Des Moines Superintendent Clarifies Decision and I am Still a Curmudgeon (A follow-up to yesterday’s entry)

Des Moines Superintendent Nancy Sebring called me to talk about Holly Worthy’s Think Magazine article I blogged about last night. Dr. Sebring was very nice and I do sincerely appreciate her call.

I had said Dr. Sebring owed an apology to the public for waiting to announce that a nearly $500,000 grant for a proposed charter school had been turned down until after all of the interested parties had left the School Board meeting. Dr. Sebring does not think an apology is necessary, because 1) she had discussed the possibility that the grant might be turned down with the School Board during a work session on September 15 and 2) the meeting last week was about how the school would operate, not how it was funded.
OK, so she isn’t sorry and maybe I am nothing more than a whiny old curmudgeon, but I still think it odd that Dr. Sebring could sit through a two hour discussion and not say, “Oh, by the way, the Department of Education turned down our grant, so we are moving on to the next funding plan.”

Dr. Sebring told me that if additional money is awarded by the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, or other sources, the charter school may still be able to open next year. I stand corrected. She also wanted me to know she wasn’t playing a game. Talking about funding during a discussion on curriculum seemed out of place to her. And, she did not evade the Think reporter’s follow-up call. A mistake in the superintendent’s office prevented the reporter from getting through the screening process. It’s plausible. I will take Dr. Sebring at her word.

I just hope the superintendent, the School Board and other public bodies will stop and think about their responsibility to share information with the public. The superintendent met the very letter of the law and disclosed information to the Board and to the public. The problem is she expected us to follow the trail on our own. None of us have the luxury of time to attend and/or watch every School Board meeting. We shouldn’t have to dig for the facts, we hire and elect public servants to keep us informed.

Luckily, the folks at Think were watching this time. Here’s hoping Holly Worthy and her Think pals continue to listen after most everybody has left the room, and the rest of us pay more attention too.

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.