The disparities in ISD 2142's school reorganization plan demonstrates the importance of having strong representation for your community on the school board. While this plan was developed primarily by Johnson Controls, it clearly has the stamp of the two most outspoken and (like it or not) hardest-working members of the board.
Don't for one minute think it is a coincidence that fully half the money allocated under this plan goes to two sites... Alborn and Cherry, the two communities where the board's two most dominant board members, Chair Bob Larson and Cherry rep. Darrell Bjerklie, live.
I don't fault these two members. They are providing strong representation for their communities and they are, as they say in politics, bringing home the bacon.
Unfortunately, allowing two sites to so dominate the benefits of this bonding measure poses real problems for it elsewhere. And I find the disparities troubling for a number of reasons. The AlBrook and Cherry attendance areas, for example, account for less than a third of the district's student population and probably contribute barely 10 percent of the property value that will pay for this building plan. Yet these two sites will receive fully 50 percent of the money.
Basically, we have a plan that uses the property value of the north half (i.e. lakes Vermilion, Crane, Pelican, and Birch), to pay for new facilities for two sites in the south. The one attendance area (Tower-Soudan) that will pay fully a third of the taxes towards this building plan gets six percent of the money and loses its high school in the process.
The disparity is even worse when you consider the relative impact to students. The Tower-Soudan school is the most remote school in the district in terms of distance to the next closest school, which means the impact from additional busing times will be the largest. By contrast, both AlBrook and Cherry have many alternative choices within just 10 miles. So we're spending half the money generated through this bonding measure on two sites where students would be impacted the least by a school closing.
These two communities would also be impacted the least.by school closure. Both the Cherry and AlBrook schools are located in rural townships, not small cities like we have in the north half. Were the Cherry or AlBrook schools to close, it would not impact area property values, nor would it shutter Main Street businesses and rob hard-working business owners of their livelihoods. School closures in any of the communities in the north would be devastating to Main Streets that are already struggling and it would, in the end, negate the value of the tens of millions of dollars of public investment in infrastructure like sewer and water, airports, sidewalks, etc. None of this would be true in the case of AlBrook or Cherry, since such infrastructure does not exist.
No matter how you slice this plan, it is clearly not a product of a logical or fair process, but is a highly imbalanced approach that threatens to devastate communities that have the most to lose, while skewing the rewards the two communities which stand to lose the least. Can anyone explain how this is reasonable?
It's a shame how the balance of power has gone. The truth is with the amount the Northern part of the district pays in taxes we should be given a much better plan. The Tower-Soudan area pays the Lions share of the taxes, yet we have been given the shaft in this plan. Why don't we do as the parent from Cherry said and pull away and start on own district. With this we can take our majority of the districts tax base. Think about it. Babbitt-Embarrass, Tower-Soudan, Cook and Orr joining with Ely. Let the Southern half see what they can build now. Let's let them survive without our support. They asked for it. Let's give it to them.
VOTE NO on December 8th. Let's work toward a plan that makes sense.
#1 - you cannot force ely on board. if they wanted aboard, they would be here by now. and even tower joining ely, how can anyone be sure ely would keep a school in tower open? for that matter, how would orr be sure that littlefork would keep the orr school open either? its rediculous to think that 2 or more other school districts would pay to keep our buildings open when they could make much more money by importing our students to their district.
#2 - this "northern district" is going to be run by whom? what are the taxes going to look like, especially with the fact that there wont be any taconite relief? how will you get the millions to update the schools (because you cannot avoid it)? where are you going to get the money to pay for all the schools to run at little over half empty. (or little over half full?)
this magic solution you think you have to save your school has absolutely no facts or plan to back it up... that scares me much more than "the system" you seem to fear or hate so much....
Bravesfan,
Hey come look around the Tower-Soudan school and show me the empty
rooms??? The school is not 1/2 filled. That would be the Babbitt school. The plan ISD 2142 came up with is meant to put kids in a less then half filled school. Once again check those facts before you go spouting. You are just way too hilarious.
im talking the school district as a whole. populations are shrinking. yes, even in tower. in other schools they are using all their rooms as well, that doesnt make the school "full" by any means.
youve GOT to get off your "tower only" platform.
Why would I give up on my childrens education? If I had been given the type of alternative Orr had been given I would have been on board. My areas kids are who I see every single day. I stand up for them. Looks like the other areas had someone stand up for them. If someone had for our area things would have been different now wouldn't they.
I feel that that we are on board with other schools, it just that thier board memebers are giving them lies. Did you know that the money that you voted for yesterday, is for building new and demolition. Then in 1-3 years the baord is going to come back and try to pass an operating levy that will be used for education. This means that students will still use the same old books, and not have a new cirriculm until they pass the operating levy. Do you want your taxes to go up even more?
greentea; i repeat; you WERE given the same opportunity orr and cook has: a new school with babbit. i know i know, you said that babbit turned it down, but if you had used the same fervor for that plan as you have to be AGAINST this plan, you surly would have gotten a new school with babbitt.
the point of the referendum isnt to pad our district pockets with tons of money right now, the point is to make a situation in which the district is profiting, not losing money, every year. so yeah, the first couple years we might be using old materials, but the profits we gain from not spending on 7 half empty buildings will grown ad we can start using that money to replace things (i feel, based on necessity - so for example, a big issue is technology, replace and improve on that first. down the line)
and even IF our taxes go up more, we will not, by any means, be exceeding the numbers that other districts pay. we are by far one of the cheapest funded districts and thats saying something considering that we have such a large coverage area.... and its also disgraceful; other districts look at us as tighwads, and then its worse when they actually SEE our buildings.... they laugh at us. we are a joke. and then they look down on us, we are tighwads and we are selfish. we can buy our cabins, buy our boats and snowmobiles and toys, eat out at our local "coffee shop" and we cant fund our schools enough to even keep them updated. SHAMEFUL!
oh, and by the way, like i said, get off your 'tower only' platform. does everyone else have to suffer because you dont want to back down?
hey, you made your choice. you are going to send your kids out of district, getting a deal i guess because your kids give state money to another district, yet you will pay far less in ours that if you lived in virginia...
anyway, more power to ya. if you are that self centered that its your kids and your school or nothing, then we dont really have much to say anymore. you do what you want, but you be happy with your choice, and leave the district alone. whats done is done. good luck to your kids in va.