By Tessia Wangsness
Decorah, IA
I’m writing as a follow up to the Decorah Community School District (DCSD) Board meeting Monday, December 11, 2023. One of the board agenda items was the “Review of the Mabel-Canton agreement.” A significant number of people were in attendance, including past and current Iowa residents who attend Mabel-Canton schools and their families, M-C teachers, administrators, coaches and board members. During the Open Forum, where comments from the public were heard, several spoke; including seven courageous students who shared their hearts, some through strong emotions.
While a review of the Mabel-Canton Student Enrollment Agreement was on the agenda for discussion by the DCSD board, points made by members during their “review” were not open to rebuttal from attending members of the public, so I’ll do so now…
Five years ago, board members made clear to us that there were no intentions of renewing this agreement, as Ron Fadness asserted that “anyone who chooses to send their kids North is taking a significant risk.” Despite such comments, DCSD legal counsel drafted the contract, explicitly stating “unless renewed on or before January 15, 2024.” If the intention was for the agreement to end without discussion, why include that clause? This gives us the right to bring this matter before the board.
The board emphasized its fiscal responsibility for DCSD finances, which we acknowledge. However, it is misleading to suggest that retaining this agreement is COSTING the district money. Its funds are not currently capitalized upon and these funds are intended to follow the students as is the case with open enrollment to other schools. If families choose educational guardianship, DCSD stands to lose all funding for those students. How is that fiscally responsible to the district?
DCSD board member Brian Petersburg acknowledged the emotion of this topic and showed empathy for our situation. For that we are appreciative. He talks of it being a “million dollars” that went out over the last five years, but again, that was never the district’s money to begin with. These are students who attended North Winn prior to consolidation and selected to attend Mabel-Canton upon its closure. They were never Decorah students to begin with. Not to mention all of the funding they have gained from the consolidation of the North Winn District – the property tax money they gained from the expansion of the Decorah district, the additional students, and later the auction and sales of the North Winn property.
Never once did any of the board members say, “We want your children.” They made it clear they don’t consider our 27 kids “theirs.” In fact, Ron Fadness’ comment that DCSD doesn’t want to “pay the freight” reflects that he feels these kids are simply products that can be shipped around versus the human beings they are. So if they don’t want our kids, why deny us the funding to go where they are wanted. For them it was 100% about the money. The reality is many of these families will find an alternative – whether that be open enrolling to another Iowa school, educational guardianship or literally moving across state lines, DCSD will not enroll the majority of these students.
Lastly, Ron Fadness belittling the survey of over 350 DCSD residents was incredibly hurtful. I don’t know about you, but I felt like he stuck up his middle finger to my voice as a voter of the district. This was a public survey, open and encouraged to be completed by anyone in the DCSD and circulated on social media publicly for anyone to access. Clearly, he forgets who he works for – you the taxpayer. If he is condescending to your opinion on this issue, what makes you think he is going to give your voice any merit on the next topic? I encourage you to remind all the DCSD board members just who it is they work for the next time they ask for more of your hard earned money.
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