Customer Satisfaction is a core value in the Cedar Rapids School District’s strategic plan. Is Mary Meisterling listening to her customers? The only way to put our children first is to elect people who listen, and I will listen!
The school board and Dr. Markward did not share their long-term plans for Taylor Elementary until after the July 31st deadline for filing school board nomination papers, so I am a write-in candidate.
To vote: 1. Show up to the polls on September 9, you can register to vote at the polling place that day or before. 2. Pick up your ballot from the election officials, fill in the spot next to the blank line and then put the correct spelling of my name KAREN GORSH on the line.
September 5, 2008 at 12:19 am
How would you have felt if the cleaning crew busted their behind and got the school open, but didnt get it completley cleaned?? That’s what would have happened if they opened the school on August 26th. Coming from a health care worker myself, you know having people exposed to mold and whatever else was in the flood water is not healthy. How would you feel if the school calls you and states that you need to come and get your child becaused they are showing signs of an exposure?. Or worse yet, having to dimiss school early, which results in parents leaving work because staff or students are getting sick from being in the building. Since June 13th, we have seen an increase in our patient count of children and adults that are being exposed to mold and other contaminated items. My question to you is: If Taylor decided to open this year, would you still run for the School Board, or is this a way to show your frustration?? I would like a reply to my comment. I am a parent of a child who goes to school on the SW side of CR. I have not decided on which way to go for voting. Help me decide. Thank you for your time
September 5, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Melissa,
Thanks for your comments and questions.
First, I would never want to have our students in substandard buildings and certainly not only the mold issues but the heating system is a concern, too. But many business have already opened downtown and if they had used modular classrooms they would have been used short term only and been able to get the children back in Taylor this winter.
For me, the idea to close Taylor was made in a flood recovery meeting they never really considered putting modular classrooms either in Kingston or on the Taylor land and at the beginning of August David Markward, the superintendent, was quoted in the Des Moines Register saying this:
Markward said he is trying to balance the neighborhood’s needs with those of the school district and the city. School district officials, for example, are in talks with their counterparts from the city and Linn County about sharing administrative space.
“Those questions aren’t as simple as they seem,” he said. “Just trying to put everything back together the way it was may not be the best idea for us in the long term.”
The short term is more pressing for Markward, who is trying to get a school year off the ground two months after a historic flood.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080801/NEWS02/808010364
My concern is with the long-term prospects of Taylor and the neighborhood. I’m also concerned with the lack of involvement from the current school board. At the Wednesday night forum, the one school board member who showed up said it wasn’t their job to decide on policy but just to higher the Superintendent and then approve the administrators ideas.
The decision to close Taylor was made by administrators and no one on the school board has said whether they knew about the decisions and what they thought of the decision. It really comes down to a governing issue. Is the current school board governing the way it should?
Thanks again Melissa, if you have any questions. Please call or comment! My cell phone is 319 389 7693