-an editorial
We’ve had a lot in the paper over the last several months on the Opt-Out. Frankly, we’ve had lot of news related to the school in our newspaper, both good and bad over the course of the 8 years I’ve been here at the paper.
As the Opt-Out vote approaches, I want to talk turkey about a couple of issues. Whether you vote yes or no, understand why you’re doing it. Is the way you vote going to give you and the community the outcome you want?
Here are my two cents. The last two election cycles have whizzed by without any contest for the people who filed election petitions. I’m not on social media personally. I hear, though, that it’s all the rage. It strikes me that if people were really concerned with how the school is run and how it spends its money, they might want to actually file petitions to get a seat on the school board. Every time there is an election cycle, there should be multiple people looking to get a seat on that board, if there is that much worry and anxiety about how our school is run. We haven’t had a proper election in several years, and to me that speaks of some very unhealthy disinterest on the part of the electorate. Prove me wrong by changing that.
I have publicly disagreed with both administration and our superintendent on several issues over the years, and I’ve been open and honest about it, both in person and in print. As example, I have been very vocal about a stance board president Shannon Nordstrom has taken regarding public comments, and the public comments policies the school has in place. I’ve quoted him several times saying that the school board meeting is a “meeting in public and not a public meeting” and I cannot even begin to describe how un-American, backward and wrong-headedly repugnant I find that statement to be. And he knows that’s exactly how I feel about it, because I’ve said it to him directly and in print. However, he is someone whom I like personally and somebody who has a track record of creating real and permanent good for the community as a whole. I can say the exact same thing about Guy Johnson. I have not agreed with or liked some of his decisions over the years, but I know that he is personally 100% committed to making sure our students have the best education that is possible for them to get. And honestly, cutting the salary of a single administrator is not going to fix the school’s financial problems.
Continuing to talk turkey here, there are some I’ve heard who want to make the school pay for ousting Chris Long last year. I didn’t like the way that whole situation was handled or went down, and I did my job and reported on it. Some have said they won’t be satisfied until Supt. Johnson has resigned and Shannon Nordstrom along with him. There are some people still mad about the last opt-out election cycle and how badly it was mismanaged. There are some who want to wipe the slate clean, and get rid of all the standing administrators and school board members. I understand that frustration. I had stories in my paper about all those things, and it’s my job to let you know when things go sideways. I’m also happy to publish the many triumphs and successes we’ve had as a community. A lot of those have come directly from the school house.
Here is why I’m voting for the Opt-Out. I have a 9-year-old in fourth grade and I haven’t met a single Garretson teacher or employee who I think deserves the axe. I blame the legislature for the problem, honestly. Their school funding scheme is just that, a scheme. It’s as broken as pickup truck with a bent axle and they’ve no interest or political will in fixing it. Even with this year where they raised teacher salaries by 7 percent, they’re still not doing the job of honest school funding reforms that need to be done. They have plenty of cash to work with, but instead, they’re passing the buck onto local districts and local taxpayers. Like Pontius Pilate, they’ve washed their hands of the matter.
So, if this means I have to dig a little deeper as a home owner or business owner to keep the school solvent, I’ll do it. Make no mistake, other districts in the area will eat Garretson for breakfast if we can’t compete. I want the school to stay strong and solvent. As far as the rest goes, if you don’t like the leadership at the school, you can challenge it every election cycle, or at every school board meeting. That’s your right, so put your money where your mouth is.
-Garrick
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