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I have some mixed feelings about these posts. I totally understand
that there are tough decisions to be made (and that I am glad I'm not on the
school board!). It was a great transition for my child to go from ECFE to
Lincoln Preschool just down the hall.
I get quite disheartened though, thinking back on my years at the Lincoln
building as a parent. I recall working really hard to raise money for
ECFE PAC and also working really hard to come to consensus to purchase a very
expensive computer program for the lending library. It took almost a year
to implement and by the end of the year, we lost the space for the library to
ECSE. It happened during my youngest son's last weeks at Lincoln and I
left feeling really used and full of grief.
Talk of selling the building was going on then--during construction
of the elevator and before the new playground--both huge
investments by taxpayers and parents. I wonder if it is denial or
wishful thinking or just plain politics that creates this kind of insanity--I
never understood the reasons for investing in that building when its future was
so clearly uncertain.
Yes, there will always be someone angry about a decision, but fair and
sensible processes (e.g., thinking through all the ramifications, etc.) for
decision-making are easier to swallow than strategic politics and turf wars to
push an agenda forward. It's time to realize that those methods do not
serve the greater good.
Also, I respectfully ask Joliene to consider the feelings of Dakota
families when you say the district is small enough that all schools
are "neighborhood schools." W-K is not really in their
neighborhood. I still hate to think of next year's Dakota area
kindergardeners riding a bus to Winona in order to arrive by 7:30. We live
right on the border between Dakota and W-K and my kids leave at 6:45! Will
those kids leave at 6:00?
Kathy Seifert
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 4:37
PM
Subject: [Winona] Cherisa Templeton has
good points
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
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