Yesterday Today & tomorrow
This last week of campaigning has taken me in unexpected directions and down roads many probably do not travel. I was met with wonderment on many occasions and told, “We don’t get many people out here.” From the doors of businesses to the doors of country homes, I have walked, talked and listened.
I am reminded of our districts history when I venture off the beaten path. Many children of the district have grown up to establish families and businesses of their own here. I talked to so many business owners and land owners who spoke with nostalgic fondness of this land they grew up on.
My husband is one example of a child whose family raised him here in the 70’s, when development was just beginning to boom, then moved back to the district with his own family in 2010. We now live just minutes away from his parents, who still live in his childhood home of Park Hills.
You probably know of someone in the district with a similar story. Maybe it is YOU with that same story.
There was a time when farmlands were not dotted with homes … when the rich soils of Cottage Grove made the land home to Minnesota’s first creameries and dairy farms … when there were very few businesses … when brand new school building were half full. It wasn’t that long ago when, in 1988, Woodbury voters approved spending $4.4 million for the city hall, public safety building and fire station.
The need for “Safety and Growth” is not a new one, and it won’t end with the passing of all three ballot questions. This is the perspective many taxpayers have when SoWashCo Schools asks them for more money every year. I’ve heard it at the doors for three months straight.
"Show me a rate of success that matches the rate of funding and I will consider voting yes."
They are not wrong. I agree, the school district needs to be held to a high standard of academic outcomes if it is to deserve more money from taxpayers. This is one of the reasons I am running for school board, and I will not make a voter feel bad for voting “NO” to tax increases for this reason.
Public Office Holders
Not only do many of our district children stick around to establish businesses and build our local economy, but some of those children run for public office in order to shape the future of the community they grew up in. These leaders have personal experience with our schools, and they most likely understand, from a historical context, how much has changed.
- Cottage Grove Mayor, Myron Bailey
- Cottage Grove City Council Member, Tony Khambata
- Cottage Grove City Council Member, Justin Olsen
- Woodbury City Council Member, Kim Wilson
- Former Minnesota State Rep. Keith Franke
- SoWashCo School Board Member, Melinda Dols
- Minnesota Senator, Nicole Mitchell
(This list in no way is meant to imply these elected officials agree with my article or that they support my cadidacy for school board.)
In order to lead effectively into the future, a healthy understanding and appreciation for our history is important. This is not to say that we prosper only under the leadership of those who grew up here. I value the fresh perspective that many residents have who come from far away lands. Sometimes we need that balance in order to see what is an obvious solution right under our nose.
This is why balance is so important on our school boards and our city councils also.
Family cycles
South Washington County is a district that retains many of its children into adulthood. They grow into workers who own houses here, raise families here, grow businesses here, and who prosper our local economy here.
And grow, the district has. The population of SoWashCo school district is now 113,887 residents strong (adults and children). Think of all those homeowners who pay taxes to the school district.
Though District 833 experienced a decrease in market share last fiscal year (down 82.3 percent from 85.7 percent in 2017-18) the majority of school age children in the district attend District 833 public schools.
Our local economic future is directly dependent on the SoWashCo School District’s ability to successfully educate it’s own population.
Hazel H. Reinhardt states in his February Demographic Study, “Based on the estimated 2022-23 enrolled population of 22,053, the South Washington County Public Schools (excluding Early Childhood) captured 82.3 percent of the district’s school age population.” (18,148 attend SoWashCo District, 2,145 attend other Public Options, and 1,760 attend Non-Public Settings).
what does this mean for funding?
Funding for education CAN be good for business and for economic growth, but only when it is used efficiently. It is important for taxpayers to consistently see that the product they receive is worth all their hard earned dollars.
That said, the district is asking voters to approve three ballot questions on Nov. 7th. They have done a very good job laying out all the information on their website, so please go to https://www.sowashco.org/facilityplanning to learn more. You will find details about the expansion/renovation plans, safety and security enhancements, tax impact, potential boundary adjustments, the community feedback leading up to this, the demographics report, surveys, and listening sessions. There are also a couple nifty tools you can plug your address into.
I was a strong advocate last year for the VOTE NO campaign to demand a better plan from District 833. Many of us worked very hard to defeat that referendum which ultimately would have closed an elementary school and negatively impacted the entire City of Newport.
There was a lot that was learned through this process, the most notable for me being : Numbers Can Lie. I am grateful to the community for recognizing that the original $462 million bond referendum was far too extravagant in areas where our district would see the least amount of growth (in elementary buildings). The numbers were based on outdated information from a pre-pandemic Davis Demographics Report, not to mention it was risky given the economic instability and uncertainty.
It is now one year later, and I have appreciated the hard work put in to this second round of facility planning. The district has given the community more opportunities to be involved in the process, something I have not seen in the past, and I DO think this is a BETTER PLAN because the district has scaled back to its needs.
I want to look at the BIG PICTURE though. I want to look at children of the district who become adults of the district.
At the door of business
Last week I visited every kind of business there is to visit across the district … retail, warehouse, grocery, clinic, dentist, preschool, church, etc. While going door to door, I talked about the connection between proficiency in school (reading writing math) and the success of business operation.
I asked business owners what kind of employees they see graduating from our public education system. Just about every business I talked with told the same stories …
Though half of their young employees are excellent workers, they would say, the other half do not demonstrate the competency needed to maintain a thriving business. This boiled down to three characteristics : accountability, communication, and basic math skills.
we can do better, and by that I mean THE SCHOOL can do better and THE HOME can do better.
Achievement Trends
The policy and procedure this school board approves must ensure that 1) our kids are ready for school, 2) third graders are proficient in reading at grade level, 3) we are closing achievement gaps in math and reading, 4) our students are college or career ready, and 5) we are on track with graduating rates.
Under the current leadership of District 833, we do not meet any of these five basic standards of proficiency. This is MDE’s World’s Best Workforce, and every public school district in the state of Minnesota is required to report. Third grade reading proficiency has dropped 12.9% from 2018 to 2022. Only 52.7% of third graders are achieving grade-level literacy (as of 2022 WBWF report). This should be alarming! This needs to change.
Note: The MN legislature this year voted to change the 5 listed criteria above so that WBWF reports will no longer measure proficiency in things like 3rd grade reading competency and grade-level math. Very interesting.
The most recent 2022-23 WBWF report is typically presented at the first school board workshop of November. That would have been last Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. I guess the district was not ready? Maybe results will be revealed after the election.
Opt-outs do not effect Test results
At the LWV forum on Sept 19th, Incumbent Melinda Dols dismissed this data as irrelevant due to the adverse effects opt-outs have on test results. This took me by surprise because why would a department of education intentionally skew their own data. My team contacted MDE directly to find out if opt-outs count against achievement levels. You can see by his answer that opt-outs DO NOT impact the report in any way.
we have a Responsibility
There is tremendous responsibility upon the shoulders of our school district to meet standards of proficiency and to use our tax dollars wisely. Our economic prosperity depends on it.
So when people ask me, “Why are you running for school board if you don’t have kids in the district?” this is why. And I think it is a pretty good reason WHY all of us should be paying close attention.
VOTE for Jaime Kokaisel on Nov. 7th.
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JOURNEY With Eyes That Don’t See
What is a Public School District MADE OF? We have to begin by recognizing that every public school is made up of two sets of metrics – those that are FIXED and those that are VARIABLE. One of the best MEANS by which a school can impact positive change is through the literature it assigns. District 833’s PATHWAY OF LOWEST PROFICIENCY is Pullman Elementary to Oltman Middle to Park High School. The Book Review for this study is Slacker by Gordon Korman. Here children learn lessons in social etiquette, about being “positive and never negative,” and about how a JOURNEY of negligence, addiction, dishonesty, indulgence, selfishness, and sloth can reach a happy ending. Is it true that in sowing seeds of death we reap bountiful harvests? No. Sugary fillers do not nourish hungry minds but rather keep them in a state of starvation. If the END justifies the MEANS in Progressive Education, then what END do these MEANS seek to reach?
When You Vote Fake …
… fake becomes you. You take life as your right and then throw it away. When fake is what you manufacture, then fake is what you get … There will come a time when “mother” will be a forgotten word, and “father” a fictional character. In the end you will have helped usher in a new slave generation – kids without parents born of the government, raised into lawlessness, discarded by the counterfeit who sits on God’s throne … You put him there, but the irony is that God allows you your illusions of control … Who is really in control? … not the Man of Lawlessness. – Here I share with you my journal … words written in the dark. The handwriting may be mine, but the thoughts are not my own to claim. I trust that the Lord will do with it what He will.