The Jerry Springer Show comes to St. Joseph

By NewsPress Now

Whitney Lanning received 1,883 votes in the election that put her on the St. Joseph Board of Education last spring.

Previously, she claimed about 1,500 votes in an unsuccessful bid for mayor.

It’s clear that Lanning has a base of public support in this community, or at least enough to get elected when voter turnout is tepid. Will that support crater following an ugly exchange that occurred after a Board of Education meeting?

Only time will tell, but an observer can glean a couple of immediate takeaways from Lanning’s behavior – described in a police report as screaming profanities and threatening to assault another board member following a contentious meeting.

One is that folks at City Hall must be feeling like they dodged a bullet in the municipal elections of 2022.

The other is more troubling for this community. A school board finds itself in deep trouble if it’s reduced to releasing lawyerly statements following adult behavior that resembles something straight out of “The Jerry Springer Show.”

One has to wonder, when an attorney sees SJSD on the caller ID if the first thought is “billable hours!” or something more like, “My God what have they done now?”

Over-the-top confrontation might make for must-see TV, but it’s no way to run a school system.

The real irony is that Lanning’s confrontation with school board member Isaura Garcia, which resulted in a misdemeanor harassment charge, came after the board rejected a proposal to switch to a four-day school week.

Advocates of the schedule change argued that a four-day week would make the SJSD a more attractive place for teachers to work, thus easing a critical staff shortage. It was a compelling argument, but in the end, a majority of the board, and the community, weren’t ready for the change.

That’s how it goes. You win some and you lose some. But then Lanning pulled a stunt that would seem to make the SJSD at least as unattractive in the minds of prospective teachers as a five-day workweek.

After the board vote, the comment was made (among the public, not necessarily by the board or the administration), that the community just doesn’t support education.

Perhaps it’s time for a little reflection. Lanning’s actions illustrate that it’s sometimes the board itself (or at least certain members) that makes it awfully hard for the community to provide the support that students, teachers and administrators deserve.

After the April election, the new board has a lot of work ahead to fix its reputation, gain the community’s trust and become a functional body that resembles C-Span more than Springer.

Until that happens, every St. Joseph resident should take the time to thank a teacher, principal or administrator who shows up for work every day. We’re all fortunate that they stick with it despite the sideshow.