And Then There Were Six

I attended last night's board meeting to witness to adoption of the 2008-2009 budget. The adoption of the budget by 5-0 with Directors Sargent and Williams absent was no surprise, as the board has been working on the budget for some time. The student representative, Olin Stickler, voted yes, unofficially, as well.

The meeting was not well attended by the public. I suppose for all intents and purposes it was rather boring, but nonetheless, I was surprised that there were a handful of spectators aside from myself.

One of the most notable things about the meeting last night was that it was Dan Ryan's last as the Director for Zone 4. There were a great deal of heartfelt words and goodbyes and whatnot. It was touching. Ryan will be moving on to the Portland Schools Foundation and leaving his place on the board. According to comments made, they are hoping to have a replacement soon.

As with other situations like this, I am reserving judgement. Ryan seems to have focus on the children of Portland, which is always a good thing. Perhaps this connection with PSF will be good for our schools.

Someone close to me said something the other day, it was "those with the money have the control." It is a simple and obvious statement, and it is true. I am trying to keep those words in mind. At the same time, I hope that good things come of this change, and I wish Dan Ryan well in his new position.

There is a special board meeting coming up soon, and I will post more on that when the time comes.