THANK YOU to the 3,062 other people who thought I'd make a good school board member. I am honored to have earned your trust and confidence.
The big issue facing public schools over the next few years is figuring out how to pay for them while keeping taxes reasonable in a difficult economy. The state legislature is not helping at all with its diminishing funding and bills like HB 136, which would entitle any public school student in Ohio to request and to be granted, as a matter of right, a voucher to attend a private school, subject only to a family adjusted gross income of $102,800 or less. Yes, even students in an A+ district like Gahanna-Jefferson could obtain such a voucher. In this environment, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for school boards and administrators to plan a budget, but that is the task at hand. I wish the G-J Board the best in working through this difficult issue.
Knowing about that funding issue, and perhaps because of it, the treasurer in our district is projecting a $2.6M budget shortfall in 3 years, and thus the need for an additional tax levy. It's great that we're looking ahead that far. It's hard to see, though, what we're doing to decrease our spending to lower that gap.
At this point, I have to pause and note that I was in the high school gym a few weeks ago for the annual marching band Pops concert, and I noticed two brand-new flat screen televisions in the main hall. One was at the far wall from the main doors, the other on the wall across from the gym entrance. They were obviously hooked up to a computer somewhere that was running a slide presentation containing photos of some of our athletics students. OK - because I'm trained as a mathematician and an engineer, when I see something like this, my mind goes to "fast math" mode: around $500 for each TV, about $300 for a cheap computer to run it, new electric outlets to power the TVs, networking to connect the computer to the TVs, and the cost of installation. Do you think $1500 is a lower bound on the cost of this project? Now, this is a really nice project, but is it really the best use of funds, especially when we're being told we're going to be $2.6M short in 3 years? Did our superintendent propose and our board approve this project? If so, as a person who has consistently voted for school levies, this gives me cause for pause.
The big issue facing public schools over the next few years is figuring out how to pay for them while keeping taxes reasonable in a difficult economy. The state legislature is not helping at all with its diminishing funding and bills like HB 136, which would entitle any public school student in Ohio to request and to be granted, as a matter of right, a voucher to attend a private school, subject only to a family adjusted gross income of $102,800 or less. Yes, even students in an A+ district like Gahanna-Jefferson could obtain such a voucher. In this environment, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for school boards and administrators to plan a budget, but that is the task at hand. I wish the G-J Board the best in working through this difficult issue.
Knowing about that funding issue, and perhaps because of it, the treasurer in our district is projecting a $2.6M budget shortfall in 3 years, and thus the need for an additional tax levy. It's great that we're looking ahead that far. It's hard to see, though, what we're doing to decrease our spending to lower that gap.
At this point, I have to pause and note that I was in the high school gym a few weeks ago for the annual marching band Pops concert, and I noticed two brand-new flat screen televisions in the main hall. One was at the far wall from the main doors, the other on the wall across from the gym entrance. They were obviously hooked up to a computer somewhere that was running a slide presentation containing photos of some of our athletics students. OK - because I'm trained as a mathematician and an engineer, when I see something like this, my mind goes to "fast math" mode: around $500 for each TV, about $300 for a cheap computer to run it, new electric outlets to power the TVs, networking to connect the computer to the TVs, and the cost of installation. Do you think $1500 is a lower bound on the cost of this project? Now, this is a really nice project, but is it really the best use of funds, especially when we're being told we're going to be $2.6M short in 3 years? Did our superintendent propose and our board approve this project? If so, as a person who has consistently voted for school levies, this gives me cause for pause.