Is the School board being a little chippy?

…as in a chip on their shoulder.

I sent this request to my fellow board members yesterday via email:

Supt, and fellow board members,

I have had long standing plans to be in Missouri and Kansas this week to do some research on my family and participate in a memorial to my Grandfather. As a consequence I will not be able to attend this week’s Board Committee meetings. I will be reviewing them before our meeting next week on youtube to prepare.

I took up Mark Niedermier’s invitation to tour Many Rivers last week and am pleased that he and other representatives of Many Rivers will be able to answer questions of the Board at today’s Business Committee. I see that the agenda places this agenda item at the end of the meeting.

I hope that we will take advantage of our precedent to bring these guests closer to the beginning of the meeting rather than have them wait through hours of other business. They have already sat through last month’s meeting to no affect.

Like you I will be watching the nation’s future unfold this week but from a different vantage point. Kansas is Trump country. Fortunately, the University of Kansas carries National Public Radio.

In speaking with one of my confederates on the Board tonight after the 1.45 hour meeting I learned that my request was ignored. Many Rivers had to cool its jets until the end of the meeting.

I will be watching the meeting replayed on youtube in the next couple of days. I am not impressed when we get on our high horses.

Here’s the Trib’s report on the meeting.

The new resolve of the Board majority not to accept any offers is a far cry from Annie Harala’s and Rosie Loeffler-Kemps hemming and hawing when they were asked whether they would approve a sale of Central to Edison three years ago. Now they don’t even want other offers to be brought to the Board. This flies in the face of what the Superintendent has said based on the story:

“In 2013 when news first surfaced that Duluth Edison was interested in Central, Duluth district Superintendent Bill Gronseth told the News Tribune he wouldn’t recommend to the board a policy change, but might consider individual offers by making exceptions to the policy.

If there was an offer for Morgan Park Middle School, for example, he said at the time, consideration would be more likely than for Central, with its higher market value.”

Sheesh!

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