2/11/01 - Stew Rieckman's column intimating that the referendum was being driven by "envy" of parents who want a school "like Traeger."

2/11/01 - One of the first times implementation of all-day kindergarten and reduced class sizes referred to as an "ulterior motive" for holding a referendum.

8/19/01 - Article on school space crunch upon which Northwestern built their own enrollment projection based on subtracting 16% of children who attend private schools was based on "DPI estimates" and do not reflect years of historical data collected by OASD.

8/26/01 - In an editorial, first time the "timing of the referendum" was questioned even though this would have been one of the legally-permissible times if restrictive state legislation had passed.

10/8/01 - Fitzhenry's "column" espouses concern that if the referendum fails, the Northwestern will be seen as a scapegoat.

10/28/01 - Editorial staff concludes that what the District is asking for is "wants" rather than "needs." Lumping the District's needs with double-digit tax increases by other units of government (e.g., City of Oshkosh and Winnebago County) that are not as statutorily- restricted as school districts in Wisconsin.

10/29/01 - Timing of election again questioned. Setting of October 31st deadline for Letters to the Editor despite continued "editorializing" by the Northwestern that could not be responded to or refuted.

11/1/01 - Article gives the impression that the District misled the public about the state paying two-thirds of the referendum projects. No administrator ever stated that the state of Wisconsin paid two-thirds of our building costs (acknowledged by Northwestern).

11/2/01 - Headline to article, "Tax bills could increase nearly $200" tells voters that they can mitigate the increase by voting "NO" on the referendum questions.

11/4/01 - Stew Rieckman's attack on administration with comments such as "bad enrollment numbers, a stealth election date and covering up the state funding equation" damages reputation now and in the future.

11/4/01 - Taking of Supt. Tom Scullen's (Appleton) remarks "out of context" gave the public the impression that the Oshkosh BOE and administration did not "do their homework" in preparing for the referendum.

8/26/01 - Editorial inaccurately portrayed the "off-year November election" with state legislative efforts to limit "off-schedule" elections.

9/19/01 - Headline that "No school board member is satisfied with plan" misrepresents comments made by BOE members at various points in the process.

10/25/01 - Article headline that "Programs crowd schools" gives the impression that if certain programs "go away," space will abound.

10/28/01 - Totally inaccurate depiction of what the Assistant State Attorney General "ruled" on the alleged Open Meetings violations. Confused the public into believing a law had been violated. "Ruling" is simply an "opinion" and carries no sanctions by itself. Lack of overall plan argument first made and conflicts with the fact that the Northwestern was provided with each of the four drafts of the Oshkosh Area School District Facilities & Staffing Master Plan at various points beginning in June, 2001 through August, 2001.

10/30/01 - Apparent acknowledgement in Editorial that District has a plan when they state, "The school board needs to go back to the drawing board and create a less costly plan. The taxpayers deserve to see such a plan."

10/31/01 - Editorial discussion of process states, "Good, diligent people contributed to the committees, but the folks closest and most passionate about issues, especially parents with children in school, cannot always take an unprejudiced and dispassionate view on issues" totally ignores the fact that retired citizens and others without children in the public schools were a part of the Districtwide Boundary Committee.

11/1/01 - Two days after acknowledging the existence of a plan, an Editorial headline "Lack of plan apparent in referendum."

11/4/01 - Editorial again expresses the "lack of an overall plan and priorities"

6/27/01 - In an editorial, it was stated, "Board members should keep in mind that….Simpler is better. A multi-faceted question decreases the odds for passage." This statement would seem to indicate having fewer rather than more referendum questions, yet the Northwestern made an issue of not having the Sunset project separated out from the rest of the projects. Confused?

9/3/01 - In Jim Fitzhenry's "column", he asked, "Why do we need more space if enrollment is projected to decline?" This clearly indicates what I have suspected all along that neither he nor the other members of the editorial staff read any of the information they are provided. In each DRAFT of the Oshkosh Area School District Facilities & Staffing Master Plan, a page was included that answered this question, yet Mr. Fitzhenry either missed or ignored it.