Last Friday, April 22, 2022, Ron Wilson, USD 489’s Superintendent sent an email to all 489 staff and school board members. Here are the relevant parts for the purpose of this letter:
“Monday, April 25th is the start of early voting for our bond opportunity… It doesn’t’ cost us a penny to vote! Simply, by not voting really registers as a NO vote when it comes to our school staff… I have told everyone that has told me that this bond attempt I promise I will do my part to ensure that we have educator support, and they will vote (emphasis added)… If 100% of the eligible voters in your building vote before May 10th we will bring in lunch for you one day before the end of school. Yes, we will know if you vote (emphasis added) (and no we can not see how you vote) ... The first building in our district to get 100% also gets dessert with their lunch!”
I believe the notion that the 489 administration will keep tabs on who does and does not vote amounts to a subtle but very real attempt to intimidate and bully the staff of USD 489. This email quite simply crossed the line.
Here are the questions I have for the superintendent and the members of the school board. Inquiring minds want to know.
1.Will the administration compile an actual list of staff and teachers who vote or don’t vote?
2.Will school district employees create that list? If so, who will pay for them to do it?
3. If a staff member or teacher doesn’t vote will that be noted in their employee file? Will their name be on a list for the public to see?4.What about that apparently quaint notion of individuall iberty upon which this country was founded which allows a person the freedom to choose to vote or not vote?
5.Where are the local NEA union leaders in this instance? Will they object to this effort to intimidate the teachers and staff or are they so singularly minded in favor of the bond that protecting their members is secondary?
6.The school board president proudly proclaims that this is the most transparent school board and administration ever. Is this the board’s and administration’s idea of transparency?
7.Do the superintendent and the board members understand that the email could possibly subject them to a charge of violating KSA25-2409 in which election bribery is defined as an act offering to confer any benefit over the value of $3.00 as consideration for any person to vote for any question submitted to any public election?
Oh, and by the way, do you want to know the real reason DLR and the 489 superintendent and board members decided to call for a May election date despite the fact that it will cost the tax payers between $20 and $30 thousand dollars?
Well, DLR’s spokesperson and “political expert” will tell you that it was simply time to do it, notwithstanding that there is the August primary election a mere 90 days after this bond election. She knows full well, as does anyone who has worked on political campaigns, as I have done many times over the years, that voter turnout for special elections is low. So she understands that the more motivated voters in this bond election will be the USD 489staff, teachers and pro-bond people. But that isn’t the real reason.
After the very first night I attended one of the “Citizen Committee” meetings last September, DLR’s spokesperson approached me as I was visiting with another person and we discussed the bond election process. I asked her why there was a rush again (just as there was with the last bond election) to have an April election (that was the goal at the time). She initially responded with the reasons set out above, but then she let it be known the real reason and motivation for wanting an early election:
To paraphrase her exact words as closely as I can: Well, the Value Them Both constitutional amendment (dealing with the abortion issue) is on the ballot in August and we’re not sure about the kind of voter that will come out and vote in that election. In other words, pro Value Them Both voters couldn’t be trusted to make their decision on the merits of the bond questions, so we’ll just avoid that question mark. I then retorted rather emphatically that if that is her thinking then she really doesn’t understand the voters of Ellis County at all. They have approved bond elections in the past when they thought they were reasonable and made sense.
As Paul Harvey used to say at the end of his radio program, “Now you know the rest of the story."
So the only remaining question then is this. Will those who have the temerity to disagree with the proposed bond sit on their hands and stay at home on election day? One thing is for certain, however, if they do show up to vote, USD 489 Superintendent Ron Wilson will not be bringing them any lunch. And as far as dessert is concerned, Fuhgeddaboutdit!
Tom Wasinger, Hays