[Winona] Cherisa Templeton has good points

[Joliene Olson]

I simply do not understand the reasoning of a couple of our present school board members thought process.  As Cherisa Templeton explains so well in her recent posting, there is a lot more to making decisions then making decisions without thinking through the outcomes and ramifications of the decision.   ECF and the related programs are effective because of the tremendous parental involvement.  This is, after all, what we want through out the district.  The best level for making change is at the beginning levels of education which are the early ages of the children.  It is practically to late to involve parents if you wait till they are in elementary school and the odds of getting good involvement from a lot of parents gets worse at middle school and high school.    Parents who learn how to participate in their children's education early on will develop patterns that can be fostered as the child grows.  We must keep the parents involved.  We must respect that involvement and we must develop, not destroy the confidence of these parents in the district.   When are the school board members going to put the children first and not the political concerns of the parents.  The children will do fine with change.  It is the parents who can't deal with it.  I submit that a well run and fully developed program of educational options is much more important than which building they are educated in.    Fortunately, this town is small enough that EVERY school is a really a neighborhood school.  This is especially true when you compare our district to the huge districts in our state and other states where children are being educated.  Isn't a well designed educational curriculum with current technology, up to date books and one that is available to every child, regardless of the school they go to, more important in getting them prepared to succeed in the world as it is now?    We don't have the money folks!  We aren't going to get more money folks!  We need to make some tough decisions. I know, some of you wonder why I and other former board members didn't make the tough decisions before!  Well, it was for the same reason that it is hard now.  We tried to hard to listen to the politics and still give the kids what they needed.  And, when we did make some tough decisions, some people are still mad. Joliene Olson   --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.525 / Virus Database: 322 - Release Date: 10/9/03