The DNT has helped the School District trumpet a growth in student enrollment by about 300 students lately. If true it could relieve many and engender renewed confidence that the District is on the mend. But I have my suspicions that this may be a little too cute. Bill Hanson had projected a 300 student reduction and cut the budget by this amount at the end of last year. Upon what basis he concluded there would be an additional loss of students on the eve of the District having five new schools on line I have no clue. Common sense would suggest that some students would come back. At the very least anticipating the enrollment to stay flat would not have been outrageous. Predicting that 300 students would leave after the worst of the Red Plan hassles were about to abate, Gee, I don’t think so. Maybe it was a case of undue conservatism.
Or maybe it was a way to make the unexpected growth that the beginning of a new school year look like a great turnaround for the District. Such a turnaround might have called off the media dogs. But if the enrollment didn’t really drop 300 and then didn’t really grow 300 that means that we’re witnessing smoke and mirrors. Very reminiscent of Dr. Dixon – but he’s gone!
The oddest thing about this, if my analysis is on target, is that Bill Hanson doesn’t seem like a Machiavellian to me. That was Dr. Dixon’s specialty. Perhaps it rubbed off on the administrative team that Dixon left behind for his successor I.V. Foster. Certainly Dr. Dixon’s fall-on-her-sword public relations assistant would have easily mastered the dark arts and had some reason to protect her old boss’s posterior as he scurried away from Duluth.
If these 282 students are really new to the district, then their names should be new and their records should be transferred in from other districts. It would be interesting to check to see if 282 new students did transfer in, and from where did they did so.
Hey DNT I’m handing off the mystery to you. Are you up to finding out if you’ve been had again or not? If not that’s OK. You’re still covering your back from a potential lawsuit from one of our local hospitals.
