*Editor’s Note: People love the feeling of nostalgia. Keeping our history close at hand is part of what makes us who we are today and shapes many of our decisions. But as the old saying goes, those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it. It’s why we’re joining in the “Throwback Thursday” trend: each week we’ll randomly chose a top story from that date in a previous year. It could be a story which is relevant to current events, or it might be something completely random, but in any case it will help put local news into a greater context. We find our first Throwback Thursday story quite relevant to the current status of the Stevens Point School Board. A reminder of where the School Board was on June 26, 2013-

Photo: School Board Member Lisa Totten refused to participate in the closed- session meeting Monday night. Totten joined community members in the hallway of Bliss Education Center during the closed session as a means of protest. (City-Times photo)

By Patrick Lynn

Ask any member of the school board and they’ll tell you they only have power collectively, as a board.

That’s not entirely accurate.

Individual members of the school board have enormous power to drag out an already- extended meeting (recent meetings have typically hit the 4- hour mark) through public in-fighting, nit-picking, rehashing, micromanaging and lackluster guidance.

The majority of our present school board displays these traits at will, and often.

Tensions again ran high at Monday’s board meeting, as two members in particular seemed to argue just for the sake of doing so. During a discussion over the district policy outlining board officers’ duties Monday night, second- term Board Member Kim Shirek objected to the word “presides” when referencing the school board president’s role during board meetings, despite the fact that a president does indeed “preside” during board meetings.

Instead, Shirek wanted the official district policy rewritten as, “Act as chair at all board meetings” despite the fact the board president already does act as chair at all board meetings.

This single topic alone took some 10 minutes of discussion.

Shirek asked to go through the policy governing board officers “line by line” because she had objections to several parts of the language, and also because some parts of the policy overlapped what was already written in Wisconsin State Statute, which she felt was too repetitive.

Later in the meeting, Shirek also argued with Superintendent Attila Weninger over something she claims he allegedly told her relating to board policy at some point in the past.

And no, there is no way to write that previous sentence in a manner which does not make it sound ridiculous. But it’s enough to keep community members from attending these meetings and voicing their opinions.

Board Member Lisa Totten also created a stir Monday night when she left the room just prior to the board entering into closed session to discuss sensitive financial matters.

“I won’t participate,” Totten told the board just before leaving the room.

Totten said her reason for leaving the room was to protest the board entering into closed session just moments after the meeting had begun. It was, Totten said, “disrespectful to the community”.

Perhaps there is a case to be made for Totten’s point of view. Were I a parent looking to stay informed Monday night, I’d be pretty upset because I probably would have kids at home waiting for a bedtime story and dinner dishes that weren’t going to wash themselves, so making me wait an extra hour while the board talks privately about how to spend my tax dollars would have upset me. It certainly upset the other parents, teachers and community members in attendance.

But Totten’s refusal to participate made no sense, and it certainly wasn’t professional. Like a tantrum thrown by a child it served no real purpose, nor did it function in a way which could help solve the problem.

Totten gave up her chance to opine on the topics discussed in closed session simply because she didn’t agree with the timing of the meeting. This could have created problems for the board, or caused the closed session to run even longer than it otherwise would have. There’s just no way to know.

To borrow a phrase used Monday night by Superintendent Attila Weninger, “there comes a time when common sense has to prevail.”

Indeed.

Among other grumblings in the audience during Monday’s meeting involved weak leadership on the board. Board President Terry Rothmann could definitely use a firmer hand in running board meetings and keeping discussion on point. Rothmann seems to operate in a laid- back style, much like former Board President Dwight Stevens, with no sense of urgency in the tone of his voice or body language.

Decisions should come much quicker from the presiding board member, who should encourage all board members to stay on topic and make their points more concisely.

Because that’s what a president- or a chairperson- does.