Students and parents press Central SD 13J board over leadership turnover, facility problems and staffing

Schuben Schwarzfager, a senior at Central High School and ASBEC's media coordinator, told the Central School District board that students do not know the district's newly introduced principal and that the school has suffered repeated administrative changes during his high school years. "I'm a senior at Central and I am Aspect's media coordinator," Schwarzfager said. He said frequent leadership change and shifts in policy have coincided with declines in "school spirit and student engagement."

Barbara Harriman, a community member and parent of two CHS graduates, followed with a longer public comment that urged the board to investigate district leadership and transparency. "I'm outraged with the lack of leadership and transparency of Central School District," Harriman said. She told the board that in the last eight years the district has had "21 different administrators for our five schools, 11 principals and 10 assistant principals," and asked why leadership had not improved despite the district's use of student education consultants and surveys.

Harriman and the student speaker raised academic and facilities concerns. Harriman said only about a third of students meet the reading benchmark and that "less than 13% of students are meeting the math benchmark" at the high school level. She also told the board the district has experienced three failed bond measures under the current superintendent and listed building problems including leaks in bathrooms, auditoriums, gyms and classrooms.

Schwarzfager described specific impacts on student activities and morale. He said a recent "spring fling" dance was canceled the day of the event because of a lack of chaperones and that students were notified at about 1:00 p.m. during an assembly. He said he asked teachers to chaperone and that an "overwhelming number" declined; he added, "I have been told, and I'm not 100% sure... that teachers have like eight hours of volunteer work for the school that they're contracted to do," and asked the board to fact-check that point.

Both speakers questioned district administrative structure and hiring. Schwarzfager asked that board members spend time at the school to observe conditions and talk with administrators, teachers and classified staff. Harriman questioned the district chain of supervision, saying, "Why is the Executive Director of Human Resources a direct supervisor of the principals in the school district?" She said that in her view the HR position should remain neutral and raised the possibility of a conflict of interest. Harriman also asked whether the district office had used a consistent and competitive process for principal hires and whether the executive human resources director had recommended the current hiring process.

Board business later moved on to standing reports; an emergent bilingual director, Holly Monroy, was announced to give an English-language-proficiency update but the presentation was delayed. No formal board action, motion or vote on the concerns raised by speakers was recorded in the transcript during the public comment period.

The public comments combined personal observations, district-level statistics cited by a parent, and requests for investigations or clearer communication from the district office. Speakers asked the board to provide information (including raw survey data) and to consider investigating principal hiring practices, the supervisory role of human-resources leadership, and facility-maintenance and volunteer-support issues raised by students and parents.

The board did not state a response or a specific next step in the provided transcript excerpt; speakers said they wanted follow up and fact checks (for example, whether teachers have a stated volunteer-hour obligation).