In Their Own Words: How to Spend $21 Million

Isn’t it funny how I am the only board member that responds?

Cont. Are not good enough, then so be it. I know I should not judge the school by the behavior of one , I would guess if more had been able to they would have talked to me in such a way. Maybe the next board won’t do as much as we did, but I think they will do much more .

Thanks for coming to the meetings Mr. b it means a lot to me.

Eric- good questions man. The 1.2 is out of contingency at the moment. The plan is to pay back contingency from the 21 million but that has not been enacted or even decided yet. While the stadium was not part of the wording in the referendum , we did lean toward getting the community to pay for said stadium. The economy is dried up and all those organizations out there are keeping a hold on their money. I don’t blame them but there was money promised and then retracted when we got the 21 million.

Any referendum moneys as well as the 21 million can not be spent on teachers salaries and the alike. Please don’t forget we have not issued the bonds for several million as of yet, so we are healthy there the whole project is still under budget.
also the fun fair wasn’t all that fun this year. I left in disgust after being chastised for being there by a mis guided angry parent thst could not see it was about the kids. I have supported that fun fair for years , but me thinks I won’t anymore. if my money and donations Re not good enough
Mac – I got it now. the 21 was based on the original amount of earlier referendums we were entitled to that money because we applied ft that time.

Hello Mr. Mitchell, saw you at the Malta Elementary fun fair tonight, that ‘turkey’ of a building had a pretty raucous and spirited evening, I hope you enjoyed it.
I understand the ~$19 mil in grant money is here and the remainder comes down the road. I also understand we paid for the ~$1.2 mil bleachers out of the contingency fund, so you are correct, we have not spent a dime of the grant. Does the board intend to replenish the contingency fund with the grant money? If the contingency fund has now been drawn down by the bleacher project, what will happen if more contingency funds are needed this summer, where will funding come from?

I also wonder about the original $110 mil referendum, though I might just be grasping at straws here. I don’t have a copy of the actual wording, but I thought it said something to the effect that none of the referendum $110 mil would be used for a ‘stadium’, is the contingency fund a component of the $110 mil voted on in the referendum? Are bleachers, lights, and artificial turf (and its required maintenance) enough to be considered a stadium?

Not that the money could have been used for this, but conceptually 1.2 million dollars would buy you some nice FTE (teachers), perhaps even enough FTE to ease class size burdens a bit. Could have helped recoup the staggering losses we are seeing in state funding for transportation. Wishful thinking I know, but kind of puts the “need” and prioritization of these mentioned items in perspective, we layoff teachers, but get a sweet football field.

Ok now I am really lost. Are you trying to say that somehow we leveraged ref monies to get this 21 mil? This was a grant we applied for years ago. Long before we ran the $110 million referendum . We happened to be in the right phase of construction to get this grant .

Put me some clarification out there Mac, I am lost here pal.

Huh? Kinda at a loss here . Do u mean my opinion on what to do with the 21 mil? I am not too sure one has to do with the other, but ok. My opinions are my own, I own them. I don’t blow smoke and I always tell the truth.

I have a hard time grasping what is so bad about the district? Yes you are welcome to give your opinion, but make it informed. Do not go by what others tell you. And do not go by what you read on line or in the papers. I encourage everyone to get to a meeting or join a committee. That is the way to be informed.

Link to Audio from last night’s School Board Candidates Debate: 1hr and 32 mins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtJvdFFGAmQ

Jim: I have a real hard time supporting any of the incumbents and Mr Barnes (who acts like an incumbent). NONE of you said you would rebate the taxpayers any of the money. SPEND SPEND SPEND! It’s like a broken record. All I heard last night was nonsense about forming committees to determine what to do with the money.
You know what that means? SPEND THE MONEY! You even proposed more Taxes (sales) and another referendum for operating expenses. Enough with the spending, let start with the cutting!

The only candidate who told me (in person) that he thinks the money should be applied to debt was Bernie Engh.

blah blah blah Nope thats NOT right Mac. we have been paid $19 million and change and the rest of the money will come when it comes. we havent spent a dime on ANYTHING yet related to this money . the actual amount is for $19,041,186.78 i have seen the voided check stub. i can assure you gentle reader that not a dime has been spent.

They should treat the remaining $19 million like they are the last dollars on this earth. Many homeowners having much more of a difficult time to pay their monthly bills.

Sad to think but wth the temperature getting warmer outside, how many neighbors will sacrifice a month or two of electric or gas just to try and catch up with winter bills but our local levels of government keeps spending then wonder why there is a deficit and end result is to increase taxes and fees for services that the taxes were intended to pay for in the first place, go figure. We’ve let politicians double, triple, and quadruple tax us for items purchased and income made.