No wonder they all voted yes. They're getting almost all the money from this plan and they have almost none of the property value so their taxes will hardly go up.

And the whining continues.................................................

Did you also notice those areas that voted yes live in an area that gets much higher taconite tax relief than those in the north! I'm not whining. What is done is done. It is a fact however that because of the increase in property taxes we will be forced to leave our quite modest lake home. We will soon be on a fixed income (as are a lot of other lake residents) and will not be able to afford the taxes. Thank you school board. We've just lost our home! ( Wonder what it would have taken to petition to split the district in two. Apparently North and South have had quite a difference of opinion for years.)

14$ a month causes you to lose your home? maybe you should have 3 less drinks a month.

Maybe if someone had spoken up at the original meeting, instead of whining about the school moving out of town, maybe Tower would have gotten a brand new building too (remember that was one of the options) , instead no one wanted to mention the idea that would have gotten us a new building, so the board took that as our priroity was keeping the school in town and opted to give us just an elementary to "keep the school in town." We have no one but us to blame. Now we need to make the best of the siuation that we have, and make it the best elementary school in northern MN.

$14 a month. HMMMM! what la la land do you live in? Our property values have kept going up so our taxes have kept going up. Value increase does not increase your income unless you sell it. 3 less drinks a month? Perhaps you drink but I don't. One shouldn't pass judgment without knowing the facts.

patty, yes we do need to make the best of the situation and I never had a problem with paying a bit more to help our schools. We do need to make our schools better. They have declined terribly over the last 20 years. Perhaps our best recourse is when some board members are up for re-election. This was poorly handled.

I agree it was poorly handled, but it had to be handled quickly, because of the steps that need to be taken for this kind of thing. Maybe if we had passed a levy then they would have had more time to come up with a better plan, but they had a limited amount of time. I feel that they did just about as good as they could with the limited time and resources that were given.

Mignonne,

It is unfortunate that you feel that you will loose your home. We are living paycheck to paycheck right now, but I will be able to find the minimal amount of money that will provide the kids in our community with continued quality education. Question for you, did you notice that if all went through with a failed referendum and dissolution of the district that a lot of the south would probably have been put in Floodwood School district which pay 508 dollars per hundred thousand. When you casted your vote did you think about all of us down here that may have not been able to afford that kind of increase. We might not all be living on lakes here, but our market values of our houses are not pennies either. It is unfortunate that everyone couldn't get what they wanted. So you can choose to be upset about this or you can get involved with the board and your community in the planning stages to make your school something you can be proud of. That choice is up to you!

i agree patty. :)

im talking about the increase. do the math. 168$/year is 14$ a month. even if it goes up 200$ a year that is still only 17$ a month. people drink more than that away 2 nights a week every week of the year, not counting holidays....

i do not drink, im just using it as an example. i see a whole lot of partiers out there drinking their money away and complaining about being broke. if thats not you, then perhaps one less dinner out a month. one less pot of coffee a day. carpooling to work with neighbors instead of always driving ones self. it doesnt have to be all or nothing, but i see a lot of people spending their money unwisely, and complaining about being broke.

Again you do not know of which you speak. We bought our lake place many years ago when lake values were not much more than other homes. We started out paying about $400 per yr for property tax. The value amazingly doubled in one year without any major improvements except upgrading our septic to meet code. Taxes have now reached about $3500 per year! The school bond will increase that another 650-700 per year. We are not talking the cost of a cup of coffee or a dinner out. AGAIN just because property values increase does not mean income increases. We have been frugal to keep up with the exorbitant tax increase and have tried to help 3 children through increasingly expensive college. We are now talking about 350-400 per month in total taxes. In case you didn't notice we are still paying on a school district referendum from years ago. This has not expired yet. I am not in the Tower area so am not one to judge your school but the area I am in has had a substantial decline in student education over the 20 yrs I have been here. I am willing to pay for good education if that's what I felt the students in this area were getting but they are not! Teachers make a school, not a building! We do not spend our money unwisely as you might suggest. Tell me how many in this current economy see a 650-700 annual pay increase?

Taxation without representation. Tower needs to opt out of the district.

basia,

Actually we cannot opt out of the district but we can open enroll our kids elsewhere. ISD 2142 will be the biggest losers on this plan. I hope they are in for a bumpy ride because the loss of students in the North will be the financial ruin of the district. Great news ahead for the Ely, Mesabi East and Virginia school districts as well as the planned charters!

Yes, because god-forbid these people that own vacation land, who expect our kids to wait on them in restaraunts and bag their grocerys at Zups, that THEY should actually have to pay for those children's education, yes Tower opt out of the district, then see how many programs we'll have at the Tower school when half of the tax base is vacation land that doesn't normally have to pay anything to the school district.

patty,

If this plan had had educational merit we would have voted for it! I could care less if my taxes went up 2 or 3 times this amount IF MY KIDS WERE EDUCATED!!!! I voted NO because MY kids MY areas kids were just as important as other areas kids.

I post my name and stand by my choices.

My kids will be sent to a school with PROVEN educational strength! Its called being a GOOD parent! Taxes were second to anything else. Let me ask you this.......... if the plan was about education why does this money say it cannot be used for ANYTHING other then bricks and mortar? Will the new books be made of bricks and mortar? Will the teachers with the CORRECT licensure be made of bricks and mortar?

ISD 2142 will be losing OVER 1 million dollars due to open enrollment. Where will the cost savings come from? Will the kids see anything new to go into those new schools? Hell Tower-Soudan doesnt even see a new or remodeled school. If you have some proof of better education them show it- otherwise please let us move on.

Consolidation of schools will save a lot of $ by needing less personnel overall, and new/remodeled schools will be energy efficient and save the district a ton in fuel costs plus they will have built in state-of -the-art technology . This operational savings will free up a lot of money for educational things like nice books, more kinds of classes and electives, etc... This is how a "bricks-and-mortar" plan will equate in a better education for our children.

Residents of this district were totally misled on the operational savings achievable as a result of this consolidation. According to Johnson Controls, the operational savings will amount to about $380,000, which is about a 1.5 percent of the district's budget. And like most of what Johnson Controls stated, this estimate was exaggerated because it was based on energy prices in 2007-08, when fuel prices were at record highs. Given current energy prices, these savings will be more in the $280,000 range. That amounts to the cost of three teachers, according to Business Manager Kim Johnson. Now, three teachers isn't nothing, but in a district with nearly 150 teachers, it's pretty insignificant. To suggest that spending $120 million (principal plus interest), which amounts to $6 million per year for 20 years, to save $280,000 a year is beyond stupid.

And let's keep in mind, the only savings in terms of teaching efficiency comes through maintaining larger class sizes. That's the primary educational change that we'll see as a result of this plan. Plan_de_vida can argue till the cows come home that larger class sizes are educationally superior, but few people will buy that one.

I appreciate that some voters supported this because they believed the story that this would improve education. Let me just say, they're going to be sadly disappointed. I'd be happy to put money on that.

The fuel and utility savings are not insignificant, but the biggest cost savings will be in 2142 staffing reductions due to consolidation. Those monies can be redirected for educational enhancements.

As enrollment has dwindled over the last 10 years at my children's school so have their opportunities for meaningful high school level classes and electives. I've seen it with my own eyes, much to my dismay. In grade school a small class size is fine to a point. At the high school level a tiny class is a big detriment. Yes, I guess we'll clearly disagree 'till the cows come home over that one.

Yes with the amount of students leaving to open enroll elsewhere there will be lots of teachers who lose their jobs. At 10k per pupil unit. 100 students will equal 1 million lost. 200 students will equal 2 million lost and so on. Where do you see any cost savings? How many teachers salaries could 1 million dollars pay for? How many books and computers could 2 million buy? In the end the yes vote killed ISD 2142. Ironic isn't it.

ok im confused, if its 650-700 per year, how does that equal 350-400 per month?

a 700$ a year increase divided by 12 is still only 50$ which is still just the price of a dinner. or a trip to the cities. or the price of basic cable/satellite (i dont have either - maybe its more? less? i dont know) you must be creative with your money these days, yes. but is it doable? definatly. perhaps you need some sort of financial class... ever heard of dave ramsey? hes fantastically smart about money and will help you be too.

i wont pretend to understand taxes. taxes are taxes and (dont know if you are Christian so this might be smoke in your ear or something) but Jesus said 'render to Caesar what is caesars' so we pay our taxes no matter how unfair or how much they may add up to be. the govt makes sure we have roads and schools and other misc things they take care of on our behalf. its not all perfect, but no human is ever perfect, as as such no human run group/committee/govt will ever be perfect either. we have to accept that as such; the district is not perfect. the board members are not perfect. no one is. perfect plans cannot be made by man. so to desire for something perfect for our schools is impossible. there is no such thing.

go patty ;)

greentea, you gotta take of the tower only blinders. i have nothing against doing the best for your kids, but man, you need to figure out which bus you are on. first the education is good, then its bad. not only do you sound like a hypocrite, but you run the risk of not being taken seriously because you cant even get your feelings and your facts straight.

who cares if the money isnt use for books. what it gets us is a positive budget, which will allow for the improvements in the future! as is we get nothing improved and nothing replaced - EVER. which is worse?

i agree with plan_de_vida.... they used to TELL us that they would not be able to offer a class that didnt have a minimum number of students registered, and i believe that number used to be 14? we dont even have classes big enough for every student in the class to register for it and equal 14. how does THAT work? why should 10 kids have to suffer without a class just because there are only 10 of them?

hmm. you seem so sure of the fact that the yes vote will kill 2142, but greentea, you sure are doing your part in open enrolling. so really, its not the yes votes that kill 2142, but the people who choose to remain closed minded to change, and pout, throw a tantrum and leave . childish behavior. i would love to see a better, more adult version of what you have to say, oh, and one that doesnt include hypocritical opinions. dont say one thing here and another there.

i really want the numbers for that 10,000 per student stuff. i want a link, a resource, something. i need to see it for myself before i believe that we actually get that number per student.