Fourth in a series
Re “Here Are the District’s Needs, Says LaRose”
[img]1456|left|Dave LaRose||no_popup[/img]Supt. Dave LaRose would not say that the since-debunked accusation has haunted him since 10 months ago yesterday – but it probably has.
When the School District’s first swing at passing a high-powered bond measure suddenly was halted – without warning — last July 1 on a 3-2 School Board vote, it was a splash of cold water on the face of every School District player supporting a repairs-oriented bond.
In the 300 days since, Mr. LaRose has been working assiduously to make certain no such charge can be leveled this time.
With partner Mike Reynolds, assistant superintendent for business, Mr. LaRose has plotted an amazingly methodical, meticulous, dense course leading up to the vote for Measure CC, the $106 million bond on the June 3 ballot. The two of them have been personally assessing each school site, inside and out, almost one 12-inch yardstick at a time.
[img]1705|right|Mike Reynolds||no_popup[/img]“We have designed a road map, a detailed needs assessment, with lots of input from people who are living and breathing the atmosphere on a daily basis,” said Mr. LaRose. “We have met with dozens of community groups that helped us. And that was Mike and I, just having conversations with interested parties around the finances of it – that was one primary theme.
“Another,” said Mr. LaRose, “was around communication and engagement. Whom do we need to talk to? What are we hearing?
“So our development of frequently asked questions, and presentations.
“What I feel good about,” the superintendent said, “and I know Mike does, too, is that this is where we focus our part of the conversation. There might be different conversations being had about measures and mechanisms to potentially fund some of this work. But our conversation is around, we have a very collaboratively developed identification of our needs, our themes, our learning goals, and how facilities can supplement that.”
(To be continued)
