Enough is enough

As a community member for several decades, my passion for our local school district is shown by my consistent words and actions. I have high expectations for the GCDSD. Our School Board members and Superintendent need to be consistent and do what is right. They have an ongoing pattern where their words don’t match their actions. Here are some clear and valid examples.

Their mantra is “what is best for kids.” They claim they’re transforming the GCDSD culture for the better. In their strategic plan they promote dignity and improved test scores for students. They say they’ll listen and want input from others, but they ignore it and do what they want. It’s ironic that in their Performance Audit Report, in the leadership position interviews they promoted themselves for a prototype rating. They need to quit patting themselves on the back. The upper brass is irresponsible, and they don’t have a growth mindset to build capacity for progressive solutions and stability in the organization.

In reality, their actions have shown they continue to be out of touch with their dysfunctional, reactive management style. I’ve mentioned previously, on multiple occasions, they avoid conflict and there has been no accountability for years. They didn’t need to spend our tax dollars on expertise to tell them what has been obvious. They force their will and scold those who question them. We’ve had a school board member apologize for using profanity and another say they’re “pissed.” They never rallied back as they said they would with the public concerned about their current superintendent hire and moved forward anyway. I was informed their superintendent was taking selfies at a funeral. During school events he is on his cell phone constantly. Is he modeling putting kids first and showing them, they should be watching the event? I’m shocked that our school board allows their superintendent to park on the sidewalk right in front of the schools. There is a sign that says “No Parking,” and if there was an emergency his rig is in the first responder zone! He needs to park properly like everyone else and practice servant leadership not entitlement. The School Board ignored the public when warned about a previous ballot measure that suffered the worst defeat in our school district’s history. They are not genuine and they create their own problems that book studies will not resolve.

Staying with their “doing what’s best for kids” theme, look at the improving test scores for students in their strategic plan they are so proud of. All of these actions I’ll mention here are examples to show the GCDSD upper brass are not doing what is best for kids! They’ve said these things are normal and/or they’ll have excuses as to why. However, our local school district keeps losing students.

Many highly respected and valued employees have left due to the actions of the School Board and Superintendent. A few of these are the transportation director, head nurse, AVID lead teacher, alternative school principal (moved to a neighboring district with many of our students). Programs-wise, we’ve lost Sharp Kids and AVID – both have shown proven academic progress with students from our demographics. Students have gone to online and/or running start for upper level classes the GCDSD does not offer. The GCDSD still does not have enough full-time, in-person counselors for mental wellness issues or an armed school resource officer for safety. These and other poor decisions make their strategic plan unbelievable. They don’t know how to pre-plan and build capacity fiscally beyond grant sources to keep critical appropriate resources in place for our students. Morale and employee relations are not good. Turnover and ongoing job postings confirm this, and this is not normal for healthy organizations. Multiple, ineffective cycling patterns are ongoing, forced and not team oriented nor productive in our local school district. They are naïve to believe we think there is nothing to see but there absolutely is and more money is not going to fix serious internal systematic issues.

The GCDSD School Board and Superintendent rarely share the downside of things they want to push through. They’re like the adults in Charlie Brown and are no longer heard. I’ll vote no on their February 11, 2025 ballot measure request because they expect us to support them no matter what. They have to earn trust and respect. I’ll continue to vote no until I see them truly do what is best for kids, stop the exodus of high-quality staff and cap the ballot request total at $1.50 per $1,000 property valuation. Taxpayers are already aware that if you ask them for more our State match increases. However, our local district wastes funds and has not been responsible with their past budgets. Property valuations have gone up 13% since their last request and this will help significantly. This, along with their Impact Aid (millions of dollars over the years, $1,840,610 with Special Education support last school year alone, that offset funds asked from us that are supposed to be minimal) and normal funding sources school districts get will allow them to prioritize properly with proven supports for our kids. Staff cannot be told test scores for students will improve or else without proven practice structures in place. I’m not giving extra funds to waste on poor fiscal management, especially for admin and human resources. Efficient small school districts combine HR with existing admin. This type of multi-tasking maximizes fiscal resources so funds are leveraged to help students be successful.

In closing, I’ll show I’m being more than reasonable. Currently the school district I graduated from is running a replacement levy. It is in the same classification as the GCDSD. They’re asking for 79 cents per $1,000 property valuation. This is almost one third of what our local district is requesting for their replacement levy alone. My hometown district is being responsible, but locally we’re being taken advantage of!

John M. Adkins