LETTERS - Letter to the Editor

School Administrator, Jan, 2000

We're Small Folks, Too

I just read Michael J. Elsberry's guest column ("You Know You're a Small Schools Superintendent If...," October 1999) affirming that I am a small schools superintendent.

Like him, I am one of those by choice. So I loved the list he compiled.

PENNY FERGUSON

Superintendent,

Ouachita School District,

Donaldson, Ark.

As a native South Dakotan, I wanted you to know how much I could relate to what Mike Elsberry said.

It seems amazing to me, some 17 years after leaving the state to get a doctorate and become an administrator elsewhere, that those things he so adeptly lists as his duties are still in vogue in South Dakota education.

One of the great things about a small town is that teacher and administrator evaluation goes on every day, not just when we've completed our supervisory observation visit to the classroom. Everyone in a small town knows everyone else's business (usually more than they need to), so there are no secrets.

Each educator, like every other citizen, gets sized up by the rest of the community, and sometimes people know things you wish they didn't (or shouldn't have to).

STAN HEFFNER

Superintendent,

Madison Local School District,

Madison, Ohio

Although I live in a rather large city now, studying at the University of Rochester for my master's in educational administration, I hope to become a superintendent someday and return to my roots in my hometown in West Virginia.

Martinsburg, W.Va., is much like the community Mike Elsberry describes in Woonsocket, S.D.I sincerely miss my "homies" (as they say here in Rochester) and look forward to perhaps leading their educational system someday.

I hope my experiences are similar to his.

JANE ROEGNER

Director of Consumer Affairs,

Chase-Pitkin Consumer Affairs Department,

Rochester, N.Y.

I am a superintendent of a district with a K-12 student population of 500. I love the small school,

Mike Elsberry is correct: The bigger schools do look down on us.

Thanks for the laugh.

LARRY MOLACEK

Superintendent,

West Harrison Community School District,

Mondamin, Iowa

Mike Elsberry's observations bring back memories. I was a small district associate superintendent and superintendent for 20 years before retiring in January 1998.

Folks never do believe you are outside at 4 or 5 a.m. checking the roads, Besides it is hard for the wife to argue with the extravagance of a 4-wheel-drive vehicle if your own safety is at stake during snowstorms and hurricanes.

I hope Elsberry will keep writing. He has a perspective to share that many people do not believe still exists, And I like the understated humor we so sorely need in this profession.

I have passed his column along to my graduate students as an example of an administrator who has his values intact and as a reflection of the real world of leadership.

RONNIE CAPPS

Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership,

Troy State University,

Dothan, Ala.

Leverett's Creditable Connections

I read Larry Leverett's article, "Connecting the Disconnected" (September 1999), for a graduate class I am taking in school finance because I am interested in why some school districts pass their referenda and others fail.

Our community today is faced with rapid growth and our school system is facing a major bond referendum. We have been very successful in the past, but our area has changed from the farming community of 20 years ago to an area that has one high school, three junior highs and eight grade schools. Our district just purchased land for a new high school. Our schools are highly acclaimed and developers use them to encourage people to move to our area.

However, as a resident and former village president, I question how much of a tax burden our citizens can or will bear. Leverett's perspective jumped out and said "read me." I am impressed with what he has been able to accomplish in Plainfield, N.J. Although I have supported our referendums in the past, I have never actively gone out to speak and show support because of other obligations. I am ready to do so.

His success story has confirmed and cemented my understanding of trust, truthfulness and the respect schools need to earn to be a viable part of a community.

MARY T. LATTA

Reading Specialist,

Plainfield School District,

Plainfield, Ill.

A Path Worth Pursuing

Re: Kathryn Whitaker's guest column ("Going Back to School as Principal," September 1999).

More of her colleagues need to follow her lead to check out the realities of education today.

MIKE GASS

Principal,

Gypsum Elementary School,

Gypsum, Colo.

Casting a Wrong Impression

I am writing to express concern about the photograph you ran recently of protesters at a Minneapolis Public Schools board of education meeting. The photo accompanied the article "Shortchanging the Gifted" (October 1999).

Without proper context, the photo leaves the false impression that the Minneapolis schools do a poor job addressing gifted and talented students.

The protest occurred two years ago as a part of an organized campaign against the move toward community schools in our district, something a majority of parents said they wanted.