[Winona Online Democracy]
Title: Re: [Winona] alc
I offer my
apologies for moving quickly to address the ALC issue or other
district issues. As we address the many needs facing our
district it is clear from the public's response that we need to better
balance expediency with increased input.
I am honored and humbled to serve on the board of directors of SD
861. I was elected to represent and to help make the tough
decisions to help sustain and/or improve educational opportunities for
our children.
The
decisions made by this school board are made difficult due to
inadequate state funding. Leaving school districts with nearly
impossible choices to solve problems. The partial passage of the
referendum passage funded district operations, but our building and
some program needs are unfunded resulting in few palatable
solutions.
All
problems compete for immediate attention. We face time and/or
inadequate funding pressures to address Ridgeway, Dakota, all-day
kindergarten, busing, an examination of the 4-period day, the
possibility of an IB program, reduction in class sizes, SOFA's
auditorium chair donation, sports needs, title IX inadequacies,
parking, long term planning issues, to name a few. The need to
solve these issues is intense.
We do listen to you when you express your concerns, from fixing a
bathroom stall door to reducing classroom sizes. We also realize
these issues should have to be addressed yesteryear.
Consequently, immediacy to make decisions may have contributed to the
process to solve problems quickly.
In my opinion, immediacy for action has created tremendous tension
between the board and the community. I am asking that immediacy
be replaced with respectful and thoughtful patience. Better
patience practiced by us, and the community so we can improve
community involvement with decision-making.
That said - the ALC issue has to be addressed. I have met
with the staff and the leadership at the ALC center and can report
that they are an exemplary team. After visiting the ALC site it
is obvious to any reasonable person that having children and young
learners placed in a nasty old bar, that is crowded, and in poor
condition is simply not acceptable. Quite bluntly I find the Big
O as an educational facility an embarrassment for our
community.
The ALC students and staff of deserve a safe, clean, and positive
learning environment. So first I believe we can agree that the
Big O is not that place. Secondly, we face the challenge that
the capital improvement part of the referendum did not pass.
Third, where do we place this valuable program? And
finally how do we pay for it?
Our process to solve this problem led us to consider building a new
ALC center to meet the needs of the 125 ALC students and their staff.
The cost of this new ALC center would be about $200,000 a year - which
translates to about 70 cents a month for a home valued at $100,000 ---
to $1.50 for a $300,000 home. But why consider this
approach? As you may already know, for years we taxpayers
support the 400 or so students attending Dakota, Bluffview, Ridgeway
and Riverway Charter Schools-at about $500,000 a year with a similar
lease -aid program. So that is where I found the basis to
consider supporting the current ALC proposal.
Several
sites were explored but zoning, hazardous materials, logistics,
safety, and costs became a concern. Also, many of the ALC
students use services provided by the state and county - located in
Winona, making the costs of shipping students to and from Rollingstone
impractical and costly. So to me the Rollingstone option didn't
make sense. Other locations simply did not want the ALC program
in their neighborhood.
Today I am leaning towards supporting the proposed ALC center, but I
have not made my decision yet. I have heard from some
constituents with ideas like - off peak scheduling - where the ALC
program would start later in the day and use the high school in late
afternoon after high school students were gone for the day. This
needs to be explored. Others may suggestions may come to the
table and we welcome the input.
So - we
will take another shot at this issue. We will try to improve the
process, and we may come up with a new and better solution. We
may move forward with the current proposal depending on what will
serve our students best - but I am convinced it is time to move our
children out of the Big O.
Respectfully
Kelly P. Herold
--
Kelly Herold, PhD
Associate Professor of Communication Studies
Winona State University
Winona, MN
55987
507 - 457 - 5242
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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