Community support for referendum at question
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
Monday night’s meeting of the East Troy Board of Education exposed the sharp divide among the board members and possibly the community about what is the best path to take in regard to the district’s facility needs.
Although the board voted to send the issue to referendum, the vote was 3-2.
With frustration expressed by citizens and some board members about the choice to abandon Chester Byrnes and put a large addition onto Doubek Elementary School, the board heatedly debated the two sides of the issue.
Board members Martha Bresler and Dawn Buchholtz both read prepared statements on why they could not support the plan to abandon Chester Byrnes and were very unhappy with the cuts being proposed to the plans at the High School.
Board President Ted Zess and members Chris Smith and Steve Lambrechts said it was time to take this to referendum. The district had been working this for four years and there has been plenty of time to debate the issue, now it was time to act. (Zess and Smith also have opinion pieces on page 6.)
Both Bresler and Buchholtz question the cost of the Doubek addition when the district already has Byrnes that could be renovated at a much lower cost than building an addition onto Doubek.
“I don’t see the sense in recreating space in the district across the parking lot,” Buchholtz said.
“It’s not a long-term solution for the district,” Zess said. “We need to move forward and make all our schools inviting and open.”
Buchholtz wanted to move the referendum to February to give the board more time to look at renovating Chester Byrnes and said the other board members were rushing things.
“I don’t think we’re rushing this. We’ve been at this for four years,” Zess said.
Buchholtz said she doesn’t believe the board hasgiving the Chester Byrnes option enough consideration and questions the costs given to the board by the architects and contractor on what a bringing Byrnes up to date. In the July 28 meeting, she called their estimates “ridiculous” and at the Aug. 5 special meeting last week, she brought a printed breakdown to the board, along with copies of news articles about legal trouble Miron Construction, the district’s contractor, has had and investigations into improper billing practices.
Buchholtz’s breakdown of the numbers for the renovation of Byrnes and Doubek for use in the district came to about $6.2 million. Buchholtz said it’s a savings of $6 million over the plan to add on to Doubek.
Both Bresler and Buchholtz said they are disappointed in the “paring down” of the plans for the High School. They want those plans kept intact and the elementary school plans modified to fit the budget of $20.8 that the board has voted on for the facility needs.
Lamprechts asked High School Principal Rick Penniston if he was comfortable the cuts being proposed at the school.
“I want to hear from you if the $7 million will make a big impact,” Lambrechts said.
Buchholtz said that wasn’t a fair question to ask because his job could be in danger if he didn’t answer to District Administrator Dr. Chris Hibner’s liking.
Lambrechts said Buchholtz just called into question Penniston’s integrity.
“And mine,” Hibner added.
Penniston told the board the $7 million in proposed improvements at the High School will “make a significant impact.”
Resident Tim Griffin was at the meeting and spoke to the board about how the High School needs were paramount to the community.
“I’m voting down a large addition to Doubek for three reasons,” Griffin said. “Safety, security and cost effectiveness. To put millions of dollars into Doubek doesn’t make sense. It boggles my mind that Option C is still being considered. Our High School is the most important building we have.”
Resident Barb Jones told the board that she would like to see a consensus before the issue went to referendum.
“I would hope the board could come up with an option that would get a 4-1 or 5-0 vote. Otherwise I’m going to vote no.”
She also cautioned the board that the community was in “referendum burnout” and it needed to carefully consider the consequences of its actions.
Community support
The issue of community support for the referendum has been dogging the board for years. After two failed attempts the board actively worked at involving the community in the formation of the current referendum. The board held special meeting, working sessions, listening sessions, open houses and encouraged residents to attend the regular board meetings.
The School District posted a survey on its website and made a concerted effort to get the word out where people could let them know what they thought about the process and the proposed plans to address the facility needs.
With extremely low turnout at the meetings, listening sessions, working sessions and open house, it wasn’t surprising that only 528 of the district’s 8,000 or so residents took the survey. The effort to pin down what the community wants and it will support has garnered far less usable information for the board to make informed decision with than the board members hoped for.
With an apparently apathetic community that appears to not want to support education, the board is left with trying to meet the district’s facility needs without costing the taxpayer a penny more than they’re already paying. So, they have $20.8 million to work with.
That amount means cuts have to be made since the board has voted to go with Option C and adding on to Doubek.
