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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Letter from 3rd Generation Withrow Family to District 834: Don't Close Our Schools

Vote has been defered to March 3rd, please show up and speak up. Details here:
http://www.stillwater.k12.mn.us/district/district-news-e-news/march-3-public-hearing-and-vote-bold


February 11, 2016

Dear
As the events have unfolded since the announcement of the BOLD proposal in December, I’ve watched.  I’ve watched, I’ve read, I’ve listened and I’ve learned.  I’ve learned a lot about the community from which I come.  I am so intensely proud to be a part of a community that fights so hard and so tirelessly for what they believe in and what is RIGHT!   I’ve also learned a lot about the Administration and their philosophies.
The current Administration and the team which was assembled to come up with this proposal called BOLD are anything but bold.  It seems they have purposefully disconnected themselves from what used to make this district and this valley a great place to live and a wonderful place to educate your children.  They have forgotten what used to make us great.  We did not strive to always have the biggest and best buildings, or the shiniest and most innovative things.  We did strive to educate our children with the tools we had in some of the best schools in the state.  These schools were/are the best because of the COMMUNITIES that they are a part of.   Our schools succeed due to the wonderful teachers, support staff, children and parents.  This greatness cannot be shuffled around.  It cannot be moved.  To imply that YOU will be able to recreate this magic that is present each day in my child’s learning experience, after you close the school and move them around is preposterous.  YOU did not create this environment.  We did; our community did.
People have provided facts to the contrary of every point of the BOLD proposal.  Each “fact” of BOLD has been refuted by the parents and community who have provided actual FACTS backed by actual research.  Nearly each “fact” within this faulty proposal is actually a “fallacy”.  And why?  To what end?  This proposal has divided a community, and has been led by an individual who has not even been here long enough to understand 1/16th of what this district stands for.  I’ll go one step further with this and say that if Ms. Pontrelli had taken any time to observe and spent any real time in Marine, Withrow or OP interacting with students, teachers, parents and the community before this proposal was announced, it never would have come to fruition, because she would have already known that this is NOT WHAT HER DISTRICT PARENTS AND TAXPAYERS WANT.
Closing these schools is wrong.  It will devastate communities, it will shatter tradition and excellence, and it is a betrayal of trust.  It’s a lie.
I ask you to reject the recommendation to delay the vote.  VOTE NO this evening, and let’s move on.  Let’s come together and find a solution to problems that are laid out in a manner people can decipher and understand.  Let’s stop the bleeding here.  Tonight’s the night for you to vote to reclaim our district and our community.  VOTE NO.

Sincerely,

Ami M. Keller-Johnson