Letter to the Editor: Congratulations?

The Brillion News

This Letter to the Editor was printed in the Jan. 24, 2019 edition of The Brillion News. Letters to the Editor are encouraged from our readers. 

I would like to congratulate the Brillion School Board, board president, and superintendent on recent accomplishments. The first goes to the initiative described in a recent article, “Madison, School Board Talk Student Readiness” about how the superintendent is leading the way across the state in college and work readiness research.

As someone who works in this area daily, I was surprised, yet excited to hear this. I commend the board for allowing the superintendent the freedom and self-accountability to participate in this (and countless other conferences around the state and country), especially when the article noted he was the only superintendent out of the 38 CESA 7 districts to participate. Brillion is fortunate that the board allows this freedom as many others encourage their superintendent to remain in the district to work on such things as creating a positive school culture, progressive curriculum, proper teacher training, district vehicle security, smart budget expenditures, sound hiring practices, and creating useful teacher effectiveness evaluation methods that lead to growth, not added stress and busy work. I’m intrigued by this research as one board member states, “If you want your kid to be successful, the research says they have to come to school and they have to participate in things.” Fascinating! I find it ironic that this data is so important, however, data from previous staff culture studies was never discussed or published and seems to have disappeared forever.

Speaking of positive press and good use of resources, I would also like to congratulate the superintendent, school board, and president on not going to trial with the wrongful termination case. As quoted in the paper by the superintendent, “The Brillion Public School District is happy to report that the parties completed a successful mediation…” I am sure that the superintendent and president are happy about this, although I didn’t realize there was such a thing as a “successful” mediation. Congratulations for not going to trial as the truth on the treatment of employees and the board’s unwillingness to stop this behavior would not have been positive press for the district. If the truth came out, it would set precedence that all mistreatment of employees should be dealt with and not overlooked. This would undoubtedly cause even more work, resources, and time spent on issues that should never have been allowed to happen in the first place. I am reassured, however, that the board realizes administrator performance for contract renewal is key and that it will continue to be a priority, especially after this “successful” mediation.

We should be proud of the superintendent and board’s work on readiness research that the superintendent thinks; “we’re kind of leading the way” on. We should be proud of the fact that the superintendent and president were able to have a successful mediation that helped avoid a trial and the truth of employee mistreatment. Be sure to congratulate the superintendent, board president, and entire school board through emails, phone calls, and when you see them in the community.

I truly do commend those administrators, teachers and staff in the district who do continue to work so hard to give our youth the best education possible despite all other distractions.

Steve Meyer