[Winona Online Democracy] Hello Rich, Roy, Kathy, Linda, and Others,
------ Linda, In all honesty, I don't forsee the School District asking to expand the High School in the future. More funds may be needed at some point for normal maintenance and updating but not for simple expansion. With the one possible exception of the girls locker room. There has been a long time problem with that very small and unfair space. Here is one other example of normal upkeep costs... This is not the biggest problem or need by any means but I think it's one of the easiest to visualize... We have 38 year old carpeting in the High School. Do you know how many kids have walked on, sneezed on, and coughed on that carpeting? In the short 9 years that I've been in my room, I've had over 3,300 students walk through and breath in that room. I love the kids but when we are all hermeticaly (sp?) sealed in, we all become little germ factories. ;-> ------ Rich, It's hard to talk about the facts when the people with most of the information won't talk or share their side of the story. Instead, if people have concerns, questions, or perspectives that differ from the School Board and Mr. Durand, they are being labelled as misinformed or ignorant. Something like, "if they just knew what we knew, they would think just like us." To borrow Roy's apt term, a "bunker mentality" leads to less communication and clarity, not more. How can we talk about facts when no one from the School Board is providing open and public answers to questions? The one-on-one conversations to tell the "other side of the story" are nice but why not tell us all? Doesn't local democracy require group discussions and even debates at times? ------ Kathy, You asked about references to newspaper articles and other information. I believe the administration has now put the Relocation Committee's Final Summary Report on the District's web page. It contains some good summaries and other information but I hope the School Board does not think it provides all the answers. It's a summary and most of the meat of the Relocation Committee's work and data are not there. It has holes that makes it hard for others to research the answers themselves. It actually raises more questions in many cases. I have a list of 21 questions after I read it. You can't ask those things as you sit and watch a School Board meeting or read the newspapers. ------ Roy, I heard what you heard during the last School Board meeting. You said, "Moreover, groups excluded from the initial planning would be brought into the process. Have others inferred this intention?" As I see it, there are now three big questions: 1. Do all the School Board members feel that same way? If so... 2. Do they mean what they say? Will they really listen to other ideas with a clear and open mind? They don't need to agree with others recommendations but will they seriously consider what others bring forward? If so... 3. When can the process begin and when does it need to end? ------ The Bad News: The School Board and Administration said nothing to the High School Principals or staff about this for six days after the last School Board meeting (other than one vauge response from one of the School Board members to my post to WOD that came when the School Board meeting ended and I sought clarifications on those issues). The Good News. Fours hours before a High School faculty meeting this past Wednesday, we found out that Mr. Durand and Fred Peterson would also be at the meeting. It turned out that it was not only Mr. Durand and Fred Peterson, it was also Larry Laber, Scott Hannon, Jeff Seeley (WAPS Finace Director), and Vicki Andring (Supt. Assistant). That was a good thing. It was great to have them come and answer questions and talk with the staff in a direct way. Paul Durand and Fred Peterson both said during the meeting that they will be asking for High School Principal, staff, student, and even parent input into the relocation draft plan. >From what I saw, and maybe I'm wrong, but I think it came as a bit of a surprise to our Principal and Scott Hannon (?) when Paul Durand said he had already asked Scott Hannon and our Principal to start this process. Either way, they said they were open to input and that is a good thing. (I'm sending a copy of this e-mail to all the School Board members and Mr. Durand. If I'm missing something or if I'm inaccurate, please help fill in the holes or correct me. I'm trying to keep these conversations as open and clear as possible.) ------ To sum up a few things I have come to see over the last few days. Macro Level: The School Board never intended to have input from the people and principals who work in the buildings. They assembled a "neutral" group made up of central administration staff and community professionals. I will even grant them there is some validity to that approach if they wanted to avoid the long and messy "turf war" process. I disagree with that appraoch but I can admit it has it's advantages. Fair enough. Micro Level: I think where the problem arises is that they then used that "neutral" macro group to make decisions at the micro level that would have big impacts inside the buildings. Said another way, I think it might make sense to have that macro group decide what district buildings to relocate the Lincoln programs and administration to. But when it comes to deciding where to put the programs and administration inside the actual building, it's important to involve the High School Principals, staff, and students. If you avoid or bypass the professionals and students who work and practically live in the High School, you have set yourself up for a whole bunch of avoidable problems. ------- To the School Board members and Mr. Durand, is that fair and accurate to say? Your open, direct, and clear communication would help solve many information and misinformation problems. Dwayne the Long Winded ;-> Feb. 12, 2005 ------ >From: "Roy Nasstrom" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: [Winona] What is the School Board's Side of the Story? >Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 23:05:52 -0600 > >[Winona Online Democracy] > >It might be a good idea to keep in mind that during the last board meeting a >few school board members specifically pointed out that the committee report >constituted only the first phase of the building plan. I understood their >statements to mean that although the high school itself would almost >certainly contain the administrative offices, the exact location of the >offices would be subject to further consideration as the planning process >entered new phases, Moreover, groups excluded from the initial planning >would be brought into the process. Have others inferred this intention? > > >It is unfortunate that the administration has not responded publicly at >least a bit to the criticisms. The lack of concrete response in any medium >has conveyed the impression of a bunker mentality, increasing citizens' >distrust and encouraging the expansion of attacks into problem areas, real >or imagined, that have no relevance to the current space issue. > >I suspect, however, that the administration and the board are actually >giving close attention to the expressed concerns of the public and the >staff, holding off further response until more study is given to >alternatives. The seriousness with which the board took up its >responsibilities in making necessary program and transportation cuts hardly >indicates inattention to the public interest or to educational need. The >situation may be much more fluid than many people think. Why not wait and >see what comes out of the next board meeting? > > >Roy Nasstrom ------------ Dwayne Voegeli Winona County Commissioner (507) 453-9012 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 359 Pleasant Hill Dr. Winona, MN 55987 ------------ _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
