Archive: Opinions

After so many years of little or no consistent leadership in the Lansing school district it has been encouraging to see some of the district's long term problems begin to be addressed.  Most notable has been the capital projects and the issue of community trust of district officials.  At times Superintendent Stephen Grimm has seemed like a wizard, continuously pulling rabbits out of a threadbare hat that was demonstrably empty.

As we enter what appears to be the bleakest budget year in recent memory, the school board is getting ready to put a capital project to a vote.  This is the third capital project in a row that will address building issues that are a half decade old at no additional cost to taxpayers.  Three projects at no additional cost -- that is certainly a relief after $40 million projects that never got off the ground.  And it has a magical quality to it -- pulling something out of nothing.

Grimm seems Reganesque with his Teflon ability to solve seemingly insurmountable problems without getting the community mad at him.  I still can't get over the community's positive response to his cutting a million dollars out of his first budget that would have resulted in cuts to jobs, materials, and services.  It was even more positive when he and his team found a way to not have to do it.  It stood in stark contrast to the community's attitude to his predecessor who never challenged the community with that miserable a choice.

Certainly Grimm's laid-back, inclusive personal style has a lot to do with the community rallying to him.  He is young, with a young family, and you believe him when he says he wants to stay in Lansing and provide consistent leadership for many years to come.  When he publicly aspires to Buckleyhood, you believe him.  You certainly want to believe him, since there wasn't a shred of long-term leadership in the district since Ray Buckley retired.

Grimm has built a lot of political capital in the community by pulling those rabbits out of the hat.  Money that wasn't apparently there before.  Or was, but not for what the district needed.  Talking straight about challenges the district faces, but continuously looking for 'outside the box' solutions to them.  And not panicking.  Douglas Adams's famous 'Don't Panic' mantra easily applies to Grimm.  You can imagine him with a hidden 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' tucked into his suit jacket pocket.

This year's budget process is going to be a difficult test for the community, though.  With so many threats to school income lining up Grimm is going to need some powerful magic to keep those rabbits coming.  We all want the best for our children, but in an economy that may be officially getting better but isn't noticeably actually improving, we can't necessarily afford it.  Whether you thought that the past ten budgets were irresponsible or just what the doctor ordered, the concept of taxing local people out of their homes isn't just a metaphor these days.

That is going to mean that Grimm and his crew will need to balance that dour reality with creative ways to continue to provide an excellent education.  But it is also going to mean that the community has to step up to be creative and supportive.  Building that political capital can cut both ways:

One hopes that it builds trust between officials and the public so that when adversity comes the public is assured that school officials are doing what is necessary to provide the best education at the lowest cost, and is not just on some kind of municipal spending spree.  It could have a negative effect, however -- it can spoil the community into thinking it is entitled to all those rabbits.

I want to believe that there are decades worth of juice left in Grimm's magic wand and that he will keep those rabbits coming.  But now, more than ever, prospects for school revenues seem insurmountable.  While the onus is still on the Board of Education and school administrators to budget judiciously, it is also on the community.  We need to not just be fair weather magic show fans.  We need to trust Grimm and his team because they have demonstrated they can be trusted.  But we also need to be vigilant and to try to make balanced judgments when voting time comes.

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