School Superintendent, Not So Super!

An interesting article appeared in the Pitch last month, August 2, 2017 (http://www.pitch.com/news/article/20971273/jim-hinson-shawnee-missions-swaggering-superintendent-vanished-after-parents-spoke-up-what-happened) outlining the misadventures of Dr. Jim Hinson as superintendent of the Shawnee Mission School District and the highest paid public school official in the state of Kansas.  Here in Independence, we know him, too, and the article was most interesting concerning his time in the Independence School District, especially regarding his special relationship with board member, Matt Mallinson.  We get some revealing information about Matt who is also a board member of the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA).  Some might recall him as representing the “National Trails” interest in what Mayor Weir presented at a public meeting as an official endorsement of the MACO Northcreek rental duplex project also supported by the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC).  Yes, most folks don’t realize this but OCTA, under Mallinson's leadership, has expanded its mission to provide design review and endorsements of publicly-subsidized housing projects.  You might also recall Mr. Mallinson as promoting the less historic trace of the old national trails on River Boulevard that grants him economic advantages in promoting his business at Gilpintown, a faux history site.  The tax payers of Independence and Sugar Creek were forced to purchase Mallinson family-owned real estate at over 6 times the county’s assessed value while Hinson gave away naming rights for the school to the Mallinson family, a tradition usually reserved for those who give to youth education, not take away.  Then we were forced to invest further in this property moving dirt and leveling the site just to make it suitable for a building.  The photo above highlights one of the most significant investments on the property as viewed from the school’s entrance near Forest & Mallinson Streets: the fill dirt.  Yes, politics has its perks.  And I almost hesitate to say that the "dirt" in local politics is literal and figurative.  During Dr. Hinson’s time in Independence and his “autocratic style,” he disposed of almost all the district’s inventory of historic buildings without consulting the district’s community-based Facilities Planning Committee.  It’s no wonder the Pitch article refers to the real estate transaction as “incestuous” while suggesting that Independence patrons and leaders are unengaged.  We elect school board members to represent all the tax payers and account for the limited resources we have for investments in our community’s youth.  We don’t elect them to represent their own financial interests or that of their family members.  Yes, it is good that Dr. Hinson has moved on, but we still end up with a management structure modeled by Hinson and a school board that’s not really interested in leading.  “Is it good for the children?”