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Former School Board Candidate Endorses Yant

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By LINNEA BROWN

Hernando Today

Published: September 12, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - With much riding on the votes earned by the school board candidate who won't progress to the general election, Robert Neuhausen has endorsed fellow candidate James Yant.

In the August primary election, Neuhausen fell several hundred votes short of those earned by candidate Gene Magrini, who will now face off against Yant. That means the voters who initially chose Neuhausen are the ones whose votes may now determine the ultimate winner - and it's a matter of opinion who they'll side with.

"I think when voters actually look at the issues they voted for, they will find that my experiences and stances are more in line with their views," Magrini said.

Neuhausen, a Spring Hill engineer who openly criticized Superintendent Wayne Alexander's leadership style, said he chose sides based on the candidates' responses to a single question: "How are you, as a board member, going to approach Alexander and get him to change his approach to teachers and other employees on a school level?"

He said this question came from conversations with about 6,000 teachers, staff members and local residents, in which he found morale was down and an underlying fear of retaliation in the district.

"Teachers avoid (Alexander) rather than seeking him out when he shows up at schools, and I have found that teachers will no longer say anything in fear of losing their jobs," Neuhausen said.

A self-employed human resources consultant, Magrini, 43, said he would aim for open communication and presented a detailed plan of action, including the district's human resources department's developing and administering an anonymous employee attitude survey for all district employees.

"I think I presented a detailed, organized plan that can actually effectively change schools," Magrini said.

But Neuhausen said he agreed more with the philosophy presented by Yant, who said he would handle the situation more on a personal level.

"(Magrini) gave a lengthy explanation for how he would repair things, but his approach just sat with me wrong," Neuhausen said. "We needed to be more one-on-one with teachers, because ultimately, writing in anonymously or going before a task force never works. Instead, we need to be building their trust and getting them to open up."

Yant, 62, a former educator who has been involved in local educational organizations since the 1970s, said he agreed with Neuhausen's views on Alexander, and that he would serve as a spokesman for employees.

"You have to go directly to a person," he said. "When you're doing anything other than going to a person directly, you're (going about it wrong). Teachers don't deserve to be intimidated, and they need someone who is going to express their interests."

Magrini, meanwhile, said he believes his human resources experience make him the better candidate to effectively amend Alexander's leadership style.

"One of the main things (Neuhausen) campaigned on was having someone on board to move (Alexander) to change," he said. "I am that person because I have successfully managed high-level individuals time after time in my career."

He said he has also held productive one-on-one meetings with dozens of teachers and Alexander himself over the past several months.

"I've been dealing with these issues since before I even filed to run," Magrini said. "I honestly feel like when folks honestly look at my positions on the issues, they'll (choose) me."
Neuhausen said he will now be taking a grassroots approach to recommending Yant.

"When we first went into this, I was more aligned with (Magrini), but it really comes down to one-on-one communication. You can't get that back," he said. "It was not an easy decision."
Yant and Magrini are running for the District 4 seat currently held by longtime school board member Jim Malcolm, who is retiring.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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