If the Brussels afternoon of Friday June 18th 2021 was already hot, it became even hotter when I started reading this rather interesting letter by Mr. Marcheggiano, the Secretary General of the European Schools. 😎
The letter landed on The Woluwe Diaries desk around mid-late afternoon. In it, Mr. Marcheggiano explained the position of the Office of the Secretary General on the 180 days discussion. I will not bother you with the details of the arguments because you can read it yourself right here.
However, there are two comments by Mr. Marcheggiano that deserved my full attention.
The first is his reference to his decision to address his reply “the Presidents of the Parents’ Associations of the Brussels European Schools – in particular to you, Ms XXXXX (the President of the EEB1 APEEE) and Mr XXXXXXXX-XXXXXX (the President of our very own and most cherished APEEE Woluwe), who questioned me in writing…”
The interesting thing about this first reference is that we, the parents of the APEEE Woluwe, were not informed of this alleged “questioning” of the APEEE Woluwe’s President to Mr. Marcheggiano. Albeit not surprised that we have not been informed, this is in stark contrast with the Communication from the EBB1 APEEE, which was widely shared in the EEB parents community. I believe this really raises questions over the transparency of the collective leadership of our association. How can communications be sent in our names without our knowledge?
But then again, the reply of Mr. Marcheggianno is just the reply of Mr. Marcheggiano and, as Phil Collins always taught us, we should hear both sides of the story. So, the million dollar question is where on earth is the letter our president wrote to Mr. Marcheggiano? Psssssst….be quiet: this letter is probably confidential.
This leads us straight to the second interesting point made by Mr. Marcheggiano. In the same paragraph, he continues to say: “I would point out, insofar as this is necessary, that this letter is not confidential in nature and can therefore be shared with Parents.”
Although it still took three days – of I’m sure thoughtful consideration – to do so, I know for a fact that in our school the letter was indeed shared by APEEE Board members in a couple of language sections and has therefore not been outright stamped as “confidential”.
But the really interesting thing here is: why did Mr. Marcheggiano felt he had to go to the length of explicitly stating that the matter was not confidential and could be shared? I suspect he has finally realized what is going on – at least at the APEEE Woluwe – and how a bogus confidentiality agreement is apparently being used to cover up for whatever should be hidden members. The result is, in my opinion, are genuinely acute cases of surreal confidentiality.
I am almost sure that if Mr. Marcheggiano had not written those words, the chances of this communication being distributed in some lucky parts of the parent community would range from slim to none.
Since this is already not the first time that – supposedly – confidential information comes to light (and trust me when I say that there is more coming 😉) maybe it is time for the APEEE Woluwe’s Board to reassess its position on confidentiality. Or, borrowing from John Cleese, I would like to suggest that they Stop that! It’s silly!
PS. I haven’t yet stopped chuckling at the:
…insofar as this is necessary… 😂😂😂😂
Fabrício Santos is a parent at the Brussels European School 2 in Woluwe.
As an engaged parent he is often involved in actions that aim at improving and increasing the transparency and accountability of the school’s parents association.