tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29571009.post2720520356189193960..comments2022-03-02T17:47:57.151-08:00Comments on Edmonds School District Weblog: Be Careful What You Wish For.ESD15.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13226260553219032275noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29571009.post-14567874735125675282008-01-06T19:36:00.000-08:002008-01-06T19:36:00.000-08:00It is an unfortunate generalization, but most scho...It is an unfortunate generalization, but most school districts do not have the funds to properly upkeep their buildings. When the voters turn down an M&O levy, the next time around the "M" is the part that gets cut the most. Once money is cut from a budget in any area, it is very hard to restore it in the future; thus a 10% cut in Year One has the effect of being a 30% cut by Year Five. <BR/><BR/>Local levies covering school, fire , port and, irrigation districts, among others, are the ones that are very locally controlled by the local voter. When the economy is perceived to be going south or the voters perceive that they are paying too much in total taxes, it is not unusual for local levies to fail. In schools, this generates the cascading effect of increasing class size (reducing the learning that will go on in the classroom), cutting the materials available for education to occur (from textbooks to blank paper), putting off needed preventative maintenance (you now may spend $10 on a gallon of roof patch rather than the $5K [or whatever] required to re-seal the roof or the $250K for a new one), and ending the maintenance of the landscaping (except, of course, the grass football fields [or install artificial turf which is a larger expenditure upfront than watering but recoups, hopefully, in the long run with reduced maintenance costs]).<BR/><BR/>In this model, the voter/taxpayer is very powerful and expects their money to be managed well. As a Washington State taxpayer, I expect that not everything will go right all the time; there will be the occasional boondoggle. I do not, however, expect screw-up after screw-up. <BR/><BR/>Nor do I expect employees (whose salary we are paying) to be mistreated or harassed. I recall there is something in the Judeo/Christian ethic (which I think is what most parents/teachers are using as a religiously or philosophically based guide) about treating people the way you want to be treated. I expect that ethic to be in effect outside of the Church walls, too.<BR/><BR/>If that's too much to expect from this crop of board/administrators, a house cleaning is in order.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29571009.post-59955470510083408992007-11-07T19:07:00.000-08:002007-11-07T19:07:00.000-08:00I too believe their is a need for new LWH but I al...I too believe their is a need for new LWH but I also believe that the district doesn't put enough money up front to keep buildings in good running shape. They let stuff slide until it is too late. The district needs to spend money to keep these schools in better shape for the future of our students otherwise in 20 more years we will be doing this all over again. And don't build on swamp land it brings on more problems.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29571009.post-42625467510580998352007-11-06T07:23:00.000-08:002007-11-06T07:23:00.000-08:00I don't think anyone is saying the high school sho...I don't think anyone is saying the high school shouldn't be built, just that we shouldn't be spoon-fed a bunch of lies to vote for it.<BR/><BR/>As for the budget analyst... I have met him. He is a tumor on the body of any district and has been floating between them for years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29571009.post-90198248671731967242007-11-05T21:49:00.000-08:002007-11-05T21:49:00.000-08:00Claire,I admire your knowledge and I applaud your ...Claire,<BR/><BR/>I admire your knowledge and I applaud your willingness to share and believe me we need to know how screwed up the district is. On the other hand I do believe and support what Nick has done to get a new school for Lynnwood High School. They have been treated like the misfits or bad news bears, only receiving hand me downs and second hand juke that no one wanted. They have never been treated with respect. This school has been laughed at and made fun of by the district, before Nick got here. So I support them having a new school. They should not be blamed for the screw up from the person in the budget department. He thinks he walks on water and can make no mistakes. He should be blamed for the bad forcasting. He is very arrogant and can post signs outside of his cubicle that are very unprofessional. The last one read "DATA ENTERING DO NOT DISTRUB" and my favorite from the past "IF YOU SEE MY BACK DO NOT DISTRUB ME". So the bottom line here is Lynnwood needs a new school. They have been fighting water in the gym for years and seems that someone told me that the school was sinking. You are right that schools should last 50 years or more, but when the folks in charge care more about feeding their egos, then what you see is what you get.<BR/><BR/>The problems with all these other school should be blamed on the CPO project engineer. Another arrogant one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29571009.post-25710122403870713732007-11-05T20:03:00.000-08:002007-11-05T20:03:00.000-08:00the superintendent is a putz and the board is impo...the superintendent is a putz and the board is impotent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29571009.post-13870700186686526432007-11-04T21:13:00.000-08:002007-11-04T21:13:00.000-08:00What planet are you from? Take a moment, remove y...What planet are you from? Take a moment, remove your nose from your supervisors butt, think for yourself if you can, and try considering that your district is being run by incompetent boobs.<BR/><BR/>By the way, it looks as though you enjoy your right to free speech as well. I'm sure you've done nothing to earn that right either. I was wondering, what color is the sky in your world?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com