Dearborn Schools Supt. Brian Whiston took to the local papers this weekend, the latest school official submitting a column on the difficult changes the Dearborn School district is facing because of massive cuts in state funding.

Supt. Brian Whiston

His column comes weeks after a “he said, she said” column appeared in the paper from Aimee Blackburn, president of the Dearborn Board of Education and Chris Sipperley, president of the Dearborn Federation of Teachers, Local 681. The column writing has been criticized by some in our city but no one can deny it is an effective way to present the issues facing our district and reach people who may not otherwise attend or watch school board meetings.

Whiston raises some valid points in his column, namely that the school district cannot go back and start over.

“We can’t pretend the $12 million in cuts from Lansing didn’t happen,” Whiston writes in his column that appears in the Sunday issue of the Dearborn Press & Guide. “We are faced with a new beginning that looks different than the beginning we had in September. Our new beginning, although not ideal or the one that we want, can have a successful ending, an ending that is even more meaningful than the one that we planned when the school year started.”

While Whiston spends too much time in his column quoting others to make his points (Woodrow Wilson, Maria Robinson, John Maxwell), he does at least admit the obvious: what lies ahead is going to be extremely difficult for our school district.

“. . . Not only are schools facing the possible loss of a teacher, parapro, or other vital staff member, but they are facing the difficult task of changing the way we meet the educational needs of children or how we deliver instruction. The task ahead will not be easy but it is vitally important to the success of the students in our classrooms. . .”

Indeed. And everyone working in the Dearborn School District will need to come together to successfully navigate the rough waters our schools and students will soon face.