Conversation
Dan Hoesing
Take a look at this video. We need to update our ideas of how we learn. We know what happens to our parents and grandparents when we move them into nursing homes. The memory goes, the quality of life decreases. This is what happens in schools if we don’t keep abreast of what the kids need to learn.
Our concern in education is how to keep up the quality. The more information that is put into this, the better it will be. Most of our conversation also dealt with distance education. Our kids have access to information any time they want.
No longer are we tied to what’s in our four walls. We can have them visit a space center in Florida, financial centers in Chicago, the museums in Washington, DC, while never leaving home. What kinds of opportunities can we make for our kids? I want you to think about how we can outsource getting more materials in front of our kids even at a younger age. The reason we move from high school is because we found that all the research supports tying the middle school concept with learning and not just content. The creative environment gives them tools for the rest of their lives.
There is a surplus of good elementary teachers who don’t have jobs. We can get better and better teachers. We need to improve for ourselves our ability to be efficient. When we ask the parents what they wanted, they said they’d prefer to move the kids. There were serious questions about which way to move them. Most people said to move them to the high school because they know the teachers. But there is a 40cents savings on a $1 tax. As superintendent I have to ask if we’re going to have a school as we go forward. With the system we implemented we had almost half a million dollar savings so the parents were happy and the kids were learning. But then we had problems and the students quit because the parents quit.
So now we have a second chance here, for some it’s a third chance. We have to start thinking again about when we move kids. What’s the advantage for the kids? We’re at that point tonight where I’d like to get comments and input from you. How do we give opportunities for our kids with reduced resources?
Take a couple of minutes and discuss with the people around you what your greatest concerns are.
Responses
Q: What’s our long-term solution? I think we have to think about that and not just have a knee-jerk response. And secondly I think we should look outside the box.
Dan: Sustainable change is incremental. If it causes us to take a step towards the next level, it’s a positive thing. There’s a school in South Dakota with a distance learning program with nine districts - not one student steps into that building. If we could use the buildings in Nebraska for this it might solve our problem of moving kids. The long-term solution is looking at how we can adapt and change so that kids can move freely. Some of that might be moving back to their former systems.
The second question is that other districts are looking at us for their solutions. To look outside the box is that the way we design this system may actually generate money for us. We’ve got the benefit of having only 30 miles between all our schools so we have a lot of options.
We have a lot of solutions which are dependent on the flexibility of our adults and not just our students.
Q: If we have four grades together, how would you coordinate the activities so that the parents are not going in too many different directions?
Dan: One of the things that we have offered is transportation. This is not something that a lot of people have to deal with and this is a great question we have to address.
Q: Some people will look at the possibility of having a middle school. Some will think this is a good thing, others not. Are we opposed to moving students in order to make this happen? I have been through this system so I see the advantages but I know there will be parents who will opposed to this.
Dan: The question will be: where is your community? There is a barometer in which you see what you sacrifice if you take one step forward. So each parent will have to consider what they will sacrifice to make this change.
Q: I read that a lot of people took their land out of Wynot though I don’t understand the details. We have to look at 8-10 years down the line. There is a real possibility that we will be combining a lot faster than we think.
Dan: When the land went, the kids didn’t. So the money left because of the tax issue but what about the kids who are still there? We have to look at how fairly we’re taxing people. If the parents don’t believe that we’re going in the right direction, then the system fails.
Michael: With the teenagers today we asked them about adding another school, and who would they like to see as the next community to join us. We haven’t looked at their answers yet but we will.
Comment: In order for anyone to freehold land in any district, you have to be in a levy override and have less than 60 students in the high school for 3 years. None of these districts satisfy these requirements right now. In terms of the long-term solution, you have to look at what we mean by long-term. When I was growing up we thought that we’d get it fixed and that would be the end. That’s not how it works really. We have to have the ability to adapt and change and these are always necessary for a long-term solution. We’re at the cutting edge in this state. If people want to hold their kids out and send them to Wayne or Hartington that will always be a possibility. Our focus is to do the best thing we can do for all the students in all the districts.
Q: Is it feasible to say that we should be in one building or opening up another building?
Dan: One of the things that’s visible is the physical changes when kids move or teachers move. But you don’t see what happens with the funds. If students go to Hartington you’d have to know that there’s invisible consequences whenever we make changes like that. There are choices of cutting or sharing. If we just cut, then you don’t have the schools you have. You don’t see the $10k that you’re not paying because we’re sharing. We don’t have grants to support regular programs. You have to look at the details as an investor into our system. When we generate the invisible money that doesn’t come out of your pockets, you have to be considerate of the benefits of it.
Q: It’s safe to say that the biggest fear is the loss of identify more than anything. As you go together you’re still a part of the puzzle but maybe you become a smaller or bigger part. In my scenario I’d like to see a building in every town just for the identity. If you lose your school, the next thing is a grocery store or a hardware store. We might have to each sacrifice something in order to support our communities.
Michael: I just worked with a researcher from Australia who says that vital rural communities are the key to health of our entire nation. One of the next shifts in thinking is how to create economic revitalization in these communities which the schools are a part of.
Comment: We already know this. What this guy says is nothing new. William Jennings Bryant said this a long time ago.
The great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms, and grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.
Q: What do we do if we have the two buildings as you propose Dan?
Dan: We have to consider three groups, kids, staff, and teachers. What do we do when we move them? Without kids we don’t have schools, neither if we have no teachers. We need all three groups to benefit with whatever system we create. It’s critical that we get a pulse from the community to see how fast we can move. We don’t want to let that pulse hold us back from serving the kids though. They’ve got one shot at this education.
Comment: I personally think we do better the sooner we meld ourselves into one. I think our kids also do better if they identify as one. The adults are the ones who have the most problem with it.
Comment: The kids adapt. They’re wonderful at it. If the parents were as good at it, we’d be in a better situation.
Comment: I come from a Laurel perspective and feel that we didn’t get the things that I wanted from this. My daughter isn’t into sports so Laurel doesn’t really serve her. She’s more of a fine arts kid so the one act play is a good idea for her. I would like to see us all use the resources available to us. I’ve never lived anywhere for more than 3 years until I’ve lived in Laurel, so I’m dedicated to it. It may be doing great things for those in sports but we need to do other things better, such as band, half of the freshman class won’t be in it, and yet another community has a flourishing music program. I’d like to see all our kids have the opportunities to do what they need and want. The fine arts make you better in science and math because the more well-rounded you are the better you are at life.
Dan: The decision for the board to make is how to deal with another half a million dollar deficit. This hole can be filled with additional revenue by selling classes, getting someone to invest in us, or on the other side we can cut programs and give our kids less. We can share services and make our resources more available to more kids. We need the ability to share staff, otherwise we have to move kids. We only have three options: cut programs, generate revenue, or make a combination of the two.
We have several creative ways to do this. For example, we are now using Hippocampus which is video-driven content with textbooks used with it.
Q: Can we focus on the home school needs as a way to generate dollars in our system?
Dan: It depends on how fast we can ramp that up. It makes a lot of sense but right now the majority of the home school students are younger (not high school age).
Q: Is there economic incentive to start looking at elementary kids? If we expose them to it earlier then they’re ready for it there could be consequences.
Dan: We sell it a class at a time and we have an abundance of elementary teachers.
Q: If you look at the time that kids have to spend commuting from one community to another, it’s a lot of money and it’s a lot of time spent away from families and it’s a waste of time both from learning and other activities.
Dan: None of our routes now are that long unless you’re smack dab in the center of the district. These are all issues we have to look at. The board needs to know what all these issues are.
Before you leave this evening please stop by the white board at the back to capture any issues, questions or concerns that you felt were not addressed tonight.
Thank you so much for coming tonight and know that your input is very valuable to us and will be taken into consideration.
Wall of Issues and Questions
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