Elections!

The staff election will be held on monday. It is such a complicated process. I had no idea.

The students elect the staff at Sudbury. This is another aspect of The Philosophy that really freaks people out. "You let children pick their teachers?" I couldn't believe it either but again it speaks to the true commitment of the school to fully empower the students. In a democracy, the people elect their leaders and HVSS is no different.

A candidate fills out an application and has interviews with the staffing commitee. Then they spend a 40 hour visiting week at the school. Then they have the staff debates where all the candidates running for election or re-election sit and answer questions and talk about being on staff.

On monday they have the election and the kids just vote on whether they want that person on staff or not. They can vote for all the candidates if they want. It's a secret ballot but I wonder how they will help the little kids who can't read. Maybe they put their pictures on the ballot. Anyway, after the election it is going to get sticky. There is only enough money for four and a half staff members so they have to start dividing up the pie. I guess people volunteer to work for less pay. They'll be on the books for 20 hours but work 40 or something like that. I have even more admiration for the staff now that I know this. I'm not sure, I'll know more next week but I think slates are formed and there may be another election to vote on the configuration.

I'm hoping to attend the staff debates next year. I would have to ask for permission from school meeting and i can understand why there would be objections to parents being there. It is easy for parents to inadvertently take over. I wouldn't want to participate. Ok, that's not true of course I would want to participate, I love to have my say but I could keep quiet. I just want to observe because these people spend the better part of the day with my children and I want to know what they're about. Or maybe there will be a night for parents to hear the staff talk about why they want to work at the school and what they think they bring to the table.