New Thinking for Schools and Towns

was just created to handle both school and town buildings in Dedham.

Big deal?

Yes it is.

Everywhere in Massachusetts, cities and towns, school and town functions are kept strictly separate.

But Dedham Town Administer William Keegan and school superintendent June Doe have agreed to fill a school position with money from the municipal side and thus have a new entity that serves both worlds. Neither side will have absolute sway. Which means the town administrator and the school superintendent must cooperate as never before, and so will the selectmen and school committee.

This will be new territory.

Maybe it will bring progress.

Largely that will be up to Keegan and Doe. They will have to make sure that the new executive understands that they must do things that help both the schools and municipal functions at the same time. Usually that has been easy because the budgets never mix.

At some time, however, there is bound to be conflict. Selectmen have very different areas to govern than do School Committee members. Local governments are intentionally structured that way.

Any individual servant who tries to satisfy both masters all the time is bound to fail.

This job seeks to change that.

But that is really the job of the two masters, selectmen and the School Committee.

If Keegan and Doe can do that, there is a chance this hybrid official will work well.

It will be a Central Facilities Manager with a $100,000 salary. Sounds like lots of money. If the individual blends the two budgets successfully over the next few years, the money will be a small price for taxpayers to spend.

Dedham officials say they must put the details together and . So it looks as if this not a position being manufactured for a close friend of either budget manager.

People will watch this new hybrid expert carefully. Nothing will be taken for granted.

What Dedham needs to do is correct any problems that come up. Any groups of critics will be able to complain that this new idea is a mistake. Smart critics will to want to see how it will work over the long run.

Voters can change the nature of their town government. If the hybrid gets the town’s business accomplished more easily, it will be a success for all.

This is new thinking.

Let it breathe.