Being a former student of Mr. Lodahl I just want to ask if any of you that is "bashing" him ever meet him or sat in one of his classes??? He was an amazing science teacher that was there teaching because he loved helping kids and teaching not because of the benefits and pay. he was one of the rare teacher out there in the High School that when you had a problem, even if it had nothing to do with his class he would help you. As for him being a coach he was more than a coach, yes he was hard the boys (wrestling and football) but they also looked at him like a dad. The district is lucky to get him back.

YES, MR.Lodhl needs to justify the $$$ this district is investing in him, even though he does not have the experience, expertise or education to justify the $100k+ more a year that will be paid on behalf our all the property owners in this county.

Heck, I should go and apply for the superintend job, they can waive licensing requirements and pay for my education to get them while on the job! Sweet deal!

It's too bad that some of you have counted Mr. Lodahl out before he has even started. It's also too bad that some of you feel there are certain "classes" of students that are above the law, Because I can say the same for the "non-athletes" and "lower achieving students" who have also gotten away with a lot. And why are these students getting away with it? Because there has been a lack of effective discipline. So don't bash the sport stars and those who work hard to succeed because it isn't just them getting away with things. And as for Mr. Lodahl only being a teacher to the "advanced" students, and not having his schooling complete for the job, I put my trust in him to do the job before I put it in someone who has years of experience. Mr. Lodahl is a caring person, who has years of experience in all areas of life starting with his serving our country in the armed services. His heart is in the DD school district and leaving the district last year was hard for him, and if you talked with him you would know that. And you could have your chance to talk to him because he is a fixture at many of the events in the district. I have seen few teachers who would get done teaching or coaching and stay to watch another event. Not go home, not go out, but stay at the high school. He is one of the most visible, well-known and liked teachers, and not just by those some of you say are "privileged." I am confident when I say, Mr. Lodahl will earn the respect of all students and staff, and will be instrumental in turning this high school around. No disrespect at all to the out-going AP (I personally do like her), but Mr. Lodahl is MORE than qualified. Like many others, I took my kids out of the DD school district. But after this decision made by the school board, I am considering letting my child attend DDHS when it is time. I have 100% confidence in Mr. Lodahl who has invested his life to the education of ALL children.

I just want to clarify part of my last comment. "I will say that because of decisions made by both past and current board members, we have lost some caring, effective, self sacrificing, and qualified staff." I meant to say that because of decisions by both past and current board members AND administrators.

Stop_irresponsible_Spending,
My children are in college, so they are no longer part of any local school district. I'm trying to keep mine and my children's personal experiences with this district, some staff/board members (both current and past), and student out of these comments. I will say that because of decisions made by both past and current board members, we have lost some caring, effective, self sacrificing, and qualified staff. I'm saddened to see that because of political and social status reasons, some children will be again falling through the cracks or put at risk of not succeeding to the best of their abilities.

I do not know Mr. Lodahl nor am I bashing him down, what irritates me, is WHY the school board is considering hiring someone without the expertise, knowledge, experience and education to turn around a district that is failing miserably. Have they even interviewed any other candidates before deciding on hiring this Mr. Lodahl??

The main focus should not be on what the previous “Overturf administration” did or did not do, that administration is no longer calling the shots. Get over this, 4betterDDschools. The questions that should be asked are HOW IS THIS GOING TO HELP OUR KIDS MOVE FORWARD? HOW WILL IT IMPACT OUR KIDS? HOW WILL THIS PROVIDE OUR CHILDREN WITH AN EXCELLENT EDUCATION? HOW WILL THIS PREPARE OUR CHILDREN FOR THE FUTURE? The main focus of teachers, administrators, staff and the school board should be on OUR KIDS, ALL OF OUR KIDS. This is what they are paid for!

CATHERINE IDZERDA,

Thank you for publishing this article and making the public aware of what is going on, however we perceive it as good or bad, transparency in our community is vital, as is holding those accountable for making these important decisions that impact our children’s EDUCATION and LIFE.

Thank you and please keep us informed.

tiredofallthedrama:

I feel the same way. I am tired of all this nonsense!! I am seriously considering removing my 3 kids from this district. What district are your kids attending? My neighbor and I have been discussing this, she also has a couple of kids in the district, and we have talked about carpooling together.

If the new school board continues to put POLITICS first instead of focusing on providing a SOUND AND OUTSTANDING EDUCATION TO ALL KIDS, then we are definitely taking our kids out of this district!!

I personally have no opinion on Mr. Lodahl being hired as the new AP for the high school. I DO have an opinion on the bashing of the departing AP. I have never seen her disciplinary attitude as a problem. I have never seen her treat any student with disrespect. Do we have students that cause disruptions at our schools? Yes. I have only seen her try to get to the root (and truth) of the issue, before deciding or acting on an appropriate consequence. Not all students that are blamed for or seen as causing a disruption are the true cause. Before all of you on your soapboxes start preaching about the discipline problems in our schools, try looking at the favoritism that is happening. There are students that are "sports stars", "higher achieving academically", or both that bullying other students, engaging in illegal activities both on and off school grounds. Nothing is being done about them, even when it is brought to your staff's attention. There is a lot of politics being played out here. I don't have a lot of confidence in our new school board, and I'm very happy my children are no longer attending school in the schools here.

Even if my sources about the hiring of the high school principal are not accurate, interviewing should never be a vote by staff. Input should be solicited, but no vote. My company does not operate that way and most don't--vote by staff. The person that has the supervision responsibility, in this case, the district administrator, should have significant influence. So should Dr. Schmitt in the hiring of Craig Lodahl as he will be his supervisor.

I believe that if you would check with the administrators and Board members on that team you would find that Dr. Schmitt was their number one choice, as during this whole thing I have spoke to several of them. Also, check your facts on the middle school position. He was not issued an emergency license the first year and did not function as an AP even though he was initially hired as an AP. It had to be changed as the school year started. He had an alternative title and the next year received an AP license. I know that to be true for certain as I spoke to some teachers about it. I am sure that you could check that out with Mrs. Logterman at the admin. offices, or ask the person at the middle school yourself.

TruthinDelavan, your alias is misleading as there is little truth in your statements. Technically Overturf was not directly responsible for the AP's as they report to the building principal. But she was most definitely responsible for hiring them. Overturf is a micro-manager to the nth degree, and she personally selected every administrative hire, even if it disagreed with the interviewing teams selection. Case in point: the interview team for the HS principal position did not recommend Dr. Schmitt, but Overturf ignored their recommendation. This is all fine as that was within her powers, but then she must take responsibility for those hires. Dr. Schmitt is not to be blamed for the AP's that he has been saddled with.

As for the middle school AP issue, whomever is feeding you your information is misleading you. AP Tollefsen was most definitely hired as an AP in August of 2009, which was allowed by the DPI as the school board had requested a 1 Year Administrator License for him. This type of licensure is commonly granted by the DPI for candidates that are currently enrolled in a state-approved program leading to administrative licensure. A Craig Lodahl hiring would be no different than when AP Tollefsen was hired.

You are right that there are "many" Overturf supporters in the teacher ranks. But without a no confidence vote we will never know how many (or few) that was. I firmly believe there were many more teachers who disapproved of Overturfs' performance as superintendent than those that did.
Even Hitler had followers. I am NOT comparing Overturf to Hitler, I am only making a point which is that even intelligent people will follow blindly; and it doesn't make their beliefs right.

4betterDDschools---I am not sure that Dr. Overturf was responsible for the supervision of the Associate Principals nor (from what I hear) was she solely responsible for hiring them. I believe other, including Dr. Schmitt were involved. That being said, there are many teachers in the district who have a high level of respect for those individuals about whom you are speaking. I did do some checking about the middle school Associate and I do think that the situation is a bit different. He had completed his program, but could not get a license as he needed to complete his plan for the DPI. I also was told that the first year then he did not function as an administrator and was not called such.

I have been watching this whole thing in Delavan for the past several months and have chosen not to get involved. However, today I feel that I must add a comment. I worked in Fort Atkinson with Mr. Overturf for many years. You would be hard pressed to find anyone more student centered. He was extremely effective in his position and missed by staff. He never was about control--only what was good for students and families. For someone to think that he would be angry about losing control is not seeing it right. As I said, I don't know all that is going on, but if he seems angry it is because he wants all students to be successful and has spent his entire life working toward that goal and it seems right now that perhaps not all students are being successful in Delavan.

Valid point TruthinDelavan. Why was that article in the paper?
My theory is that the Overturfs and their supporters are using their connections with the media to print stories with a negative spin.
Was there an article when Overturf hired a teacher without an Admin License for the middle school AP position in 2009?
Let me answer that for you. NO, there was not.
If you have noticed Joe Overturfs letters in papers then you should realize that the Overturfs intend to be as disruptive as possible in the district.
Many have believed for years that it was really Joe that was calling the shots while Wendy did the grunt work and collected the paycheck.
I guess Joe is mad as hell that he has lost his power and is going to stir up as much ugliness as possible.

I think Honest Abe's suggestion is a great idea! Make Craig Lodahl superintendent. No doubt his leadership skills combined with his high moral and ethical characteristics would have proven more effective than what was demonstrated by the former superintendent. In all honesty,, I expect to see Mr. Lodahl in a superintendent role one day. He is the type of leader who finds success at any level because of his character and because he works so damn hard at everything he is tasked with.
Go ahead, call me a Lodahl supporter. I am damn proud to know him.

All of you clowns trying to tear down Mr. Lodahl obviously do not know the man. He is a man of the highest integrity. He is not the cure to all of the districts ills, but his hiring will be a great start. After all, it takes a team of quality professionals and true leadership at the helm to run a successful school district. I am sure Mr. Lodahl will prove to be a much better AP than the departing AP, whose teaching career was limited to the elementary grades. Her 4th grade disciplinary attitude did not work well in the HS. Makes you wonder what the former superintendent was thinking putting her in that position!. The departing AP 's predecessor was also ineffective in his AP role and had to be moved to the elementary level. Proof positive that the former superintendent hired poorly. This new board is challenged with replacing the talent lost under the Overturf administration and I know that most of the community will agree that hiring Craig Lodahl will be a great start in that process.

Some on the "new" Board seem to think that Mr. Lodahl is "god-like." He may have been successful in the classroom with "upper" level students. However, in this role he will need to be concerned about the achievement and success of all students. It doesn't sound to me that he has experience with that. It also doesn't sound to me that he has any proven expertise or knowledge about those iniatives. With achievement as low as Delavan has, one would think that the Board would be looking for candidates that have a passion and knowledge for helping schools make a turnaround. If the Board does go ahead and hire him, the good news is that Mr. Lodahl will be held accountable for the success of all the students under the new waiver and principal evaluation rules that were just put in place by the DPI.

If the new board talks about transparency one has to wonder why the hiring of Craig Lodahl is on the consent agenda. The consent agenda is designed to allow the board to handle items of “a routine nature” that do not require extensive individual deliberation. Items on a consent agenda are typically approved as a group and without discussion. If it was controversial enough to merit an article in the paper, then it should be discussed in the public. Or was that all done behind the scenes????

Kind of funny how the high school assistant principal vacancy is being filled by Mr. Lodahl who has worked almost exclusively
with students in advanced classes instead of underachieving students. Class warfare, likely! Are the Board's personnel decisions being aligned with district, building, program, and students' needs? Don't think so. Lodahl has been far more of a teacher advocate then an advocate for all students. Very, very little administrative coursework. No administrative experience. Scherer and Peyer fulfilling their campaign promises to bring Lodahl back. They're the ones that are dividing this community(remember, this is their victory). Small town politics and small town ignorance at its ugliest. What a joke and what a mess this so-called Board is making. Lodahl chose to leave the District, his choice, he was not fired and now we're pandering to bring him back. I have a better idea Mr. Peyer and Dr. Scherer, appoint Mr. Lodahl district administrator, that's just as ludicrous!!!

Of course, some of teachers will love having him back. They think he will be a great support of their mediocrity. In all of this, no focus on the students and what skills Mr. Lodahl has to assist ALL of them to succeed. If he does get this job, he is going to find he is going to have to insist on teacher effectiveness in the classroom. Delavan's test scores show that isn't happening now, and can't be blamed on demographics,as the test scores are lower than state average for the same type of demographics. I hope that the Board and Mr. Lodahl have checked out the state administrator standards, as those standards focus mainly on the students, not the teachers.

Why is would having Mr. Lodahl back in the district be a victory?????? What has he done to help the district in the past? This is ridiculous; the new school board is a JOKE! They are irresponsibly spending the district's money and taxpayer's money, such as the package they offered the previous superintend so she would leave her position. To be exact, more than $283,000!!! On top of that, they must spend some MORE money on the new superintend. DOUBLE EXPENSE! All because they would not even attempt to work together!!! There go our property taxes! And now they are considering hiring someone who has no experience or education!

Am I the only one here who sees a problem? How is this going to assist our kids in getting the best education? Seems like it’s a buddy system and the main focus is obviously not on providing the best education for our kids!

And Mr. Board president stated, "Most people here know that when I ran for office, I said that I'd like to see Mr. Lodahl rehired by the district," board President Jeffrey Scherer said Tuesday. That’s really interested but the fact is your likes or dislikes are NOT what is at stake; what matters here is WHAT IS BEST FOR OUR CHILDREN’S EDUCATION!!! And hiring someone without the knowledge, experience, expertise is NOT in their best interests!

Try hiring someone without experience, knowledge or education to run your wife’s business then let us know how it turns out!