Wednesday, December 10, 2008

West Bend School Referendum Coming

Here we go.

West Bend’s spring school referendum, delayed from fall due to the economy, will remain at $68.8 million, said Superintendent Patricia Herdrich.

[...]

On Monday, Public Information Coordinator Amy Swanson outlined the district’s public information campaign, which includes newsletters, letters to the editor, Web site updates, news releases, open houses and other communications.

The referendum

   Question 1 builds a new, 650-capacity Jackson Elementary School on a new site, remodels Silverbrook Middle School to hold 900 students and addresses energy inefficiencies, remodels Decorah Elementary to hold 650 students and fixes its cracked wing and puts safe and secure entrances at the high schools, McLane, Green Tree and Fair Park. It costs $41.5 million.

   Question 2 remodels Badger Middle School to hold 900 students and makes it disabled-accessible. It costs $27.4 million.

Without debating the merits of the referenda (yet), I will predict that barring a complete recovery of the economy, these referenda will fail.  I hope the district has a plan B. 

Also, it will be interesting to see what the marketing campaign looks like this time and how much it will cost.

(6) Comments
Posted by Owen at 0709 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. Leeches.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 10, 2008 at 1226 hrs


  2. A two-year-old understands “no”. What specific nuance of the word eludes The West Bend School Board?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 10, 2008 at 1300 hrs


  3. So the economy is better now, in their estimation?  I’d like to see that reasoning ...

    hmmm

    Posted by hsgbdmama on December 10, 2008 at 1348 hrs


  4. In reality the economy is not that much better, but you cannot just decide to do a referendum a couple of weeks before the vote.  There are timelines spelled out in state statute that must be followed.  So, planning ahead is necessary.  If things are as bad in March as they were in October the referendum can again be rescinded.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 10, 2008 at 2124 hrs


  5. But it’s for the Children!!!!  If we get but one more mildly functional McDonalds worker that can make change out of it, it’s worth it.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 11, 2008 at 0849 hrs


  6. The funny thing is that if it really was for the children - people would vote for it.

    I’ve been in Badger middle school even though I’m not in that school district, and frankly it looks better than the grade school and the high school that I attended. Somehow I managed to get an engineering degree and an MBA from Marquette while maintaining a very high GPA. Why? Because the teachers were great to good and my parents made education a very high priority.

    Buildings do not educate kids - Teachers and parents educate kids.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 11, 2008 at 1048 hrs


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