At an open school board meeting recently, board member Jill Marin called for the school board chairman to step down. Apparently some people had more of a concern with her asking the chairman to step down in public rather than being concerned with the truth behind why she felt compelled to ask for his resignation in the first place. Did she initially try to  ask her questions privately? Were her concerns ignored? If so, this would be more of  an indictment of our chairman’s leadership skills than Marin’s professionalism.  Ms. Marin is asking questions that we as community members want and deserve answers to. If this board truly wants to regain trust with this community, answering Marin’s questions would go a long way toward transparency. Before we start taking sides on these issues, we should make an effort to inform ourselves and examine the facts and the history of these issues. I have watched the activities of our School Board closely since the balanced calendar proposal came up over a year ago.

It’s time for new leadership for our schools in this community. I have listened to many teachers who feel the same way. It’s time for a board that is also willing to listen to teachers. We cannot afford to have a board that is more worried about upsetting our superintendent’s chain of command.  This November we will have the opportunity to send our School Board and administration that message.

In my opinion our board’s current governance model is dangerous. It places too much autonomy in the office of our superintendent with no accountability. Any problems or concerns must go through our superintendent. This does not empower our School Board with a well-balanced perspective on issues that arise. It also makes it more likely that our superintendent will open our district up to potential liability because he is not held accountable for his words or his actions.

Ms. Marin is doing what we elected her to do. She has shown courageous leadership that includes asking tough questions and demanding answers that hold administration accountable with no support from her fellow board members. She is not acting unprofessionally as our administration would have everyone believe. For the sake of our children, we need to be well informed about how our board and administration are doing their jobs. We the community are a vital part of the district’s mission statement: “to equip learners to think, to achieve and to care.”

 

Tony Hill

Albert Lea