Response to Carrie – 2
Response to Carrie – 2
Dear Carrie,
The way that I read your comments, you are asking from a response to item 2 and a reference to the documented reasons for the Domino plan.
First, I feel that the actual number for both years is closer to the October figures. In addition, I would point out that we typically use the March figures when comparing year to year. We have typically grown through the first months of the year and then leveled off the later months of the school year. Using the comparison, I show the figures of 3,667 for 2006-07 and 3,730 for 2007-08. These do include the preschool numbers.
Second, I would refer you to the construction link on our website. The Capital Improvements report dated September 14, 2005 will give you the reasoning. It actually shows that the other plan considered at that time cost more than the Domino Plan when you take into consideration the need to request a second high school as part of this other plan. Please take a look at this report and let me know if you have any further questions.
I hope this has answered you questions.
January 29th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Dr. Smith,
Thank you for continuing our dialogue on the new high school.
First, I did very thorough research on the Domino Plan and Flex Plan A back in 2007 as you can see outlined here:
http://carriewigal.com/2007/10/22/flex-plan-a-vs-domino-plan-fluvanna-county-schools-proposals/
I would sincerely appreciate your comments on that analysis, especially if I am off in my conclusions.
But I found a few things curious:
* The School Board had already set in their mind a high school would be built at Pleasant Grove (according to minutes from various Board of Supervisors meetings in late 2003/early 2004).
* The School Board secured monies for an expansion on the current high school in August/September 2004 with the idea of changing it into a middle school, obviously knowing there was a “plan” for a high school to be built on Pleasant Grove.
* $50,000 was acquired, A Joint Committee was formed and a presentation was given to the Board of Supervisors in May 2005, recommending the Flex Plan A.
* The School Board supposedly considered the Joint Committee’s proposal, but chose to proceed with the Domino Plan in September 2005 anyway.
Was the Joint Committee’s proposal truly considered? It seems to me someone wanted the new high school to happen all along. Why was the Flex Plan A shot down?
Second, your current enrollment numbers…you are using March figures from 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 which includes preschool, correct? Those are the past two years’ numbers. What about this year: 2008/2009? When I look at the figures five months prior to your 2007/2008 number I see enrollment is at 3758 (including preschool)…which by your explanation makes sense that it levels off to 3730. But then this year’s enrollment is at 3705 (including preschool) just 3 months ago. Obviously we cannot tell what March is going to be since it’s two months away from now, but even if there is no leveling off as you suggest typically happens, we are still 25 students below last year’s March figure. Enrollment is down.
Thirdly and most notably, you are not addressing our economic climate. Do you not recognize what is happening in Washington DC…what has been happening over the past four months? The Federal Government is spending billions of dollars that we don’t have in a desperate attempt to “save our economy”. There are going to be repercussions felt from this…here in Fluvanna County. There is a bill on the Senate floor right now, proposing close to $900 Billion dollars being spent to stimulate the economy. Who is going to pay for that?
Thousands of jobs are being cut on a daily basis. Prices for food and gas are going up. People are rightfully concerned about their personal income and how they are going to pay their existing bills. The dollar is being devalued with all the currency being printed by the Federal Reserve to fund these bailouts at a much faster rate than ever before in our history. Our economy is extremely fragile right now…any educated person who is paying attention can see this. There is a gigantic elephant in the room that you insist on ignoring.
Please, I implore you to put any past ambitions aside for a moment and look at this from the average Fluvanna citizen’s perspective considering current conditions. You are asking us to push ahead with a new high school because you “do not think it(slowing growth) will be a long term trend”, yet you have nothing concrete to base that on.
We do not have any large businesses in this county to offset the cost of this high school (and the renovations on the existing buildings to follow)…that means ordinary citizens are going to have to pay for this. People in our county are losing their jobs. Prices for food and gas are going up. Residential construction is at a standstill and more and more “For Sale” signs are donning our curb sides. While there may be growth again in the county someday, it is not happening now. Our federal taxes are going to go up, thanks to Uncle Sam…and now our local taxes are going to go through the roof starting in 2 years because of this HUGE Capital project (the new high school) that is clearly becoming less needful.
If we’re stuck with having to pay back this debt and there’s no way of getting out of it, then can we for a moment reconsider how we’re spending these dollars. The elementary and middle schools are the ones overcrowded right now…why not work to solve those issues first?
I appreciate your willingness to maintain a dialogue on this daunting issue, and I again look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Carrie
January 30th, 2009 at 6:22 am
[...] I was pleased to see that my comment was posted on his blog after awaiting moderation for several days, but he had not responded again. So, I emailed him (and copied the School Board & Board of Supervisors) asking that he reply in order to settle my concerns. He replied early this week that he would respond to me within the week. And he did. [...]