Window Dressing

It should come as no surprise to any reader that faculty meetings are generally boring. Only recently did a meeting provide the staff entertainment.

Thursday, October 13, had been an uneventful meeting until the principal gave yet another chore to the faculty. For once, she faced rebellion.

It was startling to see her shut all the doors to the room.

It was bemusing to hear her say, “What happens in this room stays in this room.”

Then she began to emote. “I’ve always been there for you, 24/7. I’ve given you my phone number. I am going to think about what you have said. This meeting is over! You’re dismissed!”

We sat in silence for a moment in silence, looking at each. Then we left.

The next day, the principal called the dissenting teachers to her office. “I have never felt so disrespected in my twenty-nine years as an educator,” she told them.

The teachers fell on their swords. They sent a written apology to everyone via email.

Four days later, the Hamden Chamber of Commerce chose Principal Nadine Gannon as educator of the year.

Window Dressing. The act of making something appear deceptively attractive or favorable.

In order to have business boom in a town, there has to be a robust public high school. Hamden has many charming neighborhoods and a stunning array of small businesses. Drive up and down Whitney Avenue and look at the variety of shops. They all depend on that high school. Property values depend on the high school. The tax base depends on the high school. No one moves to a town where the high school is bad. People leave because one is. People are.

Last year, Hamden High School was a media circus. The school took several torpedoes: a stabbing; a loaded .45 in the building where, thanks to the principal, the culprit charged around the main office and barricaded himself in the copy room; a freshman murdered; a brawl in the auditorium where the police were called. Metal detectors were purchased, and the long line of students waiting to be searched was visible on Dixwell Avenue. The Hamden Chamber of Commerce must have been in a panic.

This year, police were called to the first home football game because of fights. During the school day, groups of students roam the halls. On the rare occasion when an administrator is out of their office, they will say to the students, “Get to class!”, but they keep walking and don’t do anything about it. Too many students come to class and comb their hair, literally just comb their hair.

And no administrator, no superintendent has taken the fall. The higher-ups rarely do.

The Hamden Chamber of Commerce educator award is all window dressing. It gives a good appearance while in reality the stock is underperformed. No one can afford to have Hamden High School go to ruin. Everyone needs this school to be a star in the firmament.

So, on November 17, for seventy dollars, you can eat roast pork and hear self-absorbed dross from the principal of Hamden High School at Cascades, a banquet hall in Hamden, a business that needs that high school.

Well done, Principal Gannon. May your next meeting be as much fun. And congratulations on your award.

Signed,

The Albatross