*Opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor are not necessarily those of The Messenger.
Now that Kenyon-Wanamingo Public Schools has worked its way through another Superintendent of Schools, I would like to take a look at where we find ourselves today. Sadly, we are actually worse off than when the current superintendent first came to town. With our statutory operating debt almost doubling under her administration (i.e., -17% before recent cuts were made); with no appreciable improvement in overall student achievement, college readiness, and the kind of disruptive behavior that has become the standard at KWHS, we find ourselves swimming up stream...again.
As I look back on my many years with Jim Neuman, Superintendent of Schools, for the Zumbrota-Mazeppa School District, I would venture to say that statutory operating debt would have been a naughty word to him. While there are incidents whereby a school district can get into financial straights unknowingly (i.e., Byron Public Schools), what happened at Kenyon-Wanamingo Public Schools was a matter of oversights. You see, this entire fiasco was driven by a series of substandard superintendents and ineffective school boards who had no idea how to run a quality school district. In the end, they became so indifferent to criticism and outside input that they refused to listen to people who could have helped them with their problems. Now, after 36 years, we find ourselves starting all over...again.
In the coming weeks and months, people like Paul Clauson and his department will have to pick up the pieces in order to make two educational environments into a single place of learning. Starting with the cosmetics that are found in every school district, he will turn it over to those educators who have been hired to make it all work in our classrooms. But here-in lies the problem from a purely educational standpoint; here-in is where the learning starts to get real serious; here-in is the reason that our parents and grandparents must remain vigilant at all times. You see, if Governor Tim Walz and Education Minnesota have their way, it is only going to get worse for our children and grandchildren. Read on....
According to the American Experiment (i.e., Minnesota 's Leading Conservative Voice), the recently amended Standards of Effectiveness by Governor Tim Walz's Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board will be requiring all Minnesota teachers looking to be licensed through the state – regardless of where they teach – to demonstrate in their teacher preparation program coursework how they will “foster an environment that insures student identities” including gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation are “affirmed and incorporated into a learning environment.” Needless to say, the governor, along with the PELSB and the teachers' union, will not only be coming after our children and grandchildren, but they will be coming for our Christian teachers' religious liberties at the same time.
So what is the point? I find it threefold. First, it is time to put an end to the kind of leadership that has taken us from one of the top school districts in Minnesota to one that no longer competes with school districts like Byron, Kasson-Mantorville, and Zumbrota-Mazeppa. I blame this partly on the building principals who need to be in the classrooms observing and supporting the staff on a regular basis. Moreover, they need to know the curriculum and how it is being taught. Second, it is time for the school board to get real serious about the kind of superintendents they hire. Beginning with the person who drove us into SOD to the one who was an unmitigated disaster for three years (i.e., he made more than $500,000.00 during his tenure), we cannot afford another ineffective leader. And third, we need school boards that can see the big picture. Just remember, if not for a recent petition, we would have had a two site model under Mrs. Giese until the 2027-2028 school year. It is time to get real serious!
