Welcome change for Sequim schools, keep board
Change is hard, and the change to reconfigure the school was a difficult decision for the school board, but they supported the superintendent’s recommendations.
And why wouldn’t they?
When they hired the current superintendent, the school district had just come to terms on several lawsuits that were finalized this year. The current superintendent was hired to clean up the mess both with the administration and the poor achievement performance of two of the schools. She took a huge risk coming here and was promised support to make things right.
If you Google “Hamden, Maine” where she came from, you will find it was an A+ rated school and people moved to the district because of the schools. Our superintendent is trying to make that happen in Sequim.
The current school board members running for reelection need our support to continue trying to fix our schools and not do the status quo, which has not worked and will not improve our schools.
Please support: Larry Jeffryes, Maren Halvorsen, Michael Rocha.
We need the changes our new superintendent proposes!
Patricia McCauley
Sequim
School board overpaying for administrator
At the last board meeting, the Sequim school board sneakily voted to give superintendent Regan Nickels an additional raise. Without mentioning or discussing her contract, they included her raise in an approval of minutes from the prior meeting.
During public comment, multiple community members spoke against renewing her contract or giving her a raise, unaware that the board had already done these things. During my public comment, I referenced the rubric used to measure superintendent performance, which says a superintendent “partners with families to promote student learning” and that “unsatisfactory performance in this element often results in disengaged and even confrontational parents.” This describes well what has happened in our community.
The school board voted to raise her salary to $241,960. That’s an absurd amount of money, especially considering superintendent Nickels is fairly new to her role. She served as assistant superintendent for two years and then superintendent for one year before coming to Sequim.
Nearly $242,000 is too much for the six schools she oversees for 219 working days. The Port Angeles superintendent makes $175,000 for 260 working days for nine schools. That translates to $1,105 versus $673 per day!
Wasting tax dollars is never acceptable but is especially egregious when the Sequim School District has a minimum fund balance of $1.7 million (as reported in March), a little less than 4 percent. The state auditor recommends at least 9 percent.
According to the superintendent, Sequim has the lowest fund balance among Olympic Peninsula schools, yet the board gave our superintendent a raise while letting her waste money on a reconfiguration that nobody supports.
Our school board is out of touch and out of line. Let’s vote in a new school board!
Adrienne Kaestner
Sequim
Get out the vote
It is primary season, and it is important to point out that local elections are just as, if not more important than national or even state elections. There is a force abroad that is affecting our democracy even at the lowest levels.
When folks claim to be outraged about the perceived morality of others, or “parent’s rights,” keep in mind that these are memes that indicates a need for control. This has no place in our government.
A government that seeks autocratic control over people’s lives is a fascistic government. Leaders who seek to have positions in our government and are interested in maintaining and improving roads, housing, and the health and education of the public, rather than policing morality have my vote.
Further, I would encourage everyone, to get out and vote in our local elections because it is important to have our voices heard!
Lauren Churchill
Sequim
