Citizens To Speak Out For Porter At School Board Meeting

A group of residents is expected to attend Thursday night’s school board meeting to ask members to reconsider their .

In December, the District 833 School Board opted not to not renew Porter’s contract, which expires at the end of June.

But the way in which the board handled the situation and a perceived lack of communication with the public has some in the community upset with how things have turned out.

Robyn Flaherty, of Cottage Grove, is among those who have questioned the board’s decision.

She told Patch that the board was “very tight-lipped” about why it decided not to renew Porter’s contract and seemingly waited until after to do so.

“You just need to be more specific to the public, because the public doesn’t understand,” Flaherty said.

On the election, the board “withheld information that may have changed people’s choices,” she said.

Flaherty would like the board out outline its reasoning publically and at the very least extend Porter’s contract for a year.

Board member Jim Gelbmann said the board has the authority to rescind its decision. “That would be my preference,” he said in a voicemail message to Patch.

“That would be the most ideal way to get out of this situation,” said Gelbmann. (He and Laurie Johnson were the lone board members in favor of renewing Porter’s contract.)

He would like to see the board extend Porter’s contract by a year or two and clearly define its goals in order to give the superintendent “a fair opportunity to meet those objectives.”

Gelbmann said Porter has not had a formal evaluation, as is required in his contract.

“In all fairness to him he should be given the opportunity of an evaluation,” he said.

Woodbury resident Vicki Strong has created a website, 833 Citizens in Support of Mark Porter, that includes a petition asking the board to keep him on as superintendent. It’s expected to be delivered to the board at the meeting Thursday.

“We, citizens and voters in District 833, voice our support for the continuation of Mark Porter’s contract as Superintendent of Schools for District 833 beyond June 2012,” the petition reads. “Because the school board represents us, and the community in which we live, we ask for immediate clarification of the reasons behind the decision to not renew his contract, an action which has a significant impact on the short- and long-term future of District 833, its students and the entire community.”

Strong said she merely hopes there’s an open dialogue about the superintendent’s contract status “to see if we can find out what happened.”

A portion of the website has had about 125 comments, and about 120 people have signed the petition, Strong said. Of those who left comments on the site, more than half said they would circulate the petition and many said they would attend Thursday’s meeting.

The petition’s aim isn’t to get hundreds of people to attend the meeting, she said.

“It’s simply to make sure that people understand that there is an issue, that there are questions and people can voice their concerns,” said Strong.

Strong—a product of District 833 schools along with her husband and two of their children, one of whom is a former teacher in the district—said she’s never interacted directly with Porter.

“From everything I’ve heard and everything I know about him, he seems to have a very solid reputation as a good teacher, first of all, and as a good administrator,” she said.

Flaherty, meanwhile, serves as a "school communicator" for Hillside Elementary and said she had no indication of the board’s opinion on Porter until after the decision was made. She, too, said Porter wasn’t given a proper performance review.

Board members say “you’ll have to take our word for it, we followed the rules. That’s a problem for me,” Flaherty said.

“Since my son has been in the district, I’ve been very happy with what I’ve seen,” she said, adding that much of that success can be credited to Porter. “I think he’s done a great job.”

In a , Gelbmann said the district is in a strong position going forward.

“Our students' academic performance continues to improve. We offer a variety of educational and co-curricular choices for our students. We are the reason many families move into our district,” he said. “Mark deserves credit for all of these positive attributes. I regret a majority of my colleagues do not share my opinion that our district needs Mark's continued leadership if we want to continue on the path we are on.”

The South Washington County School Board meets at 5:30 p.m. for a closed session, followed by the regular meeting at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held at the district’s Central Services building at 7362 East Point Douglas Road S. in Cottage Grove. Here's a link to the agenda.