More than 80 Linn R-2 district patrons turned out Thursday in a show of support for Lorie Winslow, who met with board members in closed session regarding her future with the district. No action was taken by the board, and because this is a personnel issue, no one representing the school has spoken about the meeting.

Winslow, who has served as principal in Linn for seven years, faced termination for speaking with a fellow administrator and school board member about a family member of a staff member who tested positive for COVID-19, her submission of all of the completed teacher evaluations the day of the school board meeting instead of the day prior to the meeting, and failure to have a teacher’s summative signed in person, rather than virtually, when it was submitted.

According to Winslow’s husband, Tracy, Lorie was told by Superintendent Dena Smith to not discuss the COVID-19 situation with anyone.

“Why did she do this? Because the superintendent told her that the school was not going to tell anyone, and Lorie was concerned with the students and families because this staff member had been at school while students were present, and staff that could have taken the virus home,” Tracy said. “At the end of the day, they are saying Lorie didn’t listen to the superintendent, but at least one of them had the best interest of the students and community in mind through this whole thing - and it wasn’t the person that doesn’t live in our district.”

In February, R-2 board members in closed session hired Lorie Winslow as an administrator with a salary of $79,846 for the 2020-21 school year. She was to fulfill the Director of Student Services position after 18 years as principal, a $3,000 pay cut from the previous school year. 

Winslow explained at the time that Smith asked her to move to the new position. 

“I truly enjoy being elementary principal and had not been seeking a change,” Winslow said. “Unfortunately, I was not given the opportunity to speak with the school board before this decision was made. However, my first priority has always been, and will continue to be, the well-being of our students, and I will do my best to serve them well in my new role.”

In March, the board spoke with Lorie in closed session, during which time a discussion was held regarding her reinstatement as principal. That attempt failed by a 5-2 vote, with board members Lori Greer and Neil Loethen in support of her reinstatement. Loethen has since resigned from the board.

When Thursday’s meeting was announced, patron Charlotte Bellsmith and everyone else in attendance, believed it would be open to the public, but the school posted the meeting as a closed-session gathering.

Some patrons entered the meeting room but were promptly told the meeting was closed, and no one was allowed to stay.

“We expected to hear all of the facts and accusations at the same time, but then no, they said it was closed,” said Bellsmith, who works closely with the school as part of the Osage County Anti-Drug Community Action Team. “Somebody lost control; that’s how I feel about it. I’m just devastated. I don’t want my granddaughter going to summer school here, and I don’t want her going to school here. I don’t feel that with (Smith) in charge, the school cares about our kids or this community, and that breaks my heart. I don’t even have kids here, but I have worked myself to death to try to help these students, and to see it turn around like this is just wrong.”

Bellsmith likened the situation to a one person bullying another.

“We’ve been trying so hard to fight bullying in school and on social media, and somehow, somebody got elected to be our superintendent, and she has decided to be a bully,” she said. “She’s going to run this place the way she wants it run, regardless of our children or our community or the teachers we have. We’re going to lose the good teachers, because how can you work in an environment in which you feel threatened? How can kids learn? This is a school of love and hugs and happiness. When I have a bad day, I come to the 8 o’clock assembly. It is the most amazing thing every single morning. It’s always upbeat and positive and happy. That’s because this is the way Lorie wants these kids to start their day, and end it. The woman is amazing, and to think she has to defend herself is horrible. But she can’t really defend herself because she can’t talk. How can they tell her to defend herself but then not let her speak publicly?”

Bellsmith said she wanted the meeting to be public so that everyone could hear — at the same time — what Winslow and board members, along with Smith, had to say about the matter.

“We want to hear the whole truth for ourselves,” said Bellsmith. “We don’t want to hear one side and then the other. We want to hear it all, and know the truth for what it is, not play ‘he said, she said.’ That’s ridiculous.”

Parish Nurse Lucy Brenner added that she and others support not only Winslow, but the veracity of the matter.

“We want this decision to be based on truth from both sides,” she said. “We want our school board to consider the truth. We are in the United States of America, and we must give our children the very best education at every level that we can possibly offer them. It is the truth and the example the school board is setting that our children will remember. Let us hope and pray that it will be positive, and the goodness of one person to another will prevail, and that everyone will have their way, and the decision will be based on the integrity of each and every one involved.”

Carol Branson, who served for six years on the Linn R-2 school board in the 1980s, and was a 14-year employee of the district,  said she admires Winslow for her determination to get her side of the story out.

“I think that any of us put in her position would work for that same thing,” Branson added. “At the very least, she deserves that. I’m not the kind of person to make a judgment based on anyone else’s interpretation, and I think the whole situation from the very beginning has been mishandled.”

Branson added that she disagrees with what she believes are strong-arm tactics being used in this situation.

“It creates an environment that causes all sorts of suspicion about the motives, and the fact that Lorie was told not to discuss this with anyone truly creates an issue of transparency in the school district,” Branson said. “Like it or not, this is a taxpayer-funded entity. The school board works for the taxpayers, and the superintendent works for the school board. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I respect all conflicting opinions, but give us the facts, and then let everyone decide what they feel is their own interpretation of the situation. Personally, I feel that Lorie not being retained as an employee of the Linn R-2 school district is a mistake.”

Branson went on to say that she and her family are avid supporters of the school district. “Just like Lorie and her family,” she said. “We’ve lost a lot of good people over the last several years who truly wanted to be here. We have seen a trend of hiring administrators, with the exception of a few, that don’t live in the district. If you have someone who drives in every morning and leaves in the afternoon, and no one even knows who they are, that’s a problem. I think everyone is willing to jump in and help the school district, but we need leadership at the top, and that comes from someone who is part of the community. We are paying her to do the job and there needs to be some kind of accountability.”

Along those lines, Hope Gerdes said she is disappointed with the direction in which the school district is headed.

One question she asked the board in a closed session meeting in March dealt with Smith’s proposal for program funding. “There was nothing for the gifted program,” said Gerdes. “Six times it was mentioned that the district was below standard or students were not doing well. Not once was it mentioned there would be a program for gifted children, and her response was that she really hadn’t thought about it. That was by email. Another time I dealt with Dena Smith was regarding the county road east of the school.”

Gerdes said she broached the subject with Smith. “She said she was not aware of any problems with the road,” Gerdes said. “If you’re the superintendent, you’re responsible not only for the elementary and high school students, but also for the grounds and roads leading into the school.”

The four-day school week, adopted by the board to start with the 2020-21 school year, is another sore subject for Gerdes.

“When I asked Dena the reason for the four-day week, she said it was about teacher retention,” said Gerdes. “I told the school board that if they invited in a better tax base by offering a gifted program for students, and sports like soccer and football, which parents in Jefferson City and St. Louis expect, maybe they would have the money to pay their teachers. That was not well received by the board.”

Gerdes made her comments as part of an effort to defend Winslow at the closed-session March meeting.

“They really didn’t like what I had to say,” said Gerdes of board members.

She explained that she has had the utmost respect for Winslow since moving to the Linn area three years ago.

“She’s extremely sincere,” said Gerdes. “She works her heart out for this school district. When we moved here in the middle of the year, there was an ice storm. My son came into a new district in January and he knew no one. Lorie called me that day after school to let me know he had done well, and that he’d had a good day. Who does that?”

As for Thursday’s meeting, Gerdes said she had no confidence there would be any transparency or that Winslow would be treated fairly.

“If the truth were to be told about all of the circumstances surrounding this situation, you would have a huge uprising of all the parents in this district,” said Gerdes. “From Lorie being asked to step down to her being terminated, it’s all a personal attack on her by Dena Smith. At the meeting in March, they gave the false idea that it had to be closed due to COVID-19, but when I walked in, there was no social distancing or masks or anything. They were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, so that was a farce to close the meeting due to the virus, so what else are they hiding?”

Gerdes said she felt it was important to show her support, though it didn’t come without a hint of trepidation. “I fear repercussions against my son because I spoke up against the superintendent,” she said, adding while she has no plans to move out of the district, she may consider a change in schools. “I will move him to a private school.”

Of the many supporters in attendance Thursday, one of the first to arrive in support of Lorie Winslow was 2018 Linn High School graduate Zachary Hicks.

“I only had Mrs. Winslow for a short time but she made an impact on my life,” said Hicks, who remembers Winslow being an advocate for him. “Mrs. Winslow was able to be professional as a principal and caring towards me as a student-athlete.”

When Hicks’ chance to compete in a track meet in high school meet was jeopardized, Winslow’s collaboration with teachers, the superintendent, and the track coach ensured Hicks was able to join his team. “Being on the track team was really important to me at that time,” said Hicks.

He praises Winslow for her personable approach and accredits her for his ability to be a good teammate. He expressed his disappointment in the school board’s decision to close the meeting and said with regret that, “The public is being kept in the dark on what is going on in this school system.”

Also present to support Winslow was Sheriff Mike Bonham, who highlighted that Winslow has always been pro-law enforcement. He said, “Mrs. Winslow worked with us on the Junior Deputy Program, hand-in-hand, to make sure our kids got education about law enforcement.”

Winslow’s ability to “humanize the badge” is something for which Bonham shows his appreciation, and said he thinks highly of the principal for always having the kid’s heart in mind. 

District patron Angie Cole read aloud a letter that she sent to each of the board members directly, pleading that the meeting be opened up to the public. “Unfortunately, Lorie has to defend her character, and she would like to do this publicly, but is being denied the opportunity,” said Cole.

Cole bluntly addressed the school board, asking for transparency, openness, and listening to the voices that may not have yet been heard. She posed the questions of “What is best for our children, our community, and our district?”

Cole’s letter listed various actions Winslow has taken to support the Linn community, such as “picking children up for school if they have missed the bus; taking them home to get a shirt for the band concert; asking around for coats and shoes for children who do not have any … and it is her kindness that guides her.”

Cole ended her letter by acknowledging that Winslow “sets a high bar for those that she supervises, but she will work right there in the trench with you. You will not find another person who can mirror her passion.”

Passion is surely something that drives Cole and the supporters of Winslow, as well. 

Two years ago, Cheryl Probst and her husband, A.J., became foster parents. One of the children attended school at Linn. Probst expressed that, “We could not have fostered effectively without Lorie.”

She shared that Winslow called to check in on the family multiple times, and even brought extra clothes over for the kids. Probst fondly remembers that years ago, she was a babysitter to Winslow, a clear marker of a caring bond between the two. 

Mark Cozart, who moved to Linn in January, said, “When my two boys started school here, Lorie was the first to welcome us to the community. What I found amazing was that she called us and wanted to know how the first day of school went. That floored me, and that’s why I’m here tonight.”

Cozart came to support Winslow for his children and for his new-found community here in Linn.

David Branson said that his great-grandchildren, who attend Linn, are fifth-generation students within his family.

“I have seen the way they are with Lorie and how great of an example she is, the way she lifts up her students,” Branson said. “(She) interacts with both students and fellow teachers, and she has been a pleasure to work with as an administrator while I have been here.”