Can the RUSD officials be any more arrogant?

Here we go again, it was reported recently that the administrators are planning a retreat at the very posh Lake Lawn Resort, which is located in Delavan. This annual event was cancelled in 2005, with former RUSD spokesperson Linda Flashinski stating "It's important that we be sensitive to the fiscal concerns in our district. We have a spending freeze on, and we are looking at every expenditure very carefully in these tight budget times."

The April 2005 article also stated that no tax dollars were to be used to fund the retreat, even though later in the article it was mentioned that the district accounting practices would not be able to show this directly. Stepien explained this further by stating “That fund consists of 25 percent district money earmarked for staff development and 75 percent funding from outside sources - federal and state grants, special education funds for staff development and corporate donations”. It is my belief, that ANY staff development funds should NOT be used for events at golf resorts.

Now, we find that the event was not canceled, but merely postponed to this summer, with district officials citing losing the $18,000 deposit as a reason for not canceling the retreat.
This is the same annual event that a principal was raiding the school’s fundraising accounts to purchase door prizes for the administrative retreat. A day or two at a resort isn’t enough; they have to have door prizes too?

Ironically, questioning the 2003 $36,000 payment to Lake Lawn Lodge is what brought me and others to address the school board the first time. My neighbor drew the short straw and made a very eloquent case on why spending $36,000 for an administrative retreat is not the appropriate use of tax dollars in light of the district thinking about closing schools (Olympia Brown, Wind Point and Winslow were on the short list of schools to be closed at that time). Her passionate plea brought everyone to their feet in applause.

This annual event was almost canceled in 2004, but they did not, which caused more uproar in the people who were paying attention. Finally, in 2005 this event was canceled. It is my belief that it was canceled because more people started to realize what is actually going on in this district. Now in 2006, the retreat is back on…

Do our district officials really think that this is “water under the bridge”? (they seem to be very fond of this phrase, by the way)

And if the event is truly corporate sponsored, why should it matter if we “lose” the $18,000 cancellation fee? Tell me that our business partners (SC Johnson, Modine, Twin Disc and other members of RAMAC) cannot afford a combined loss of $18,000? Can you say “tax write-off”, anyone? Our CEO’s arrogance is beginning to show again, the question is what are we (or the board) going to do about it?