The recent termination of Leon Hendrix, Executive Director of Communications and External Affairs at Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS), and his subsequent allegations of retaliation (view the complaint materials) have illuminated persistent structural and cultural challenges within the district. Mr. Hendrix requested a public hearing on the matter, which will take place on Monday, July 22 at 4:30pm. This situation has stirred many questions and emotions in our community, with some district families self-organizing in response. As the broader public wrestles with questions of “blame,” we believe it is important to continue to point back to the way GRPS is designed and maintained. In short, the current situation reflects the structural and cultural issues that students, families, and staff have been concerned with for years now (see last year's Eureka Report and our Community Report Card results). In particular, we note the district’s urgent need for greater transparency and accountability for Franklin Campus administrators.
Implications of a Lack of Accountability
For too long, there has been a real lack of accountability for the top tier of GRPS administration. This has resulted in a lack of clarity around performance expectations and the subsequent dysfunction currently on display. This lack of clear expectations also creates space for interpersonal conflict - where internal actors are being judged based on arbitrary constructs like “collegiality” and “respect.” To be clear, we place high value on respect. However, “respect” when absent clear expectations and evaluation around performance can simply become a way of diffusing or rejecting accountability.
A lack of accountability also produces unbalanced power relations - where factors like relationships, gender, race, position, history, and personality become determining factors for success instead of outcomes. It creates an environment where people are working harder to consolidate power rather than attending to the needs of the broader district ecosystem. It also gives rise to the culture of retaliation we’ve heard of again and again. When an individual’s power feels threatened, they retaliate against the perceived threat by leveraging their relationships, position, and history to reconsolidate their power. As a result, those with less power become scapegoated for complex problems that they often have little control over. This also creates a culture of blame and division, where party lines are drawn around individual connections and relationships instead of performance outcomes.
A Path Forward
We believe that the district is in urgent need of a clear vision, actionable goals, and transparent accountability steps that support their ability to achieve them1. While individuals absolutely need to be held accountable, there is perhaps a greater need for district leadership to create transparent accountability and evaluation processes, a clear vision that teams are able to move towards, and transparent goals and measures for success.
Reflective Questions
We believe that a healthy school district is led by folks who facilitate a culture of collective responsibility and ownership for the success of our students and staff at all levels, working collaboratively and effectively to support both students and one another. A healthy school district has a clear vision, actionable goals, and transparent forms of evaluation and accountability that support the health of the district ecosystem. If you are engaged in this “fight” - as a parent or caregiver, community partner, school board member, or district administrator - we ask you to join us in these ongoing calls for accountability. As we do that work, here are some reflective questions that might help nuance what that accountability might look like:
1. Will swapping out “bad apples” in district leadership create new outcomes moving forward? How might we learn from previous administrations (or other systems like the Police Department) the success or failure of these strategies?
2. What accountability tools can be incorporated into GRPS administration? The GRPS Board’s planned adoption of End’s Policies is an example.
3. Humans are amazingly complex beings, and in our work, we strive to honor this complexity. This forces us to ask ourselves: how might our organizing work be “soft on people, but hard on systems”?
4. Think about a time when your trust was broken. What were the necessary steps taken to rebuild trust? What processes did you put in place to support that? What personal things did you have to “let go of”? What were the things you were looking for that built trust?
As always, we invite our community to keep their attention on how these dynamics affect our students–those who have the most to lose when the adults entrusted with shaping their education are unable to find a way to work together in service of their growth and learning. Together, we can build a school district that upholds the values of accountability, respect, and collective responsibility for the success of our students.
1 While the Reimagine Dashboard is an attempt at this, it is quite simply an inadequate tool at this time. Instead of its intended purpose of transparency and accountability, the dashboard selects low-hanging indicators that provide the excuse of “working on it” to mask a lack of change. See the current “Reimagine Culture” tab as an example.
