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The vote on renewing District 241’s operating levy is rapidly approaching. As you make your decision on how to vote, I ask you to do so with a broad perspective. There are many issues right now concerning parents, educators and school board members. Those issues and our perspective on them are incredibly important. What I ask you to do while considering your vote is look beyond the issues of today and look forward to our children’s future. Our children deserve the best education we can provide, and that education has been significantly burdened over the last year and a half of difficulty we have progressed through during this pandemic. We have a lot of work to do as parents and educators to enable our children to continue to excel and be ready for the progressing levels of education whether that’s the next grade level, college, trade school, or entering the workforce. With that in mind, I want each of you to ask yourself “will my decision today help our children succeed?” Will less teachers help our children succeed? Will less access to Advanced Placement resources help our children succeed? Will less access to technology help our children succeed? Will less participation in activities and sports help our children succeed? The list goes on, but the important theme is we need to do everything we can to give our children the best advantages possible, despite the disagreements we have today.

To be completely transparent, I oppose a few of the things happening at our school board level today. I oppose mask mandates (especially in our elementary schools), and I oppose the quarantine process our school district uses. Heck, Oct. 25 was the first day my daughter was allowed to go to school after a month of quarantine enforced by the school district. Though I have my grievances, I know that this referendum is about more than today — it’s about our children’s future. I also know that though we have different points of view all of us parents, teachers and administrators alike are all working in what we believe is the best interests of our kids.

Thank you for your consideration,

Allen Hendriks
Halverson Elementary- Spirit PTO member
Albert Lea 8^th Grade Football Coach