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Former School Board Candidate: Yant Deserves Your Vote

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2008

I have thoroughly enjoyed the campaign and look back at the election with no regrets. I was totally amazed at the response I had received when I approached people about running for the school board - some positive, many negative. There were about 6,000 people in all who I was able to converse with, either in person, on the phone or e-mail and found that there were many issues that concerned the citizens of Hernando County.

With a runoff approaching in a short time, I started approaching the post election process as an undecided voter. My intent was to ask the candidates questions that I was asked, that ultimately shaped my campaign. I have had the opportunity to speak with both James Yant and Gene Magrini during the past few months and found that between the two, I was split about 60/40, leaning more to Gene. So, I thought it was only fair to question them and assess them based on their responses. My first question to them was:

"I made no attempt to hide my concern that Dr. Wayne Alexander has a very poor leadership style. This was greatly reflected by the significant majority of people I talked to. Quite often, there were many "choice" words that quickly followed the speaking of his name. If I had found one out of 10 people speaking badly of him, I would have dismissed it, because that was an anomaly. I found just the opposite, one out of 10 spoke highly of him, which was the anomaly. Teachers avoid him 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. I have seen throughout my careers in both the military and civilian world (commercial and industrial) that the "my highway or the highway" attitude works for only a short period of time before a sense of trust and respect is completely shattered. How are you, as a board member, going to approach Dr. Alexander and get him (not suggest, but actually get him) to change his approach to teachers and other employees on a local school level?"

I spoke with James directly on the phone about his approach to the handling of Dr. Alexander. Gene addressed his approach with Alexander in a detailed follow up e-mail. Gene also followed up and answered my next unasked question on how to repair the damage that has been done within our schools and community. The problem I have with his response (Gene asked that I not copy it to everyone) to the follow up question is, I have seen this type of approach used many, many times in the past. Unfortunately, I have found they often fail more than they work. When they do work, it works for a brief period of time and people will migrate back to what they are used to, as that is human nature. But when the solution fails, it ends up causing more damage to an already precarious situation. My approach was not to form committees or task forces, but to approach this on a personal level. As a new board member, Gene or James or myself, will be (or would have been) in a unique position of being an unknown element in distrusted board. I was going to take this directly to the schools and volunteer directly in the school, in classrooms, in lunch rooms, in the front office, wherever help was needed at least once every other week. We have been given a chance to build trust within the schools and eventually within the community. People will talk, if they believe you will listen. This doesn't mean you have to agree with them. They know that, they just want to be heard and believe that someone will listen.

The current board does not have that ability; that trust is gone. If you, Gene, form committees, solicit surveys, etc., you will be quickly labeled as another board member who doesn't really care and that trusting bond will never form. In talking with James, I asked him directly about this and other thoughts and ideas and while as a whole are not totally aligning with mine, they fall very close in respect to this area with mine. Regardless of all other ideas and support you can offer, if you do not have the trust of the teachers and staff, everything else will fail.

I had intended on asking more questions, but I've made a choice based on the response from the first question and a few other issues. The first issue is attendance. Attendance at school board meetings was vital. People remember who was concerned enough to sit, listen and gather information at those meetings. They will also remember being able to approach and speak to them about problems or issues that were discussed during the meeting. Not being visible as a concerned citizen is going to hamper the building of relationships with teachers and the community.

The second issue is the managerial approach on the role of the school board. In my opinion, the school board is in place to serve the schools. The schools are the managers and the board is there to support the schools and resolve situations or issues. The board is not there to dictate and have the schools answer to them.

My third issue is the campaign itself. There have been a number of instances where politics and questionable campaigning have entered the race. The most recent was the article in the paper regarding finances with a particular candidate. Professional courtesy demands with a position as visible as this, not to use the newspaper as a means to blemish someone's abilities. This shows a very poor character quality and poor judgment.

I therefore will offer my support and recommendation/endorsement for James Yant, and I will pass the word to all those that have supported my campaign or ask me in the future. I will continue to honor my pledge of parents, teachers and students first. I will accomplish that by soliciting e-mails, letters, calls about issues and concerns and use my three minutes during the board meeting to present them before the board as citizen input. I will voice these issues with no names as there is a fear of retaliation within our current system, and I would ask that anyone who has a concern, please feel free to contact me.

It has been my long-standing philosophy to lead by example. We can better our schools, if we are willing to make that effort and difference ourselves. Volunteer within the schools, attend board meetings to voice your thoughts and concerns and talk to school officials. If there is an issue, don't complain. Instead, find the reason for the issue and offer a solution.

Robert Neuhausen

Spring Hil

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