Communication problems, solutions discussed

A better freeflow of information from the schools to the community was a common thread during a meeting that Shawano School District Superintendent Randi Anderson held with the public April 13 at the Farm Inn in Shawano.

It was the second of four meetings that the district had set up for the community to address concerns and get word about what it is doing. The meetings come in the wake of parents publicly expressing surprise and anger about the methods being offered to close a $2 million deficit in its 2022-23 budget.

“This is another opportunity for you to engage in conversation and dialogue and find out what we can do to better support our system and students so that we can offer the programs that we currently have,” Anderson said.

Jen Green, a former choir teacher for the district, suggested that having a website where information is easier to find and access would be a good way for administrators to increase transparency. She noted that finding information on Shawano’s website was more challenging than it is for school districts in Gillett and Pulaski, adding that she was able to find out information about how the Gillett School District was utilizing its Elementary and Secondary School Relief Funds received from the federal government, a question some have had for Shawano officials.

Green said that the website should also be used as a recruiting tool and showing all of the good programs that Shawano has, noting that the Pulaski School District has a “brag page” that is used to encourage families outside the district to either move into the area or enroll their children through Wisconsin’s open enrollment program.

“The thing is, we have a lot of the same things that Pulaski does,” Green said. “We have a button that says ‘open enrollment’ but it is a PDF of the (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction) brochure of how you enroll, but it doesn’t say why choose Shawano, when we really have so much to offer. If I were going to open enroll in another district, I would first go to their website.”

Green added that the district is showing some good things on its Facebook page, but unless parents who are looking for good schools for their children have liked the page, they’re likely unaware about the “really neat stuff” in the Shawano public schools.

Anderson acknowledged that the website does not provide a user-friendly experience but indicated that there are plans to revamp it this summer and hopefully resolve some of the issues Green brought up. The district page and the schools’ pages should mirror each other so that people are not spending a lot of time clicking on tabs in the hopes of finding the information they seek.

“We want it to be a website where you can go, and you can click and find information,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately, it’s been a piece of work that we’ve had to push off the plate because of some of the other things we’ve had to deal with.”

While online information would help increase transparency to a degree, some in attendance think that allowing parents to freely come to the school and see for themselves how things are going would help build trust and faith in the schools again. Sheila Aumann, one parent that has been pushing for answers to the questions the community has had in recent months, took exception to a statement at the meeting made by school board member James Davel that teachers spend more time parenting in their classrooms than they do educating.

“The teachers have become the parents,” Davel said. “It’s the most disappointing thing since I’ve had my kids in school to see. That’s our biggest problem. People don’t like to hear that.”

Aumann responded by saying that she has had to jump through hoops just to be involved with her child’s school activities.

“You’ve shut the doors. We haven’t been allowed to be in the schools for two years,” Aumann said. “I’m a parent who has always been involved. That could be a problem with our parent involvement. We’ve been told we can’t be in the schools.”

Aumann added that she had to get permission and school approval this year just to go into the school for a Valentine’s Day party.

“I have not been able to enter the building to even pick them up,” said Aumann, who added at the end of the meeting that she has emailed board members with direct questions and not received replies.

Efforts at better communication extended after the meeting, as well. Anderson sat down one-on-one with parent Bobbi Lemerond for twenty minutes after the official meeting ended and addressed concerns that teachers are not being appreciated and that students are being treated like data instead of human beings.

“My daughter is not a test score,” Lemerond said with her voice breaking. “None of my children are.”

Anderson told Lemerond that her heart is in the Shawano community and with the kids that make up the public schools. She noted that administrators have done what they can, even in little ways, to show teachers they’re valued.

“As an administrative team, we’ve handed out roses. We’ve handed out cookies,” Anderson said.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com