I’m not surprised, in fact I think I just rolled my eyes when I read the news;
Sioux Falls School Superintendent Brian Maher is resigning, effective June of next year.
Dr. Maher has been leading the Sioux Falls School District for five years.
One of his biggest highlights was shepherding the passage of the $190 million school bond issue, the state’s largest.
I have heard rumors during his tenure he was hired to get the bond issue passed. While that part is obvious, I never realized he would leave so suddenly after that. So we paid him well over $1 million dollars (in 5 years) to straddle us with $300 million in debt and interest than he trots out the door. Mission accomplished.
While he says he ‘may’ not leave Sioux Falls, I wouldn’t be so sure. It took a lot to convince him to come here, and I get the feeling he really hasn’t embraced the community as much as he wanted to. I don’t fault him for that. Everyone has a sense of ‘home’ and if he feels like he needs to leave, who am I to stop him.
But what bothers me the most is how it seems he was brought in to get the job done – which he did, than leaves in a cloud of smoke. Public service really isn’t what it used to be – it seems their only mission these days is to raise our taxes and leave it to the taxpayers to figure out how to manage it.