From one parent’s perspective, I believe you need a good sense of humor to …

By Debbie Swartzendruber

Dear Editor,

From one parent’s perspective, I believe you need a good sense of humor to attend school board meetings. If you don’t, the politics and slow pace of progress will make you crazy.

That’s why I left the board meeting at 10 p.m. Monday night— my sense of humor was exhausted! Steve Knierim from Merit Construction announced his good news that the bond issue construction project was finished. He was asking the Board to approve closing out the project and paying the balance. Gerry Beeler, Becky Furlong and several teachers/school employees voiced concerns about items that were not satisfactory. Steve maintained that Merit had completed the items per the stipulations of the contract and remaining problems could be looked at later. Whoever was in charge of the “pick list,” which is the list of construction problems to be resolved, didn’t come prepared to challenge the completion of the project.

My interest for being at the meeting was regarding the budget cuts for 1999-2000. If the budget is a critical issue, you wouldn’t know it by its place on the agenda— it was in the 10 p.m. time slot. Perhaps the School Board thought there would be more time for discussion by parents and community if the budget was one of the last items on the agenda. Perhaps this is a way to limit the public’s input and involvement with financial matters.

Elizabeth Curl and Julie Miller do a great job of asking questions about agenda items. I know this takes time; both of you are prepared with community concerns in mind, and strive to do your jobs well. There are many M-P employees dedicated to the school board meetings and voicing concerns for M-P school district. You deserve support and encouragement— we can’t afford to loose the contributions you make to our school and children.

If we are going to keep our school strong and healthy, it takes time and attention to know what is really going on. I am biased to the needs of my child, my beliefs and my personal interests. When I tell you there needs to be more financial support given to Mid-Prairie School District, that’s my opinion. When I tell you that parents should be able to spend more time enjoying their child’s school activities than they spend raising money for the child to have a school activity, that’s my opinion. And, when I say there are people within the school district who aren’t doing their job; that these people need to be replaced with people who will do a better job, that, too, is my opinion.

I can’t tell people what to do and I can’t tell the school board what other people want (although sometimes I try to). I can only speak for myself. However, if your opinion and mine are the same— then we need to talk. We need to talk to our school board members, and keep talking to them, until they make the changes that will make our school a better place for children to learn!

Debbie Swartzendruber

Kalona, Iowa