Savage Pacer - Story - Comments

I'm hoping the school

Lori Carlson — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:45:25 -0500

I'm hoping the school district makes all of the questions available to the public in an easily accessible way (a.k.a. the Web). The newspapers, as Nancy said, likely would not publish all of the questions, due to space limitations. But I agree it's important for residents to know what questions were asked.

Unfortunately, you are right

Nancy Huddleston — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:45:50 -0500

Unfortunately, you are right -- these surveys are written with a very specific purpose so the questions are very narrowly defined. We will see if they have a power point presentation that shows the questions and results and try and post that on line. I know when Decision Resources has done city of Savage surveys in the past, we've gotten the power point slides, and last year we posted the entire thing on line with the written story. I'm not sure how Springsted operates -- in fact, this is the first time I've heard of anyone using the financial advisors for this type of service. I find that rather odd -- why not use the granddaddy of these things -- Decision Resources. But this is a service, which means government doesn't have to go out for bids -- they can choose who they want to use and that's that.

I will get the questions,

Robert Thibodeaux — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:50:53 -0500

I will get the questions, but my concern is how bad the survey was.

After my column on never getting called - we got called.
The questions were less like a survey and more like a "push pole."

It was almost impossible to answer any question that wouldn't indicate you would support a referendum regardless of how the money would be spent or how the district was using the budget.

Questions were like - Would you support a referendum for A or for B or for A&B?
Would support a referendum for the same amount or for more?

This will undoubtedly allow the school board to announce at the next meeting that a majority support a levy since in the survey you had little choice in the answers allowed.

The Pacer will not, as there

Nancy Huddleston — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:46:38 -0500

The Pacer will not, as there is not enough room in the paper for all of the questions. But if you call the school district, I'm sure they can give you a copy of the lengthy list of questions.

Lori or Nancy, Will the

Robert Thibodeaux — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:51:32 -0500

Lori or Nancy,
Will the paper be publishing the actual survey questions that were asked?

The Prior Lake-Savage Area

Reasongal1 — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:20:37 -0500

The Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board needs to make $1.1 million dollar budget cut. Somehow they will come up with $500,000 to make a new ball field after cutting down a significant woodland. My observation of existing ball fields in Savage is that they are seldom used. I walk around Savage Community Park all the time and have never seen anyone on the ball fields. Why not leave the trees in place and use the $500,000 for needed academic expenses instead. What sort of Economic Development comes from ball fields anyway? Are we going to rent them for cash?

Thanks Joanna. I knew the

Savage Guy — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:53:10 -0500

Thanks Joanna. I knew the interviews were open to the public, but I was wondering if we could ask questions.

Here is the article that I think Robert is referring to relative to the Whitewater Superintendent.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=560219

FYI - The public may attend

Joanna Miller — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:47:03 -0500

FYI - The public may attend the interviews but will not be allowed to ask questions.

Nancy, Will the Pacer be

Robert Thibodeaux — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:58:25 -0500

Nancy,
Will the Pacer be covering the background (and controversies) concerning the candidates.

Some simple searches found out that information on religion and a quick search on Whitewater school district show they rank near the bottom on graduation rates and test scores.
Would like to see some more research/background on these subjects.

Quick search didn't find much on Sue (not sure if that is good or bad).
Only thing I found were listing about her being candidate for super in other districts and that she had a facebook page.

Interviews of these

Nancy Huddleston — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:14:01 -0500

Interviews of these candidates are supposed to be open to the public, so I would suggest that anyone who is interested in the future leadership of the Prior Lake-Savage Area School District to attend these interviews. It's unclear as to if the public will be allowed to ask questions, but it never hurts to ask!

Chris Lind's election to the

Savage Guy — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:35:33 -0500

Chris Lind's election to the District 719 school board appeared to be a backlash response from a significant percentage of the faith community to the perception that the school district was trying to restrict religious speech off-campus. There will be more backlash if they hire a superintendent who is unfriendly to Christians.

I hope someone asks Leslie

Robert Thibodeaux — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:51:09 -0500

I hope someone asks Leslie Steinhaus about her perceived religious intolerance while in Whitewater.
Form the comments I have seen from that district she worked, instead of creating a religious neutral school, to create religious free schools.

I like peel-and-eat shrimp,

Joanna Miller — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:07:52 -0500

I like peel-and-eat shrimp, and popcorn shrimp, so I guess it's kind of similar?
I could probably eat smelt no problem if I didn't have images of minnows and fishing bait in my head after Ruth Anne's comment. (Thanks Ruth Anne! j/k)

Lisa failed to mention that,

Ruth Anne Maddox — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:31:12 -0500

Lisa failed to mention that, at smelt frys, they dip the slimy critters in batter whole -- yep, heads, shoulders, knees and toes all cooked up and slapped into a basket for your dining pleasure. (Their size is not exactly conducive to filleting.)

I tried them once and I can tell you that I didn't get my "all-you-can-eat" money's worth -- but that's OK.

On the other hand, my sister the tofu queen actually likes them. Go figure!

They're not completely bad

Lisa Steinbauer — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:29:27 -0500

They're not completely bad tasting - more of an acquired taste. They'll go down easier with baked beans, coleslaw and tap beer ... and the area's VFWs and Legions always do it up right!