lower grate than the high school); however, thanks to Tom who brought the school from a C- to a B. If the community could work as a “team” with Tom, our public school could be brought to an A … a very challenging job in a community like Aspen.

P.S. I do respect you original objective of trying to figure out how to make the Aspen public school system better … I also don’t have a problem with the need for disclosure … I do have a problem with what seems to be you single-track objective and solution: Fire Tom. That is not likely to happen, so please try to come up with constructive recommendations that could benefit Tom and the school.

Richard Jelinek

Aspen