I magine you're a parent who has a child who attends Ellenville Elementary School. Also imagine that, as a concerned parent, you have made it a point to know the teachers and administrators with whom your child has frequent contact. Then, one day, you receive a letter from the elementary school that is signed by the principal, only in this case it's a name you don't recognize. In looking at the letter you start asking questions: Who is this new principal? What happened to the previous principal? Why wasn't this change announced?

All of these questions might have purely innocent answers. The new principal could turn out to be a highly qualified individual; and, the previous principal might have had to take a leave of absence for purely personal reasons. So far, so good. So, innocently enough, you decide to call the school to get some answers, and soon a starkly different picture emerges. Instead of a simple explanation and reassurances, you get nothing but a disclaimer, the district's standard, blanket reason for keeping information from the public: it's a personnel matter and the district cannot discuss it further. Thank you, and goodbye. You hang up the phone mystified, angry, and imagining the worst. All over what might be a completely ordinary situation.

This intransigence would strike many people as more than a bit odd. Leaving parents to discover, on their own, that a significant personnel change has occurred would make even the most sanguine individual wonder what was happening in the district office. If it's no big deal, why make it a big deal by being so secretive? Doesn't it make more sense to send a letter to parents stating that, for whatever reasons, Elementary School Principal Holly Eikszta is temporarily stepping down, and an interim replacement has been found? Wouldn't it be better to show at least a shred of respect and consideration for the parents who entrust their children to the school system day after day?

For the Ellenville Central School District, apparently, that's a little too much to ask. In fact, many of the simplest informational questions seem to be too much to ask. Is Eikszta still on the payroll? Has she resigned? Is she coming back? Is the district currently paying for two elementary school principals? These questions were formally directed to the superintendent and to the school board by the Shawangunk Journal multiple times. The response? We cannot comment on personnel issues. We have to check with the lawyers. It seems quite a stretch to argue that such questions violate someone's privacy. But, this is what district argues, taking the interpretation of privacy law to an absurd level.

Regrettably, the conclusions to be drawn from such an extreme aversion to candor are not good. Relatively free from public oversight and participation, the board and district administration could just be behaving arrogantly, with the mistaken belief that they run the show and are beholden to no one. Or, it could just be the incompetence of district officials not fully comprehending their jobs, the law, or how to deal with the public. But what we fear the most is that by not being forthcoming, the district is showing that they really have something to hide, which can't be good for the district or the community. One thing we know for sure, though: the district's silence serves no one except themselves.

Regardless of who, ultimately, is the principal of Ellenville Elementary, the district must do a better job of communicating with the public, or it risks further alienating itself from a community already doubtful about its integrity and purpose.