This time of year is the Dead Season....not only are we between sports season (at least when you don't make it to state basketball!!) but we are bouncing between winter and spring. Two weeks ago I was going to change my background to green grass and spring flowers...then last week the winter season seemed to be perfect.
No, what really makes this the Dead Season is that this time of year we are at the mercy (or lack there of) of the Iowa Legislature.....zero allowable growth or 2% allowable growth....continue to fund pre-school or not...one superintendent per county....unfunded mandates....state control vs. local control...when should school start....it never seems to end.
The worst part is schools have no control over any of it....we just have to sit and wait for them to make decisions and then try to figure out later how they affect us.....it's hard on the nerves and makes for some sleepless nights (even more than usual)
Everything (at least in the life of a Superintendent) is put on hold...no bargaining, no budgeting, not contracts....it's simply hurry up and wait....wait for people in Des Moines to determine your ( more precisely your schools) fate...it's very frustrating!!
I need to just take a deep breath and relax....as, like winter, the legislative dead season will end. ( I mean they have to end sometime don't they? These people do have real jobs don't they?) We'll then pick up the pieces, figure out what they have done for us (or to us!!) and move forward.
I just know this; I don't miss a lot about North Dakota...the long winters, the incredible cold, the mosquitoes!!! But the fact that their legislature only met once every two years was fabulous!!! Definitely something Iowa needs to look into.
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