New Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Moline immediately recognized the informal tone of these conversations at Hagelstein’s by suggesting it be "Tom and Frank" as we shook hands. We had not met before, only exchanged emails.

Recognizing, too, the existence of what he terms "a divided community – not just seniors," Moline quietly described his experiences and observations since coming to Royal Oak from Clare, Michigan, where he had been Superintendent of Schools for four years. Before that, for 14 years, he had served as Building Principal, then Director of Special Services in Midland.

Married to Dawn for 22 years, Moline described his family: Three sons, Michael (26) from a first marriage, made Moline a grandfather eighteen months ago (Ian) and again on October 1, 2005 with the birth of twins (Gabriel and Brianna). Son Matthew (18) recently graduated from high school and now attends Oakland Community College while living with his parents in Royal Oak. Son Sean (15), a high school sophomore, attends Kimball High School. Sean is on the JV football team and in the marching band.

Including door-to-door visits, Moline is "developing affinities" in the community. He says he has found Royal Oak warm and inviting. "People have reached out to my family. The city is alive; some of the wooded and quiet boulevard neighborhoods remind me of Midland. Apart from the fast pace of Woodward and Telegraph Roads, there are many similarities around the schools and surrounding neighborhoods that make me feel I am in very familiar territory."

The best way to capture the tone and content of the conversation is with brief summaries of the major points, not necessarily in the order in which they were addressed.

º There is "heartache" over declining enrollment in the schools and about some of the decisions the decline is forcing on the school district. "It’s not just the South End," Moline finds. When a school like Mark Twain has to be closed, "It generates resentment" – not just toward the school board and administration but toward other residents, "because there is a perception of winners and losers."

º Happily, though, Moline senses "an emerging wisdom to get past the animosity" which resulted from the resentment and sadness. "People are realizing that some of the largest facilities such as Dondero and Kimball have continued to age and wait on major upgrade," states Moline. He noted that the Royal Oak community has wrestled for nearly a decade over the "perfect building bond" while surrounding districts have made significant upgrades to their public school buildings.

º Although the Royal Oak school district is four times larger than the Clare school district, Moline seems to agree with President Truman’s contention that "If you can manage a haberdashery, you can manage a country." Working with a board, and committees, and school-focused civic groups, and city hall, and the community-at-large differs only in size, not in the skills and attitude needed for success, I think I heard Moline say.

º Moline and I took a moment to chat about his encounter with Royal Oak Senior Miriam Grimm, thought to be the eldest living PTA president in Royal Oak. It develops that Grimm graduated from Clare High School in 1928, Moline in 1969. "She speaks for a lot of seniors who support the bond," he told me.

º For another moment, I asked him about his appearance at a Save Our Schools forum. Some of the comments about his "PR personality" (see accompanying box) came from attendees. As Moline sees it, although he was not specifically on the panel, the overwhelming number of written questions were asked directly of him – so, yes, he talked a lot that night. Moline explained that "SOS President, Mark Buszka, treated me most professionally and was almost apologetic for the focus on my presence that night. I simply tried to answer the questions that for the most part, were directed at me. I really came just to listen."

º The school district is giving thought to what it would be forced to do, and not do, should the millage fail. Moline has painful Clare memories of having to cut staff to the bone, of dissolving committees, of having to wear several hats. "We’re not taking victory on November 8 for granted," he says. Moline added that the move to a single high school next year and a single middle school the year after significantly increases the need for renovation and upgrade of Kimball and Dondero.

º Moline again brought the human factor into our conversation when we spoke of combining Dondero and Kimball High Schools. "Homecoming will be a sad event," he mused, then switched mood quickly with, "Let us build. We will continue to respond to the demands of neighborhoods as much as we can."

º I remarked that a major objection to the bond is voiced by those – seniors or not – who say the school district is "forever" asking for money, yet pro-bond residents complain that the existing buildings are unsafe and deteriorating. "What was the previous money used for?"

º Moline says that maintenance and retrofitting operations "have been ongoing", including window replacements. "The last building bond of fifteen years ago (1990) was well-spent and facilities such as Upton, Keller, Jayne Addams and Oakland continue in good shape and good service", stated Moline. The pool system adjacent to Dondero was a major feature of the 1990 bond. Boilers can act up in old buildings, he pointed out, because those old iron pipes get clogged and have to be replaced, "just as we replace our home piping with copper or PVC."

º Yet, "those are separate issues," he added, "from the past and recent past," indicating that as a newcomer he wants to think of the future.

 Somewhere in the conversation, the super referred to the objections voiced about air conditioning. "These days, when you add heating, you can’t omit air conditioning. ‘Hvac’ means, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning," he said, and tied those needs to the need to upgrade electrical systems to accommodate the hvac loads.

º It’s a bit worrisome," Moline says, that "not a lot of the infrastructure improvements will show outside." That brought him to discuss the need to improve "presentation," the outside appearance of schools. He said that Kimball did not favorably impress him or his wife, when they first approached it from the dock-side. "Decades of trucks backing over curbs, of corrosion . . . "

º But he is enrolling his children in Royal Oak schools.

"What’s your relationship with City Hall," was one of the few direct questions I asked Moline. (These coffee and donut sessions at Hagelstein’s are conversations, not interviews.) I mentioned how often residents chew out the city commission about matters which are not the city’s but the school district’s responsibility.

By way of background Moline said, "Remember that our legal designation is ‘The School District of the City of Royal Oak’" and recalled that in Clare there was a very close relationship between the school district and city hall. On a roll, Moline ticked off:

He comes in contact weekly, either formally or informally, with City Manager Tom Hoover, is getting to know him personally and finds Hoover a kindred soul. 

A fledgling School/City committee was formed earlier; it has had one meeting and will be meeting again soon.

There are several functional responsibilities which seem to lend themselves to school/city consolidation: motor pool, communication, repair parts, replacement tires, fuel for vehicles, salt for roads and parking lots, etc. "But there are real-world considerations, like "the city garage cannot accommodate the schools’ long buses."

Opining that it is probably disadvantageous, in terms of image, that the school administration is separate geographically from the heart of town and from city hall, Moline wondered aloud about "housing together, under one roof."

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One roof? How about a Civic Campus – City Hall, School District, Police? . . . Sell City Hall! – FJV: 11 Oct 05