Please stop
Puff,
Please stop overstating the obvious. You will not find a single person in this district who won?’t agree the schools are way overcrowded. Not a one. Our votes for or against bond issues have nothing to do with needing space. It has to do with our confidence in this school board?’s ability to spend the money wisely. I think that is the crux of the fiscal irresponsibility statements. We cannot dispute the awards the district receives for their spending habits and are not trying to as this is primarily related to operations money. What we are disputing is the board?’s ability to spend construction dollars wisely.
First, why build new schools to look like Tussing? Why not build them to look like the others like Violet, Fairfield, etc.? The visual inequities between North and Central will never be forgotten in our generation. If this board has the guts to truly depict equality, build the newest schools to look like the older schools. That?’s my take in that issue.
My reason for voting no to this issue is the same as every other no vote I cast for the winning side to-date. It is the wrong option to vote for. The board refuses to address the solution that would probably fly if offered. Add on to existing schools. They have the land so the costs used to buy land could be rolled back into classrooms. There is virtually no school site that doesn?’t have enough acreage to add on an annex. Yes, even Heritage could be added on to with proper planning. Yes, even Pickerington could be added on to with a single land purchase of the property south of the school.
The only new building that needs to be built is a kindergarten and preschool on the Sycamore Creek site. This will meet the bill for the requirement for the land donation. You could also move the administrative offices there and special Ed or whatever. Be creative. With the space freed up taking portables away and expanding schools you are presenting an option to the voters that at least 51% of us would be willing to swallow.
Cost and overcrowding are not issues. The right plan is the issue.
Puff, you?’ll see after this failure next month that the board will have no choice but to look at the option to add onto existing schools. When they fail next month, I would expect board resignations will immediately follow. You simply cannot lose that many times and expect to stay employed. They have already lost the confidence of the voters in the district. I would like to say that this will be the final nail in their coffin but that nail was driven last time so I don't know what to call this one.
