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Owen
B. Robinson
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Last year the West Bend
School Board asked voters for an additional $119.3 million
plus interest to fix the entire infrastructure in the
district and to add more space. The drivers for the
referendum were two-fold. First, previous boards had
seriously neglected maintenance, thus resulting in the
need for massive repairs. Second, the district is growing
and needs more space for more kids.
As should have been expected in a district full of fiscal
conservatives, the referendum failed 62.6 percent to 37.4
percent. The reason for the referendum’s failure is
quite simple: It was just too expensive.
The School Board is now preparing to put a new referendum
on the ballot. Well, actually two referenda. The School
Board plans to vote on the referenda in September to put
it on the November ballot, so some of the details might
change. But as of now, here’s how they are shaping up:
Referendum 1 will ask for $42 million to build a new
elementary school in Jackson, renovate and/or expand seven
other schools, and add secure entrances at all district
schools.
Referendum 2 will ask for $27 million to fix Badger Middle
School. The plan is to demolish the oldest part of Badger
and rebuild it.
First off, I want to commend the School Board for how they
have handled the referendum process. They went about it in
a much more open and honest fashion than the last time. Of
course, they had the advantage that the community was
paying attention after the last referendum. I could
quibble with the online survey that wasn’t restricted to
district residents, a video advocating the referendum and
a few other things, but overall they’ve done a decent
job. The biggest flaw is that they entered the process
under the supposition that a referendum was needed.
Now let’s move on to the meat. I oppose the first
referendum. Secure entrances are not necessary. It’s
true that school tragedies can happen anywhere, but it’s
equally true that moving the office next to the front door
in a building with dozens of entrances is a waste of
money.
The secure entrances are just a small portion of the
referendum. My biggest reason for opposing the referendum
is that I don’t believe that the expansion is necessary.
From the enrollment figures on the district Web site, the
West Bend School District peaked at 6,817 students in the
mid-1990s. Enrollment dropped steadily in the late 1990s
and early 2000s. Enrollment began increasing again in 2003
and has been increasing since then. Enrollment for this
year is projected to be 6,853 students – a whopping 36
more kids than the peak enrollment. Enrollment is
projected to be 7,047 by 2011, an addition of 230 kids
over the peak in the mid-90s.
This referendum would add space for 550 more kids. There’s
no need for so much extra space, even if you accept the
enrollment projections, which I don’t.
Projections don’t always pan out. There are many factors
that might affect the district’s enrollment over the
next few years. For example, West Bend has become more of
a bedroom committee. According to the city’s Web site,
in 2000, 57.1 percent of West Bend’s residents commuted
outside of the city for work. Compare that to 35.6 percent
in 1980. With gas prices high and looking to stay that
way, what are the odds that more families will move closer
to work? And just last week, Living Word Lutheran High
School and West Bend’s Catholics were rapidly nearing a
decision for Living Word to educate Catholic students. How
might that affect enrollment in the public schools?
West Bend should not go on a building spree based on
enrollment projections. Our country is littered with
school districts that overbuilt and are now sitting on
empty classrooms and empty buildings. Instead, West Bend
should proceed slowly. If enrollment increases, put in a
trailer if they have to. If the enrollment stays high,
then expand, but do it slowly based on actual enrollment.
The second referendum to fix Badger is another question.
It’s a job that does need to be done and this way is
much more attractive than building a new school. It
appears that the plans for the building, while expensive
due to prevailing wage laws and other legal requirements,
are not extravagant. It is not a Taj MaSchool.
At the same time, $27 million plus interest is a lot of
money to spend when families are suffering from a sluggish
economy. Sometimes needs have to go unfulfilled if the
citizens simply can’t afford it. I’m open to the
second referendum, but still not sold.
The bright side in all of this is that the citizens get to
vote about it. If only other units of government had to
ask the voters before making huge expenditures.
(Owen
B. Robinson, a West Bend resident, is a blogger who
publishes at www.bootsandsabers.com.
His column usually runs Tuesdays in the Daily News.)
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