The Brainerd School Board will soon be proposing a huge $200 million plus dollar levy referendum question for the District voters and there are a couple items to consider before the District should expect any taxpayer support.
First, for nearly two years, the district's Facilities Committees has not conducted open meetings to the public, even though the administration and School Board will tell you they operated with "full transparency."
Second, the district this past week chose to conduct myriad "internal listening sessions" with students, teachers and staff, to go over the long range facilities plan. None of these many meetings were open to the general public even though they very well could have and should have been.
Allowing the meetings with district employees to be open to the public would have been the most effective method of garnering the public's trust, and also giving the public a first-hand account of the comments and ideas from the individuals working in the trenches.
The District chose to conduct these meetings privately however, and it can only make one wonder: what do they feel they have to hide?
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Once all the many private meetings are complete, the public will have nothing to trust but the notes from these meetings.
The district continues to thumb their noses at individuals that propose ideas, suggestions and refuse to take seriously criticisms over the methods of conducting their meetings when they've violated the Open Meeting Law.
This ongoing behavior lends itself a very serious question:
When the public listening sessions are concluded, and district taxpayers challenge the status quo, why should anyone think the district school board will give an ounce of credence to their comments, seeing as the board's past behavior has already proven they won't?
Demand sound and meaningful answers before supporting this referendum.
Jeff Czeczok
Brainerd
