Savage Pacer - District 719: Both referendums fail; two new members elected to Board - Comments

lind talked a lot about

footwasher — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:27:48 -0600

lind talked a lot about *total transparency* in the debate in september. he should practice what he preached.

if lind exposes himself to the scrutiny of the masses by running for public office, then full disclosure is expected. it's ridiculous to expect people to *respect privacy* in today's world. we run background checks and random drug testing for cashier jobs.

the light of day shone on lind should be no surprise. huddleston is right.

Chris Lind has been elected

Nancy Huddleston — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:26:55 -0600

Chris Lind has been elected to public office, so he should speak about this -- no matter the status of a lawsuit. What's more, now we have a superintendent who has stepped down because of the fact that he was elected. I'm sorry, but this situation has been thrust into the public spotlight and it's time for Chris to talk about it.

Denise was right...

gundies — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:24:04 -0600

Denise was right...

Denise stated that ISD 719 spends less than "many" districts. That is absolutely true. Even with the increase that failed, we would have been below the state average. Shakopee is the only large neighboring district that does spend less than we do, and their student population is significantly different than ISD 719. Since you "did the research", I would be interested to see what data you use to back your statement that Shakopee educates their students better than ISD 719. Now THAT is insulting.

I'm sure that a lot of the

C Whitehair — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:22:37 -0600

I'm sure that a lot of the reluctance to speak about the issue stems from the fact that there was talk of a law suit for a while. While I personally do not know if the law suit went forward or not, I do know if there is one pending no one on either side will be able to talk about it.

Now that Chris is on the board, discussions of law suits will probably be dropped and once they are...

Cindy

Chris Lind is not a private

gundies — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:52:02 -0600

Chris Lind is not a private citzen anymore! He just became a public servant. He also was an at will employee of the district. Meaning he could quit at any time or the district could terminate him at any time. Insubordination is cause for termination - like it or not!

Chris freely admitted his own insubordination. He said the district told him not to talk to students -- even off campus -- about "traditional values", namely, the district didn't want him to talk to students about abstinence or their sexual orientation. He didn't listen.

"I can't say I followed that directive," said Lind, 43. "I didn't feel that, morally, I could."

According to Joe Flynn, the district's lawyer, because Lind wasn't a licensed school employee or a union member, the district doesn't need to go through an extensive hearing process before dismissal.

ISD 719 is a public school system. Chris was not licensed nor employed to counsel students. If Chris wants to give advice based on his religious and personal moral beleifs, he is free to look for a job in a christian school.

Welcome to public life, Chris. As the old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for, because you may get it".

Vote Yes in 2008

gundies — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 10:00:24 -0600

Vote Yes in 2008

Wanderboyd: It is clear that you find it frustrating to see money spent wastefully. I agree. However, our school district has been a model of responsible growth. For many years, dozens of local taxpaying citizens have volunteered hundreds of hours each on a Stategic Planning Committee. They have listened to and debated the input of teachers, students, administrators, demographers, city planners, and other experts to plan the most efficient possible growth of our district. Remodeling and adding on to existing facilities has been part of that plan. You clearly have not been part of this committee, nor followed the process. You did not even know that the levy for operating funds cannot come until after a new building has been built. Fool us? That comment is ignorant and irresponsible.

The failure of this referendum is not a mandate, it is a blip on the radar screen. A one-year delay of the inevitable. As a result, a new elementary school will probably sit empty for a year. The students, teachers, administrators, and parents of this district will all bear the brunt of this mistake.

You can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. Either get involved in the process, or sit in your Monday Morning Quarterback chair and take ridiculous potshots about one room schoolhouses. We are all in this together as taxpayers. All that we have done is defer a few tax dollars for a while. It is unfortunate that our Superintendent will not be here to preside over the district when the referendums pass in 2008.

I have to sort of agree with

Robert Thibodeaux — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 08:35:40 -0600

I have to sort of agree with Nancy on this.

Since the Superintendent is blaming Chris for his leaving, I would like to hear from Chris.

Either, this is what I believe happened or because of the pending legal action I can not speak right now.

From the information I gathered, what the District did was "legal" but definitely does not appear to be right.
(For instance, a state can legally take a widows farm to build a new Sports Stadium but it does not make it the right thing to do.)

Also if would be a good opportunity for Chris to share some of the thoughts and ideas he has for the district.

I know the current Superintendent has used plenty of my tax funded paper (and column inches here at the pacer) to tell me why I am a bad person, I would like to hear from Chris and the new direction the school district can go.

Peoples private lives should

pete.peterson — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:05:06 -0600

Peoples private lives should be private, regardless of what the media thinks. That said, pretty much everyone knows why Westerhaus was after Mr. Lind and why he ultimately fired him. Mr. Lind spoke to students about issues that affected and concerned them. Westerhaus deemed these topics "inappropriate" even though they mattered deeply to the students. When you force adolescents to keep their questions and feelings bottled up you end up with confusion, anger and unfortunatley, sometimes, two absolute tragedies in less than two weeks. Mr. Lind was reaching out to students and the administration didn't like it. I consider each vote for Mr. Lind a vote for change and a vote against Westerhaus and his freespending cohorts. Lind for Superintendent.

Aftery? What the heck is

pete.peterson — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:22:53 -0600

Aftery? What the heck is aftery?

I think the voters deserve

Nancy Huddleston — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:00:10 -0600

I think the voters deserve a straight answer from Mr. Lind now that he's been elected to the board. No more dancing around it -- what was the dismissal all about and what's the status of the lawsuit? Under state law, the district can't talk about it -- but Mr. Lind can. Let's hear about it. The newspaper's been asking Mr. Lind about this ever since he was dismissed. It's about time for an answer. And the web site's a perfect place -- no editing -- just information from Mr. Lind.

This is simply the artifact

Robert Thibodeaux — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:41:19 -0600

This is simply the artifact of an election in which you vote for more than one person.
If you look at the vote totals about 2/3 of the votes voted for 4 people.
Thus while people may have voted for 1-3 of the new people, they also felt the need to vote completely so they voted for the incumbent they felt most comfortable with.
Since Ziemann been on the board for so long (25+) years that it may just be habit for some.

The other side to that - Those who were pro referendum can concentrate there votes on just the incumbents and with no clear slate of anti-referendum votes, it is hard to fight that.

If you look at the candidates, with the exception of Chris none had very strong "no" position.

So the mandate to the board is clear:
Get the books in order.
Be open and honest with public.

Not all of the school board

wanderboyd — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:12:59 -0600

Not all of the school board incumbants survived the election. I for one, did not vote for any incumbant although, part of me wanted to keep all of the school board incumbants in office so they would have to stay on and fix their budgets and then get out of the corner they have painted themselves into. If things continue I'm sure we will see more turnover at the next oportunity.

If you are trying to send a

Savage Guy — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:43:25 -0600

If you are trying to send a "mandate" to the board by voting "no" on the levy and bond questions, why did you re-elect two board members who voted to put those questions on the ballot? If your purpose was to defeat the referendum, yet you don't punish those people who put the referendum to a vote, doesn't that seem like a contradiction? Why punish the kids but not the elected officials if you feel that strongly about it?

Regarding the often-asked

Savage Guy — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:40:24 -0600

Regarding the often-asked question "why do you build a school if you don't have the funds to operate it?", the state doesn't allow a school district to combine construction and operating costs for a new school in to one vote. Thus, a bond was passed previously to build the new elementary school, but the levy to help operate it wasn't put to a vote until this year. Would you prefer they ask for the operating money two years before they need it? Would you call that good planning?

I, for one, am glad that the

rseefeld — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 07:47:04 -0600

I, for one, am glad that the referendums did not pass. I used to make a lot of money working at a full time job. I quit my job two years ago to return to school full time. My family and I have had to give up certain things in the process. We had to cut expenses, vacations, and excess personal items to be able to live within our means. It is my belief that the district must do the same. It certainly would not be acceptable for me to go door to door asking for money because of decisions that I may or may not have made, and expect my neighbors to cover my bottom line. The district needs to concentrate on the children, the teachers, and the education..enough putting additional money into the pockets of superintendents, administrators, their assistants, their assistants, and their assistants. Enough building additional infrastructures that are filled to capacity in 4 or 5 years - think ahead people! And enough with all the threats about our children not getting this and not getting that. This whole thing with the High School could have been prevented had people just thought a little more a few years ago. The district also should have thought about how they would fund Redtail Ridge if they decided to build it. It appears the big issue here is too much spending and not enough thought behind it. It is all about allocation of the budget that you have. I have to do it, my neighbors have to do it, and now, hopefully the district will find a way to do it.

District 719: Both referendums fail; two new members elected to Board

Joanna Miller — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:01:43 -0600

Voters turned out to the polls in opposition of the proposed levy and bond referendum for the Prior Lake-Savage Area School District.