Referrendum Information

A place to discuss issues relating to the Rockford School District, which serves the majority of Greenfield.

Referrendum Information

Postby Joe » Sun Nov 06, 2011 9:47 pm

The ballot was posted in another thread, but in case you were wondering what vital reason they have for asking for 28 MILLION dollars during this recession, here it is in all it's detail. It was not easy to obtain, since the school district seems to want to keep these details hidden until they come up with a good cover story .....

RefProjects.pdf
Complete Project list and costs
(637.42 KiB) Downloaded 1861 times


Shall we start a contest to find the MOST insane item?

I will start the bidding with $900,000 for "Construct synthetic turf stadium football / soccer field".
And then of course, you simply must get that little $90,000 add-on "Add spectator walk/plaza from parking lot up to stadium"!

There's a cool million spent, or in other terms, just about the ENTIRE Greenfield City budget. But wait, there's another $27 MILLION MORE to spend yet!
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Re: Referrendum Information

Postby nikidog » Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:17 pm

Wow. While I think it is good that the district plans to do basic building maintenance like replacing a gym floor, it appears as though sports, particulalry at the high school level are the priority. At the high school alone, they want to spend $100,000 to "Add pavillion at softball pinwheel", $220,000 to "Construct 135 stall parking lot and drive at softball fields", $900,000 to "Construct synthetic turf stadium football/soccer field", $15,000 to "Provide portable pitchers mounds at softball fields", $750,000 to "Construct new Varsity BB field with grandstand west of stadium-- existing goes to JV", $50,000 to "Provide multi-use/portable bleachers", and $60,000 to "Enlarge the existing press box for more appropriate use and access." So far, that's $2,095,000. And that doesn't include ALL of the listed items budgeted to high school sports.

The middle school level has also reserved significant funds for sports. The district wants to spend $150,000 to "Construct a 60 stall paved parking lot and drive at fields" and $20,000 to "Provide paved trail connection at fields." Again, even at $170,000, these are not the only budgeted sports items at the middle school level.

From the items listed, the school will spend $2,265,000 just on sports. Assuming that my math is correct, that about 8% of the total $27,605, 625 on the referendum proposal.

What I don't see, however, is any funding for teachers and other non-administrative staff or funding for any curriculum enhancements like textbooks, computer technology, media center resources, science labs, language labs, etc. , Other than overall maintenance and restoration on the school buildings and some funding for auditorium upgrades and the music program, there is not much that directly benefits the academic opportunities for the students of the district.

If Rockford Schools want to attract students, rather than lose them, as seems to be the long-standing trend, then they need to invest in their teachers and curriculum, not in elite sports complexes. I, for one, would not send my child, if I had one, to a school district that invests more in sports than it does in their students' education.
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Re: Referrendum Information

Postby carol beasecker » Sun Nov 13, 2011 2:30 am

Does anyone know how long these repairs were left undone- I doubt that all these problems came up in the last year. I understand the gym floor at middle school has been that way for more than a decade, can someone confirm that. The elementary school is what ten years old and if we have structure damage why are we not going after contractors. If we do any of this repairs what guanturee do we have that we will not let things go again for another # of years. What do we budget for each year on repairs?

If our buildings are so bad maybe we should look at closing a building or merging with another school district.

What percentage of the budget goes for building maintance? What percentage goes for administrative? What % goes for teachers, and what is left over to the children of our schools?
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Re: Referrendum Information

Postby carol beasecker » Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:00 pm

Has anyone looked at their tax statement- my market value went down but because of the old ref, and last years ref my taxes went up. In fact look at what you pay the school for 2012, it is more than you pay either the county or the city and I am not talking a few dollars

We need to talk about people going to the school board meeting which is next Tues the 23rd @6;30. Note on tax statement it mentions another meeting date of Dec 19 th @6;30

I did contact the school district office and absentee ballots should be available the end of Jan phone # 763-477-9165. iF YOU KNOW OF SOME ONE WHO NEEDS TO VOTE THAT WAY LET THEM KNOW.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get people out to vote NO
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Re: Referrendum Information

Postby Administrator » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:47 am

Some people have commented that it is very hard to read the previously attached document with all the projects proposed in this referendum. Here is a cleaner copy that was transcribed. You can match all the projects and amounts with the previous document that was obtained from the school district office.

Referendum2012.pdf
Referendum Projects
(53.29 KiB) Downloaded 1786 times
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Re: Referrendum Information

Postby wastingmoney » Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:38 pm

Looks like someone already put up a site about this.

http://www.rockfordreferendum.info/
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Re: Referrendum Information

Postby Joe » Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:42 pm

Just noticed Linda's article in the paper today: http://www.pressnews.com/articles/2012/01/20/regional_education/rockford_schools/1rockfordsb1-9-12.txt

It seems they're up to their old tricks again about HIDING THE REAL IMPACT of this referendum. Now they say it will "only" cost an ADDITIONAL $112/year ($150K property). If you read close, it says in the INITIAL YEARS of the referendum .. but then "SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER AMOUNTS" for the rest of the years.

How is that any different that the mortgage scams that crashed the market?
Yes .. you can have this house for only $100 a month (for the first year) and then we jack it $1000 a month once you're hooked. :bang

Please tell me the voters are not as stupid as they think we are!
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Re: Referrendum Information

Postby Shorty1182 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:29 pm

Is it true that no-shows for voting equal a "no" for the referendums? This is absolutely ridiculous.
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Re: Referrendum Information

Postby Joe » Wed Feb 01, 2012 11:04 am

I think comments like that are why some people shouldn't be allowed to vote.

People that don't show up to vote don't count as ANYTHING - maybe a class in Elections 101? Or were you unfortunate enough to be educated by the Rockford school system?

Seriously ... trying to hide an election, having it in the middle of the winter when people leave the state, forcing all of the surrounding communities to drive to a single polling place, which will probably be filled with "permit parking" vehicles (since it IS a school day), and then complaining about voter turnout, is a bit lame.

Seems like the more people that find out about the grand plans and astro-turf dreams are against this this, so I can see why you would want such an advantage.
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Re: Referrendum Information

Postby wastingmoney » Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:09 pm

Anyone else going to the super secret meeting the school is holding "By Invite Only"?

Jeanette Zetah has invited you to the following event:

Event Name: Bond Informational Meeting with Paul Durand
Event Date: 2/10/2012
Event Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Contact: Jeanette Zetah

Description:
We would like to invite you to a meeting with Superintendent Paul Durand on February 10, 2012 at the Rockford Community Center from 6:00PM to 7:00PM. This will be an informational meeting and an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the upcoming Bond election on February 21, 2012. Please RSVP to this invitation by Tuesday, February 7th at 3:30PM. Thank you!



Perhaps they should realize that all of us parents are NOT onboard with this secretive meeting stuff. I wonder what they're trying to hide from everyone else?

I'll let you know after the meeting lol
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