My goal is to have a superior relationship between the community and the school district. A relationship based on mutual trust that defines the need to respond appropriately and spontaneously to each other’s needs.

A history of bond and levy failures, and a perception by the public that Oak Harbor schools are weak, exposes the problem of poor community relations. This problem has gone unsolved for too long.

The good news is that what’s wrong with the district can be solved with what’s right with the community and the district.

What is right about the community and the district is — the quality of its people, who can make the changes necessary to improve relations and perceptions.We must change the climate to allow the entire community to perform in a fresh atmosphere.

A frequent message from the community is, “Board members all think alike, doing whatever Dr. Schulte wants.” This perception shows a need to establish independent thinking which will lead to interdependent thinking and thus interdependent cooperation.

The advantage of this thinking and cooperation is that the community becomes proactive — working for what is best for the community. Their decision making process focuses on WHAT is right, not WHO is right.

A proactive, community minded board creates their own circumstances.They review the past, monitor the present and anticipate future outcomes.For example, they would be looking forward to the 2005 teachers’ contact and try to settle in advance. Such a proactive move honors teachers, improves community relations and avoids a PR nightmare. How long do you think it will take the Marysville School District to repair community relations?

Another example involves Dr. Schulte’s public desire to be a superintendent in another school district. A proactive board would already be looking hard for his replacement should he be successful in his search.

A proactive, community minded board creates a circumstance where the district has a contingency cash reserve. This can be done by using Impact Aid funds. Simply, by not inflating projections and operating at the 2003 projections would allow us to save 25 percent of the 2004 projection and after four years our reserves could equal our 2003 Impact Aid projections. This action shows fiscal responsibility, honors the tax payers and shows we are prepared for unforeseen crisis.

A proactive, community minded board is willing to subordinate personal relationships and ambitions to attain the highest goals for the overall community. They also know the incredible value of reconciliation and the need to restore relationships throughout the community.

A proactive, community minded board sees the schools as a community resource and encourages the community to use the facilities in all ways. Thus the community and the district will be hard to separate and appear as one. This benefits community relations, pushes the district out of the “bunker” mentality, assures the community that these assets are not considered district property but community property and outwardly makes the overall community appear seamless. 

It is not who is right but what is right!