David Toland came mighty close to dead center with the arrow he loosed at Monday night’s BOE meeting.
He encouraged transparency in whatever upcoming school improvement issue board members will propose — before it’s too late.
In 2014, a proposal to build an inclusive school complex north of Iola failed out of hand. Since then reasons given have been location, cost and resultant taxes and having the youngest students congregated with the oldest; i.e., elementary, middle and high schools all in one place.
Public comment was a part of the process then, though not as much as it should have been, Toland said. He may well be right. And, he thinks the same mistake is being made again.
A small group of proponents and opponents (not many of the latter) of the first issue gathered several times at the BOE office. The meetings were top heavy with administrators, teachers and board members — I know, I was there by invitation.
No decision occurred for what to do, although it seemed to me a proposal to build a single elementary for all those students eventually shook out as the most reasonable.
The official outcome, put forward by board members a bit later, was to hire a Wichita firm to develop a master plan.
Toland takes exception. He thinks a broader group — we’re talking scores — of district residents should be involved to help plan what will be done, and then enlisted to march door-to-door — as occurred with the hospital issue — and solicit support.
If we’re to have a new elementary, or make substantial improvements to any number of schools, that must be the approach. No one can acquire support better than friends and neighbors, or at least someone with a similar stake to yourself in a tax issue. And, there’s no way any meaningful school improvements can be made without a tax increase being a component.
When the select group discussed a new elementary, in-town construction was discussed. A school on the edge of town, with ample area for now and the future, might sound appealing, but keeping a school for smaller children within the confines of Iola seems a requirement for any chance for a bond issue to fly.
Where, you ask. I don’t have the wherewithal to make such a recommendation, although the vacant area a block north of the middle school, together with purchase of some residential property, might be a good starting point. In any event, acquiring residential property through negotiated purchase or condemnation probably will be involved.
A concern that weighs heavily is what will occur in the upcoming legislative session.
Supreme Court justices ruled state aid for education is woefully inadequate and, while they didn’t strike a number, the word floating around Topeka is $600 million. With a $1.2 billion reinstatement of income taxes last session, passing another tax, or a bundle thereof, is going to leave taxpayers less receptive to local issues.
Spending cuts to make room for school funding increases are as likely as Trump and Hillary embracing.
Also significant is what state aid for capital improvement will be after the upcoming session. It was 49 percent three years ago, has since dropped to 36 percent and is likely to be a moving target — in the lower spectrum — when legislators wrestle with increasing school funding.
However, to loosely quote Toland, if we make all as transparent as humanly possible and recruit a legion of local supporters, school improvements may find endorsement at the polls.
At Week’s End: School improvements: What to do
