Mailbag: April 2006: Classic Hammann: "School Board Needs to Function as A Board."

Board needs to function as a board.

My recent, brief interaction with the school district regarding half-day kindergarten in specific and budgets in general has changed my attitude from healthy skepticism to cold cynicism. I hope the School Board and the Superintendent realize that we all should want the same things for our children: the best education possible within the budgetary constraints. I do not believe there is a good sense for Evansville and, in that vacuum, the superintendent proposes to do “what’s typical” for districts of our size. Information is presented to the board that is incomplete, but they are expected to make decisions and trust her judgment. My own past interactions do not support the requisite leaps of faith. The board depends on the superintendent to bring all of the data to them to make decisions, not just the data that supports her agenda. I trust that the school board members have been diligent in their own research on the issues our district faces and formed their own conclusions. If my letters have reinforced the importance of this activity on their part, I feel like I have accomplished something.

I know our district faces some hard decisions this year and in years to come. I hope some new and innovative ways of doing the same work are considered to make the dollars go further. I trust they will not throw out the baby with the bath water.

Sincerely,