We, the undersigned parents of children who attend the Columbus Wisconsin School District, and community members who share our concerns, are hereby calling for the Columbus School Board to repeal policy governance, and we're calling for the resignation of the school board president and district superintendent.

It is important that a school board dictates the priorities and mission that meets the needs and interests of ALL the students in the communities it serves. By running under policy governance, the school board is not the decision maker; everything is left up to the discretion of the district superintendent. It also means the school board is not the final authority over cost and policy implementation, and this must change. As district stakeholders, we vote in the school board members and expect them to make decision on behalf of us for our children. Policy governance is not the best approach for our school board and needs to be repealed.

Furthermore, we need to refocus our school leadership. We need leaders who want to listen, guide, and more importantly be a part of our community. Both our current school board president and superintendent do not listen, do not guide, and do not follow what a majority of our community wants to do. They continually disregard our voices and questions. We are asking for new leaders to help lead this school to a new future, NOT talk about it and meet about it for years. We need leaders who will actually do something about it.

We want to see leadership in this community that will be personally invested in our community. The changes to policy that have been made under tenure of the current superintendent and school board president are not ones that are sustainable for our community. They are leading to serious injuries, frustrated families, students who cannot focus and learn from day-to-day, and they are causing overcrowding in our facilities. They’re also in violation of federal and state laws, and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction standards.

The district has seen a number of staff and leadership personnel leave unexpectedly, in addition to a school board member, during the past year, which is an obvious indicator of poor leadership. People don't leave jobs. They leave bosses.

Staff and community morale is low. This is unacceptable behavior, therefore, we are submitting this signed document as our directive for the Columbus School Board to repeal policy governance and urge both the school board president and district superintendent to step down.