The Rhinelander Daily News - Online news and information for the Rhinelander, Wisconsin region

The School District of Rhinelander Board of Education will kick off a series of informational meetings designed to clarify the issues at stake in the September referendum when it convenes as a committee of the whole at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Pelican Elementary School.

Tuesday’s meeting will be the first of eight informational meetings to be held every Tuesday and Thursday night throughout the month of August.

When the board voted on July 21 to return to referendum, president Chuck Fitzgerald committed to organizing informational meetings in the community.

The newly released schedule is an indication that the board has taken that commitment seriously.

In addition to meetings held at five separate school buildings in the district, the board will also host meetings at the Newbold and Pine Lake town hall buildings.

“What I hope is that people will come in and ask questions about what the referendum is and how the district’s financial struggles come into play. We’ve had meetings like this before but they have always been centralized. This is the first time we’ve gone out to the different communities,” Fitzgerald said.

The meetings will consist of presentations by district administrators, school principals and teachers, and engineers, contractors, and architects.

See Meetings, Page 3A

After the presentation of information the school board will hold question and answer sessions with the audience.

“I want people to have accurate information based on sound facts and not based on rumor and innuendo. It’s going to be a major educational effort. I’m going to be explaining why the school board chose to go to referendum,” said Fitzgerald.

Superintendent Roger Erdahl said his central administrative staff will be present at all of the meetings to answer questions about financial and legal issues and he said the school principals in each area will also be present to field questions about the issues in specific buildings.

“We want to make sure we have the people who use the buildings on a daily basis in the rooms and my central administrative staff will be on hand to answer the more technical questions,” said Erdahl.

Erdahl believes the series of meetings is an unprecedented effort on the part of the school board to communicate directly with district voters.

“The scheduled is a direct reflection of the board’s commitment to communicate in person with the community. It’s an unprecedented scheduled and it’s a reflection of their desire to interact with the general public and answer their questions,” Erdahl said.

Fitzgerald said the board will make every effort to have a quorum present at each of the meetings even though the board will not be voting. He also said he will personally attend all eight meetings.

“Hopefully we have enough meetings that we’ll have small enough crowds to have a really meaningful interaction with concerned community members,” said Fitzgerald.

The heavy schedule of meetings running up to the Sept. 8 vote should go a long way to diminishing the perception that the school board is unwilling to listen to its constituents. Whether or not the meetings will help bring consensus to the issue or merely further delineate the differences between “yes” and “no” voters remains to be seen.

Aug. 5 Pelican School 6 p.m.

Aug. 7 Crescent School 6 p.m.

Aug. 12 James Williams Middle School 6 p.m.

Aug. 14 NCEF School 6 p.m.

Aug. 19 Newbold Town Hall 6 p.m.

Aug. 21 Rhinelander High School 6 p.m.

Aug. 26 Pine Lake Town Hall 6 p.m.

Aug. 28 James Williams Middle School 6 p.m.

Tell us what you think...

Comments »

Prepared wrote on Aug 5, 2008 7:46 PM:

" The yes-committee has been meeting for weeks in strength and are prepared to answer your questions! Join with the people who care for kids! "

Sarah wrote on Aug 5, 2008 7:43 PM:

" Don't you think an informational meeting of this sort will be somewhat slanted? "

Scared of being bullied - represent equally wrote on Aug 5, 2008 5:07 PM:

" I think a town hall meeting is a good idea. But we are scared of being bullied by the teachers. They have made personal attacks on those with the "no vote" opinion and accused us of "not caring about kids" because we won't fund a pool.

Informational meetings should not be laced with administrators, teachers, builders, planners, and yes committee people. I would wish to see some "no vote" people included on an informational type panel to provide TRUE information for both sides. Then I would come to your "informational" (read: propaganda) meetings "

The comments above are from readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Rhinelander Daily News.