Post by doctorwho on Feb 12, 2010 10:47:30 GMT -6
just posted elesewhere also -these are my feelings and as they say I am 'entitled' to them. Our current state with the budget has me very upset. as I am sure as a taxpayer we will be missioned to 'solution' this-- a problem that did not have to be as large.-- so here we go.. all I ask is that if you choose to respond, it is factually, not about my supposed sour grapes etc.. I have moved on from being a parent in this district to being a taxpayer only in this district, but I do still care about it deeply, it is home.
1/ HS students. Has anyone looked at the 1/29 HS attendance numbers. I have. A grand total of 8683, here in one of the ¡¥peak¡¦ years. ( with 500 of those @ Frontier Campus). Where are the 10,400 we needed to spend $124M on ? Answer- never in our lifetime. Remember how many kids the freshman centers were built for ? 8800-8900 @ 80% capacity. Tell me again why we needed to whiz away $150M ( yes 150 ) on a new high school convenient to 15% of the population? ( actually with interest the cost is $210M but who's counting)
>> btw extrapolating Granger and Hill into MVHS ends up with < 2300 students when all classes there.
2/ Brings me to point #2 , who's to blame for this crisis. Surely I agree the state has a big hand in where the schools are headed, but that's what happens when you count totally on something external. Do you plan to live on Social Security and Medicare? I hope not. Then to read the latest in a long line of plain false quotes in the paper that makes me wonder if our admin thinks we are all stupid. ( not part of budget issue but telling parents here that the IHSA would block their kids from playing sports here when that was not true has to be added to this).
¡§Birkett stressed the potential cuts are not the result of district spending, citing 204's high financial ranking by the state.
"This is not District 204 has been spending," Birkett said. "This is we can no longer count on the state of Illinois."
„« Really can they say this with a straight face after spending $150 unneeded expense- also thereby increasing our yearly operating costs for a number of students that is never going to appear ? We didn¡¦t spend that money? Do they thing Springfield is unaware- or the papers ( nope they are aware )
There has been no talk of a possible referendum to make up the budget shortfall, she said when asked.
"We have not talked about referendums at all," Birkett said. "We believe in these fiscal times and what our community is dealing with ... that's not even come up in board discussion."„«
Again, really ? We knew there would be an additional operating referendum from day 1. We also knew that A/C might be added to future refs. Never talked about - bull ! What about the $17,000 line item for our favorite ref consultant who just left town to review the chances of a referendum succeeding ? That's not discussing- why, because we hired someone to review ? How long will the string of falsehoods go on ?
3/ Finances. Restructing debt for 20 additional years, spending money you don't have, wasting money ( i.e. BB land) , continually spending money on consultants to tell you what you should know if you actually put qualified people across the SB ¡V those who have run something in their lives and people with corporate financial and HR experience. Adding an additional $17M to debt to get good bond rates and then not counting it as an expense fopr the new school¡Kwell no matter where you put it it's biting us now isn't it? Extra expenses to run 3 high schools, the whole bus fiasco, the savior that was ADK that now likely will be on the chopping block. Where is the transparency for all this stuff ? A survey that shows that people are thrilled to be able to see their kids grades online does not equal transparency. Where are the final costs for METEA ? They are 6 months overdue being on line - why ? Why, because there stll are parts being added because we can't sell 25 acres, we still do not know BB court costs.
4/ General hysteria. KB is doing her best to get the hysteria going and blaming the state because really it is her only option to close any of this gap now but at what cost ? When kids now are coming home from NV saying that "all" the teachers at Neuqua were talking about all the teachers that are going to be cut next year. They were also talking about all the programs that were going to be cut (they mentioned B teams in sports as well as intramurals and some of the clubs). They also said that they may be cutting music. Is this the learning environment we want ? And be careful what you ask for , someone is bound to dig into our finances in Springfield now with us creating this stir, they better be prepared to explain some things also.
5/So now the answer is to sue for what we are entitled to..hmm. since it's our tax monies and our elected officials ¡V we would in fact be suing ourselves to some extent. Sound familiar?
The General Assembly has the legal authority to decide budget priorities. They can cite the NFSOC lawsuit dismissal as precedence for what governing bodies have the absolute right to decide in our republic form of government
For all those upset now justice would be to be told ' sit down and shut up¨ just like those who tried to point out issues in the past were told. Personal agendas , some as old as 12 years like a former SB president who wanted their Neuqu- when the boundaries were changed and found out 59 would not be the boundary line- the demarcation point would run E-W, and went on a mission to get that school eventually. Well congratulations ¡V we have it, and it might very well be the tipping point for 204. I know people disagree and that is fine, I ask how happy are you with your decision makers now ? One SB member tried to warn people but no one would listen and they were marginalized in the process. Who looks like they had a better handle on tax issue today?
--so now how ironic that all those phoney baloney fear tactics that were used in addition to the 10,400 students may actually come home to roost. The reality of only having 2 high schools ( now without one of the freshman centers ) may come true. Consolidation of buildings is inevitable. For my area the final insult will be to close Watts and move those kids to Owen , both schools underutilized. Then we can have the furthest away HS, the furthest away MS and the fursthest away ES- the 204 hat trick. Without that 1200 student freshman center split shifts, cuts in extra curriculars etc may actually come true. Almost a retelling of sorts of the boy who cried wolf. This time no one will believe it either until it happens , then there will be outrage. Little Johnny and Susie will not get all they deserve for the outrageous taxes we pay, and that is very sad. And the chances of another referendum passing today is slim to none- which is likely what they were told by their consultant. No more ways to divide the community to get the vote they want, the jig is up. Your SB leaders and finance director have fixed us all but good ¡V and now that even includes their supporters¡¦. Well welcome to the good ship Titanic 204. They have re-financed us into oblivion where we once we so far ahead of the game, and other districts. Drunk with power from an open checkbook enough to spend $150M when $124 was allotted, and refinancing then current debt out for our children. Yes, one can say who saw this economy coming, but then that is why you just don't do those things, just in case.
I hope everyone is still thrilled with those who made decisions to put us where we are now - $9.2M in debt with another $20M likely within 12 months.
Regardless of what you think of me I take no pleasure in this. I am only sad that this burden could have been lessened had we not let personal agendas and egos get in the way. No, the total impact couldn't be avoided if the state renegs, but let's say we get a portion of what we deserve back ¡f the mis- spending here will keep us from closing that gap, and who will suffer- everyone. Kids from lessened opportunities and very crowded classrooms, teachers who will lose their jobs ( and I personally know a few of those who have already been given that heads up) , and all of the 204 community. This will do not good for our areas reputation and house pricing..as we went from very special as Dr D called us, to now being in severe trouble. As for Dr D- the smartest decision he made her was to get the hell out of Dodge before this all happened- maybe he saw it coming. Some will still be in denial , others will follow the manta to blame the state 100%...that is fine, but others are now starting to see past decisions for what they were.
1/ HS students. Has anyone looked at the 1/29 HS attendance numbers. I have. A grand total of 8683, here in one of the ¡¥peak¡¦ years. ( with 500 of those @ Frontier Campus). Where are the 10,400 we needed to spend $124M on ? Answer- never in our lifetime. Remember how many kids the freshman centers were built for ? 8800-8900 @ 80% capacity. Tell me again why we needed to whiz away $150M ( yes 150 ) on a new high school convenient to 15% of the population? ( actually with interest the cost is $210M but who's counting)
>> btw extrapolating Granger and Hill into MVHS ends up with < 2300 students when all classes there.
2/ Brings me to point #2 , who's to blame for this crisis. Surely I agree the state has a big hand in where the schools are headed, but that's what happens when you count totally on something external. Do you plan to live on Social Security and Medicare? I hope not. Then to read the latest in a long line of plain false quotes in the paper that makes me wonder if our admin thinks we are all stupid. ( not part of budget issue but telling parents here that the IHSA would block their kids from playing sports here when that was not true has to be added to this).
¡§Birkett stressed the potential cuts are not the result of district spending, citing 204's high financial ranking by the state.
"This is not District 204 has been spending," Birkett said. "This is we can no longer count on the state of Illinois."
„« Really can they say this with a straight face after spending $150 unneeded expense- also thereby increasing our yearly operating costs for a number of students that is never going to appear ? We didn¡¦t spend that money? Do they thing Springfield is unaware- or the papers ( nope they are aware )
There has been no talk of a possible referendum to make up the budget shortfall, she said when asked.
"We have not talked about referendums at all," Birkett said. "We believe in these fiscal times and what our community is dealing with ... that's not even come up in board discussion."„«
Again, really ? We knew there would be an additional operating referendum from day 1. We also knew that A/C might be added to future refs. Never talked about - bull ! What about the $17,000 line item for our favorite ref consultant who just left town to review the chances of a referendum succeeding ? That's not discussing- why, because we hired someone to review ? How long will the string of falsehoods go on ?
3/ Finances. Restructing debt for 20 additional years, spending money you don't have, wasting money ( i.e. BB land) , continually spending money on consultants to tell you what you should know if you actually put qualified people across the SB ¡V those who have run something in their lives and people with corporate financial and HR experience. Adding an additional $17M to debt to get good bond rates and then not counting it as an expense fopr the new school¡Kwell no matter where you put it it's biting us now isn't it? Extra expenses to run 3 high schools, the whole bus fiasco, the savior that was ADK that now likely will be on the chopping block. Where is the transparency for all this stuff ? A survey that shows that people are thrilled to be able to see their kids grades online does not equal transparency. Where are the final costs for METEA ? They are 6 months overdue being on line - why ? Why, because there stll are parts being added because we can't sell 25 acres, we still do not know BB court costs.
4/ General hysteria. KB is doing her best to get the hysteria going and blaming the state because really it is her only option to close any of this gap now but at what cost ? When kids now are coming home from NV saying that "all" the teachers at Neuqua were talking about all the teachers that are going to be cut next year. They were also talking about all the programs that were going to be cut (they mentioned B teams in sports as well as intramurals and some of the clubs). They also said that they may be cutting music. Is this the learning environment we want ? And be careful what you ask for , someone is bound to dig into our finances in Springfield now with us creating this stir, they better be prepared to explain some things also.
5/So now the answer is to sue for what we are entitled to..hmm. since it's our tax monies and our elected officials ¡V we would in fact be suing ourselves to some extent. Sound familiar?
The General Assembly has the legal authority to decide budget priorities. They can cite the NFSOC lawsuit dismissal as precedence for what governing bodies have the absolute right to decide in our republic form of government
For all those upset now justice would be to be told ' sit down and shut up¨ just like those who tried to point out issues in the past were told. Personal agendas , some as old as 12 years like a former SB president who wanted their Neuqu- when the boundaries were changed and found out 59 would not be the boundary line- the demarcation point would run E-W, and went on a mission to get that school eventually. Well congratulations ¡V we have it, and it might very well be the tipping point for 204. I know people disagree and that is fine, I ask how happy are you with your decision makers now ? One SB member tried to warn people but no one would listen and they were marginalized in the process. Who looks like they had a better handle on tax issue today?
--so now how ironic that all those phoney baloney fear tactics that were used in addition to the 10,400 students may actually come home to roost. The reality of only having 2 high schools ( now without one of the freshman centers ) may come true. Consolidation of buildings is inevitable. For my area the final insult will be to close Watts and move those kids to Owen , both schools underutilized. Then we can have the furthest away HS, the furthest away MS and the fursthest away ES- the 204 hat trick. Without that 1200 student freshman center split shifts, cuts in extra curriculars etc may actually come true. Almost a retelling of sorts of the boy who cried wolf. This time no one will believe it either until it happens , then there will be outrage. Little Johnny and Susie will not get all they deserve for the outrageous taxes we pay, and that is very sad. And the chances of another referendum passing today is slim to none- which is likely what they were told by their consultant. No more ways to divide the community to get the vote they want, the jig is up. Your SB leaders and finance director have fixed us all but good ¡V and now that even includes their supporters¡¦. Well welcome to the good ship Titanic 204. They have re-financed us into oblivion where we once we so far ahead of the game, and other districts. Drunk with power from an open checkbook enough to spend $150M when $124 was allotted, and refinancing then current debt out for our children. Yes, one can say who saw this economy coming, but then that is why you just don't do those things, just in case.
I hope everyone is still thrilled with those who made decisions to put us where we are now - $9.2M in debt with another $20M likely within 12 months.
Regardless of what you think of me I take no pleasure in this. I am only sad that this burden could have been lessened had we not let personal agendas and egos get in the way. No, the total impact couldn't be avoided if the state renegs, but let's say we get a portion of what we deserve back ¡f the mis- spending here will keep us from closing that gap, and who will suffer- everyone. Kids from lessened opportunities and very crowded classrooms, teachers who will lose their jobs ( and I personally know a few of those who have already been given that heads up) , and all of the 204 community. This will do not good for our areas reputation and house pricing..as we went from very special as Dr D called us, to now being in severe trouble. As for Dr D- the smartest decision he made her was to get the hell out of Dodge before this all happened- maybe he saw it coming. Some will still be in denial , others will follow the manta to blame the state 100%...that is fine, but others are now starting to see past decisions for what they were.
