The Greene County Community Schools board of education at its regular meeting Sept. 16 organized for the 2015-16 year, with incumbent Ashley Johnston and new member John McConnell taking their oaths of office, but before that was done, the “old” board’s last item of discussion was the $20 million bond proposal that was on the Sept. 8 ballot.
The proposal failed 975 votes to 649 votes. It would have funded new construction and renovations to bring all the district’s students under two roofs, both in Jefferson.
Superintendent Tim Christensen suggested the board try to determine why people voted against the proposal “and then do our best to address those questions and concerns.”
Sam Harding was blunt. “I think you’ve got to let people come in and bitch, and then we ask them a question,” he said. He suggested asking the naysayers for their 50-year plan for the district’s buildings, since they voted against the one suggested by the facilities committee and the board. “We have to go to Scranton and Rippey and Grand Junction and Jefferson and be ready to take ill comments,” he said.
Board members Mark Peters and Teresa Hagen said part of going forward should be an effort to educate the public about school finance. “There’s been so much misinformation put forth about how schools are funded, what you can use money for and what you can’t. That’s the place to start, is to figure out how get correct information out,” he said.
Board member Susan Burkett suggested that people might be more willing to share their views on a written survey. “We don’t want people to feel like we’re going to drag them in here and make them tell us why they voted ‘no.’ There has to be a softer way to get the information,” she said. She said the people who are eager to come in and share their views might not hold the same views as the majority of the naysayers.
“I think the process of holding a public forum is good,” board member David Ohrt said. “Saying ‘no’ is easy. What we need to know is if people have a better solution. We need to know what people can say ‘yes’ to.”
The proposal was developed by a facilities study committee composed of community members, teachers, board members and administrators. “I don’t think people know that the proposal we put out was a scaled down version of what the committee suggested,” Hagen said. “I think giving them the scaled down version and not letting them see the original was a mistake.”
Price tag for the first plan was $30 million. “We didn’t want to spend $30 million, so we pared it down,” Harding said. “Maybe we should have come with the $30 million, three gyms on the high school plan. That would have really gotten some tongues wagging. We thought we were doing our duty to get it down to our minimum need.”
“I don’t think people understood the process to get to that point. It wasn’t just one meeting of us saying ‘this is what we want to spend $20 million on.’ It wasn’t the school board. It was the administration and members of the community,” board member Jeff Lamoureux said.
Johnston, who first served on the East Greene board, said voters in eastern Greene County need to see what was done at the Grand Junction building, and what would still need to be done there and at the middle school to keep those buildings open long term. “People don’t have an understanding of what it takes, with windows, doors, heating and cooling,” she said.
Harding added that both the vintage buildings and the high school have worn out heating systems that will require major repairs, as well as new roofs. “If you add up all the things that are going to need repair, it’s going to add up to pretty close to the $20 million,” he said.
Christensen said that within the next two or three weeks he would schedule public forums to hear from voters, particularly the “no” voters. The facilities committee will be involved with the meetings.
“I think providing the opportunity for the ‘no’ voters to talk to us will speak volumes, even if people don’t show up. They’ll know we want their input, we want to know what they’re thinking,” Ohrt said.
The retiring board adjourned after the discussion. Outgoing board member Lamoureux was thanked for his service.
The new board elected Hagen as president and Ohrt as vice president. Regular meetings will continue to be held the third Wednesday of the month, with a work session at 5:15 and the meeting at 6:30 pm. (An exception will be the November meeting, which will be held the second Wednesday.) The board appointed Johnston as its delegate to the Iowa Association of School Boards assembly.
The board approved a lease with Roger and Colleen Norgren for a portion of their property that is used as a parking area at the Rippey baseball field. The school will lease the land from April 1 to Oct. 1, 2015, 2016 and 2017 at a price of $300 per year.
