Stillwater Loses Pro-BOLD Majority on the School Board who Closed 3 Schools

On the Horizon of New Beginnings for Stillwater Area Public Schools, Loss of Lehmann Jeopardizes BOLD Plan

STILLWATER, MN - A Stillwater Area Public Schools Board Special Meeting was held early July to appoint an interim school board member to fill former Stillwater School Board Member, Tom Lehmann's vacated seat. In a tabulation vote performed by the remaining six school board members, the vacant seat was won by longtime educator and former Stillwater Junior High

Principal, Donald G. Hovland. Mr. Hovland was selected from a pool of nine candidates and he brings 47 years experience in education, including secondary and post-secondary education. In addition to serving as principal at Stillwater Junior High, Hovland has worked as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, and for school districts in Montana and North Dakota. He has volunteered on the Human Rights Commission for the Stillwater City Council and is currently working with the "One Room Schoolhouse" project in Oak Park Heights. Mr. Hovland has resided in Stillwater for more than 45 years.

Beloved, Closed Schools (Withrow, Marine and Oak Park Elementary) Sit Vacant and Tug Heart Strings of Stillwater Area Public School District Residents

Mr. Hovland's school board seat appointment will last until January 2019. Hovland ran for a school board seat in the 2016 election and finished in seventh place out of ten candidates. Mr. Hovland made clear during the 2016 Stillwater Area Public School Board Election that he was against the Stillwater School District Administrations BOLD (Building Opportunities to Learn and Discover), which called for the closure of Withrow, Marine and Oak Park Elementary Schools. Hovland joins School Board Member's Mike Ptacek, Sarah Stivland and Shelley Pearson who were against the BOLD plan.  

School Board Members Paula O'Loughlin, George Hoeppner and Shelley Pearson up for Re-Election This Fall

School Closing Advocates and Pro-BOLD School Board Members Paula O'Loughlin and George Hoepnner are up for Re-Election in November, along with Shelley Pearson, and Don Hovland's newly appointed seat. The filing for dates for candidates to register will be held July 31st to August 14th. Newcomers in the race and declaring candidacy early are Stillwater Township Resident, Tina Riehle and Grant Resident Liz Weisberg. 

-Shannon Bryant

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 1/16^th 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