Sometimes you have to make a change just to shake things up and get people thinking differently. This may have been the case in the USC school district, where the board voted unanimously this week to have an at-large school board &045; meaning they will each be elected by the whole district instead of partitioning the district up into sub-districts, each of which elects its own representative.

This new system matches the way it is done in the Albert Lea district and others in the area. The advantage is that every board member is accountable to the whole district instead of just one part. The disadvantage is that some areas feel better if they have at least one representative from their part of the district who answers solely to them.

In this case, the district has endured a rough couple of years, giving rise to divisiveness and poor morale. The departure of a controversial superintendent, a near-teachers’ strike and an unpopular referendum drive have contributed to this condition. The hope is that having a board elected by the whole district will ensure that board members place the overall district ahead of their hometown. This makes sense because the residents of the district are all in it together.

If nothing else, perhaps even a slight change in the way the district thinks about itself can have a positive effect as the schools in USC try to move forward and leave the troubles of the past behind them.