Dear Editor,

July 16, 2025 Easton Valley school board meeting, Principal Brandon Krusey proposed changes to the student handbook regarding eligibility for college courses. His reasoning? Students with high GPAs are “not succeeding” in these courses. His solution? Add ISASP test scores and possibly additional college-administered assessments before students can enroll.
No data, no statistics, no transparency. How many failed? How many passed?  Trust a claim without evidence?

If students earning high GPA’s can’t succeed in college courses, this is not a student problem. It’s a system failure. Specifically, a failure of the curriculum and leadership that the Easton Valley administration and Superintendent Chris Fee are responsible for delivering.

According to Board Policy 602.1, it is the superintendent’s duty to develop and implement a curriculum that prepares students “to function successfully in society and the world of work” and to ensure readiness for “advanced educational opportunities.” Policy 602.3 further mandates that curriculum evaluation must focus on improving teaching and learning and that responsibility lies squarely with the superintendent and must develop evaluation systems to drive improvement in teaching and learning. The policy also requires keeping the board fully informed on progress and gaps in each content area.

We’ve spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on curriculum yet students with top grades are failing to meet college standards. This is an indictment of how poorly our curriculum is working. Instead of fixing the root cause of inadequate preparation our administration is proposing more testing and higher barriers for students. It’s as if they expect ISASP and college placement tests to fix what our classrooms lack.  You can’t pass a test unless you know the information!

This approach shifts blame from district leadership to external institutions, and it’s unacceptable. Our students shouldn’t be penalized for a curriculum that’s failing them. They deserve better and Easton Valley taxpayers deserve results, not excuses.

For five years, this district has deflected responsibility for academic outcomes. It’s time to stop passing the buck. It’s time for the board and community to ask: Why is our curriculum failing our best students? And more importantly: Why has Superintendent Fee failed to deliver on his core responsibility?  Curriculum leadership!

The board policies are clear. The superintendent is responsible for student preparedness. If Chris Fee cannot fulfill that duty and after years of declining academic performance, inflated curriculum spending, and poor accountability, it’s evident he CANNOT then the board must act decisively.

We need a superintendent who can lead, not deflect. One who sees GPA and college success as connected, not contradictory. And one who will fix the problem, not bury it under layers of testing. And one who will focus on student academics, paying off $19,000 per student debt equaling over $10 million and stop trying to bamboozle taxpayers into doling out another $7 million for extracurricular activities.  Chris Fee’s priority is opposite of what a superintendent should be, which is Curriculum Always First.

Richard Betts (Preston, IA)