This forum takes on a bit of added importance with the announcement that Superintendent Ted Neitzke will be stepping down at the end of the school year. Common Sense Citizens of Washington County is hosting another candidate forum on March 23rd. I’m not sure of the time or location yet, but they are inviting questions from the general public. If you have a question that you would like the candidates to answer, please send it to info@cscwc.com.
More to come…
UPDATE: 7 PM at the Moose Lodge.
Been able to find out a lot of info about candidates Tiffany Larson & Jennifer Donath by looking at their Facebook sites & their input at their Benders group, and Randy Mardquardt has a proven record that will get my vote. Trying to pick my 2nd choice, I have very limited knowledge of the other one – Ken Schmidt. I just read his opinion on the recruitment process for a new superintendent at Judy Steffes blog, and it appears that he has professional experience that could benefit the district at a time when it is needed the most. Selecting the next candidate is the first step, but more important is having a board that will lead the new person, not be led by the new person. Until the resignation, it did not matter to me so much, now it does. Last election Monte Schmiege had a blog which helped a lot. If Ken Schmidt has something (blog, Facebook), it would be good to know. I would say contact info, but to remain unbiased I would rather not have any personal contact to cloud my decision.
Is this forum instead of the one normally hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and put on community TV?
I can understand if the Chamber does not a forum this year, in light of the timing of the Neitzke resignation – they must be pretty pissed off right now. Looks like a lot of time, effort and expense has gone into the “High School Institutes” concept – potential outside funding for staff and maybe facilities was being looked at. I suspect Mr. Ted Neitzke was key to getting that kind of community support lined up for that collaborative partnership. Suppose the momentum for that will stall if a new superintendent needs to be hired and these people will need time to put their trust and faith in him/her before committing to the concept again. Unless we get board members that have the capacity to pick this up. Maybe that is why John Torinus editorial suggests effort be made to keep him her?
No, it looks like the Chamber has a forum too. It’s the night before. I’ll post details when I have a chance to dig them up.