The La Center School Board of Directors read a letter to the community Tuesday night (Oct. 27), showing their support for Superintendent Peter Rosenkranz in wake of a no-confidence vote by some members of the teachers union.
Peter Rosenkranz
“Superintendent Rosenkranz’s monitoring reports and annual evaluations have been largely very positive, and he is meeting the financial and professional goals established by the board,” said Craig Whited, chair of the board. “The feedback the board receives from staff and community members regarding our schools and leadership has also been overwhelmingly positive. Based on that ongoing oversight, the board continues to have confidence in Superintendent Rosenkranz’s leadership and (is) not pursuing a change.”
The letter did note that while the board disagreed with the no-confidence vote and the recommendation for a change in leadership, the board still wants to have an open-door policy when it comes to grievances from the community and those who work in the district.
“Our continued confidence in Superintendent Rosenkranz does not diminish our commitment to listening to educators, understanding their concerns, and working collaboratively toward solutions,” Whited said.
Rosenkranz sat quietly at Tuesday’s school board meeting while the board of directors discussed the no-confidence vote and the board’s decision to support the superintendent.
On Wednesday, Rosenkranz told Clark County Today that some of the conflict is the result of negotiations that continue to linger. La Center dealt with a teachers’ strike last year.
“My sincere hope is we can somehow move toward healing relationships in a way we can get the energy focused back on the classroom,” Rosenkranz said. “I want to drive the conversation back to how the adults interact with the students, for the mission-critical work of reading, math, writing, and science.”
The board was told last month that a no-confidence vote was taken in June. Board members said they have no idea how many teachers participated in that vote.
The board also noted that many of the complaints were vague.
Board members also seemed perplexed by hearing from the community that Rosenkranz does not show his appreciation for teachers.
Whited said he looked back on emails and statements just in his tenure on the board and found more than 200 instances when Rosenkranz praised staff and administrators.
“I feel like he’s saying positive things. I feel like we hear that on a regular basis,” Whited said, before showcasing some examples. “I do think that’s even happened since the CBA was signed.”
Board member Dorri Oldham said she doesn’t even need to go through her emails. She said Rosenkranz is constantly praising the district and its employees.
The board then wondered if perhaps the way appreciation is shown can be different.
“If the perception is Mr. Rosenkranz is not expressing appreciation for the work that the teachers do, to me that should be a real easy, low-hanging fruit, resolvable issue,” said board member Amanda Miller. “I think we can all agree that no one in La Center, the district, and the community, nobody wins when the district and the teachers are at odds. That conflict doesn’t help our students.”
The board said it would look at ways to open more avenues of communication.
This discussion took place toward the end of a two-hour board meeting. Interestingly, before the traditional board meeting, Rosenkranz gave a 45-minute “State of the District” address.
Rosenkranz mentioned the 95-percent graduation rate for La Center High School, as well as the district’s continued commitment to the few students who do drop out of school. Rosenkranz said of the last nine dropouts, the district helped or is still helping eight students in achieving their GEDs or other forms of schooling, training. The ninth student moved out of state.
“We never give up on a kid,” Rosenkranz said.
He also noted that a few years ago, 33 seventh graders were reading below grade level. Today, as sophomores in high school, only eight of those students are below grade level. Those eight, by the way, are getting extra attention.
“If they can’t read, they don’t have access to the world,” Rosenkranz said Wednesday.
That data also shows the excellent work of the schools.
“We have amazing teachers. We do,” he said.
The district has seen an increase in scores and pass rate for students in Advanced Placement courses. The district also has invested more into its popular Career and Technical Education programs.
The district provided more than 370 hours of professional development to teachers, paraeducators, and administrators in the past year.
Rosenkranz, in his address on Tuesday, noted the challenging decisions with budgets. Those decisions are not applauded by everyone.
In summary, he declared the district in a state of “optimistic growth.”
“We’re doing amazing stuff for kids. We’ll continue to do amazing stuff for kids. We’ll keep the focus on the kids,” Rosenkranz said.
In the board meeting, when discussing the no-confidence vote, one member brought up the point that a recent opening led to more than 100 applications for a teaching job.
“I was very surprised to find out there were 140 applicants for a position in La Center, which makes me feel like we’re doing something right,” Samuel Glackler said.
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