Educational decisions impacting taxes

To the Editor:

My kids and grandkids are in school districts far away, so I’m not afraid to speak at a board meeting or offer my opinions. Retaliation is possible, it happened, and I know that it continues. This is one of the reasons why more people don’t attend school board meetings or voice their opinions. I have been asked, “Why are you wasting your time talking to the school board? They may ‘hear’ you, but they will not ‘listen’.” This is another reason for taxpayers to not attend school board meetings.

Several options were presented at community meetings and a survey was mailed before the decision was made to put to a vote only the one school option. At a community meeting, I brought up the fact that the survey was flawed. It didn’t have the necessary safeguards in place to prevent people from submitting more than once. Not all taxpayers in the MCW School district received it in the mail. Therefore, promoting it as a true and accurate representation of the voters/taxpayers of the MCW school district is misleading.

It was said at one of the community meetings, “Let’s not make this political or personal.” However, given that our school board members are elected to represent their constituents, politics do play a role. Further, when educational decisions impact our taxes, it becomes personal to me.

I never expected a referendum vote on building a new school at this time. Enrollment is decreasing and is projected to decrease more. Inflation is awful. The costs of necessities such as milk, eggs, and gas have skyrocketed in the past few years. Interest rates are high. It is a bad time to burden the taxpayers. My property taxes for this year have increased by double digits and a school bond referendum will make them go even higher. And if, by chance, the Ag2School Credit is decreased, which my senator told me is quite possible, taxes will increase more.

There are big differences between what we want, what we need, and what we can afford. Almost every parent has had a similar discussion with their children.

Sincerely,

Mary Johnson,

concerned taxpayer of MCW School District

Sherburn