HVRHS’s Harnett is ready to talk

FALLS VILLAGE — The new principal at Housatonic Valley Regional High School is determined to avoid the kinds of problems that cast a shadow over the opening of school in August 2010.Matthew J. Harnett said he has read the report by Jeffrey C. Pingpank on the circumstances surrounding the August 2010 resignations of then-Principal Gretchen Foster and Vice Principal Mary Ann Buchanan.“A couple of times,” he said, with a smile.Harnett said his reading of the report led him to conclude that the underlying problem was one of communication. “People were frustrated and upset. Communications broke down. And people retreated.”To avoid that sort of thing, Harnett pointed to the door of the principal’s office, leading to the hallway.“That door will be open,” he said. (It was closed at the time, in fact, but his rhetorical point was clear.)“If anyone has a concern or an issue — if someone wants to close the door and vent — I hope they will take advantage.“If I have an answer I’ll give it. If I don’t, I’ll find it. “I see no reason to be any other way.”On Thursday afternoon, July 7, Harnett (in athletic garb) was winding down his fifth day on the new job. “I am educating myelf on what the climate and culture of the school is.”The HVRHS community is “supportive, proud, and attached to this school,” he observed.A letter to parents and staff went out this week, outlining “a number of ways for students, parents, faculty and staff to share their thoughts with me.”The school website has an online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/GD7HWFF; Harnett’s letter urges community members to complete it.The letter specifies a series of meeting times with faculty and staff members in July and August, to focus on three questions: • Are we headed in the right direction?• What is in the way of our doing so?• How can we be the school we aspire to be?And for parents, Harnett has scheduled coffee meetings on Aug. 23 and Sept. 13 at 8 a.m.He emphasized that he is around and available this summer.“I want people to come in so I can learn about the community and the school.”