[This message was sent to the School Board]
Mr. Deyo, Thanks for your view on this very difficult situation. As it stands now, the latest motion calls for all elementary schools to stay open, those in Winona as well as Dakota and Rollingstone. Thursday night we will determine whether Lincoln should be closed or not. My concern there is for young parents who need to learn parenting skills prebirth as well as prekindergarten. Spreading these services across the district could damage the effectiveness. In regards to the fifth graders, my kids are grown and paying taxes these days so I had to relate to whether this would be a good setting for them at the time and I have to say that I would have jumped at the chance for them to go to school in a building like the new Middle School. Last night there was a meeting of parents of 5th graders now attending the Middle School. They certainly were not without concerns but the bulk of them were quite happy with the results. I am quite unsettled on this issue. Parents should be able to determine whats best for their kids. Educators should also have some influence in the results. The 5th grade teachers are very pleased with the way things are working out. We can do a better job with this new program. We can also save some money by doing it this way. That really is the problem we are dealing with. There is an elephant in the room and no one wants to be the first to notice. Where is McGiver when ya need him. > -----Original Message----- > From: Richard Deyo [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 1:34 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; >[EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: School Board business > > 213 Barbara Ct. > Winona, MN 55987 > > February 4, 2002 > > > > Larry Laber, Chair > 328 Knopp Valley Drive > Winona, MN 55987 > > Dear Mr. Laber: > > We wish to express our appreciation for your hard work on the School > Board, especially in this time of difficult decisions and public > controversy. We would also like to offer our opinions, as psychologists > and as parents of 4- and 1-year-old girls, about the issue on which you > must imminently make what certainly will be one of the most important > decisions of your tenure on the Board: building closure. > > Even though our family will not be directly affected by closure of an > elementary school, we believe what current research tells us about the > value of small neighborhood schools. We believe that children and > communities benefit from them, and hope that you will consider this and > decide to allow all of our neighborhood schools to continue open and > serving children. > > With regard to the Lincoln building, we wonder how the programs housed > there would be accommodated elsewhere (the issue of ample parking being > not at all trivial), and would hope that our district would not lose > that building. We have read about several alternative plans to decrease > expenses, including those involving community partnerships, and hope > that these will be further explored. > > Finally, we have read that school administrators (and possibly Board > Members) might believe that the public supports the 5th grade move to > the middle school. WE DO NOT SUPPORT THIS. Children at this age > benefit from remaining with their elementary school peers, where they > have an opportunity to develop some leadership skills, rather than being > either isolated from other grades or housed with older students who are > dealing with a different set of personal and social issues (namely, > puberty). We would have no problem seeing administrative offices moved > to what we have heard is beautiful space at the Middle School, if that > could be part of a solution to our budget problems. > > Again, your work on the School Board is appreciated. We thank you for> > considering our concerns, and humbly offer our support in becoming part > of a solution for the health of District 861. Please feel free to > contact us. > > Sincerely, > > Annette Krutsch, Ph.D. > Licensed Psychologist > > Richard Deyo, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology, WSU > > copies forwarded to Mr. Deppa, Ms. Erickson Ropes, Mr. Kranz, Mr. > Petersen, Mr. Rasmussen, and Mr. Thompson. ------------- This message was sent to the School Board of Winona Area Public Schools. To send a message to the entire School Board, address it to [EMAIL PROTECTED] All messages sent to that address are viewable by the general public. A public archive of emails sent to and exchanged between school board members is available at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
