Letter to the Editor:
While there are a number of very important national election races this fall, I believe that your choices for our Northfield School Board also deserve your strong consideration. I have had the privilege of knowing and working with current School Board candidate Corey Butler during my years as Superintendent of Schools in Northfield. During that time Corey was serving as a reporter and editor covering both the Northfield and Faribault School Districts. In my opinion, he went above and beyond my expectations to make sure that our community clearly understood the important educational issues the school district was facing.
During our years working together, Corey consistently demonstrated a desire to learn about our school district and how our efforts impacted our students, parents, staff and community. As a journalist, he was always focused on getting to the heart of important issues and understanding all perspectives of the ideas, proposals and projects that we were considering as a school district. He also consistently demonstrated the ability to grasp complex decisions and to consider the effects of those decisions from all perspectives. Corey was always able to share those ideas with the community in a clear and straightforward way. I believe he can effectively use those skills as a new school board member.
Corey Butler is an inquisitive learner and excellent communicator who has real empathy for our schools and everyone connected with Northfield. He understands that the job of educators is hard work and that the role of a school board member is a difficult but rewarding one. I feel that he really believes in public education and wants to do whatever he can to ensure the Northfield Schools continues to provide a quality education for all of our students. In the next few years, we need Board members who will take the time to thoroughly understand the difficult issues facing the school district and can work together with educators, families and the community to keep the focus on what is best for our children.
I know that as usual we have a quality group of individuals running for the Northfield Board of Education. I hope that you will give Corey Butler your strong consideration for the Board.
Chris Richardson, Ph.D.
Retired Superintendent
Northfield Public Schools
