Bermuda is at a crossroads in public education. The headlines tell part of the story: a three-tier system in the midst of a painful transition, exam results below international averages, teachers voicing frustration, and a public that are watching — and waiting — for something to change.

I have been part of Bermuda’s education story for more than 40 years. It was my choice and passion from the time I was a child. I have stood at the front of classrooms in our primary, middle and high schools. I have mentored young teachers finding their footing. I have served as principal, shaping school culture and academic vision. I have educated men and women behind prison walls whom society had written off — men and women who, given the right teacher and the right belief, proved that learning has no expiry date. I have watched our children grow, struggle, succeed and sometimes fall through the cracks of a system that was never designed with all of them in mind.

What I have learnt in those four decades is this: structures do not transform schools. People do.

The present debate around education reform has been largely structural — how many tiers, which schools to close, what years belong to which level. These are important questions. But they are not the first questions. The first question ought to be: do our teachers trust the system they are being asked to deliver?

The Bermuda Union of Teachers have spoken clearly. Their frustration is not a disruption — it is a signal. When educators feel unheard, unsupported and uncertain about the future, that energy travels directly into the classroom. Children feel it. Parents feel it. And no structural reform, however well intentioned, can outrun a culture of distrust.

What Bermuda’s education system needs right now is not just reform. It is restoration of trust, of morale, of a shared sense of purpose between government, educators, families and the wider community.

Restoration begins with listening. Our system is now in need of another commissioner. It requires a commissioner who can sit with a teacher in a Devonshire classroom, a parent in a Sandys living room, and a ministry official in Hamilton — and make each of them feel equally heard and equally valued. It requires leadership that does not manage people from a distance but walks alongside them.

It also requires a broader vision of what education is for. In my years at the Department of Corrections, I was reminded daily that education is not merely an academic exercise. It is an act of hope. Every person I’ve taught or interacted with, regardless of the circumstances that brought them to that building, deserved access to the kind of learning that restores dignity and opens doors. If we hold that standard for those at the very edges of our system, we must hold it even more firmly for every child in every public school in Bermuda.

I believe in surrounding ourselves with progressive, forward-thinking people — individuals who are not afraid to challenge convention in service of better outcomes. Great leadership does not consolidate talent; it cultivates it. A strong commissioner does not simply manage a department. He or she builds the next generation of education leaders while serving the present one.

Bermuda’s public school system has the talent, the commitment and the community to be truly excellent. What it needs is stable, visionary and deeply experienced leadership — leadership that has lived the full breadth of this island’s educational reality, not just the parts that are easy to govern.

The work ahead is significant. But so is the opportunity. Bermuda’s children deserve nothing less than our best effort, our fullest commitment and our most courageous leadership. I will always remain ready to give all three.

• Shawnette Olney Somner is a Bermudian educator with more than 40 years of experience spanning the public school system, correctional education and school leadership. She is a Maxwell Leadership-certified coach, speaker and trainer, a published author, and the founder of The Etiquette Class for Girls