October 12, 2016 at 3:57 p.m.
District disappoints in handling of Huseby matter
School principals hold a unique place in any community as they are entrusted with the lives of innocent children every school day.
Parents take an enormous leap of faith when they send their children on the bus or drop them off at their classrooms for a day of learning. In the case of Ms. Huseby, some 300 youngsters were entrusted to her care Monday through Friday.
That's why the School District of Rhinelander's handling of the Huseby matter is so deeply unsettling.
According to a statement released by the district Tuesday morning, Ms. Huseby requested a leave of absence Sept. 20 for "personal reasons," however for three weeks district superintendent Kelli Jacobi refused to define the leave as anything other than "a leave," allowing members of the community to draw their own conclusions. Even more concerning, she refused our repeated requests to issue a statement that might reassure Crescent parents, and the public as a whole, that Ms. Huseby's absence was not the result of anything related to the health or safety of their children.
We are at a loss as to why Ms. Jacobi couldn't have told the public on Sept. 20 that Ms. Huseby's leave was for personal reasons or issued a statement that might have reassured understandably nervous parents. We are relieved Jacobi finally issued a statement to that effect Tuesday.
We want to be very clear that we are in no way casting aspersions on Ms. Huseby. Like any employee, she had a right to take a leave of absence.
Our concern is with the behavior of school officials as we can't help but be concerned that what we saw in this case could be a template, of sorts, that may be used in the future in a way that would be extremely detrimental to the community.
It would go something like this: Put someone on leave, tell the public/parents absolutely nothing about what's going on other than the individual in question is on "a leave" and a new person is now in charge, refuse to allow the media to interview the new person, announce weeks later that the person on leave has resigned and refuse further comment.
This would be a convenient way for a school district to hide all sorts of things it would rather the public not know.
As we said earlier, in the case of Ms. Huseby the reasons for the leave and subsequent resignation are likely innocuous, but that doesn't mean that will be the case with the next person.
We remind school officials that trust is a tenuous thing, easily frayed, and when lost often irreparable. We would certainly include the school board itself in this warning as the group has a disturbing tendency to pass the buck to Jacobi when it could address questions and resolve concerns itself.
We attempted to ask school board president Ron Counter a number of questions related to the Huseby matter following the board's Monday meeting. He refused to comment and instead referred us back to Jacobi.
We should also note that we have made an open records request for any and all records facilitating Huseby's leave. Thus far, Jacobi has indicated there are no such records as all communication was verbal.
In Rhinelander, the next referendum is always right around the corner. School officials can't expect the public to trust them when they say they've been responsible with taxpayer funds but need another $1 million, $5 million or $30 million dollars for operations and/or building projects, if they refuse to be transparent when a personnel matter arises that results in the sudden absence of a high ranking administrator.
For her part, Jacobi told us Tuesday she intends to "try to do better next time."
We certainly hope that's true.
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