Elk County... Are your property taxes about to go up... again?

[Patriot]

Is it a taxpayer's duty to protect the kids?  I think, Patriot you are dissapointed with the decisions that the School Board makes with your money to protect the school.   Not the kids...

No, it's the parent's duty first.  You're right, and I'm disappointed with their 'gotta have all the toys' mentality.  How many kids died or were hurt because there were no cell phones for school staff.  Stats please.  Forget the want bone.  Prove the need.

Look at the big picure, not focus on a cell phone.   I would rather pay for a cell phone with a good overall plan, then leather chairs.

The devil IS in the details.  And a reported $12,000 phone bill is no small detail.  That's a lot of textbooks.

I would say, "Run for school board position nect go around", Patriot.

That's an oft repeated mantra around here.  "Unhappy with the elected leadership?  Run yourself."  What ever happened to the concept of voters holding elected officials accountable?

I can't...I don't live in the county.  

And I don't live in that school district... nor do I even have kids in school any more.  Which leads to a whole other argument about school funding.

And I hate paying taxes to a schoolboard that isn't in my county either!   I think that sucks!

You shouldn't have to... get the folks in your county to build a school that supports the kids in your area.

[Patriot]

ready to ponder a bit and not be so reactive.

Hugs all around.  I still luv ya already.

[Patriot]

Do you think that is going to stop Howard or Elk Konnected  from continuing to try?

Come to think of it, one of EK's first Kommunity Konversations was a 'roundtable' meeting led by Mr Woodbury at West Elk HS and was about the future of our schools.  Koincidence?  One must wonder.

After all, Elk Konnected has well proven that they're all about tax dollars & OPM (Other Peoples Money).

[Ross]

Patriot I said it before.

I pulled my son out of West Elk because they wanted to be the parent instead of teaching.

I tried working with my son on his hand writting and he fought it saying we don't have to do that at school. Of course as a parent I told him this isn't at school this is at home and you will practice.

On the hand writting they also stated when he gets in the higher grades the teachers would not accept hand writing that they can't read and they would handle it. It was simply the lower grade teacher passing the problem on to the higher grade teachers.

At an IEP (individual education plan) the special Ediucation teacher told me they did not want to waste their time working on hand writing and the principal told me some college professor wrote an editorial in the NY Times saying kids didn't need to know how to write because they would all have key boards on computers. Of course they didn't know i had read the same editorial. The professor was beoing sarcastic and was upset that his own daughter could not sign her own name any better than a third grader on her college entrance papers. He also stated that children with better hand writing also made better grades.

When I wanted to hold my son back one grade the school went against my wishes and moved him ahead anyway. I pulled him out and moved him to Elk Valley. The school West Elk does not legally have the option to go against the parents wishes. I know my son far better than they do. I also know when they can't read a childs hand writting they can not possibly give a passing grade on a test but they did anyway. The marked answers correct that he could not even read his own answers to.

On the hand writting they also stated when he gets in the higher grades the teachers would not accept hand writing that they can't read and they would handle it. It was simply the lower grade teacher passing the problem on to the higher grade teachers.

I tried working with my son on his hand writting and he fought it saying we don't have to do that at school. Of course as a parent I told him this isn't at school, this is at home and you will practice.

I find a far better attitude from the teachers at Elk Valley and from the administrators.

I did try to talk with the West Elk Superintendent but to no avail before making the move.

It's all about attitude, attitude attitude.

[thatsMRSc2u]

  I have to weigh in on the cell phone issue........when somebody sees a guy with a gun in a school or on a campus they can get the word out to classrooms, which I know most have some kind of intercom, but without the immediate PANIC that would ensue if they just broadcast it over the loud speakers. As a mom who has had her kids school locked down because of bomb threats etc. sounds like a damn fine idea to me. ( and I live in BFE missouri so dont say it wont happen there cause sooner or later it will)

[mtcookson]

  I have to weigh in on the cell phone issue........when somebody sees a guy with a gun in a school or on a campus they can get the word out to classrooms, which I know most have some kind of intercom, but without the immediate PANIC that would ensue if they just broadcast it over the loud speakers. As a mom who has had her kids school locked down because of bomb threats etc. sounds like a damn fine idea to me. ( and I live in BFE missouri so dont say it wont happen there cause sooner or later it will)

In a case like that I'd rather just buy all of the teachers a handgun and some training, it would be substantially cheaper in the long run and would do more good.

[Ross]

Amen mtcookson

of Course get them trained.

[Patriot]

...and would do more good.

When it comes to school invasions, your idea would surely have more deterrent potential than a dozen cell phones.

[mtcookson]

I'm also curious how they did the cell phones. If they went with SKT, for instance, the absolute minimum monthly cost for 5 phones is $88.75 per month. That gives you 1000 minutes shared between the 5 phones (nights and weekends are taken from those 1000 as well), no text (texts can be received for free but texts sent are $0.15 per text), no voice mail, and no data. You can only have 5 phones per plan (contract) so they would have to get multiple contracts if more than that were needed. Lets say they get 20 phones you're looking at a minimum cost of $355.00 per month (before taxes) or $4,260.00 per year (before taxes).

Edit: calculated the below wrong first time through, these numbers should now be correct
That's if they are using regular phones. If they for some reason feel the need for smart phones so the teachers/whomever can email and whatnot then costs will jump quite a bit. At a minimum, using the 20 phone scenario again, you would be looking at $954.00/mo or $11,448.00/yr, both before taxes, includes the 1000 shared minutes (nights and weekends come from the 1000), unlimited smartphone data (texts are included in this price), and the phone insurance program (I think it is required for the smart phones), and no voice mail (only $2 per extra phone per month if it was needed). That also doesn't include the initial cost for the phones as I don't believe they currently have any free smart phones with 2 year contract. They used to have some that were $99 with 2 year contract but they stopped carrying them last I heard so you'd be looking at even more than that, probably around $199 per phone at a minimum. Sooooo... first month's cost would be $3,980.00 for the phones plus the $954.00. First year cost should be $15,428.00, before taxes, with tax it should be $16,554.24.

To give an idea of the maximum price, it should be in the area of $1,909.00/mo or $22,908.00/yr before taxes, that's for unlimited everything pretty much (more options can be added though) for 20 phones.

[Diane Amberg]

Did anyone verify that this isn't just an unfounded rumor? It seems rather strange.