Kubes worked to make NP School District better for students, staff

She sat through hundreds of meetings over a dozen years, considered thousands of decisions with an untold number of options. For Jeanne Kubes, it all came down to one foundational premise as she saw it – the good of the community’s public schools, the children attending them and the staff working in them.

Kubes was known for deep dives into policy matters, looking beyond the surfacelevel information to make sure she understood how the issue would impact the district, its students and staff. She oftentimes followed the guidance of the Minnesota School Board Association, an organization the district pays to research and present policy issues.

Last week, the New Prague Area School Board accepted her resignation after a dozen years. She gave herself a year of good behavior rather than serve the extra year the board created a few years back when it aligned school board elections with general Election Day. In an era where so many people are quick to criticize without knowing everything that’s going on and why, Kubes understandably took a pass on the 13th year. It’s going to be a tough one.

There will be plenty of questions and kvetching to the school board over the pending budget cuts, many likely coming from people who didn’t vote in the operating levy Nov. 7. Unlike last year when the district cut about $3 million from its budget, this year’s settlements will be more “structural,” meaning they could cost more jobs this time around. The settlement with the dis trict’s teachers will impact the size of the amounts of the cuts. As someone who cares about the quality of schools, who could blame Kubes for taking a pass?

Anyone willing to give a dozen years of their time to an organization interested in the broader good of the community should be thanked and applauded for thinking of things bigger than their own self-interests.

Filling by appointment The school district is accepting applications from people interested in filling the remainder of Kubes’ term on the school board. Those applications will be accepted until Jan. 26, 3 p.m.

The selected applicant will have the benefit of using the final months of the term as a test drive to determine if they want to seek election to a full term. With the impending budget cuts and the likely decision to eliminate positions of professionals who, for all we know, are great teachers but not high enough on the seniority list, the selected candidate will likely have faced some of the more difficult decisions a school board members will face. By then, the person will hopefully know if they are truly interested in running for a full term. If the person isn’t sure by then, pass. Her primary concern is the board select someone who will follow the law and guidance.

There has already been a call on social media for a special election rather than board appointment of the vacated seat. State law allows the board to fill the seat by appointment, saving the district the cost of a special election for, what, 20 percent of the people to vote while the other 80 percent claims they were too busy or didn’t know anything about it since it wasn’t posted on their preferred social media platform.

One thing that seems certain, the decision whom the board appoints should not be based on unfettered public comment from citizens. Director Dan Call suggested the public should be permitted to have a say in which of the candidates – hopefully there will be more than one – the school board members have to select from to fill the final year of Kubes’ term.

While we would normally advocate for the public to be heard, there is a concern about decisions being made based on accurate information. During a public comment period, a citizen supporting a particular candidate could encourage the board to support a particular applicant because of something the applicant has done without any verification the statement is true. Or worse, a citizen could potentially criticize an applicant with no basis in verifiable fact.

This school district has felt the impact of decisions based on misinformation. With important decisions to be made, the selection of a new board member ought not be clouded by scuttlebutt. If someone wants to serve on the school board, the filing period for the 2024 election opens July 30.