I was one of a few who attended the school bond issue meeting in Watkins on April 24th. I have several issues with the bond proposal.
Our farm, 360 acres, is slightly smaller than an average farm in this state. Yet we pay almost $9,000 in property taxes, with about $2,600 going to EV-W schools. This bond proposal will raise our taxes by almost $900, while the $150,000 house in town sees an increase of $124. So the average size farm will pay 6-8 times as much as the town house. Did our kids get 8 times the education? Business owners get hit even harder.
There was a proposal in the legislature last year that would have decreased agricultural school taxes by 40 percent, but Governor Dayton vetoed it. There is no guarantee that he will sign the current measure that is before the Legislature by the end of Session on May 22.
The $12 million bond issue includes a proposal to ?Äúrelocate the football field.?Äù That is a euphemism to build a 4 million dollar football/track stadium complex. I think that is not a need, but a want issue. One lady at the meeting asked, ?ÄúHow many games will be played each year??Äù The response was, 4-6 varsity, and 4-6 JV. Her point was that at an average of 10 games per year, over the 20 year life of the bond, that is 200 games, which is $20,000 per game in a stadium complex costing 4 million dollars! She felt that money could be better spent by adding educational staff.
At the meeting on the 24th, we learned that there has yet to be a decision on the location of the football field, although the desired location is to the west of the Eden Valley Elementary School. But the District does not know if the site is big enough, and if more land needs to be purchased. Superintendent Messman said that no soil boring has been done on the site as of yet, and the architect raised the issue of drainage on the site. Some of us at the meeting remembered how that area was extremely low, wet ground years ago.
Our excellent Elementary staff establishes a firm foundation for student success in middle school and in high school. Shouldn?Äôt the same principle apply to whatever facility is built? Without soil borings, and drainage mitigation, how can design be established and costs calculated? The Superintendent says the District doesn?Äôt want to pay for all the design work before the referendum, and the architect doesn?Äôt want to do it for free. We have yet to see even an artist?Äôs rendition of the stadium complex, so how can we surmise what we are voting for? One-third of the project cost has no firm design yet! Now, we are less than a month away from voting, on Tuesday, June 6.
I voted for the last bond issue because we needed classroom space, and I felt that the Drama Department deserved some much-needed improvements, compared to other extra-curriculars. It?Äôs time to vote no on these unknowns, and tell the planners to do their homework to find an affordable alternative.
Jim Schreifels
Watkins
EDITOR?ÄôS NOTE: A point of clarification is needed: the use of the word ?Äústadium?Äù is misleading. Technically a stadium is an enclosed or partially-enclosed building with permanent seating (like Target Field). What is being proposed would be more like what exists now, and not a stadium, much less a stadium complex. The reason for moving the football field is because the current field is on city property, and the city has designs to convert that land into a large city park. Sometime soon the school will lose their current football field. The task force and board agree that it would be cost-
effective to plan a new field, and add a track, along with the other much-needed facilities upgrades. The 1927 high school building and safety/security issues at the elementary schools will begin to be addressed immediately upon passing the referendum. The track and football field can be done at a later time, and the district can strategize that time to effect more savings. Also, the field and track will be used far more often than only 200 football games over 20 years, especially when it is located closer to the schools than it is now.
I have observed the process, as all were welcome to do, and I believe that the Eden Valley-Watkins school board has been extremely inclusive and transparent. They solicited a task force composed of many varied members of the community. After months of studying many options, both the task force and the school board ?Äì to a person ?Äì agreed to present these four areas as high priorities for the district.