Open letter to school trustees concerning school closings.

How do we get from Building Research Institute of Montana (brim) to the Forum on Small Town Economic Renewal? Garfield Elementary is the classic example. If closing one neighborhood school on the South Side and opening another neighborhood school on the West End doesn't seem fair to the people living in the community around Garfield, it may be because one side wins and one side loses. That's a recipe for hard feelings and continued fighting.

Why not expand our pond for everyone rather than fight over diminishing resources? We could all make more money and be more satisfied - similar to Microsoft, Intel, and Dell working together selling personal computer systems. We have to think of our town as a system that doesn't work well unless everyone benefits. With the information explosion and the global economy rapidly changing our world, it behooves us to rethink our standard operating system and procedures.

Research is important but the brim report on Garfield proves research is not enough. Research and communication are the keys. We need research to discover new resources or underutilized old resources. We need communication to provide a rapid feed-back loop to share ideas and act - well, rapidly. This approach decreases turnaround time of research, and improves the satisfaction levels of participants.

I propose everyone concerned come together to a new non-threatening place like the Forum; a place where we can champion ideas from others and find and develop ways to expand our pond. Rather than be attacked at a school board meeting, or argue the merits of desperate ideas, or take sides and act before all of our resources are utilized, people can meet in a barn raising atmosphere at the Forum. Together we can help diffuse the us or them, the either or else, the now or never, and the do or die mentalities.

By joining the Forum on Small Town Economic Renewal we can all be in a better position to facilitate, mediate and improve on the current situation of West End versus South Side. We can also learn what other communities and organizations are doing - rapidly. Let's come together through research and communication. No one in the community gains by fighting in the long run. We gain by finding ways to increase mutual benefits. Let's invest in a sensible solution that expands the pond instead of fighting over diminishing resources.

Thank you for the opportunity,

Jeffrey C. Baston, NCARB, AIA
Director

 

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