No Park City School Board Member Has Voted ‘No’ in a Year?

Last September I penned an article entitled, “By Abstaining, School Board Member Tania Knauer Exemplifies What Is Wrong With Many Park City Leaders.” She had abstained from a tax increase discussion. I said, “I don’t know Ms. Knauer personally but judging from her resume she seems very competent and dedicated to education and our children. In this case, though, Ms. Knauer contributed to the problem. Instead of voting with her convictions, or at least her comments, she took the easy way out.”

Since that time I have gotten to know Ms Knauer a little better. I would say that she definitely does have our childrens’ best interests at heart. However, we are perhaps seeing an even greater problem. I went through all school board decisions in the past year (per the school district’s website) and I could not find a single instance where a school board member voted NAY. In fact, the last Nay appears to be a vote by Ms Knauer in May 2014.

It begs the question of whether anything important or controversial is happening at the school board? Wait, isn’t the school board set to vote on a budget that will increase taxes for the 3rd time in 4 years. Oh, and there is that bond for rebuilding the Kearns campus that will come in between $20 million and $100 million (they aren’t sure yet). Then there is the horrible SAGE test results where about only 50%-60% our students are competent in various disciplines. Oh yeah, there is the fact that this year’s budget projects expenses far outpacing revenues over the next few years. Oops, I almost forgot the issue over “closing” schools where each out of district student costs our district money that can’t be spent on our own students.

So there is a lot going on.

I find it almost impossible to believe that every decision by the School Board in the last 12 months was unanimous. In your life, during the last year, have you said yes to everything? Yet, that’s what the records say of our board.

The cynic would quote H.L. Mencken and say, “The people deserve the government they get, and they deserve to get it good and hard.” The optimist would say it’s a triumph of consensus that benefits the children.

I would say, “I just don’t get it.”