Thoughts for the public –
Being one of the new members of the Greene County School board, I would like to thank everyone that voted for me and continues to give me support for making the decision to get on the board. Just being on the board for a few months now, wow, is there a lot to take in. From all the new issues that the board has had to deal with this year, like revising the good student conduct policy again, moving the prom activities to the convention center at Wild Rose, and of course, budget issues.
First up, being new on the school board, and an average citizen that has never been involved like this, you cannot even begin to imagine the way all of the finances work in a school system. There is more than just one account of money in a school, and I think most of the people in the community do not realize this.
State guidelines do not allow you to share money between operating school funds, which most everyone would agree that this is not a smart way to run, but there is nothing that any school can do about that. Is that frustrating? Absolutely. I wish that each school could put all their money into one fund and be told to spend wisely, like any other person or business in society, but that is just not an option. This would definitely make all school systems run more effectively, and most certainly, more efficiently!
Next up, the issue with the bond referendum: I would like to take a few seconds of your time to tell you what I think.
On the first vote I will be more than willing to tell everyone that I voted NO. Now, let me tell you why.
First, being in the contracting business for almost 27 years, it just didn’t make sense to me. If it doesn’t make sense to a long time contractor, it is definitely not going to make sense to the general public.
I had a lot of questions just like a lot of voters in our district. Why do we need this? What’s going to happen with the taxes? Shouldn’t academics come before athletics? Is geo thermal heating really a good retrofit to an old building? These were just a few questions that I went into at my first facilities meeting with. After a long meeting with that group, and after asking a lot of questions, some of which there were no answers to, I started opening up the debate of “why?”
Now for the important part, why I am going to vote YES next time. I have taken in information about the new school that we are looking at proposing in the fall. We, as a community have five buildings in our district, which everyone knows that it takes much more money to operate five buildings versus two buildings.
Two of the five buildings we own are 100 and 101 years old! Does anyone still have the first car that they bought when they were young? Most of us would have to say no. Here lies the problem with two of the buildings we have – they are so out of date it is going to take huge amounts of money to bring them up to today’s standards for students and their learning environment.
They both have very old heating systems, they both have no air conditioning, which does make a difference. Have you ever heard of letting school out because it’s too hot? Yes, we do that, then we have to make that time up.
There are general age issues with the buildings as well as ADA (handicap accessibilities)regulations that have to be addressed. These are just a couple of the big ones to think about out of a considerably long list of items.
I have toured all of our buildings with architects and engineers to see what we need to do. To say the least most of you will be shocked. When these were built back in the early 1900s there were at least six or seven school districts in Greene County; now there are two. We are trying to operate almost an entire county worth of students in old buildings that were not designed for a whole county worth of students to fit in them.
So the question comes up, what do we do now? Do we spend millions of dollars to update and retrofit our old buildings to meet 21st century school standards? By doing so, our buildings will still be over 100 years old, or do we spend millions on a new building that will help us make our school district run more efficiently and effectively, which in turn, makes for a better learning environment for our students?
Our new proposal does still include a new gym, but I feel that when you take the time to process all of the information that the committee is putting together for you, the voter, I am very hopeful that it will make much more sense for you to understand.
The big yellow spot on the previous flyer you received was not all gym as many of you think, just as I did. It also includes 24 new classrooms, a lunch room, a set of restrooms, and an elevator.
The new gym is more of a community investment than a school investment. If the school district can host large events here, not only will the school benefit but the community will as well. People will eat here, shop here, buy gas here, and some may even move here.
Budget issues are also a big topic, and is a work in progress. I am hopeful that the right decisions will be made, and we can stop foolish spending and do our best to make the school system run as efficiently as possible. This will not make hundreds of thousands of dollars in differences, but we have to start somewhere.
When working on a budget, whether it be the school’s budget, a business budget, or personal budget, I hope that everyone realizes the school’s budget is in the best interest of the school district, and personal matters or relationships should not get confused with that. As mentioned above, the school’s budget is divided into different funds which cannot be mixed. Please don’t make false judgments on how the school district’s money is spent until you understand how it works.
With that being said, I challenge all of you, “yes” voters, “no” voters, and undecided voters to get involved. Please take the time to learn how the finances work, learn how the school operates, and tour the buildings.
It is very easy to be negative, write articles to the paper, vote “no,” or just not be involved. I challenge you to do what I have done: get on the board, get involved, learn how the system works, and strive to make changes. It’s not easy, but it will make us become the school that everyone wants their children to attend.
Once again, I thank you for your support and hope that you will take my advice and become involved. It’s our kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids that need you to do that for, as it was done for us in the past.
Thanks again.
John McConnell, Jefferson – Greene County Schools board member
