Conversation from Peter's Blog

When you consider the real role of the board, financial and management experience is IMHO significantly more important that knowledge of education. After all the district has lots of education experts.

I disagree, we need board members who know education-because they don't respect or follow the advice of the MG experts in education (Maywood). The administration and staff clearly communicated what they felt was best for the district- and they were ignored. Not education experts, I guess.

This quote was taken from Peter's blog and I thought it needed a proper response of it's own.

I am not sure if this poster thinks my support not to delay the vote was a good thing or bad thing. I due trust the administration to make the best decisions educationally that is why we keep them employed. As long as my questions about the rationale/reasoning the administration uses gets answered I am satisfied.

Each board member brings certain strengths to the board and if we were all from education or finance or science or construction or any other field then that would be bad also. The biggest strength a board member can bring is the ability decipher the information they have and then make the tough decisions. Not being willing to make those tough decisions is were a board can fall apart.

I will always vote from the perspective of the impacts on education 1st and fiscally 2nd. If you disagree with my decisions then vote me off when I am up for election. Political factors don't really matter to me because I didn't do this for politcal aspirations. I think I am in the minority of most elected officials when it comes to the weight politics carries in decision making.

If my decisions/votes fly in the face of political agendas then so be it. In my opinion school board decisions should remain out of the normal political dealings done at the local, state and federal level. I know firsthand that some of my fellow board members have had conversations with either one of or both the Village President of CG and the Mayor of Monona regarding the Maywood/Winnequah consolidation and a potential referendum. I have no knowledge of the details of those conversations, since I was not invited to participate in them (which I prefer).

I think Mr. Mikalsen and Mr. Kahl have done and will continue to do good things for their communities, however I feel that Mr. Mikalsen and Mr. Kahl have overstepped their bounds by getting involved this in-depth with school board issues. I fully acknowledge that decisions the school district makes does impact their communities, but have they ever onced asked the school board how the decisions they make for their community impacts the school district or what the school board recommends? Have they asked the school board or Superintendant to weigh in on their local decisions? I don't think it is the school district's right to weigh in on these topics just like I don't think they should be pushing an agenda in school district matters.

Do I wish that the 3 entities would work together? ABSOLUTELY! Do I think it will happen? Probably not based on past interactions between the 3 entities, but never say never.

Okay, I have rambled enough, but let me leave you with this:

As Jessica and I have discussed:

We can agree to disagree on a vote, but after that vote we will support the decision and move on to the next issue.

With that being said, I do disagree with the Maywood/Winnequah vote, but I fully support the boards vote and now we (THAT MEANS EVERYBODY not just the board) need to move on and work on the remaining budget items and working on the next set of issues facing the district.