125 Million School BOnd Issue

[Thunder]

http://www.koco.com/education/27031807/detail.html

Kerr Jr High was saved!!!

[Drake]

well its official.
The school board in an emotional knee jerk reaction voted to surplus and sale Sooner and Traub.

and they didnt allow any citizen input. Just called the motion, voted and walked away

Why do you consider it an "emotional knee jerk reaction"?

[easternobserver]

how do you not have a public hearing? oh wait, they had one -- it was called an election, and they lost.

[Redskin 70]

Why do you consider it an "emotional knee jerk reaction"?

because I know one of the school board members.........and I know their thoughts on loosing the election..................
hope that answers your question

[Redskin 70]

http://www.koco.com/education/27031807/detail.html

Kerr Jr High was saved!!!

no thunder, shallow victory, they want Kerr shut down and that will also happen, this is merely the first shot

[Drake]

how do you not have a public hearing? oh wait, they had one -- it was called an election, and they lost.

If you consider 59.9% to 40.1% a loss, you are correct.

Money spent has to be cut somewhere. Pouring it into buildings that are past their useful life doesn't seem like a great idea.

[Drake]

because I know one of the school board members.........and I know their thoughts on loosing the election..................
hope that answers your question

OK. Then what should be done?

Any ideas on how to move forward? Status quo?

[Redskin 70]

OK. Then what should be done?

Any ideas on how to move forward? Status quo?

How would you proceed?

[Drake]

How would you proceed?

Well, I honestly believed closing down old buildings & consolidating (which would a great idea for the state overall) these schools was a good idea. I am sure these were all great schools in their day, but it's time for some decisions to be made. Maintaining all of these seperate buildings, plus having principals, suppport staff etc that go along with all these seperate schools is unecessary.

So basically what the school district proposed. Not saying their plan was perfect, but something needs to be done. I see where Edmond is getting started on their swimming pool that their voters for the night we didn't pass ours.

[bombermwc]

I've always been a consolidation fan myself. This was a great plan that actually would have allowed for a lot of cost savings. Why the crap do we think we had Maps for Kids folks....it was the same damn thing....this time it's just Mid-Del. The people that make the same old arugment of "that's where i went to school" simply ignore the problem and wany money to come from nowhere....it's stupid.

Thunder - as for enrollment, the OSSAA has what's called ASDM's (average student daily attendnce numbers). They have always calculated 9-12 whether the school had 9the graders or not so that it was a fair count across all districts. The 9th graders at the Mid-Del jr. highs were counted into their high school numbers. So when the 9th graders moved up, the numbers didn't change. That also means that the decline in enrollment at DCHS continues. They are #32 in 6A (the smallest 6A school). Shawnee moves back to 5A in the next 2 year rotation (classes are determined on a 2 year basis, not anually). But between Shawnee, US Grant, NW Classesn, Booker T, Tulsa Memorial....that last 6A spot will be up for grabs and it's not going to be Del City for long. US Grant actually has more students enrolled, but they didn't attend classes. That's why their principal (a former Jarman teacher) pushed for so kids to put their butts in their seats. It affected their enrollment and actually bumped them above Midwest City in size....crazy huh.

So we can either attempt to attack the problem and do something that gives the students better facilties and resources, or we can continue to stick our head in the sand and ignore it. The majority of voters passed the bond issue. If failed to pass because of the stupid backwards super-majority that ONLY schools have to have....and by less than 300 votes. So to say the district overwhelmingly lost, is false. The voters showed they want it by a majority. Now the district will simply start the closure process on it's own and overcrowd the school. Then they can use that as a means to say they need school expansion and the bond will be re-organized and passed. So folks, whether you wanted your schools closed or not...it's happened. Next in line, Jarman and Kerr. If it doesn't happen this year, i bet it happens next year. But it's a lot harder for Monroney and Kerr to absorb that many kids than Sooner Rose and Traub to split to other schools in the area.

[Drake]

Well said Bomber

[Wambo36]

As I understand it, they have plans to sell Traub to Rose State with the stipulation that they can lease it back from them until they (RS) can afford to have it torn down for their future plans. I have no idea what the plans are for Sooner Rose.

[Lauri101]

Well stated and explained bombermwc! You should have been doing PR for Mid-Del before the bond vote. Mid-Del didn't get the word out as they should have

[Thunder]

I don't understand why enrollment is on the decline. Have people gone sterile?! :-(

[rcjunkie]

I don't understand why enrollment is on the decline. Have people gone sterile?! :-(

No, they've rented moving vans!

[Lauri101]

No, they've rented moving vans!

Are they having children in them?

[rcjunkie]

Are they having children in them?

No, making them---if this Uhauls rocking don't bother knocking.

[bombermwc]

Thunder - that's sort of the way things go with any school. Enrollment has to do with the population with children. if you don't move away when your children graduate, then you get old...magic. So that means someone with children can buy your house and feed in. Mid-Del has had a very strong elderly population for 20 years...many of the people that built their homes in the original mile are still there. They are slowly passing away and others are moving in, but they don't neccessarily have children...and the same is happening in Del City.

More to the point though, Del City hasn't been an super attractor of new residents either. The population of the city itself isn't growing, thus there's a decline in population and that equates to fewer students. It's full and there's not much that can be done. Contrast that with the Carl Albert district that is larger than the MCHS and DCHS areas combined...but the density is so much smaller. I predict that if Carl Albert is in danger of becoming a 6A and we see DC in 5A...we'll see a re-drawing of the district lines.

FYI - the district is putting the bond issue out again in September.

[Redskin 70]

So, back on this topic................doing some reasearch on the subject and it appears that MID DEL has current bond indebtness of$39.million dating back to 2005.
They dont plant to retire that amount any time soon yet they want to saddle us with an additional 191 million for lease pruchase of new building.
And one of their talking points was this bond issue would not have raised our property tax....................let me see $39 vs 191.........even new math doesnt equal that one out.
I do hear that citizen groups are forming to fight this proposed issue now. ORganized to include former school bord members and both retired and active teachers.

Now aint that a kick in the arse.............

[bombermwc]

We'll see what happens in the fall with the new superintendent. Maybe the new person will have a different plan and alter the bond issue before the september vote. Or maybe the board will continue to act as they see fit and make it go forward as is.....

[Redskin 70]

was anyone aware that the States Attorney General is currently investigating this lease purchase law the school system is proposing and believes it to be unconstitutional .
Further that the school board has already reached its statutorily approved millage cap and by state law cant go any higher..................unless they utilize another government entity trust authority to do this?

I thought not

[Lauri101]

Wouldn't be the first time the "Hospital Authority" has been used to further needs of MWC. Didn't know the cap had been reached, though - thanks for info!

On the one hand - some of the practices in the past in MWC have pushed the envelope to questionable areas; however, as a MWC resident - I rather like the benefits we've reaped.

[Redskin 70]

But dont you smell collusion? If in fact the school board used the taxing authority of the hospital trust to try and fund their ponzi scheme, and within the existing law, thats the only way they doled do this, and then they allowed the Hospital trust to actually bid on the school sale, even though not meeting the lease back requirement, that stinks of bad government.

And don't forget, if the school system is at their legal millage cap (and they are) and the structure of the proposed bond issue places the 191 million on the property tax owners, than that would mean that for the next 30 years the property tax will never go down and you the property owner will be saddled with a caped millage against your assessed net value until you die. ( I do hope you are around longer than a mere 30 years)

My point is we have been misled.

[Midtowner]

First, it's unfortunate that the voters in MWC decided that funding their own public education wasn't important. That, however, doesn't make the school board right for pursuing a plan B via a public trust whose stated purpose is not building schools. It doesn't sound like you've been misled though, it just sounds like some politicians got overly creative in doing back room deals. That said, I hope the voters send these guys a clear message at the polls.

[Lauri101]

Redskin - I see your point and you are correct - we have been mislead. The whole eminent domain issue with Town Center reeked at the time, but I've selfishly been enjoying the ability to get to the stores easily. I'm still a wee bit too young to benefit from the capped property taxes, and yes, my taxes have gone up every year as have my property values.

Midtowner - sadly, the bulk of the regular voters in MWC are retired folks who did not raise their children here or if they did, they don't care about the schools now. The very same people crying about closing Traub and Sooner-Rose now probably stayed home on election day or worse - didn't stop to think what their "no" vote meant. Maybe this will finally prod the registered voters to actually exercise their right and fulfill their responsibility.