FCTS is a really good school that I genuinely believe cares about the students, staff and faculty and they are demonstrably successful at educating young people under normal conditions.

In addition to my time with the Tech School and Greenfield city council and ZBA, I served on the board and was chairperson of MAVA (the first public virtual school in MA) for some years.  There are student communities that can succeed at virtual education, I've seen it.

But online education only works under ideal circumstances and only for a motivated few. It's not the same thing as teaching in a classroom...it's akin to asking a veterinarian to help people in an emergency.  Yes, they can help, sort of...a little bit...but they aren't doctors and can't just be swapped out permanently. Same with brick-and-mortar educators - yes, during catastrophes we can ask them to use online tools as best they can, but it's not fair to expect them to be able to fully educate kids with the same efficacy as we have come to expect.

My personal reasons for resigning:

I don't think enough people understand the long-term effects of this virus on our lives, society and culture. 

People want so badly to "get back" that they don't realize that back doesn't exist anymore. 

Serving on a board today feels like deck-chair-shuffling on the Titanic. 

155,000 people in America are dead from a global pandemic that the President thinks is caused by getting tested. 

The reporting says we'll hit 300,000 dead by the end of the year.

Talking about how to mark bus seats to get kids to class without breathing on each other is not a good use of our time.

The budget concerns I mention:

Back in March the FCTS board gave the Superintendent a substantial salary increase. The meeting packet didn't mention a vote, didn't include any financial justification, any budgetary impact statement and there was close to no discussion. To be fair, this may have been discussed and even voted on in the subcommittee, but not in front of the full board.

I felt and still feel that the Superintendent is a good person who was doing a really amazing job; but that doesn't negate the board's responsibility for fiduciary oversight. The board let me down and I came home from that meeting frustrated and angry.  It's been 5 months - I don't know what the financial impact of COVID will be on our schools, but I really wonder what the board would do today if the Superintendent had asked for this same raise now.

Combine my frustration with the laxity of the board and my general pessimism from COVID and I just can't be a helpful board member right now.