Fergus Falls Daily Journal Editorial, October 12, 2006
Pelican district residents deserve honest answers
"It’s hard to know whether the Pelican Rapids School Board made the correct decision to reassign Superintendent Kent Baldry and not renew his contract. After all, no one on the school board will explain why.
Pelican Rapids School Board members have cited the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act as reason to give limited information on Baldry’s change in duties, which includes limited time on school grounds. While it would have been easy to simply have Baldry work through the year and retire, as he had planned to do on June 30, 2007, the school board chose to go beyond that.
Such a decision will lead residents to come up with any number of possibilities and rumors. While the school board, from a legal standpoint, does not have to say what went on, it would seem an honest answer would better serve Baldry, the school board and the community.
Most importantly, considering the Pelican Rapids School District is financed by and serves local residents, local residents have a right to know."
6 hours ago
14 comments:
It's good to see that the school board came to the right conclusion and cleaned some of the house by letting Bauldry go before he drove another school to bankruptcy.
Maybe PR needs to look at how schools like Perham are doing business with their "outdated and unsafe" building. Maybe some of the members of the staff and board need to look at what is really needed vs. what would be "Really neat" to have.
If you want to work in a school where tax payers can afford to pay for the "really neat" move to Edina. You're in a farming community, so don't forget it!
Schools like Perham? HUH? Again, HUH?
The last time I was in Perham, I seem to have noticed two nice new schools. Even their "oldest" school, the high school, is modern in comparison to ours. They are also an agricultural community, but they don't live in the past like our little agricultural community thinks we need to.
Years ago, people made sacrifices to pay and build our churches and schools. They didn't magically appear for us to use. It seems our priorities aren't what they used to be. So many people want something for nothing.
I agree... don't we want what is best for our town? What we really need is a 'safe' school.. I don't think we have that right now. It is old and outdated... and there are WAY to many entrances..
Didn't Perham get a new highschool a few years back?
"Really neat to have".. is that what people think the reason for a new school is? Maybe they need to go into the school and take a look around.. count the number of entrances.. look at how run down and old our school is.. let's have a little pride in our town..
If our school is as run down as some say that it is, I think that we need to investigate what exactly our maintenance personnel have been doing. When I left the school 10 years ago, it was one of the nicest in the area. Art was doing an excellent job, what happened?
I think Art retired LONG before the last 10 years. There can be a big difference between an outside appearance and what's inside. I don't think I need to use examples. Of course, we all know people like that.
I'm not sure that churches are built with tax payer dollars maybe that's what the teachers are teaching now, ever hear of seperation of church and state? One more question what does a number of entrances have anything to do with safety. Last time I recall all of the doors at both schools are able to be locked.
LET'S HAVE A LITTLE PRIDE IN OUR TOWN????
Maybe some of the members of our little town should have thought of that years ago. I recall when PR used to be bumper to bumper with tourist in the summer all week long. Now these tourist are avoiding our little ghost town NOT bc we didn't build a new school. Face reality, pride has nothing to do with school unless you're talking about the Vikings!
Unfortunately, it's the attitude of some of the locals that are preventing the bumper to bumper tourists from coming to PR. If the locals don't support what the town has to offer, there won't be anything left to attract the tourists. Again, let's have some pride in our town!
It appears that whoever posted the separation of the church and state post didn't seem to understand the post they were referring to. Regardless of how schools or churches were paid for, whether taxes or private donations, people made sacrifices to pay for them at one time. Don't cloud the issue, because it isn't a cloudy issue.
It's my understanding that the Bawldry issue isn't about the building at all but, that it stemmed from asking for the accountabliity of our teachers. Am I wrong?
You're right not only is PR having difficulty attracting tourists, but as a sign that PR has gone so far down the wrong path it is losing the support of it's local residents. For example: shopping, dining, and even busing their kids to other towns/school districts. We're living in a highly mobile and extremely competitive environment, even at the local level. Until PR figures out how to compete in a way that encourages pop. growth and local participation of it's residents, the fate of PR will be similar to the many prairie towns that have gone by the way side. I guess we sure don't need a big fancy new school for the ghost town now do we?
Whoever posted the church and state remark does understand the post, thank you! Let me simplify this for You. Those who chose to contribute to a church project do just that, CHOSE. Those who end up paying for a school project may have been out numbered in a vote b/c some fast talking superintendent whose kid works for a contracting firm in Minneapolis (we won't point fingers)fooled the locals into believing this was a good idea.
The idea behind a referendum is to identify the will of the people. Based on the results of the vote last year , it is clear that the majority of the people didn't support the construction of a new school as it was proposed, presented, and sold to the community. As unpleasant as it may seem to some people, this is how our democracy works. Develop a proposal that truly serves the best interest of everyone involved, rather than just a few, and the outcome will be far different.
So many negative comments regarding PR here. Many always quick to judge or accuse, but never many solutions offered. So lets hear some solutions to PR's problems......What can the community do to turn things around? Maybe Jim's blog can be used to get things turned around? Let's hear it...
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