School Changes

[pepelect]

   I guess there is no new information on the school.  The is a meeting Monday for the board to get a glimpse of what the architect's vision of the school is and where it should be in the future. 

The entire community needs to be a part of that meeting.  It is your child and your school.    If you have no kids in school you still pay taxes and need to have input on how it is spent.   

The financial situation is very dire for our district.   It needs to become more efficient.  There should be a  general overhaul on how money is spent from the top down.  The most expensive item to the most economical.  Every gallon of fuel should be weighed against every computer purchased. 
If you have a job and get a 50% cut in salary you must reduce your expenses by 50%.  We obviously haven't been doing that.  We have this mentality that more will come we will save next year. 

It is next year.   

I can't see into the future but the state money is down to a trickle.  I would expect 10-20% cuts for the next 4 years. 

New buildings are more efficient to maintain, clean, heat, and cool.   Old buildings are cheaper to sit and rot.  Spend more money on maintenance, upkeep, and safety upgrades or spend money on efficiency, building designed to teach better, and become more efficient to spend more money on teachers.  If we are not paying outlandish gas bills we could have raises.  If we didn't have safer bleachers we could have another para.   

[D Whetstone]

An update, from my perspective, on the latest School Board Meeting and action -

At last nights (Jan 12) Board Meeting, architects from PBA presented some preliminary information regarding a centralized school (K-12).  At the December Board meeting, the Board formed a Facilities Advisory Committee with representation from administrators, faculty, SB members, and parents/public.  They were advised to attend the January meeting as PBA would be presenting this information.

I believe that all FAC members were probably present. But, how would you know?  I am very dissapointed in that the Board failed to recognize those present as part of the FAC and, more importantly, let them know what their "purpose" or "charge" would be.  Yes, the public was allowed to ask questions and make comment.  And, yes, there was a meeting of the FAC planned for January 26th at 7 pm at the Severy Multi Purpose room.  Additionally, at the request of Tim Moore (good idea Tim), the FAC will be touring all facilities on the 20th starting at 6 pm in Severy. Tours at Howard will follow at 7 pm and Moline at 8 pm.  But, I reiterate, this committee does not know what its purpose will be.

The Board needs to show some/more leadership and recognize the members for their service and, again, let them know what is their purpose.

Lastly,  to follow up on the formatin of the FAC - this was a decision of the Board. I think a good one. One that I hope will engage citizens of our school district in the decision making.  The Board asked Elk Konnected Steering Committee to bring eight citizens to the FAC. Our goal being to get equal representation from across the School District. Our (Elk Konnected) intent is to simply employ the process of citizen engagement and to have an ongoing community conversation.  And it is our belief that through this conversation, the best results will be obtained. Whatever they might be.

Get involved and Stay with us as we grow,

David

[L Hendricks]

I wasn't able to attend all of the meeting but I would guess that most of the newly formed FAC group was there... so the public knows who this group is I will list them here and put what group they represent (I think).  I for one appreciate these people for taking on this task and would like to say thanks! 

ELK Konnected
Beth Jones,Tim Moore,Dan Cookson,Matt Hilton,Dana Mills,Mary Mericle,Lynn Thompson,Byrdee Miller

Moline Site Council
Josh Kessinger, Pat Perkins
Moline Staff
Shelia Huntington, Lynne Miller
Moline Administrator
Shirley Hugill

WEHS Site Council
Debbie Zellner,Kathy Price
WEHS Staff
Boyd Koehn,Dana Taliaferro
WEHS Administrator
Corey Reece

Severy Site Council
Nancy Barker,Robin Jackson
Severy Staff
Kate Perkins,Susan Galvan
Severy Administrator
Pam Leiker

USD 282 School Board
Jim Roebuck,Roxanne Walker,Marty Taliaferro

Administrator
Bert Moore

[D Whetstone]

Yes, Liz, I think they probably were. My sarcasm was intentional.

I, too, would like to thank all who have stepped forward to hopefully be part of a positive conversation and process to bring the best education for our kids forward.

David

[indygal]

David, I believe all eight members of the EK-FAC group were at Monday's board meeting (not sure about Beth, but I was seated on the edge of the room and couldn't see very well). I admit I left the meeting with more questions than answers. It's good that we'll be touring the three schools next week so we'll have a better idea of the current arrangements. I agree that we need more direction from the school board as to what they consider to be our purpose.

[L Hendricks]

Yes - Dr Dave - I heard the tone... Indygal - you are right - I think most people have a lot more questions.  I encourage those on the committee and the citizens of the community to voice the questions - for short term solutions and for long term solution so that maybe some of these questions can start to be answered. This FAC group could prove very valuable in obtaining answers to long awaited questions... ie distribution of students - where do they live, where do they go to school.... How much do the current buildings cost us to run... can we utilize more than one architect... Is there a way to use space for more than one purpose... would visiting other newly built schools be a valuable tool also... what do we Have to have... what would we like to have and then in the perfect world, what would our dream school look like... Maybe the forum could help other questions surface and someone from the FAC could help get some answers....
Stay with us as we grow!

[pepelect]

Are there any 4 day a week schools with our excellent academic record?  Do we put dollars before grades?   I know that the financial times are very trying but to lower the quality in a depressed economy would not be a service to the graduates for the next 20 years. 

How ever miss guided or unique our three campus system is.  Expensive....Inefficient....yes.....

But one thing for sure, it does work. 

We don't need a second language........
Who cares if you can't debit or credit..... We can always get other people to do our heavy lifting and accounting and interpersonal relationships with people from another country.


I am gather that the future of both buildings Moline and Severy schools are shaky at best. 

I would love to see some other side of the square from the communities grab this structure and profit from it.  We have a church in town that is just chomping at the bit to build a new building.   Why build?   Remodel.   

Marketing can help you get the building filled with something more economicly positive than a elementary school......Severy is on one of the best highways in the midwest.  Why not court some company working to downsize to save money and move closer to their market.  East and west coasts are constantly looking for midwestern  locations to cut their distribution expense.......Moline is the only city with a rail spur......Where can you build for cheaper than Elk County.   

The fact we have no zoning and no crime should be on every tag issued by the treasurer's office.   

back to school......  We are not financially prepared to  build a school right away.....Why can't we just put in some temporary classrooms for the two to three years that it will take to get to the next step.  The centralized campus would save more than the temperal emotional distress that it will cause.   Besides uniting a county it would pull all the sides in to be a tighter more efficient machine.  If you knew for sure that your child would be going to the same school for thriteen+ years it adds stability to the planning and cost associated with life.   

Efficiency  right away is more important than stalling for the right time to act.    If there is better gym lights, for instance, than why haven't we got bids on relighting the gym.  If there is a better water pipe than pvc  for the main than why does it take a bond issue to address.  I think there is more efficiency in the current building than we are utilizing.

Why does the board react to an insurance companies recommendation,correct me if I am wrong, who is only trying to save its self exposure, faster and more effectively than the body of patrons that pay the entire bill? 

What would happen if we get the underwriter to send on company letter head that there needs to be one campus for the efficient teaching of the children in the 282 district?

[D Whetstone]

Last nights school board meeting was long. But only because the board engaged in a lengthy discussion about the financial issues that face our district and the possible solutions to satisfy the budget.  The discussion was good. All board members were engaged and spoke.  They spoke of their constituents concerns and desires.  I commend the board for having this discussion.  They need to continue to discuss this to find the best solution.

Everyone knows now that all options are on the table.  That includes closing one of the elementary schools.  Many other options exist.  If you have an opinion, you should call or write to your respective board member.  If you don't feel comfortable calling a board member, call a Facilities Advisory Committee member and voice your concerns/desires to them.  I think it likely the board will and must take some action at the March meeting.

This might be a good time to discuss all options on this forum, so that they will surface and can be passed along to the board.

D Whetstone

[Lookatmeknow!!]

I worry that if we close a school now we will lose even more students.  Can we afford to do this?  I know that it will have to be done, but if we do, could we get an outside member of neither community, to look at the situation and maybe give us their opinion.  We need someone that doesn't have interest in either schools to decide which would be better to close.  Another parent brought that up to me.  Some of the ones making this decision, to close either school, are emotionally involved in either Moline or Severy.  And I know we all let our emotions get the best of us. 

I also worry that we need to take a step back and look how this school situation is effecting us all.  All the communities involved are going to be effected.  But the main people that this will effect are our kids.  I am concerned that some of the desisions are not at the best interest of our students. 

I am also very against hiring Bert back in any position.  Because I feel that he doesn't have our, communities and students, best interest at heart.  He was really upset when the board voted against his split in July or August.  Is he using anger to fuel his fire?  That's just my opinion.  I know that he does a wonderful job some of the time, but sometimes I think anyone could do the job that he does.  Ok, I know that upsets some of you, but I can't help feeling that way.

Whatever we end up doing, someone is going to be upset.  That is a fact!  I didn't attend the meeting last night, forgot about it, and I hope that I remember to attend the future meetings.  I feel, as a parent and tax payer in the district, I need to be more involved in what is going on at those meeting.

[Wilma]

I think that I have said before someplace that my two youngest were involved in the big move from Severy High School to North Elk High School.  There was a lot of controversy, hard feelings between friends and hurt feelings of people that were trying to do the best for our children.  This was because of some people that couldn't stand to lose the high school that they, their children and their grandchildren had attended.  But what is a building when it becomes too unsuitable for the new situation.

I had already compared Howard High School and Severy High School and found Severy wanting.  Our kids were not getting all the benefits that the Howard kids were getting.  (Benefits isn't the best word, but the best word eludes me right now.)  This was because the Severy district just simply couldn't afford the extras that Howard provided.  What I am seeing now is similar, even though all schools are under the same management.  The district just simply can't afford to support 3 learning centers. 

What we need to do is support and encourage our people that have to make the decisions so that they can work without having to duck the uninformed, etc., and I think you all can think of some of the etc.s.  As long as they are keeping us informed as to what can be done and what cannot be done, we should keep our negative comments to ourselves, ask intelligent questions and respectfully pass on any ideas or information that might be helpful.  The board members that I personally know are willing to listen to reasonable people but why should they have to listen to the raving and ranting that is based on not wanting to lose the local school.  Actually, nobody is losing a school, it is just being moved to a new location.  I think that you all know that I am all for progress and what is best for the children.  While I hate the idea of the Severy Schoolhouse being closed (all my children went there), if it is in the best interest of the children, then it needs to be closed.

My oldest was in the third grade when the Severy schoolhouse was built.  That was 50 years ago.  And isn't the Moline school building even older?