Archive: Opinions

I have to admit that of all the board meetings I cover for the Lansing Star my least favorite is the school board meeting.  I think it's a combination of depression about watching my already high taxes go up and the district's struggles with budget that threatens quality education, teacher jobs and programs.  And as board meetings go it's not generally a happy meeting.  And most times it's long.  But after Monday's school board meeting I left the high school library skip-across-the-fields happy.

That is because I felt as if the school board took a particularly sour lemon and made really sweet lemonade by hiring an interim superintendent from within.  Not just that, but hiring someone who seems to me to be just right for the job.  And the cherry on top was hiring a really great interim elementary school principal from within as well.

Here's why: I have admired the Lansing Fire District for having and keeping to a 20 year fiscal plan since I first learned of it.  These guys tweak the plan every year, but by keeping to it they have been able to avoid significant tax rise, and some years the tax rate has gone down.  That impresses me, since they have to purchase and maintain incredibly expensive fire equipment, have managed a major addition to Central Station and are about to build a new Village of Lansing fire station, both at no additional impact to taxpayers.

They have been able to do that because they've managed to keep their treasurer for a long time, and because, while there has been some turnover among commissioners, the basic leadership has remained rock constant as far as using the plan as a fiscal tool.

The school district has not managed anything resembling this since the Ray Buckley years.  Someone told me that Steve Grimm has the longest tenure as Superintendent after Buckley.  I don't know enough district history to know if that's true, but he certainly has the longest service in the position since Buckley.  And he was only here for four years.

The kind of instability in leadership the district has suffered means that long term planning goes out the window.  That's fiscal planning and educational planning.  Because the new guy always wants to make his mark, and that usually means going in a different direction.  If the 'new guy' is even here long enough to make any kind of difference.  And I believe that long term planning is the only effective way to really make a difference in the long or short term.

Promoting qualified, talented administrators who are up to date on current district initiatives means that there will be much needed stability in the overall direction the district takes.  Chris Pettograsso has been part of Grimm's leadership team for four years.  She not only knows Grimm's agenda, but she helped formulate it.  Christine Rebera has worked in the elementary school for 13 years, and has worked closely with Pettograsso since the latter Christine joined the district.  And they know the people.  They don't have to form relationships before they can do the business of the school district.  They already have them.

There are two pieces that make this a great decision: first, that these two administrators are really good at what they do, and second that they deeply understand the district in this snapshot of time.  This means that district initiatives won't go on hold while the Board Of Education finds a permanent replacement for Grimm.  It's great for the district and also great for the school board, which can continue its important work because it doesn't have to be in a hurry to hire someone permanent.

I know it is premature to say this, but my opinion is that the school board should think very seriously about making these appointments permanent.  In addition to the reasons above, both have roots in our community, which means if they do a good job and the district wants them to stay, they want to stay, too.  Could Pettograsso be our next Buckley?

Yeah, I'm still giddy.  We certainly need to give it some time to play out.  And those who know me are probably having a hard time with the image of me, of all people, skipping through a field.

Whether this turns out to be an interim solution or permanent, I do think the school board made a good decision in their choices of interims.  I thought I was being optimistic in my hope for a good decision on who would lead the district for the next several months.  The board unanimously made a great decision.  Wow!  (figurative skipping through Lansing's signature sunflower fields...)

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