In a fit of pettiness, the Madison Central School District has forced the Rutland School District to scale back its bus service to open-enrolled Madison students from the door-to-door service provided last year to two bus stops located at opposite edges of town. Madison originally wanted to force local parents choosing to send their kids on the bus to Rutland to send all their kids to a single location each morning. Rutland was willing to compromise by reducing service to three in-town stops, but to end $8000 worth of legal wrangling and avert the state Department of Education's threat to pull the school's accreditation, Rutland had to surrender to the two-stop plan.
The Rutland bus will now stop at the Community Center on the north side of town and Flynn Field at the south side of town. The third site, Living Hope Wesleyan Church in the northwest part of town, was allowing students to come inside the church to warm up while waiting for the bus. Madison Central apparently finds intolerable any comfort for Madison residents committing the treachery of going to school in Rutland: that site is now forbidden to Rutland buses. The final bus stop agreement also forbids Rutland from using the Community Center or any Community Center property adjacent to the Trojan Field stop.
So now Madison Central's hubris extends not only to controlling the use of public roads but also dictating who can and cannot enter the Community Center, a facility supported by tax dollars and memberships paid by citizens of Madison, Rutland, and other communities. Will Madison Central be sending Superintendent Schaefer to stand at the Community Center door each morning and afternoon to keep Rutland bus riders from coming in to use the bathroom? Please tell me someone is preparing a lawsuit over this unconstitutional exercise of power.
In a discussion on Charlie Johnson's Facebook page, former Madison school board member Rod Goeman asks when Madison Central will start sending a bus to Rutland to bring kids to "benefit from advanced learning and activity opportunities that Madison offers." Rutland Superintendent Carl Fahrenwald responds that Madison can already and is welcome to do so:
This does bite both ways for Rutland. We do lose some of our own students to other districts, including Madison. The Chester bus comes right into Rutland across the street from the school to pick up several OE students. Other districts pick up within our district as well. Of course we can't have it both ways. Thus we are happy to "allow" Rutland students who choose to leave our district the safest possible transportation via rides on other district's buses. For us this means the dreaded "door to door" that has now been outlawed within municipalities. So to answer Rod's question, Rutland students are free to go anywhere else, and Madison is welcome to provide busing for them as requested and needed. All area families with school age children (and the public in general) are better off with a system of true public school choice through open enrollment than a system where any of us are running a defensive protection racket [Carl Fahrenwald, Facebook comment, 2011.12.31].
Madison Central has yet to offer any rationale for how restricting Rutland's bus service promotes the safety or education of the three dozen children who travel from Madison to Rutland for their education. This inhospitality is the public, institutional expression of a pettiness that appears to run rampant in Madison. I have heard that Madison parents who send their children to school in Rutland face criticism from their neighbors. In some cases, Madison parents feel shunned just for exercising their legal right of school choice to provide their children with the best education they can find.
Charlie Johnson's Facebook conversation includes calls from some defenders of Madison's bus-stop pettiness to stop arguing, accept the decision, and "be a community again." I agree: Madison should try to be a community again. Being a community does not mean building a fence around your town and trying to keep people from coming and going. Being a community means being neighborly. Among other things, it means accepting the legal choices your neighbors make in educating their children.
Within our community, many parents send their children to private St. Thomas Elementary. Madison Central respects those community members enough to transport St. Thomas students on public buses. Rutland isn't asking for that much; Rutland just wants to run its own bus on public roads to serve its students in the safest way possible. Is that such a crime?
You are making this out to sound like Rutland is the helpless victim and Madison is the ever-oppressive bully. Get over your personal feelings towards Madison and report on this without fear of Rutland pulling their advertising dollars, please.
I realize the need to sensationalize things to your favor, but it really gets old and tiresome the way you always feel the need to twist things to make it seem like whatever Madison does is done solely for the purpose of upsetting Rutland or some imagined muscle flexing.
Now, before you just assume I am against Rutland, let me be clear on some things: I have no bad feelings towards OE kids, parents, or other school districts. I may not feel these 2 stops are the best option, but it is a step in the right direction of getting along. You seem to want to prevent that from happening.
Take a pill and relax for a bit. Let these 2 districts work things out without you trying to incite a riot with your unwarranted comments or assumptions about Madison as a whole.
Jim, You are wrong on several counts. First of all this has nothing to do with Cory. This has everything to do with OE students/parents being treated with fairness/respect toward their safety and welfare. It is wrong for any district to tell another how to operate. With over 30 students riding the bus, Rutland wanted aleast 3 stops so as to prevent too much traffic(yes that is a safety issue on a cold, dark morning) at any one pickup point. Please tell me and others how education is enhanced by not allowing Rutland students to be picked up at Hope Weselyan Church? Until you or someone can provide an answer, the "egg" is on your face and that of the Madison School District.
Jim, again, you ignore the real issues and try to distract people by talking about me. You are just wrong. If Rutland had power, it would run its buses where it wants, in the interest of student safety. But Madison can now use this new and unconstitutional state law to stifle Rutland's freedom to run its buses on public roads. Rutland is the victim. Madison is the bully. That's not sensationalization.
No matter how much a school district tries, in the end, they can not be everything to everybody. For every family and student, there are specific circumstances that relate in a unique fashion to their given situation. Because of that, some families may make the sometimes difficult choice to open enroll their students. They do so with careful thought and the love that they have for their child. As with any child, safety and welfare comes first. There is no close second choice. Once that family makes the decision to open enroll with final acceptance by the host school district, that student/child then becomes the legal and abiding concern of that host school district. When that concern involves safe and reasonable transportation of the student, the decisions and arrangements should come directly from the school district that has granted open enrollment. Resentment, sour grapes, embarassment, whatever, should not be allowed to come into play by any party, What is needed is for reasonable people to make adult like decisions. Here are the suggestions:
(1)Madison School Board needs to take this isue out of the hands of the administration and attorneys and grant the leeway for all neighboring districts to function as they see proper to safely trasnport their students.
(2)SB 77 that was passed in the last session should be repealed in this coming session.
(3)The SD Superintendent's Association should reverse their decision to place a legislative proposal in this upcoming session that would require all neighboring districts as decided by the home district to use only one given pickup point for all students for all transportation to their host district.
Many important people with decision making authority read this blog. I respectfully ask that you consider what can be done to change matters for the better. Children/students as to how they succeed is what really matters in the final result. Adult egos need to be set aside.
Charlie and Cory-
You guys are not reading what I typed. Instead, Cory thinks it is yet another attack on him, when all I was saying is for Cory to drop the bias against Madison and post with a balanced opinion. He can't, and won't, do that.
There is no egg on my face. I said I am not against OE students, their parents, grandparents, step parents, cousins, etc., or any school district these folks decide to enroll their children at.
Read what Cory wrote and tell me it is not biased against Madison. Almost every sentence contains some sort of slam against Madison, the school district, the superintendant, citizens of Madison, or me.
For this blog and that post, Cory is the issue. He had previously blasted Madison for not reporting what the agreement was, but never uttered a word when Rutland did the same. Bias. He says one school district should not tell another what to do, but then gives the thumbs up for Rutland to try to tell Madison they want 3 stops and will go against the decision. Bias.
All I want is for Cory to be consistant and fair. The number of stops, and their locations, is something I have no control over. Seems to me that if Madison wanted one stop and Rutland wanted 3, and both agreed on 2, it is a start to what Charlie said needs to happen. I do not expect Cory to see that. Instead he sees it as a case of Madison being the bully. Bias.
Again, to be very clear: I am in favor of open enrollment. I have no ill feelings towards anybody even remotely associated with an OE child. I do not think the issue is over, but for now both sides have reached an agreement. Pot stirrers need a pot to stir.
Please stop.....the decision has been made and we have no other options. Tomorrow these kids go back to school and we are all tired of this...my grandson Davin will not be picked up at the Community Center. Even though he is a member he can not go in the building in the am. The way the bus has to come in the parking lot is the most dangerous situation that you could put children in. Flynn Field is not much better but probably a little safer. These kids were loving going to the Living Hope Church in the mornings and were feeling pretty special for a few days now that is gone. If these options do not work for Davin I will come in everyday early and drive Davin to Rutland myself....that is how much going to Rutland means to our family. He is so much happier there....there is no way that I could on this post explain to you why Davin is going to Rutland and obviously there are people who just dont care! This was one of the hardest decisions that his mother and Davin had to make. Never once have we said that Madison did anything wrong but no one ever asked why either.....
Do you people think that these kids are not reading these blogs, newspapers or listening to the radio? You are HURTING children and their families.....you have put a price tag on their education and you have no right to do that!
I went to the Madison School Board and the Rutland School board asking them to settle this but was never told that the 2 stops had already been chosen. I thought they would be able to chose the 2 stops yet....this has been so WRONG from the very beginning! I was not aware of the restrictions that had also been placed on the settlement agreement at the time.
I have never been ashamed to say that I am from Madison South Dakota.....until now.
Jim, we are reading what you type, and you always type distractions. You clearly have a bias against me, Jim, so I can just ignore everything you say, right?
Deb, I am very sorry to hear the grief this whole situation has caused you. It pains me to hear anyone express such shame in one's hometown.
That said, as for "stopping," I must maintain that we always have options. Madison parents can organize rotating carpools to pick kids up wherever is best. Parents can contact Rep. Patricia Stricherz, Rep. Mitch Fargen, and Senator Russell Olson and tell them to take time this session to repeal last year's Senate Bill 77, the law allowing Madison to dictate where Rutland's buses run. Community Center members and taxpayers can ask Community Center director Aaron Walters just what part of Senate Bill 77 authorizes the Madison Central School Board to dictate who can and cannot use the Community Center or where he gets off telling a paying member like Davin that he can't enter the building.
And about a month from now, parents concerned about fairness can take out petitions to run for school board. I believe two seats are up, Steve Nelson's and Michelle Tucek's.
...and when you contact your District 8 legislators about SB 77, remember: Reps. Fargen and Stricherz both voted against it last March 2; Senator Olson voted for it on Feb. 22.
Thanks for the direction Corey, they will be hearing from me & others.....
It would be helpful if Jim would tell us his full name and where he is from. That way, I could send him a wash cloth to wipe up the "egg". Sorry but I don't have patience for people who don't lay out their full identification.
As for the busing issue, be aware that the SD Superintendents Asssociation has proposed new legislation that would direct any open enrolled students would be limited to just one pickup and drop off point in the district. That spot would also be decided by the home district. In theory, a school district like madison could direct that all students from all schools in the area must leave and arrive at the same location. This proposed idea needs a quick death in the legislative world.
Again open enrollment is about caring parents making the most viable choice for their child/student. If you as a parent or grandparent care about your children, you should also care about all children and their safety/welfare regardless of where they enroll for school.
For the ridicule, shame, and disappointment that some families have had to endure, it would be helpful if parents, families, and other supporters would sign their name to an open letter expressing appreciation to all students regardless of where they enroll. I would be willing to pay a major portion of that ad in the Madison Daily Leader and also a nice contribution to Madville Times tip jar to run the ad also if it considered to be an okay idea and someone would be willing to run with it.
Charlie, if you're going to send Jim a wash cloth to wipe up the "egg", I should also send one to you to wipe the dust and grit from your glasses so you can see the larger picture. I've never heard anyone criticize or degrade a parent for using the Open Enrollment system to allow parents to best fit schools to their students. It is a program that works.
Most of the parents open enroll for convenience of the student/parent, conflict in their home district, athletic reasons and educational benefits. Parents know their children best.
The rub in this is very simple. A separate tax district was blatantly, publicly violating state law, encroaching on another separate tax district, not negotiating in good faith. We have to respect the various taxing districts, not run willy-nilly wherever and whenever we want like the Lone Ranger, disrupting other districts.
For now, the districts have a plan that will work. If you have a question about why the former Lincoln School isn't a pick up point, ask them.
Rod, thanks.
Deb, I have no idea what your family is going through just to educate your grandchild, but I know it can not easy for you, or others involved with an OE child. What you wrote is what I was trying to say, but because others think I am against OE, they attack me, but not you.
Cory, I have a bias against bias opinions. You, my friend, are biased against the Madison School District, and from the sound of things, the entire town of Madison. That, I guess, makes for decent blogging.
Jim, you are so lost in your constant desire to diss this blog and me that you keep missing the point. You are speaking as if you think Madison is not unfairly complicating the efforts of Madisonians to freely choose where their children go to school. If you're for open enrollment, you must oppose the bad law that Madison is using to wage petty politics against the parents and children who choose to go to Rutland.
Rod, the law is wrong. School districts have no right to tell other school districts which public roads they can and cannot use. They even less right to tell Davin he can't set foot inside the Community Center his family has paid to use.
SB 77 was poor legislation and it's origins was all about "sour grapes". MSD displayed poor judgment in demanding just one stop. They made the decision to totally disregard the decision making of another district in how they were going to transport students. That in itself is making a statement to open enrolled families--your child is less of a consideration.
I'm glad to see your positive statements on open enrollment for the record. That we can agree on. As for Jim, I and others would like to know his identity. Please appreciate the humor, but I do wash my glasses every morning after doing chores-they do get dirty-please send the wash cloth.
For the record, the superintendent's group did back off on their original proposal to require the use of a single stop for OE transportation. Here is the link to the latest legislative positions they are advocating:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WaPSGoHJnaG4Wv0r25IeVFxHd9_MuuLBGFg48uoO-wE/edit
They are wanting to instead back the current bus law but add better "enforcement measures", which may be just as bad.
Just a question, Cory. Why were some told that we had to fully identify ourselves on this blog, but others do not? You might know who they are, but you knew who the rest of us were too even with our "aliases" and still insisted we use our full names.
[CAH: Linda, my regrets: my comment policy has evolved. I'm letting folks comment as long as I know who they are. Shall I drop the hammer again and demand full names online on every post? Or shall I go the War College route and return to the anonymous free-for-all? Which policy promotes the most fruitful conversation? Hit my Contact form with your thoughts!
But we all reserve the right to mock, belittle, and ignore those who lack the courage to share their full names.]
I do need to correct 2 things....Steve Nelson did ask me at the Madison board meeting if there was anything that Madison could have done to keep Davin to which I told him no & that Davin is where he needs to be. Otherwise no one from the school ever contacted my daughter as to why Davin was open enrolling to Rutland.
The other point I need to make is that Aaron Walters told me that anyone under the age of 13 has to have a guardian with them before 10:30 am as there is not any staff on duty to monitor the children. As far as the exact wording in the "settlement" someone else needs to quote that but I believe there was wording in there about no access to the building.
Madison school board and Superintendent Schaefer lost my support when they pulled their retire/hire scam. I heard that was going to happen before it even hit the papers. At least they could have been honest about it. Nice example for the kids Schaefer, I'm surprised they don't all go to Rutland. Sorry but this has been a sore spot with me and now they continue to set a bad example for the kids. Don't they know that kids can listen, hear, and talk too!
Jarris, from the South Dakota Guide to Retirement & Reemployment: "No agreement to reemploy has been made informally or formally prior to termination of
employment. Employers cannot make any promises, directly or indirectly, that the terminating
employee will be reemployed and, in fact, should follow whatever normal practices are used to
fill a vacant position;"
It seems the Madison Central School Board and the Superintendent followed the law, as I would expect any school board to do.
Also, do not forget, not all board members voted to rehire him.
670 members of the South Dakota Retirement System were collecting benefits last year while working for the SDRS. Settle down.
OK, Cory, what do I need to do to get you to understand what I am trying to say? Your intial post on January 2 took potshots at everything Madison, even going so far as to suggest it is Madison's hubris that would dictate who could and could not enter the Community Center. Never once did you suggest that perhaps the CC actually had a policy about kids under 13 needing guardians if they are at the CC before 10:30 am.
I am not lost. Most of the issues are caused by you constantly bashing anything Madison does, or doesn't do. It would not have mattered what Madison said about the requested number of stops. You would have fed on that to fuel the fire you continue to stoke. I am for OE, and I do feel the law is wrong. But it is a law, right or wrong, and should be changed.
What I had posted before about buses having 30 stops in town was in no way meant to sound like I was trying to say I was against OE, but you and others immediately attacked me with posts saying I hate Rutland, OE children, their parents, etc. It is my opinion that having 3 stops SHOULD be what is needed to provide safe transportation for the OE kids. It is also my opinion having a bus stop 30 times to pick up the same number of kids it can do in 3 stops does not make sense. It just seems to me like a waste of fuel, and time. If it takes, on average, one minute for the bus to stop at each place, and another 2 minutes to drive between places, it would take roughly 80-90 minutes to pick up the kids. So, you have a 6 year old child getting on the bus and driving around town for more than 60 minutes, when instead that time could be spent having a warm breakfast, and spending just a wee bit more time with family, or doing homework.
I understand having 30 vehicles on the road is not a good answer either, but other kids that ride the bus to school get rides or walk to the bus stops. They are not driving around town in the back of a bus for the better part of their mornings.
Again, I am pro-OE, anti-SB77. Let the districts work this out.
[CAH: What do you need to do to get us to understand what you are saying? Oh, I don't know, maybe learn to write intelligently? Learn to get off this axe you have to grind? Get off your constant desire to attack me personally instead of dealing with real issues?]
Jim,
Would still appreciate if you would state your full name. But I do agree with most of what you have said in the last post in regards to OE. But Madville Times and Cory do a great service for all communities including Madison. Cory like many others in this blog share a deep love for students, community welfare,etc. It would be helpful if we receive the criteria from the MSD as to how they arrived at one stop being their position. What studies or analysis do they have to back it up. For that matter did Rutland utilizing 3 stops this fall semester cause any welfare/safety problems for either Madison or Rutland students? Would MSD consider amending the agreement to allow continued pickup/drop off at Hope Weselyan? Those questions MSD needs to answer as a courtesy to the public and as a step in a better direction for their public relations.
I just went back and re-read the articles in the MDL about Schaefer's retire/rehire. He told the school board on Dec 14 that his last day would be Dec 31, which gave them 2 1/2 weeks to find a replacement. He said it was time to activate his retirement, which in actuality was the truth. The MDL article said this action took some of the school board members by surprise; so were some aware of this ahead of the Dec 14 meeting? How ethical is it to give 2 1/2 weeks notice of a responsible job such as school district supt (unless for health reasons etc)? Yes, it states that other candidates were interviewed, but were they ever seriously considered. This whole thing angered me, as it did Jarris above, and still rankles. At least this practice was partially stopped by Senate Bill 18 in 2010.
Jim, things sure have changed since we were in school. We could've never envisioned open enrollment or inter-district bussing.
Charlie, I'd love to see that evidence that Rutland's door-to-door service caused harm to any children or hindered anyone from getting to school in Madison on time. It seems that forcing the kids to congregate at limited locations causes more problems than the door-to-door system.
I don't like to argue or upset people and I usually just keep my thoughts to myself, and I wouldn't have even noticed the retire/rehire, in fact I didn't even know who our superintendant was. This teacher told me this was going to be happening and I didn't have any idea what she was talking about.... till I saw it all starting to unfold in the papers.. a few week later.. and I don't think she was psychic. I always say.. kids don't have a voice so we have to speak up for them. Sorry if I angered anyone.. but I think our kids deserve better.