Susan Manley & "Prioritizing"
New Berlin School Board Policy states:
Board members and administrators have an obligation to provide educational leadership. The public expects the best in educational expertise, communication, decision-making and planning. However, all decisions and policies of the Board - Administration team must be gauged and tested against two facts: SCHOOLS ARE FOR STUDENTS AND SCHOOLS BELONG TO THE PEOPLE.
School Board candidate Susan Manley talks a lot about tax dollars, ie: tax levy freeze, taxes, controlling spending, cost-benefit, etc.
But it’s troubling that $ terms are abundant in Mrs. Manley's campaign rhetoric but there is little or no mention of students or educational matters, academic programs, student performance and achievement, student services, or students’ health and safety.
SCHOOLS ARE FOR STUDENTS. One would think students' education and safe schools would be a School Board priority.
Apparently, not for all board members, though:
At the Oct. 8, 2007 School Board Meeting, Superintendent Paul Kreutzer presented a slew of facility projects he called “dire”, important and immediate needs, but which had not been budgeted for. He informed the School Board of a hazardous situation at Orchard Lane Elementary School. Because the district and board had failed to allocate necessary funds, the asphalt at that school had deteriorated, endangering children. There was uneven pavement, huge holes, loose stones, standing water. The School Board was told by administration that children in wheelchairs were “catching and flipping over”, children were tripping and falling, at least one child had been injured because of the asphalt conditions, and loose gravel on kids shoes was being dragged into the school building. See my January 16, 2008 blog entry.
Dr. Kreutzer urged the School Board to take care of the “dire” facility needs pronto. A motion was made to “ To approve commencement of work on the asphalt project at Orchard Lane at the lowest possible bid, and (friendly amendment) to fund an amount not to exceed $270,000 to identify maintenance projects this year.” It passed 4-3. Who voted against it? Susan Manley, Matt Thomas and John Kegel.
In a letter recently published in the Waukesha Freeman, John Kegel endorsed Susan Manley, claiming that she has the experience to “prioritize” spending.
Susan Manley served on the New Berlin School Board from April 2005-08. Instead of running for re-election, she took a year off. Now she’s running for one of the seats that will be vacated when Jennifer Eitel and Keith Heun’s terms expires in April.
I emailed Mrs. Manley during her 3-year term on the School Board. She never responded in any way to my emails. Not surprisingly, I concluded that being responsive to a member of the public/taxpaying constituent was unimportant to her.
