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Who is Leading?

Why is it that we continue to find SRR students still drifting through their senior year?  Where do you want to go to school next year?  I don’t know?  How did you do on your ACT?  Didn’t take it.  What math class are you in?  None.   Do you have other plans for after graduation?  Nope. 

This is unacceptable and not the exception to the rule.  It is a lack of leadership that is leaving these bright young kids with crippled opportunities.  We as a district are failing too many.  This must change, and it will take new leadership to get there.  

Recall….”When boards focus on administrative issues, school districts suffer..”  Perhaps a more accurate restatement would be ….When boards forget about the students, they suffer.

So, once again, don’t vote for any of those undesireables that may challenge the status quo.

An Act of Desperation 

We want to make sure that everyone reads the September 24th “School Notes” column in the Sauk Rapids Herald.  We want to make sure that everyone gets the message not to vote for any of those undesireables that seem to have mistakenly signed up  to run for school board.  Don’t read the articles that the Times will be publishing providing the thoughts and Ideas of the candidates, don’t vote for anyone who is not part of the FOG (Friends of Greg) and most of all vote for your friends regardless of qualifications so that you might get something out of the deal.  You never know when a friend on the board might come in handy.

And most of all don’t forget that a “divided board leads to a divided community”, or is that the other way around.  Perhaps in this case a divided community may lead to a divided board.  After all, what would be the harm of a minority voice keeping the board and administrators honest.  What could they be worried about?

An interesting statement from an administrator:  “When boards focus on administrative issues, school districts suffer..”  What would lead an administrator to make such a statement? 

According to Minnesota Statute 123b :

    Subd. 7. Policy making. The board shall make, and when deemed advisable, change or
repeal rules relating to the organization and management of the board and the duties of its officers.
    Subd. 8. Duties. The board must superintend and manage the schools of the district; adopt
rules for their organization, government, and instruction; keep registers; and prescribe textbooks
and courses of study.

Yep, that’s right superintend and manage the schools of the district…..sounds like administration ….like transparency, accountability and taking responsibility.  But of course everybody knows a good administrator wouldn’t want board members paying too much attention.

 

Update (9/13/2008)

Amazing, interest in the SchoolBoardWatch has actually increased since reducing access. 

No news from the Times regarding their plans for the candidate questions they were soliciting recently at Pizza Hut. 

The League of Women Voters has apparently not invited the Sauk Rapids Candidates to their election forums.  What’s up with that?   Could it be that the East Side of the River is being slighted?

Unfortunately, under these circumstance, we still don’t know how long we will keep things closed up.  Perhaps we should open up a candidates only page, where the public could watch invited users (the 10 candidates) debate the issues.  We would e-mail the candidates the secret handshake to get into the candidates dialogue page.   School Board Watch could pose a question of the day for candidates to debate. 

No other media that we are aware of has invited SRR candidates to participate in any sort of public dialogue.  This seems like a problem if we are to expect informed voters come election day.  But perhaps that’s the way some like it? 

In the meanwhile, we hope those candidates keep on cramming.

 

Everybody Cramming for the Big Exam?

Seems that interest has suddenly risen in the information here at SchoolBoardWatch.  There has been uncharacteristically high usage, of particularly the Resources, Articles and Organizations pages.  So just to make sure that everybody is doing their own “home work”, we thought it might be best if the 10 school board candidates did some original research until the St. Cloud Times holds their “forum”, whatever that turns out to be.  Presumably the Times will do their thing soon and we can open things up again well in advance of the elections. 

That way everyone can take advantage of the extensive resources provided here, after hearing the candidates form their own original positions.

School Board Watch is a site dedicated to providing accurate and current information to school district residents interested in the latest trends in school performance, finances, taxes and accountability.  The site provides easy access to publicly available resources supporting open fact-driven discussions among community stakeholders.  

 

 

   

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