Anderson upset about ‘misinformation’

Superintendent tells committee change is uncomfortable, but district on right track
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

Shawano School District Superintendent Randi Anderson had some words with the district’s executive committee April 6 about how she’s managed the district as it discussed communication efforts, claiming it’s a small group of people causing problems with her efforts to change the district.

Members of the community have expressed frustration with the district’s plans to balance next year’s budget, which faces a $2 million deficit. Since word of a possible school closure leaked out into the community, parents and others have packed school board meetings stating their displeasure at the way things have been run, social media has lit up with angry Facebookers wanting the heads of administrators including Anderson, and the latest act was a peaceful walk by community members through downtown Shawano chanting that teachers and staff should be supported and appreciated.

Board member Chuck Dallas commented that, while it’s not good to be reactive, the district needs to respond to some of the allegations from community members because of a perceived lack of trust.

“That’s the reaction I’m getting from people, ‘Chuck, what the hell is going on with the school board?’” Dallas said. “That hurts. Something has to change.”

Anderson responded by stopping the discussion and “looking at the four of you,” indicating Dallas, board president Michael Sleeper, and the other two committee members, Mike Musolff and Alysia Pillsbury.

“You hired me to make differences inside of this system,” Anderson said. “Anytime you talk about change, you’re going to have a disruption in the system, and right now, we have a disruption in the system because we have had significant change due to things that were out of our control, that we had to get into place in order to move forward.”

Anderson clarified that much of the change is “rumors and misunderstandings.” She noted the board can opt to change course, but she feels the changes are working. She acknowledged that people are uncomfortable and upset, but noted that Shawano’s education status is not in the best shape, and it wasn’t when she was hired in 2019.

“We need to remember that we sit at the bottom 13% (in the state). I’m not OK with that,” Anderson said. “Our state assessment data sits 10% below the state. We have 30% of our students proficient across the grade levels, and we have historically for several years. The state has over 40%.”

Because of that, she added, seven out of 10 students graduating in Shawano are not on par with the state’s standards.

“As your superintendent, I am not OK with that,” Anderson said. “I believe we have the staff, we have the resources, and we have the commitment to do things differently, and in order to do that, we need to address our curriculum, address our resources and get some systems in place that weren’t there.”

Anderson admitted as her voice cracked she’s made mistakes and said she is willing to talk with anyone about the changes being made, but she’s not eager to maintain the status quo.

“If anybody looks at me and says you’re OK with this district and that it sits at the bottom 13% in the state, then, Chuck, yes, I’ll talk about changing course, but I’m not OK with that,” Anderson said.

Anderson claimed there were cultural issues when she came on the job, and the coronavirus pandemic magnified those issues. She repeated that changes need to be made if the board hopes to have different results in Shawano education.

“If you don’t want different results, then we don’t have to make these changes,” Anderson said. “At the end of the day, discomfort comes from change, and we’ve disrupted the system, and change is hard.”

Anderson acknowledged more community input sessions could be added, but feared the words could fall on people who have already made up their minds that district leadership is bad.

“It’s how and what we communicate, so that people have a clear understanding and they don’t the twist the words into a negative situation,” Anderson said.

Dallas noted he doesn’t have a problem with change and praised Anderson for the work she’s doing, but said the good that’s being done is lost in translation to the community.

“You have a worried teacher population and staff population. You have citizen worries,” Dallas said. “Even some on your admin team are probably wondering, what’s next? All I’m saying is we need to do a better job of communicating out there what these changes are, the impacts they have, and why we’re doing them.”

Anderson said the teachers need to do more to communicate via social media about what they’re doing in the schools, pointing out she’s asked teachers and administrators to share two stories a month. She also questioned if staff is properly informing the community about what’s happening.

“We have 10 or 20 of the same individuals feeding misinformation,” Anderson said. “Some of those inaccuracies are coming from within our own system.”


lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com