WHY DON'T ALL STARK CO SCHOOLS VALUE GOD? SCPR COMPARES STARK'S 16 OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS ' MISSION STATEMENTS TO LAKE: TODAY - LOUISVILLE

Here is a blub from Wikipedia about Johnny Appleseed:

Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman (September 26, 1774 – February 18, 1845), was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.   He became a legend while still alive, largely because of his kind and generous ways, his great leadership in conservation, and the symbolic importance of apples.


He was also a missionary for the  ... Swedenborgian Church, so named because it teaches the theological doctrines contained in the writings of Emanuel Swendenborg.  

Why would the SCPR open with a short bio of Johnny Appleseed in doing a blog about a local controversy involving the Lake having put reference to God in its Mission/Beliefs/Values statement?

Because, maybe just maybe, Stark County may have come on the identity of a educator who might view himself as a sort of missionary to plant a reference to God into the mission statements of Stark County school districts.

Really?  Who might that be?

Okay, you have twisted my arm and I can't bear the pain anymore.  I will tell you Mr. Blog Reader who I think "might" be Stark educator/missionary out to plant a reference to God in the mission statement of Stark County schools.

Here is a brief bio (education - only) of the SCPR's candidate for being God's missionary in the Stark County schools:

Executive Liaison, Ohio Department of Education (2007-08); Superintendent, Lake Local Schools (1996-2007); Curriculum Consultant, Educational Service Center, Stark County (1995-96); Principal, Louisville High School (1986-95); Unit Principal, Stow High School (1979-85) (The Massillon Independent,  NORTHWEST ENDS SEARCH FOR SUPER:  District hires Wiliam Stetler 5 days after Lambes' resignation, Michael Freeze, June 22, 2008)

 Okay, the "cat is out of the bag."

Yes, the SCPR believes that William Stetler (formerly of Lake, then Louisville and now of the Northwest schools) and who the SCPR knows to be a very devout and religious person, could be out busily playing Johnny Appleseed doing the Stark County schools the wonderful service of giving God his due honor in Stark County education.

Like Appleseed, Stetler could be well on his way "to becoming a legend in his own time."  Did he have anything to do with the "church" in Louisville's mission statement?  Did he have anything to do with the "God" reference in Lake mission statement?  If so, is Northwest next?

In the way of a DISCLAIMER (something you will never see in The Repository), The Report knows Stetler from the days yours truly's spouse served on the Lake Board.  Moreover, she is currently an elected member of the Stark County Educational Service Center board.

The SCPR can see the possibility that Stetler could be a candidate to succeed Larry Morgan as superintendent at the Stark County Educational Service Center (SCESC - formerly the Stark County Board of Education), if and when Morgan decides to retire.  A new opportunity for Stetler?

If the SCPR right about Stetler, he could, like Appleseed, be well on his way to becoming a "legend in his own time.

So far in the SCPR survey of Stark County school districts, only Lake and Louisville have a direct/indirect reference to God.

While this blog is published on both the Stark County Political Report and the Stark Education Report, the best place to keep track of which school districts do or do not have any kind of reference to God in their mission statements is at the Stark Education Report.

NORTHWEST SCHOOLS SERIES: VOLUME 1 - DID THE BOARD OF EDUCATION NEED TO SPEND $13,000 THEY DON'T HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THAT THEY HAVE A TRUST PROBLEM?

Recently, the Northwest schools decided it need to get out in the community to do a survey to document what almost certainly the board members already intuitively knew: Northwest schools have a community credibility problem.

So you have a school district on financial "life support" that somehow could did up $13,000 plus to learn what they already knew but did not get into the core of the opposition group of voters to the 10 time failed levies.

Over a period of time the SCPR is going to be slicing and dicing that survey for which the field work was done June 11 through June 13, 2009.

It might come to mind to SCPR readers that this series only pertains to Canal Fulton, Clinton and Lawrence Township readers of the blog.

But hold on a minute.

There are problems out there across Stark County with all of the 17 school districts. Jackson and Plain schools only recently passed "survivor" level levies. Soon they will be back for more. Minerva, Fairless and Norrtwest face immediate financial crises.

However, there are more waiting in the wings. Most likely all of the remaining districts with North Canton at the head of the list.

Lake schools have to be particularly nervous given the fact that they were bounced by the voters 70% to 30% on a school bond issue within the past year.

So all you readers need to be applying the lessons of this serious to your own school district.

BACK TO NORTHWEST.

To the SCPR, to get rejected by the voters in 10 straight elections is proof enough in and of itself to establish that the voters do not trust the judgment of school administrators and board members to take their word for it that more funds are needed to keep the schools afloat and that they will be spent judiciously and wisely.

The SCPR has scanned through through the "Northwest Local Schools 2009 Community Survey" (NLS2009CS) and over the coming weeks and, perhaps, months will go over the survey with a fine toothed comb.

What strikes the SCPR right out of the gate is how clearly "cherry-picked" the participants of the survey were. Obviously, this survey went in the main to school district constituents who support the schools election-in and election-out. Knowing him as yours truly does, yours truly can see from the make up the survey that Northwest superintendent William Stetler has the major role if not the only role in working with The Impact Group of Hudson, Ohio to put the survey together.

Stetler is a "pollyanish" type who is typical of superintendents these days who are more politician than they are administrator. No doubt there are strong political and public relations factors to getting school levies passed this day and age. However, it has come to a "political and public relations" approach because school administrators and board members have not stayed in close contact with the basic attitude of school district voters.

Also interesting is how The Impact Group describes itself, to wit:

The SCPR's initial take on this believed to be Stetler public relations/political based survey, is that it is not designed to get to the core of community dissatisfaction, but rather to finesse the matter enough to get a "survivor" levy passed.

Stetler really (in the opinion of the SCPR) wanted to try again this November to get a levy passed as witness by the calling of and holding of a special board meeting to air out reported "community interest" in going right back at it with a November effort even in the light a increased voter opposition in November, 2008.

But the Stetler "closet" (in the sense he referred to a phantom groundswell - noted by their absence at the August 5th "special" board meeting) effort failed and the board wisely decided to embark on a "rebuilding public trust" initiative before trying again.

The SCPR has already suggested a mechanism that the board (if they are up to a "roll of the sleeves" effort) can implement to really and truly turn things around in the school district so that passing levies will again be doable. Not easy, but doable.

The same can be done throughout Stark County. Alliance, Canton, Massillon, Jackson, Plain and Lake could be difficult because the populations are significantly larger than most Stark school districts but by employing focus, determination and persistence; even the larger school districts could really get into the nitty gritty of their constituents.

Even though is not impressed with the selected base of The Impact Group survey on the Northwest schools, in the coming time period the SCPR will be parsing the survey with an analysis of what it says about Northwest schools from a cherry-picked - on the whole - respondent group.

NORTHWEST SCHOOLS: CAN SCHOOL OFFICIALS RE-BUILD TRUST?

A major problem in Stark County these days, is the build up of mistrust by many of our citizens of Stark's local units of government.

Mistrust is all around us.

Canton and its mayor. Marlboro Township and its trustees. North Canton and some of its citizens. And Canal Fulton/Lawrence Township citizens and their schools.

To be sure, there are quite a number of other examples.

But you get the point.

As does board member Gindlesberger of the Northwest Board of Education.

Gindlesberger is quoted in The Massillon Independent piece No action means no Nov. levy for N'West (at yesterday's meeting [August 5, 2009], which was billed as an exploratory meeting as to whether or not Northwest should make another levy attempt in the face of ten consecutive defeats, as follows:

The trust issue is huge. It’s something that we may not even correct by May. We are not one community. We are two communities and we have to fix that.

Northwest will not pass a levy until it makes substantial progress in re-building trust. Superintendent Stetler can pontificate all he wants to, to wit:

What we are doing is verging on immoral. We can’t do this to our children just because adults can’t get along. We’re going to fight like heck to get an issue passed.

Gindlesberer appears to be, and hopefully the rest of the board is, way ahead of Stetler who talks about a "new strategy - a new offensive plan."

It is about trust and it is not about politically outmaneuvering the voting public as "Stetler talk" seems to suggest.

Let's see, there about 5,000 households in Canal Fulton and Lawrence Township. There are 5 board members. 5,000 divided by 5 equals 1,000. So if each board member were to take on being in touch (via e-mail, snail mail, home visits, telephone calls - whatever works for a particular household) with 1,000 households over the course of a calendar year, maybe just maybe, you would have the beginnings of re-building trust in the Northwest Local School District.

Over a five year cycle (by switching 1000 blocks), each board member will have endeavored to be in touch with each and every household in the Canal Fulton/Lawrence Township community.

Rebuilding trust would mean "really listening" to willing community participants. It would mean communicating the "partnership aspect of educating children" to the willing. It would mean a constructing "a climate of willingness to change my point-of-view in the context of rational, factually based dialogue."

The is a huge difference between the "rebuilding trust" model and the Stetler model of "finessing the voter for this election" model.

Board members will remain in the community. The superintendent is not likely to.

The will have continuing accountability, the superintendent will not.

In the news article about the August 5th meeting, there is way to much focus on the superintendent. He is a transitory figure. Stetler has already retired and rehired at Lake. He took a education job in Columbus based on his Republican political ties. When Strickland bounced the Republican, Stetler was history. That's how he ended up back in Stark County to the only superintendent job available to him at the time.

Northwest board members need to reassert control of their schools. The day of the "expert" superintendent fostered by the likes of Stetler and Lambes before him are gone forever. School superintendents are fast losing the public confidence because for the most part they are not community people but merely professional moving through.

So it is up to the abiding Canal Fulton/Northwest element to re-build trust: the local board of education members, that's who.

Can Northwest do it by February?

Probably not.

But today is the day for each and every member of the Northwest Board of Education to begin the challenging task of rebuilding trust in the Canal Fulton/Lawrence Township community!

NORTHWEST BOARD OF EDUCATION DOES NOT TRUST CITIZENS OF LAWRENCE/CANAL FULTON TO DO THE RIGHT THING AT THE BALLOT BOX? *

* Posed question was derived from a conversation that the SCPR had with a Canal Fulton resident shortly before the publication of this blog.

A month ago or so, yours truly came across the path of a Northwest Board of Education member at an area shopping establishment.

Mind you, this was close after the failure of the the 12.9 mill operating levy in May.

What struck the SCPR about this encounter was the perceived attitude of the board member. The best word that comes to mind in "cavalier." The member seemed to be dismissive of the significance of the defeat. A kind of que sera, que sera projection.

From the discussion of the levy defeat, the conversation turned to the shortfall on the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission funding. The member again, seemingly, evinced a perceived (by the SCPR) "I'm not concerned" frame of mind. We will transfer inside millage and take care of the problem that way."

So now we have the news that the imposition of a new tax in what appears to be planned for this Saturday, when the board meets at 9:00 a.m.

A very few days advance notice and on a Saturday at 9:00 a.m.?

Undoubtedly, a lead-notice time frame, a day and time that will lure Lawrence Township and Canal Fulton residents to participate. Huh?

A letter recently written by Superintendent William Stetler, on-the-face-of-it, presents a "damned if we do, damned, if we don't" dilemma. Really? A dilemma? $29 million at stake. Again, one must ask, a dilemma? Stetler has to be kidding.

Sounds more like passing the buck to the SCPR or, more sinisterly, an secretive manipulation.

Who believes that this board all of a sudden has gotten religion and now is is touch with its constituency?

As an interesting aside, Stetler and board president Steven Jones do not talk about in the letter, is the failure of the board in place in 2002 to anticipate delays that quite predictably would up the locals' share.

Not long ago the Northwest Board of Education appointed member Nikki Metzger to replace her deceased husband (who tragically died after a battle with cancer) in what President Jones termed a "no brainer" course of action as justification of making the appointment without opening the process to applications from the public at large.

The point being is that the Northwest Board of Education has a storied history of acting without minding the public.

In addition to the "no one but Metzger process," the SCPR is informed that member Gindelsberger was a board president's choice (rubber stamped by a compliant board) as was Superintendent Stetler.

Accordingly, to the SCPR, the "letter" is disingenuous to say the least.

There is no way this board is going to pass on $29 million, no matter if citizens are clearly against the maneuver at Saturday's meeting.

The end result is going to be that the Northwest Board of Education is sewing more seeds of distrust.

By imposing the millage transfer rather than putting it up for a vote, the board makes it abundantly clear that it distrusts the citizens of Lawrence Township and Canal Fulton.